Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 4066 - 4090 of 9883
MARENISCO - The Ojibway Correctional Facility in Marenisco Township will close Dec. 1, the Michigan Department of Corrections said Tuesday. The facility has 203 employees and is one of the biggest employers in Gogebic County. Gogebic County Board of Commissioners Chair George Peterson, of Watersmeet, said Tuesday the news came as quite a blow. "It's devastating to our county to lose those jobs - 200 jobs plus the related service industry. It's going to trickle out to our school districts." He sa...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - Allegations of being locked in a dog cage, being physically beaten and made to taste soiled underwear were the focus of testimony as the prosecution began its case in Gogebic County Circuit Court Tuesday against a Bessemer man facing child abuse charges. Matthew James LaPlant, 31, 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...
HURLEY — An 81-year-old Kimball, Wis., man who is charged with making a terroristic threat appeared in Iron County Court Monday morning. Robert “Barrel Bob” Gollubske was advised to contact the public defender’s office for legal representation. Bond was continued at $10,000, with a few new conditions added, according to automated court records. Gollubske is alleged to have told the clerk in the waiting area at the Marshfield Clinic in Mercer, “I can blow this place up and get away with it,” causing fear among employees at the clinic. He...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — Two men who were convicted Monday afternoon of the execution-style killing of Lac du Flambeau tribal member Wayne Valliere Jr. were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A 12-person Iron County jury deliberated for about an hour and a half before finding Joseph Lussier, 27, and Richard Allen, 28, guilty of murder with the use of a gun and hiding a corpse in the Dec. 22 shooting death in a remote area on Swamp Creek Road near Mercer. Iron County Judge Patrick Madden t...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Shortly after 8:00 a.m. Monday a truck traveling through the intersection of U.S. 2 and M-28 in Wakefield destroyed one of the traffic signals. The lowboy's boom was too high and as the driver proceeded through the crossroad his boom smashed the light to pieces. Wakefield city worker Dave Semenak, who happened to be in the vicinity, quickly sprang into action picking up pieces of debris. He also immediately got a hold of the Michigan...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — Ironwood Township voters will be asked to renew a millage used to fund road repairs in the next election, after the township board of trustees approved putting the measure on the November ballot Monday. The measure — which was originally passed four years ago — seeks to continuing using one mill township voters pay, “solely for the purpose of maintaining township roads,” according to the resolution the board passed. “No one’s taxes would go up, they would just stay the same...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] SHERMAN, Wis. - The 39th annual corn roast of the Sherman-Springstead Volunteer Fire Department had amazing community support Saturday, with a family-friendly crowd packing the Sherman Town Hall pavilion, as well as a large tent behind it and several other umbrella tables. Springstead (rhymes with "head") is an unincorporated community in the town of Sherman in Iron County's deep south. The 2000 census listed 336 residents in Sherman, and they all...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] KIMBALL - News of the good life on the Penokee Iron Range brought Finnish immigrants here as early as 1887. By 1900, native born Finns were the largest ethnic group seeking a new life on the Range. Not only were there many Finns in the area but a smaller group of Italians as well. Descendants of those early settlers gathered together on Sunday when the National Finnish American Festival invited the Gogebic and Iron County Paisano Club to their annual...
BESSEMER — The Marenisco man who led officers on a high-speed chase on a motorcycle was arraigned in Gogebic County Court Friday. John Wesley Gunderman Jr., 52, is charged with operating while intoxicated, attempted fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, refusal of a breath test, expired registration, no insurance and three counts of resisting and obstructing officers. His Gogebic County District Court preliminary exam is scheduled for Aug. 29. Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department deputies estimated his motorcycle hit speeds up to 161 mph Thu...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — Jurors in the Iron County murder trial of Richard Allen and Joseph Lussier will return Monday morning to receive instructions and listen to closing statements before issuing a final verdict. After five days of the trial, Iron County Judge Patrick Madden excused the 14-person jury for the weekend at 2 p.m. Friday after the defense called only one witness. Madden said he wouldn’t hold the jury through a late Friday night session. The state’s case against the two men charged with the execu...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] PAULDING - An estimated 250-300 youngsters 8 and older have taken advantage of a youth shooting program at the Sucker Creek Range in Paulding over the past 21 years. Although this year's class has concluded, it's never too late to think ahead for next year. In 1997, a group of NRA member volunteers had the idea to teach area youth firearms safety and build a shooting range. The range is located at 18860 Sleepy Hollow Road, 6 miles west of US 45, in...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] With Michigan’s primary completed, attention now shifts across the Montreal River to Iron County, where voters will get their chance to vote in Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary. While several parties are holding their primaries on the same day, Wisconsin voters can only participate in a single party’s primary election. This means voters must choose between the Republican or Democratic contests, or vote in a third-party primary. On the Republican ballot, Gov. Scott Walker is facing a primary chall...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - The rides were lit up, the food stands were open and the fairgrounds were filled with visitors Thursday as the Gogebic County Fair kicked off for another year. By the evening the exposition building and animals barns had begun to fill up as people dropped off their exhibits and animal entries for the weekend. Everything from cows and horses to vegetables and flowers are on display and competing in their respective categories over the...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] BESSEMER - At Thursday's meeting of the Bessemer Downtown Development Authority, the group discussed ways to dress up the downtown area for winter. Suggestions included creating a canopy of lights across Sophie Street, putting up ground displays in the Ethnic Commons, and holding a Christmas decorating light contest. Also under discussion was putting a dark border on the Welcome signs entering town to make them pop out from the white background....
