Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer School Board voted March 20 to approve the list of 2024 graduates, and heard a brief update regarding the electric buses that the district is expecting to introduce in the 2024 school year. Kassi Huotari, the district’s business manager, said that the board has officially paid for the buses. “We did pay for the electric buses, that cost us $10,000. They are completed and built now, but we are waiting to take them until after our charger is installed, so sometime during the summe...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] MARENISCO TOWNSHIP — Members of the Marenisco Township Board of Trustees will meet on Friday evening to adopt their proposed $1.1 million budget for 2024-2025. According to Township Supervisor Bruce Mahler, a related public hearing on Monday evening drew no opposition. The public hearing was part of a regular board meeting. In a Tuesday phone call, Mahler underscored the effect that inflation has had on the budget for the fiscal year starting on April 1. “We found especially in this last year that inf...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Globe’s editorial and advertising staffs were recently honored with awards from the Michigan Press Association and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Sports Editor Jason Juno earned awards for both news and sports writing, as well as sports photography. A story Juno wrote about a successful effort to find a missing boy in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park on May 11, 2023, earned first place in the MPA’s Spot News Story category. Entitled “Safe and Sound,” the same story too...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] Tamarack Health Ashland Medical Center is performing a community survey in Iron County to determine the public’s health-related concerns in the community. The survey is aimed at residents of Iron, Ashland and Bayfield counties. “This is something we do every three years with the area health departments,” said Tamarack Health spokesperson Abby Miller. “We are a critical access hospital, so it is a requirement for us as a hospital to do this, but really it is just a good way for us to tap into what our com...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Members of the Wakefield City Council voted on Monday evening to approve the application for two grants from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. After being rejected on its first try last year, the city will reapply for an MDNR Trust Fund Grant, in hopes of financing a now smaller, proposed expansion of the Eddy Park Campground next to Sunday Lake. The city also will apply for an MDNR Passport Grant, in hopes of creating a dog park...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY — Members of the Iron County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday evening to approve Phase 1 recommendations for the 2024 budget. They also voted to establish a new capital fund that will be geared toward the ongoing goal of greater fiscal responsibility. Board Member Kurt Wolff, who has been leading the push for budgetary reform, summarized the results of Phase 1 that he had outlined in greater detail in a recent Finance Committee meeting. He said that, even after meeting with many department h...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — Members of the Bessemer City Council voted to approve the hiring of an East Lansing company to serve as advisor in relation to the city’s Phase 3 project on the pending new Bluff Reservoir. The city agreed to pay Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors LLC its requested fee of $18,600, specifically to address issues in relation to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund’s bond/loan process. Company Director Andy Campbell outlined Baker Tilly’s perceived role in a March 11 letter to city represe...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD - Local musicians put the fun in fundraising Saturday night as they performed in "HIT Lights Up," an event designed to help in financing ongoing costs at the Historic Ironwood Theatre. The 2-hour show featured 14 performers and 20 songs, ranging from rock to pop to country, with a consistent dose of high spirits among performers and the audience. A core band and vocal group provided the base of the entertainment, and they warmed up the crowd with...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — Members of the Gogebic County Fair Board began Monday evening to work toward a confirmed county fair for 2024. The action was the result of a vote last week by the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners to approve the Fair Board’s proposal to hold this year’s fair at the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center in Ironwood. The county board also allotted its standard $17,500 toward fair expenses. Official approval by Civic Center officials awaits, but Fair Board member Linda Nelson said they so far have ex...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — Gogebic County Sheriff Ross Solberg announced last week his plans to retire from his position as of the end of this year. “It’s not that I don’t like my job; I just feel it’s time,” said Solberg during the public comment session of a meeting of the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners. Solberg said his current term is up as of the Nov. 5 election, and he will not run for office. He added that he will endorse Undersheriff Jorge Cruz as his successor. Cruz confirmed after the meeting that he int...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — After slightly more than four months on the job, Bessemer City Manager Christopher Frazer has resigned. Clerk/Treasurer Mandy Lake confirmed by phone on Monday that Frazer had submitted a letter of resignation on March 15. The action followed a March 13 special meeting, which consisted mainly of a closed session that included all council members, along with Frazer, Lake and City Attorney Ray O’Dea. After the closed session, the council voted to provide Frazer with the option of resigning wit...
