Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 3567 - 3591 of 9883
BESSEMER — The public continues to be satisfied with Gogebic County’s court system, awarding it high marks for the fifth year in a row in a survey regarding user experience. “Our courts serve the people, so their views are critically important in helping us make decisions on how to improve court operations,” Chief Judge Michael Pope said in a news release. “I am very proud of the hard work put in by our teams in all of our courts in Gogebic County, and we are committed to being even more efficient and focused on improving service to the publi...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] IRONWOOD - The seventh annual Yooperbeiner Snowshoe Race will take place Saturday on the Wolverine Nordic Ski Trail. The 10k race and 5k race/tour begin at 11 a.m. A race for kid's ages 4-12 starts at 9:30 a.m. All participants are entered into a drawing which has more than 100 prizes. Refreshments served in the heated chalet. Proceeds from the event benefit the Wolverine Ski Trail. Registration for the event is available online, or in person at the...
HURLEY - Iron County Sheriff Paul Samardich recently announced several promotions within the Sheriff's Department. Deputy Jason Geach was promoted to chief deputy. He will be second in command in the department. The county board voted Tuesday to replace the undersheriff position with that of chief deputy. Geach has served in the department since 2005, most recently as a patrol deputy. He was recently recognized by the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation for his leadership in a...
By BRYAN HELLIOS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Frigid temperatures combined with dangerous wind chills led some businesses to shut down Wednesday with more expected to do the same today. Many schools will remain closed today and the Post Office has suspended mail deliver for the second day in a row. However, some businesses have a hard time closing. Tony Mukavitz, owner of Mukavitz Heating and Cooling, said he had received more than a dozen service calls by 10 a.m. Wednesday as overnight...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - It was an emotional day in Iron County Court Wednesday as James Lussier was sentenced to prison for his role in the murder of Wayne Valliere Jr. Judge Patrick Madden followed the prosecutor's recommendation and sentenced Lussier to 15 years in prison and another 15 years of extended supervision, along with another eight years of probation to be served after the first sentence. "Young man, everyone here wishes you weren't there (at the...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield city council voted Monday to grant members of 4 the Kids permission to use batting net equipment in the community room gym of the municipal building. Peter Koruga, co-chair of 4 the Kids, said members of his group not only had raised enough funds to pay for the room’s new gym floor, but also has funds left over. He said 4 the Kids would like to put those extra funds toward netting to allow batting practice in the gym. He estimated the cost of such equipment at $2,695 and sai...
IRONWOOD — The search for the next president of Gogebic Community College is in its final stages and the field has been narrowed to four candidates. Last week the Presidential Search Committee, comprised of board members, faculty, staff, foundation officials, a student and the public, interviewed 10 candidates. Among the finalists are Gerald “Jay” Edgren, president of Frontier Community College in Fairfield, Ill.; George McNulty, vice president of student affairs at Colby Community College in Colby, Kan.; Richard Sax, provost and vice presi...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County’s sheriff department no longer has an undersheriff. Instead, a chief deputy will be the department’s second highest-ranking employee after the Iron County Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the post Tuesday. The board also appointed Jason Geach, who has been with the department for 14 years, to fill the position. The move is designed to increase efficiency and ensures there’s stability and continuity when a new sheriff takes over. “This employee will stay with the co...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield-Marenisco board of education voted Monday evening to consider moving the school year's start date before Labor Day for the 2019-2020 school year. "The main advantage is it's going to line us up with the college," said superintendent Jason Gustafson regarding Gogebic Community College. If the new timing is enacted, Gustafson said the first day of school at the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School will be Aug. 27, which is a Tuesday. He...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood City Commission at its Monday meeting approved a new ordinance outlining rules about the consumption of alcohol in various city parks. The ordinance was re-written to specify which parks allow the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages and which ones will require a permit. Even the parks where consumption is allowed - Curry, Randa Field and Norrie parks - still require a permit for groups of 10 or more. City...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield city council voted Monday to offer a contract to Robert Brown, Jr. of Belding, Mich., who interviewed for the position of city manager. The council met with Brown, 36, on Jan. 14. Three other candidates were interviewed on Jan. 17, after which the council met on Jan. 23 to determine their first choice to fill the role from which Richard Brackney will retire on May 24. Brackney said mayor John Granato drew up the contract, which...