Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — The state and Upper Peninsula directors of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development came to the Gogebic Range this week to promote the many department programs that could potentially benefit locals. “We always like to say we are the only federal agency that can literally build a community from the ground up,” joked Donald Gerrie, the area director overseeing operations in the Upper Peninsula. “We have water and waste and we go all the way to the air, and everything in betw...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] WAKEFIELD — Barring an unforeseen delay, the reopening of M-28 over Jackson Creek this weekend remains on track. The road is scheduled to be reopened Saturday for the first time in roughly five months while the bridge over Jackson Creek was replaced. While some paving and guardrail work remains, Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Dan Weingarten said traffic should be able to use the bridge some time this weekend. “Depending on the weather, the (Saturday) date might slip to Sunday, Oct...
BESSEMER - Bessemer biology students have been netting Bluff Valley Pond in Bessemer annually since 2015. The collaborative event involves 10th grade students in biology teacher David Rowe's classes, Mark Mylchreest of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and aquatic lab manager and Bessemer alumnus Roger Greil. "When the project started, no one even knew if there were fish in the pond. Now four years later, students have captured, measured, released and tagged fish in a multi-year...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] The federal Essential Air Service program that subsidizes passenger service at the Gogebic-Iron Airport in Ironwood Township has been extended for five years. The government program currently pays a subsidy for Air Choice One to operate out of Ironwood. Air Choice One, which has been offering passenger flights at the airport for four years, is currently under a three-year EAS agreement. Commercial air providers are selected for EAS through bidding processes and passenger boardings have increased here...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] BESSEMER TOWNSHIP - A half dozen Gogebic Community College forestry students and a few full and part time instructors gathered Tuesday morning to see what they could get out of one of the newest and hottest technology gizmos - a drone. In an outdoor lab setting, the plan was to use the drone's photographic capabilities to create an arial map of some property in southern Bessemer Township. Todd Gibbon, a civil engineer from Ashland, Wis., and a...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — The lease agreement approved Monday by the Ironwood City Commission for students from the Sleight School is temporary while arrangements are being made to house the students in the Luther L. Wright School. Students from the Community Schools of Gogebic County Alternative Education Program are going to class in the Ironwood Memorial Building because of an electrical problem at the Sleight School. The city will be paid $525 per month for the 1,000 square feet by the Ironwood Area Schools D...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — Among the items township voters will decide in the Nov. 6 election will be a ballot measure asking for the renewal of the township’s road millage. The measure on the back of the ballot asks voters to approve 1 mill from 2019-2023 dedicated solely to maintaining township roads. One mill translates to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value. “(the millage) provides funds that are matched by the county for road projects. The great thing about this is it provides a floor of fundi...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — As a precautionary measure, the city of Ironwood’s Mt. Zion water tank has been shut down for inspection. City manager Scott Erickson told the city commission on Monday the move is necessary because three locks were found to be removed from the tank. Erickson said the tank will be checked for tampering and it will need to emptied over a few days. He said it’s hoped there will be no evidence of tampering with the water supply. City officials are taking the utmost precaution. Erickson said...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The Ironwood Township Board of Trustees is hoping to improve security in the township offices, passing a resolution Monday to seek a grant for security cameras in the building. “(The cameras provide) security for both our people, as well as for the township resources. It also helps us prevent vandalism,” Boyd said after the meeting. “The opportunity is there so we want to take advantage of it.” The township is seeking a $862 grant through its insurance company, Boyd said, to...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield city council voted Monday to change the date of a public hearing needed in order to declare tax-exempt status for land that once held the Wakefield Memorial Building. At their previous meeting on Oct. 8, council members had voted to schedule the hearing in conjunction with their Nov. 12 meeting, but on Monday they voted to rescind that decision and instead schedule the hearing for Nov. 26. City manager Richard Brackney said the delay was requested by city attorney Ray O’Dea, who...