Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - A pick-up truck overflowing with alkaline batteries and small electronics was parked outside the Mercer Community Center Saturday during the Mercer library's third annual Earth Day Fair. The fair promoted sustainable living through "earth-friendly" activities. Although it started out a little slow, people soon arrived with armloads of recyclables to be loaded into the waiting truck outside. Gary Patzke, a volunteer at the fair, was...
HURLEY — An Illinois man wanted in his home state attempted to escape from Iron County Sheriff’s Department custody Saturday while being treated for a medical issue. The man was booked into the Iron County Jail early Saturday morning on local charges of disorderly conduct and a warrant out of Illinois, according to Iron County Sheriff Paul Samardich. The attempted escape occurred at roughly 1:06 p.m., as the inmate fled into the nearby woods while being escorted out of the Aspirus Ironwood Hospital, Samardich said in a news release. The man...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] HURLEY - The 2019 Silver Express performed in front of a nearly sold out crowd at its last concert at the school on Friday evening. Silver Express co-director Roy Haeger said the band is going on tour, "But will play a few songs" during graduation. "This is the last hurrah for the seniors," he said. Silver Express member Cody Sobrack sings, plays the saxophone, piano, harmonica and cowbell and said being in the band has been a lot of fun. "It's a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BERGLAND — The six districts in the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District will be starting school earlier next year after the state approved the district’s early-start waiver Tuesday. “(The waivers) were approved for a three-year period,” GOISD Superintendent Bruce Mayle said. “All the districts are planning to take advantage of that.” A state law passed in 2005 mandates districts start school after Labor Day, but allows a waiver for certain conditions. One of the exceptions can be for...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — The lakeshores of Ontonagon and the new Lake Street Park in Ontonagon will become more accessible this summer with features bringing more residents and visitors to the beaches of Lake Superior. With the help from a $16,900 grant through the Portage Health Foundation those in wheel chairs will be able to travel across the sands and get nearer to the beach than ever before. Mats will be laid across the sands at key access points from the Lakeshore road as far as possible to the beach. A third mat w...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] Prom season, an annual rite of spring where area youth dress to the 9s and enjoy an evening out with their classmates will begin this weekend. Three area high schools will celebrate prom on Saturday — Ironwood, Hurley and Ontonagon. Ironwood’s junior class will host the prom at the Memorial Building in downtown Ironwood. The grand march is planned for 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:10, with music and dancing to follow. Thirty couples have signed up to attend to the evening themed “Di...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - The public got its first peek at the photographs submitted in this year's Downtown Art Place photography exhibit at the exhibit's opening reception Thursday. "I'm very pleased with the photography. I'm very pleased with the variety we have," said Peg Sandin, one of the organizers of the exhibit. "This seems to be a wonderful time of year to have a reception, people are anxious to get out after a snowy winter." The theme of this year's...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Middle school students excitedly participated in hands-on experiments with college students during Gogebic Community College's Science, Technology, Engineering, Art/Design and Mathematics event Thursday morning. Serena Mershon, chemistry professor at GCC, said the bi-annual STEAM project started out with college students visiting local schools. With help from Larry Gabka, a former biology instructor, the traveling project was transformed...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected]ß IRONWOOD - High school welding students from Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties are competing in the 2019 U.P. Welding Skills Challenge held at Northern Michigan University on Friday. The competition gives the students a chance to "show their stuff" said Mike Lutz, welding instructor with the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District. Top welding students from across the U.P. will be required to interpret prints and fabricate an item using...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Sunday Lake and Little Black River overflowed their banks Wednesday, causing street closures and concerted work by City of Wakefield employees who tackled the issue at several locations in town. By mid-day, water on the south side of the lake had reached U.S. 2, although it did not pool on the highway. The area around the Krist Food Mart and gas station, however, became an extension of the lake, with that stretch of Lakeshore Drive and the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] Those with medications they no longer need have the opportunity to dispose them properly, as Saturday is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Now in its ninth year, the event seeks to remove opioids and other medications that can be abused from homes where they are vulnerable to “misuse, theft or abuse by family members and visitors, including children and teens,” said a spokesperson with the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA and its local partners around the country have collected mor...