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The township board heard from its ad hoc salary committee Monday. However, with competing motions both failing, it’s unclear what the board will do with the information. Trustee Marlene Saari-Mieloszyk led the committee — that also included Trustee Kevin Lyons and resident Sharon Hallberg — tasked with examining how the three township officials that work in the office should get raises this year. She said they discovered the clerk and treasurer haven’t been compensat...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — Even with temperatures around zero and bouts of snow, people came out to the Norrie Amateur Sports Club Saturday night for the club’s 10th annual tree burn. Over 300 Christmas trees were tossed into the bonfire, along with a number of pallets, creating a blaze that radiated heat and helped attendees brave the bitter cold. The fire took a while to get started, organizers said, as the recent snow not only added moisture to trees but com...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] MONTREAL, Wis. - In spite of the cold temperatures of the weekend, a full support crew and a few strong souls ventured out on a sunny but cold Saturday afternoon to snowshoe the trails around Montreal for the first Hygge (pronounced HOO-ga) hike. The word "Hygge" is a Danish word that describes "a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being," the New Yorker reports. This is the idea behind the...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] WAKEFIELD — Even with below-zero temperatures, the atmosphere in the Wakefield VFW was jumping Saturday morning as the Gogebic Range Trail Authority held its inaugural pancake breakfast for hungry residents and snowmobilers. Cooks Chris Umland and Scott Segel flipped pancakes in the kitchen, along with eggs and sausage as other volunteers took orders and brought plates to customers. Chris and Melissa Umland and vice-president Jerry Nezworski “spearheaded” the event, according to GRTA president Steve...
MERCER, Wis. — For the second time in roughly a week, the Iron County Sheriff’s Department received reports of a vehicle going through the ice in southern Iron County. The department’s dispatch center received a report of a vehicle that went through the ice on Trude Lake in the town of Mercer at 8:57 p.m. Thursday, ICSD Lt. Matt Foryan said in a release. The two people in the vehicle were able to get out and walked to a nearby business for help, Foryan said, and no injuries were reported. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which...
MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Library will host several classes in January and February on topics ranging from small business marketing to technology to personal organization. Local residents can learn more about the services offered by area public libraries in a free workshop, “Becoming a Library Superuser,” on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 11 a.m. Attendees will learn how to access the library’s catalog online, request books from all over Wisconsin, access databases of newspapers and magazines, download free eBooks and audiobooks and take online classes...
HURLEY — The Hurley School board approved the 2019-20 school year calendar at its meeting Monday evening. The first day of school will be Tuesday, Sept. 3. The last day of school is set for Friday, June 5. Administrator Chris Patritto said the calendar calls for 177 days of school, adding the state doesn’t count days as much as it does hours. The state prohibits starting school before Sept. 1. Patritto said they have applied for a waiver in the past but were denied with a hundred or more other schools. He told the Daily Globe later that the...
A strong arctic cold front swept across the region Thursday that included a winter storm warning, frigid temperatures, blowing snow and wind chill advisories. Ironwood, Bessemer, Wakefield-Marenisco and Watersmeet schools all canceled school early Thursday and at the same time called off school for today. Hurley also called off school for today. The Michigan State Police Wakefield Post was cautioning against any travel on area roads Thursday. Late Thursday, MSP announced M-28 was closed between...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — Two suspects in a Marenisco home invasion were recently arraigned in Gogebic County District Court, while two more arrests have been made in Wisconsin in connection to the case. Todd Matthew Norton, 47, and Amber Jo Dorschner, 41, of New London, Wis., were extradited on multiple felony charges after being arrested in east central Wisconsin earlier this month. Norton was arraigned Jan. 18 and is charged with armed robbery, first-degree home invasion, assault with intent to do great bodily...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Members of the Wakefield city council and planning commission met in a Wednesday workshop to learn how an updated master plan could help them to counteract the dwindling population that many U.P. towns experience. Presenting the evidence were Scott MacInnes, northern field consultant for the Michigan Municipal League, and Bessemer city manager Charly Loper. According to Wakefield city manager Richard Brackney, Wakefield's master plan has not...
