Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 3854 - 3878 of 9797
BESSEMER - While the temperature left little doubt fall has arrived on the Gogebic Range, the lack of rain or much wind meant the crowds were out in Bessemer Saturday for the 40th annual Pumpkin Festival. "(It) is going well ... there's no rain and the wind is minimal," festival co-chair Donna Frello said. "So it's going as good as can be expected when it's 40 degrees." Along with popular annual staples such as the craft fair, Klassic Kruiser's car show, kiddies parade, and pumpkin decorating...
IRONWOOD - The Historic Ironwood Theatre was packed Saturday for a good cause, as Ethan Bortnick performed at COLE's Foundation's 10th annual celebration. "I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout," said Aaron Ruotsala, estimating a 400-450 people attended the performance. "I heard a lot of really good positive feedback, folks seemed to enjoy themselves." Ruotsala and his wife, Moireen, founded COLE's Foundation in 2008 in memory of their son, Cole Ruotsala, who died of cancer that year. The...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER — Gogebic County Road Commission Manager-Engineer Darren Pionk resigned Friday after being suspended earlier this month for allowing equipment and employees to be used at his residence for his personal benefit. Gogebic County Board of Road Commission Chair Marti Wegner, of Watersmeet, said the vote to accept the resignation at a special morning meeting after a closed session was 5-0. The road commission issued the three-week suspension on a 3-2 vote at a special meeting on Sept. 6, then met a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - For the second year in a row, Extreme Tool's The Extreme Team won Gogebic Community College's 18 Legs vs. 18 Wheels truck pull competition. "It was an awesome day. We had sunshine and blue sky, we had rain and wind, and someone reported a little sleet, as well. It just added to the color for the event and a little bit of a challenge," GCC service learning trip coordinator Janie Williams said. Around 10 teams competed to see who could...
WAKEFIELD - Construction crews on the M-28 Jackson Creek Bridge project east of Wakefield are still working, but very slowly, a Michigan Department of Transportation spokesperson said Tuesday. MDOT spokesperson Dan Weingarten said Anlaan Corp., the contractor on the project, is continuing to work on the bridge. He told the Daily Globe Thursday while the project has faced delays, they are unrelated to a statewide labor impasse that ended that day. That dispute between road contractors and a...
BESSEMER — An Ironwood man will spend time in prison for home invasion and receiving and concealing stolen firearms. Gogebic County Circuit Judge Michael Pope sentenced Aubrey Dean Cummins, 19, to between five and 15 years in prison for second-degree home invasion and between two and 10 years in prison for receiving and concealing stolen firearms Tuesday. Cummins pleaded guilty to the two charges in June, as part of a plea agreement that had charges of first-degree home invasion and larceny of a firearm dismissed at sentencing. Cummins was c...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER — A 2018-19 general fund budget of $7,095,467 that is up only about $50,000 from projected 2017-18 expenditures was approved by the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners Wednesday. There was no public comment at a budget hearing and county clerk Gerry Pelissero said no one had submitted any written comments on the budget. The budget estimates a fund balance of $939,053. The tax levy specified in the budget is $3,497,303, compared to the 2017-18 taxes of $3,449,584. After approving the b...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Downtown Ironwood was jumping with activity during the middle of the day Wednesday as 1,400 area school kids arrived in school buses to take in a show inside and out of the Ironwood Theatre. COLE's Foundation is marking its 10th anniversary and invited area schools to attend the show dedicated to the message "giving back." There were two shows - one in late morning, the other early afternoon - filling the theater with 700 kids twice....