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD - Members of the Wolverine Trails ski club gathered with guests Sunday at their annual Land Owner Appreciation Day, held in the club chalet in North Ironwood. The group enjoyed fellowship, along with grilled picnic meats, potluck dishes, dessert and coffee. As an added attraction, food educator Deb Leonard, from the University of Wisconsin Extension, also brought a blender bike. The bike includes a blender that works via the biker's foot power,...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] IRONWOOD - Bobbi Hautala was hammering nails into signs she made and brought her own pallets to nail the signs into. The signs were put up Sunday afternoon in advance of the annual United Way fundraising dinner held at the Breakwater Restaurant. Hautala worked to get donations and funds for the event and was hustling to bring in bags of baked goods as well as installing signage. She was working as part of the committee that organizes this event. She was...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — The snow and freezing rain that blanketed the Gogebic Range on Saturday morning was part of a pattern of a weather front that blew through the Midwest. At the same time an inch or two of snow was falling here, a mini blizzard had covered the field in Madison around noon for the Badgers-Illinois football game and the Michigan-Michigan State contest had to be delayed for more than an hour because of lightning. Strong winds in excess of 30 mph that whipped through the Range made the 3...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] BESSEMER — Besides a full slate of federal, state, county and school board officials, Bessemer voters will see three proposals written by city officials on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. The first two are proposed amendments to the city charter, while the third proposal asks the voters to weigh in on the sale of three lots in the industrial park. Proposal 1 deals with eligibility for holding a city elective office. It is proposed to require those running for a city position to have been a r...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - Cheryl Taivalmaa, of Bessemer, was living in Phoenix when she learned her mother had cancer in 1985. It changed everything. "I quit my job and came home because I wanted to be close," she said, explaining that she took jobs in Ishpeming first and then in Marshfield, Wis., so it would be easier to drive here to provide support. Taivalmaa said the experience of her mother, Helmi Taivalmaa, went as follows: -She realized she had a lump in her...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] Both Gov. Scott Walker and challenger Tony Evers are pledging to restore two-thirds funding of public school costs. Republican Walker and Evers, a Democrat who is State Superintendent of Schools, have been sparring this week on many issues. Increasing funding to two-thirds would be a huge development for area school districts and the taxpayers who support them. The Hurley School Board will act Monday on a budget of $8,167,011 for 2018-’19, supported by a tax levy of $3,215,135. State aid for Hurley t...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] IRONWOOD - As he was bagging groceries at one of the cash registers at Ironwood Super One, Lt. Don Horn said he has big goals for the annual Harvest Food Drive put on by the Michigan State Patrol's Wakefield post. "We want to raise over 30,000 pounds of food," he said. The annual drive is a statewide effort by State Patrol posts, and the post's drive has been one of the most successful. "Our area has led the state the last five years," Horn said. Last...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD - The David G. Lindquist Center at Gogebic Community College in Ironwood was milling with people Thursday evening as the GCC Foundation held its 23rd annual recognition banquet. The event began with a reception in the first-floor student lounge, followed by dinner and a program in the second-floor conference center. Honored were Judge Joel Massie, Class of 1974; Rob Pairolero, O.D., Class of 1997, and Outstanding Staff Member Don Pelkola. "Back...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — Thursday night’s informational meeting on the one-mill November Gogebic County ambulance proposal was short on participants, but long on participation. Five members of the public attended the session at the Memorial Building, listening to ambulance committee members Jim Lorenson and Jim Loeper. Former ambulance employee Ken Jacobson said the Gogebic Range has been fortunate over the years to have advanced life support coverage, rather than just a basic ambulance service. Lorenson rep...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - With fall here on the Gogebic Range, the first year of the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District's agriculture program wrapped up recently. Two Bessemer students spent much of the summer working on Taiga Farm in Ironwood Township, participating in a "totally unique learning opportunity for students," according to Abbey Palmer. Palmer, the education coordinator at the Michigan State University Upper Peninsula Research...
