Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS – Large crowds were in attendance over the three-day 14th annual Porcupine Mountains Music Festival. The bottom of the mountain was a sea of lawn chairs and awnings as hundreds of music lovers enjoyed a variety of music. Merchandise from all the bands was available for purchase and workshops were held in the chalet. On Friday The Barefoot Movement held a writing and arranging songs workshop and Saturday Ryan Peterson held a l...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] GILE, Wis. - For the eighth year, softball teams gathered at Gotta's field in Gile to compete and raise money for a good cause as the ball field off Wisconsin 77 played host to the annual Danny B. Suicide Awareness Jack and Jill Softball Tournament. "It's going great, we've got the championship game coming up - two former champions going at it here. Fun teams, everyone is having a great time," said organizer Bryan Sokolowski. The team sponsored by...
IRONWOOD — The 2.77 inches of rain that fell for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. Saturday in Ironwood set a 117-year record for Aug. 25. The National Weather Service office in Marquette has records for Ironwood dating to 1901. The rain after a dry spell brought the August rainfall total for Ironwood to 4.26 inches, compared to the long-term average of 2.71 inches through Aug. 25. The precipitation total for the year is 26.71 inches, compared to the average of 21.42. Weather readings are taken at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Plant on t...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] IRONWOOD - More than 200 concerned citizens rallied in Ironwood Friday night in the parking lot across from Cloverland Cinemas to protest the Dec. 1 closing of the Ojibway Correctional Facility in Marenisco. Since the Aug. 14 announcement by the Michigan Department of Corrections, many people in the western U.P. have been trying to find a way to ward off the closure and save 200 local jobs. Prior to the announcement a group of people from local governm...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Stroll along one of Wakefield's Split Rock Trails, and you're bound to find flowers, birds, wild apples and sentries of surrounding trees, but be careful not to step on jay-walking toads. In short, it's a Zen experience - unless what you're seeking is a mountain bike thrill, in which case you better keep your eyes open to hold your ground on curving trails that ascend and descend with the added challenge of bridges and bluffs. It's your choice...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Orientations for freshmen and transfer students at Gogebic Community College were held Wednesday and Thursday. The sessions provide students with opportunities to explore their goals and students are required to participate in specified orientation activities. More than 200 students participated in orientation over the two days, where they learned about the college and its resources and gained an understanding of GCC's policies, regulations...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - Wisconsin State Broadband Director Angie Dickison visited Hurley Thursday to recognize Iron County as a "telecommuter forward community." The telecommuter-forward designation is the latest chapter in the state's effort to expand high-speed internet access throughout the state, Dickison said. "This provides communities another tool in their economic development tool kit; in terms of collaborating with other communities, collaborating with bu...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] Many Wisconsin counties, including a few in the north, dipped under 3 percent unemployment for July, according to the latest figures from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Oneida County stood at 2.9 percent for July, compared to 3.4 percent in June, and it improved from 40th to 26th in the state. Iron County worsened from 5.1 percent in June to 5.2 percent in July and ranked 71st among the state’s 72 counties, trailed only by Menominee County at 7.7 percent. Price County improved f...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER - It appears the Ojibway Correctional Facility in Marenisco won't go down without a fight. Around 100 people, including many Ojibway employees and their families, appeared at a Gogebic County Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday to discuss the planned Dec. 1 closing of the facility, even though it wasn't on the agenda. Joining them was Ed McBroom, the former state representative who is seeking the state Senate seat held by Tom Casperson,...