IRONWOOD - Winners in the current art exhibit at the Ironwood Downtown Arts Place have been announced. Best of Show was won by artist Tonya Sell, for "Looking Up," a work that won a $500 award. DAP's exhibition is named "A Touch of Magenta," inspired by the color of "universal harmony." "All artists were given the opportunity to express this idea in whatever way they wanted to. Artists were able to submit paintings, drawings, original printmaking, sculptures, fiber, metal, wood and mixed...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER - REQUIESCAIT IN PACE (rest in peace) is engraved in Latin on the bottom of a prominent tombstone in Bessemer's Hillcrest Cemetery, where the city's first recognized war hero lies. Corp. Peter Gedda, of the U.S. Army's Fourth Infantry Division, 39th Infantry Regiment, Company D, died 100 years ago today in France in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. It turned out to be an extended battle which helped bring an end to World War I for France and the...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Off-road vehicle drivers lined up in Wakefield Saturday for the 5th annual Color Ride for Veterans, which was sponsored by the Western U.P. Trail Advocates. "You don't have to be a vet," said organizer Jim Spencer of the small fleet departing from VFW Post 9084. "It just started as a fun thing. A lot of people like to go on these rides, but they don't know where to go, so they just follow along." Spencer said he planned to lead the caravan to...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — While the numbers still aren’t solid enough to make any decisions, the uncertainty surrounding the campground at Saxon Harbor continued to be the primary topic of discussion at Monday’s Iron County Board of Supervisors meeting. “We don’t have to make a decision on what we’re going to do tonight, because we all know we’re not going to build a campground this year anyway,” said Iron County Forestry and Parks Administrator Eric Peterson. He explained there are still too many details that need...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield city council voted Monday in favor of a resolution supporting the continued operation of Marenisco's Ojibway Correctional Facility as "a housing unit for Upper Peninsula prison inmates." The unanimous vote for Resolution No. 245 took place with no discussion after mayor John Granato read aloud its eight parts to an audience-filled room. Michigan's Department of Corrections announced in August its plans to close OCF as of Dec. 1, b...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — Ontonagon County Road Commission Engineer Mike Maloney said there are no projects in Ontonagon County held up because of the work stoppage experienced throughout Michigan. Officials of the Michigan County Road Association said more than 150 state and local projects have been halted by the impasse. The Jackson Creek bridge project in Gogebic County is one of those. CRA and its 83 agency members are not a party to the negotiations, although many agencies have projects that could enter winter u...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Tourism Council has agreed to increase its potential contribution to a trail project to better the odds of obtaining total funding of $400,000. The Ironwood City Commission on Monday learned the ITC is willing to provide $66,000 for the local match, increasing its original total by $10,000. Ironwood Community Development Director Tom Bergman said that will mean 10 more points on project application scoring toward a $320,000 Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund g...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Erwin Township Hall was the site of a "Crazy for Cranberries" bake sale and pie social Saturday, and it certainly lived up to its name. Two long tables were filled with cranberry delights in any conceivable form. Purists could choose from pie, bars, cookies, cakes and jelly, all featuring cranberries as the featured ingredient. Adventurists seeking a little fusion also could find cranberry walnut bread, cranberry banana muffins, cranberry...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - Despite a fall chill in the air, Saturday's Iron Belle Trail Bridges and Bluffs half marathon and 2-mile run/walk drew enthusiastic participants to the starting point on Bessemer's Mary Street. Race director Phil Strong had to stay home due to illness, but Jonathon Rulseh said, "all the volunteers" joined forces to replace him. "We all pulled it together," he said gamely of the second annual event, which was a fundraiser for the Friends of the...
ODANAH, Wis. — The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians will receive a $710,599 Justice Systems and Alcohol and Substance Abuse grant. Scott C. Blader, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, joined the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday in announcing more than $113 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women, and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians will r...
IRONWOOD - Sometimes weather forecasters hit the nail right on the head. The National Weather Service predicted 1.7 inches of rain for Ironwood for Thursday and Friday morning and 1.73 inches fell for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. Friday at the wastewater treatment plant on the Montreal River, off Cloverland Drive. That set a 117-year record for Ironwood for Sept. 21. The monthly rainfall total stands at 3.23 inches, compared to the long-average of 2.7 inches through Sept. 21. The highest total...
HURLEY - The Hurley School Board's decision Monday to evaluate the school district's Midget mascot has created a social media firestorm. The initial reaction seems to be mostly opposed to changing the name. The school board voted to form a committee and "engage in a transparent process to evaluate the mascot," a statement released Thursday by district administrator Chris Patritto noted. Although school board president Joe Simonich, of Kimball, said the district had been threatened in the past...
Editor’s Note: The following story is the second of a three-part series. Part 1, published on Friday, provided an overview of the status of an unnamed, multi-use trail connecting Wakefield to Marenisco. WAKEFIELD — The Western Upper Peninusla Trail Association operated for only five years, between 2012 and 2017, but its members are proud of what they accomplished during that time. According to Ross and Kim Kolesar, of Wakefield, who served, respectively, as WUPTA’s president and secretary, “informal” work already had been occurring for about...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - An Ironwood man was convicted of three felonies in Gogebic County Circuit Court Thursday - including the two most serious charges he faced - while being found not guilty of a fourth. The jury deliberated for a little over one hour before finding Michael David Zupan, 34, guilty of two counts of receiving and concealing stolen firearms and one count of possessing a firearm while committing a felony. He was found not guilty of tampering...