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — The fourth day of the murder trial against two Lac du Flambeau, Wis., tribal members ended with emotional testimony of the brother of one of the defendants. When James Lussier, 19, of Woodruff, took the stand Thursday, he and many of the people in the packed courtroom audience began weeping. Lussier gave his account of what happened on Dec. 22, the day Wayne Valliere Jr., 25, of Lac du Flambeau, was murdered in a remote area near Mercer. Joseph Lussier, 26, and Richard F.A. Allen, 27, are o...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] An estimated 2 million Michiganders cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, a new record for a Michigan August primary. Gogebic County saw 25.6 percent of voters participate in the election, while 30 percent of registered Ontonagon voters cast ballots in that county. Gogebic County participation was up from past August primaries, according to Gogebic County Clerk Gerry Pelissero. He said the 2016 election that featured all county and township offices had a 22 percent turnout, while the 2014 race t...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY - One of the five men charged with murdering a Lac du Flambeau, Wis., man near Mercer just before Christmas described Wednesday how the victim was executed. Curtis Wolfe, 26, testified in the trial against Joseph Lussier, 26, and Richard F.A. Allen, 27. All three are tribal members from Lac du Flambeau. Wolfe said Wayne Valliere Jr. was beaten and shot to death on a desolate road on Dec. 22. Valliere was reported missing when he didn't show up...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Upon entering the Exhibition Building at the Gogebic County Fairgrounds, fair-goers will be treated to a vintage display of 1800s farm equipment, complete with authentically dressed mannequins demonstrating how the equipment was put to use. Kathy Bednar-Ghiardi said she "grew up with the fair" as her father, Andrew F. Bednar, was Gogebic County Extension director for 30 years, 1944-1974. She said she has inherited her dad's love for the...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Area Schools will be able to purchase new buses and make necessary upgrades to the Luther L. Wright K-12 School after voters within the district’s boundaries voted 59 percent to 41 percent to approve a five-year millage in Tuesday’s election. “On behalf of the staff, students and families of the Ironwood Area Schools, I would like to thank the community for supporting our school by passing this important bond proposal,” Ironwood Superintendent Travis Powell said Tuesday n...
IRONWOOD - Jim Byrns defeated Paul Grbavcich 131-107 in Tuesday's primary for the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners District 3 seat. The two Ironwood men were both running as Democrats. Since no Republicans were on the ballot, Byrns will face no opposition on the ballot in the Nov. 6 general election for the two-year term. It was the only contested race among candidates for the seven Gogebic County Board of Commissioners seats in Tuesday's primary election. All of District 3 is in Ironwood....
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY - The murder trial of two Lac du Flambeau tribal members recessed Tuesday after defense attorneys attempted to poke holes in an alleged jailhouse confession. Emanuel Reyes testified that Joseph D. Lussier, 26, had confessed to shooting Wayne M. Valliere Jr. on Dec. 22. Also charged in the execution-type shooting and hiding the corpse near Mercer is Richard F.A. Allen, 27. "He said he shot him in the face and blood came out like a faucet," Reyes...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — A key witness in the trial of two Lac du Flambeau men who are charged in the execution-style shooting of a fellow tribal member testified Monday one of them confessed to the crime. Clint Eades Jr. testified Richard F.A. Allen, 27, said he and Joseph D. Lussier, 26, shot and killed Wayne M. Valliere Jr. on Dec. 22. Allen and Lussier are charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree homicide and hiding a corpse in the death of Valliere. It was the opening day of their Iron County trial. Eades,...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] Gogebic County voters are casting ballots in Michigan's August primary today, setting the stage for November's general election. The ballot features a number of national, state and local races; as well as a variety of millage measures. For the partisan section, voters must confine their votes to a single party. They can vote in the non-partisan and proposal sections regardless of party choice. The Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties all...
