Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 3898 - 3922 of 9848
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - While the Ironwood Area Schools hadn't planned on using the George N. Sleight School after this year, district officials didn't think they'd need a plan for life after Sleight so soon. However, the recent discovery of electrical issues has forced the district to move its timeline for closing the building forward, Superintendent Travis Powell said. "This was an unexpected change - the closing of Sleight this suddenly - we thought we would...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - Mercer Town Chairman John Sendra was all smiles standing in the middle of a brand new bridge over the Turtle River on Cramer Lake Road Tuesday morning. The bridge was a longtime coming with many hurdles put in front of its progress, but many people stepped up to help, he told a group of 17 government and business leaders, as well as other community members who joined for a ribbon cutting. "It just shows you when a community works toge...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] UPSON, Wis. — Octoberfest is coming to Whitecap Mountain on Saturday with events planned for young and old alike. Whitecap manager David Dziuban said the events will begin at 10 a.m. with a keg-tapping. There will be a bouncy house for the kids, face painting, a bean bag toss and a scavenger hunt. The fun, games, food and refreshments will run until 11 p.m., with Lake Effect performing music from 7 to 11 p.m. Fall colors are peaking across the Gogebic Range and the scenery at Whitecap on Tuesday was sp...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — It looks like it may take some getting out and pounding the pavement to decide the number of lanes on U.S. 2 through Bessemer after state officials attended Monday’s meeting to answer the Bessemer City Council’s questions. “We’re not trying to make your job difficult, and we’re trying to come up with a workable solution that’s going to work for Bessemer for (many years),” councilman Terry Kryshak said. “So I think it’s worth the investment of ‘boots on the ground’ as they say a...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER — The 2018-19 budget adopted by the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday sets salaries for board members and county officials. The chairman of the county board receives a base salary of $445 per month and the finance committee chair is paid $395 per month. The other five commissioners receive $320 per month. Commissioners are paid $35 for each separate standing committee meeting they attend. An out-of-county meeting or conference qualifies a board member for a $45 payment. C...
MERCER, Wis. - The Mercer and Butternut schools celebrated Pioneer homecoming week at their respective schools during the week. On Friday, the Butternut students came to spend the day in Mercer enjoying an afternoon of competitive homecoming festivities and games in the Mercer gymnasium. The homecoming dance took place at the Great Northern Motel in their Great Room following the football game on Saturday evening. The grand march was held at 7:30 p.m. and the crowning of the kings and queens f...
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...