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Students across the Gogebic Range are practicing as they prepare for the upcoming spring concert season. The season kicked off Tuesday with Ironwood's fifth-grade band concert and Ewen-Trout Creek's POPS concert, featuring the district's junior-senior high school band and choir. Hurley Hurley's Silver Express group will have its first concert of the spring today at 7 p.m., putting on shows at the school through Friday before touring the...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield city council voted Tuesday evening to authorize U.P. Engineers and Architects, Inc., based in Ishpeming, to explore options in creating a water asset management plan. Matthew Treado, civil engineer with UPEA, told the council before the vote that such a plan would organize water and sewer improvements over the coming years while also addressing requirements of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality. By submitting such a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — An Ironwood man with a lengthy criminal history was sentenced to at least three years in prison on a drug charge in Gogebic County Circuit Court Tuesday. Thomas Wayne Raymond, 37, was sentenced to between three and 10 years for possession of methamphetamine. Judge Michael Pope singled out Raymond’s criminal record when imposing his sentence. “Mr. Raymond was on parole at the time he committed this particular offense. But not just that, he had been out of prison for less than two month...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County Judge Patrick Madden dismissed the charges against five current and former board members of the Mercer School Board Monday, finding they lacked the intent needed for the crimes they were charged with. “One of the clear obligations of this court is to not permit actions to go forward which do not meet the basic requirements of ‘mens rea’ and ‘actus rea,’ which is … you have to have a guilty mind and a guilty act to commit a crime,” Madden said, while ruling on one of the defe...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Sporting a tracksuit and a pair of tennis shoes, the elderly man spryly crossed the street by the intersection of Ayer and Lowell streets in downtown Ironwood. The man gazed up at the Pabst Mining Mural on Friday morning and said, "That's me up there - and there is my dad." At 93 years old, John Brottlund is only one of a handful of people currently living from the roughly 106 miners depicted. Local artist Dan Perotti said he promised a...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — At a special Monday evening meeting, the Bessemer city council voted to fund a feasibility study for a potential new hotel in the city. According to city manager Charly Loper, the study will be paid with a $25,000 grant received from the Michigan Economic Development Commission. In previous meetings, council members had discussed their desire to seek a hotel and restaurant complex, but Loper said a preliminary outreach determined that the funds will not cover a study of that magnitude. H...
The Heritage Chapter of the North Country Trail Association has a busy summer of work events and other activities planned for the section of the North Country National Scenic Trail it maintains. The chapter, which maintains the trail through Iron County, is planning its first work event for mid-May. This work event will consist of two parts, according to organizers. The Heritage Chapter Volunteer and Intern Week begins May 14, organizers said, and will focus on a variety of things — including trail construction and structure repair. “This wor...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Superior Health Foundation announced this past week a grant of $4,995 to the Gogebic Range Health Foundation. The Gogebic Range Health Foundation collaborated with Michigan’s Western Gateway Trail Authority to create Iron Belle Wheelers, which is a volunteer-run program that provides access to the Iron Belle Trail by offering bicycle rides to individuals who cannot ride a bicycle independently. GRHF added another $2,000 in funds, which wil...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - The Mercer Lions hosted its annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Mercer School Saturday morning to a happy crowd of parents and children. The event, which has been a tradition for many years, is planned throughout the year, with plastic Easter eggs all around the walls of the school lunch room and eggs hidden in the library for children and their families to find. In addition, there were tables with stuffed animals, plates of food and photos with...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — With the snow melting, outdoor enthusiasts on the Gogebic Range are putting away their skis and getting out their summer toys. Those fans of road biking can join the Superior Riders, which start its eighth season May 15. The rides will generally take place every other Wednesday, according to organizers, starting at a different location for each ride. Covering roughly eight to 15 miles and taking 60 to 90 minutes, the rides are doable for all skill levels. “There might be some gravel … bu...
BESSEMER - Seventeen Bessemer high school students recently spent their spring break touring Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. The entourage also included two recent graduates, eight parents, an aunt and a grandparent, according to trip leader and German and math teacher Tracy Rowe. She said the 10-day trip had been in the planning stages for 17 months. Students experienced first-hand the history and culture of central Europe, said Rowe, adding the tour company did a good job of...