HURLEY — The Hurley School Board voted Monday to request proposals for adding solar power. Dave Carlson of Carlson Electric in Hayward gave a presentation to the board. Superintendent Kevin Genisot told the Globe Tuesday that to move to add solar power will depend on the number of years to recoup the money spent, or return on investment. “We’ve looked at this three times and each time it’s been 15-plus years. They’re saying it might be between 3 to 7 years now,” said Genisot. He said the school’s electric bill is typically $8,000 a month and p...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD - The winter season has been light on snow, but Saturday night's annual banquet for the Gogebic Range Trail Authority drew hundreds of people and thousands of dollars. Held at Ironwood's Aurora Club, the event for the 51-year-old organization resulted with attendees sprawled between two large gathering rooms. The evening began with a cocktail hour, followed by a dinner, awards, raffles and music rounding out the evening. GRTA President Jerry...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted last week to approve a proposal for this year’s county fair to take place at the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center in Ironwood. The vote included the board’s commitment to allot $17,500 toward fair expenses, as it routinely has done for past fairs. The proposal to host the fair at the Civic Center was made by the county Fair Board, which has been searching for a solution to retain this year’s fair ever since the county board voted on Oct. 11 of last year...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY — The Finance Committee of the Iron County Board of Supervisors voted last week to forward an issue regarding the compensation of elected county officials back to the board. The action followed a discussion relating to a Feb. 27 board meeting, during which members voted to approve a resolution regarding the salaries of Interim Clerk Christan Brandt, Treasurer Clara Maki and Register of Deeds Daniel Soine for the next four years. The resolution states that those employees now will receive the s...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Gogebic Community College Board of Trustees finalized a land sale to the city of Ironwood including and surrounding the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center. The civic center has been located on campus for 25 years on land that had been leased to the city. “The civic center has been operating on that property with really no lease since 2007,” said the college’s Vice President of Business Services Chad Lashua. He said city officials are looking for funding to replace the ice making equipment...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — A Wakefield rock quarry remains in limbo after the city’s Planning Commission voted last week to table action on a related site plan until more information is received. City Clerk Sue Ahonen reported the news by phone on Monday. The March 12 vote occurred after a related public hearing regarding a Feb. 13 site plan by Thomas Smiljanich, owner of Smily’s Excavating and Trucking in Wakefield. “At this point, there isn’t any access into the property,” said Ahonen. She added that Smiljanich...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners took action on several issues relating to public safety at the most recent March 13 meeting. Commissioners voted to approve a resolution that authorizes the continuation of a surcharge to fund 911 services. “It will take effect on July 1,” said Heidi DeRosso, the county’s Emergency Services/911 coordinator. DeRosso said that the county’s 911 Committee recommended continuing the same charge that is currently in effect. According to the resolutio...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Area School Board approved Monday the hiring of Range Telecommunications to upgrade the sound system in the John Krznarich Gym for $34,313. The project is expected to be completed before commencement and awards ceremonies this May. “The plan is the first of May he plans to be here doing the work,” said superintendent Travis Powell. “Well before we do the awards banquets, the athletic banquet, any of the stuff that we would do in the gym.” Additionally, the board approved two retir...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — Members of the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted last week to approve a resolution that commits to a multi-county approach to materials management planning. The action followed a report by Commissioner Joseph Bonovetz, who is this county’s representative on the commission for the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region in Hancock. Jerald Wuorenmaa, WUPPDR’s executive director, told county commissioners several months ago of the state-driven movement to upgrade each...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Gogebic County 4-H Knapsack program received a $1,500 donation this past week from Republic Services to go toward purchasing of food for students in need during holiday breaks. Tyler Jacobson, municipal sales manager for the Northern Wisconsin branch of Republic Services presented the donation on their behalf. According to Gogebic County 4-H program coordinator Ashley Dennis, the donation will be able to feed approximately 100 families,...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY — Finance Committee members of the Iron County Board of Supervisors voted last week to refer Phase 1 of the county’s budget reconciliation plan to the full board for approval. The action at the March 14 meeting occurred after committee member Kurt Wolff presented the conclusions of Phase 1 to fellow committee members. “We still have about a million and a quarter budget deficit, so we still have a ways to go,” said Wolff regarding the county’s financial status upon completion of Phase 1, during wh...