WAKEFIELD - The $3.9 million Michigan Department of Transportation project to remove and replace the M-28 bridge over Jackson Creek, east of Wakefield, is running behind schedule. The planned reopening of the bridge to traffic will be delayed by up to five weeks. The detour in place was set to be lifted Sept. 8, but the bridge is now expected to be reopened to traffic on Oct. 12. Eastbound and westbound M-28 remains closed at the bridge. Access is being maintained to businesses and residences...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — A Bessemer woman will have one more chance to take a plea deal and avoid a trial on child abuse charges after her final pre-trial hearing in Gogebic County Circuit Court was adjourned Wednesday. Kayla Marie Brown, 26, is charged with one count of first degree child abuse, two counts of second degree child abuse and one count of unlawful imprisonment. All four counts are felonies, with first degree child abuse carrying a potential maximum sentence of up to life in prison. With both s...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Ironwood's Hiawatha statue is expected to get its much-needed repairs next summer, after the Ironwood Chamber of Commerce's board approved sending the first payment for the project Tuesday. "The board approved making a down payment of 50 percent that will reserve us our time," chamber executive director Michael Meyer said. While the chamber is still raising funds to pay for the repairs, Meyer said they didn't want to wait until all the...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — The two men who were convicted of murdering Lac du Flambeau tribal member Wayne Valliere Jr. have indicated they intend to appeal the Iron County Court decision. A 12-person Iron County jury deliberated about an hour and a half on Aug. 13 before finding Joseph Lussier, 27, and Richard Allen, 28, guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in the Dec. 22 shooting death. Iron County Judge Patrick Madden then sentenced the two to life in prison without parole, although t...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — Pilot Dan Sullivan and several residents interested in the Ontonagon County Airport urged the Ontonagon County Board to apply for a grant to extend the runway of the local airport to 5,000 feet. He asked the board to apply for a recent government supplemental which included up to 1 billion dollars available to rural airports. He said a 5,000 feet runway is standard for general aviation. Sullivan claimed the grant funds are available to airports like Ontonagon with no local match. Sullivan e...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Area Schools board of education approved a series of personnel changes Monday, including hiring a new dean of students. Dan Martinson will replace Dan Niemi as the district’s dean of students, after Niemi took a job as principal in Bessemer. “We’re excited to hire Dan Martinson as the new dean of students of Ironwood Area Schools. He brings us experience helping students learn from mistakes and fits well with our mission to help students learn and grow the ‘Wright Way,’” Sup...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - When the Michigan Department of Corrections announced last week it will close Ojibway Correctional Facility by Dec. 1, it provoked ongoing protest via demonstration, petitions, signs along U.S. 2, and a whole lot of informal ire on the part of local citizens. No such objection occurred, however, at Monday's regular meeting of the Wakefield-Marenisco Board of Education. "Despite the bad news on the prison, I'm optimistic," said superintendent...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] BERGLAND - One of the rooms at the Bergland-Matchwood Historical Society Museum in Bergland is entirely dedicated to the Bergland School. There are a variety of displays in the "school room," such as class composites, sports uniforms, trophies and more. The Bergland school district operated for 80 years, from 1904 through 1984. Class composite photos from 1929 through 1984 line the wall of the room. Although the school district began in 1904, there...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood Historic Theatre was full of fever Saturday night, Saturday Night Fever to be exact, when the Las Vegas-based, Bee Gees Gold Tribute hit the stage. The group featured John Acosta as Barry Gibbs, Daryll Borges (Randy Gibbs) and Jeff Celentano (Maurice Gibbs). If someone closed their eyes they would swear the actual Bee Gees were in the house. The trio recreated the three part harmonious sounds of the legendary Bee Gees to perfect...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - The Ontonagon Airport, Schuster Field, was the scene of a simulated rescue mission as part of Operation Northern Strike 2018 hosted by the Combined Readiness Training Center in Grayling last week. The largest National Guard training in the U.S. came back to northern Michigan with Operation Northern Strike at Camp Grayline and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center. They were there to train over 6,000 members of the military from all over the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — With its lakes and trails, Mercer is a popular destination for those visiting Iron County and Wisconsin’s Northwoods. The town is now looking to those visitors to help fund necessary road repairs, as the town board recently passed a Premier Resort Area Tax on certain purchases. “This is the best way for tourists to share in the cost of maintaining town roads,” Town Chairman John Sendra told the Daily Globe. “In lieu of a PRAT tax, real estate taxpayers would still have to pay for r...
BESSEMER - Matthew James LaPlant, 37, of Bessemer, will learn his fate at his sentencing next month after a jury found him guilty of three felonies in his child abuse trial in Gogebic County Circuit Court. The jury deliberated for the better part of three hours Friday before finding LaPlant guilty of two counts of second- degree child abuse and one count of unlawful imprisonment. While LaPlant was also charged with first-degree child abuse, Gogebic County Circuit Judge Michael Pope told jurors t...
State Rep. Scott Dianda said he has sent a letter to Gov. Rick Snyder asking that the Ojibway Correctional Facility in Marenisco remain open. The state this week said it would close Ojibway on Dec. 1. On Friday Dianda, D-Calumet, sent a letter to Snyder asking him to stay his decision and reconsider the future of the facility because of the hardship the closure will cause for communities, workers and their families. Dianda issued the following statement: “My western U.P. communities and constituents directly affected by the closure of O...
IRONWOOD - Marlene Zaleski of Bessemer was named the Homemaker of the Year at the Gogebic County Fair last weekend. Zaleski entered 98 exhibits in baking, canning, flowers, sewing, knitting, garden vegetables, photography and antiques, according to Bonnie Maki, coordinator of the annual award. Of those exhibits, Zaleski earned 61 first and second ribbons, and she received a grand championship ribbon for her canned beets. "They were just beautiful," said Maki. Zaleski said she was thrilled with...
