Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 4168 - 4192 of 9862
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] IRONWOOD - Historic Ironwood Theatre was a hive of activity Saturday with two performances of the children's play "Alladin and His Magic Lamp." The play was part of a week-long theatre workshop under the direction of Prairie Fire Children's Theatre, a Minnesota group that sends out 12 sets of directors to prepare and perform plays with young people in workshops throughout the summer. According to theatre manager Bruce Greenhill, Prairie Fire directors and...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] BESSEMER — More than 225 people were treated to an evening of song and dance at the Bessemer VFW Sunday. Providing a variety of entertainment with their “Letters From Home” show were Erinn Diaz and Courtney Groves. In the style of a USO show, they tap danced and sang songs such as “In the Mood,” “Sentimental Journey” and “Boogie, Woogie Bugle Boy.” The duo has been preforming individually since they were both little girls. Diaz and manager husband Nelson Diaz developed “Letters From Home” six year...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] HURLEY — Hurley’s annual Independence Day fireworks suffered a setback Saturday night when one of the fireworks malfunctioned and a portion of the device went off among the crowd of spectators. According to Fireworks Committee President Mike Fontecchio, who was assisting fellow Hurley Fire Department members with the fireworks exhibition, a “cake box” of fireworks malfunctioned. The “cake box” of fireworks has a single fuse, but many fireworks are attached inside it, he said. Usually the box of fireworks...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] WAKEFIELD - For the third year in a row the Kiwanis Club is sponsoring the Sunday Lake Run/Walk which kicks off Wakefield's 4th of July celebration. This is the 41st year of the run/walk. It's been a fundraiser for different groups over the years, but has always been a staple to the morning of the Fourth of July. According to Diane Oliver, race volunteer, the emphasis is family fun. Due to the relatively short distance of 2.8 miles and flat surface,...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] BESSEMER— The city of Bessemer is sporting new banners along US 2, also known as Lead Street through town, and a recent facelift to the welcoming signs on each end of the city. Rob Coleman, city council member, was awarded the bid to repaint the welcome signs. The formerly brown wooden signs are now white and feature not only the huge firecracker for the ongoing Fourth of July celebration, but also the Bessemer bluffs logo and the lettering has been modernized, said City Manager Charly Loper. The s...
HANCOCK — E.coli levels at beaches around the Western Upper Peninsula continue to improve, allowing more beaches to reopen to public use. Bete Grise, Calumet Waterworks, Clark Lake in Watersmeet, Hunters Point and the marina in Copper Harbor, Eagle Harbor, Eagle River, Fort Wilkins State Park, Lake Gogebic State Park, Great Sand Bay, Lake Medora, L’Anse Waterfront, Little Traverse Bay, the Lake Superior side of McLain State Park, Porcupine Mountains State Park, Second Sand Beach and Twin Lakes State Park are now open, the Western U.P. Hea...
By JEAN NORDINE [email protected] IRONWOOD - "Ten Magic Butterflies" was the chosen book for the Carnegie Library's story time Thursday afternoon. What made the event special was its location in the Miners Memorial Heritage Park. Library volunteer Lauren Noren, accompanied by Range Master Gardener Sharlene Shaffer, led a group of 16 children and 10 adults through the winding Sisu Lower Ridge Trail until they arrived at the newly created butterfly garden. Before entertaining the group w...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood City Commission approved a resolution at its meeting Monday to accept a Michigan Department of Natural Resources grant to help the city acquire property for a trail between Norrie Park and the Miners Memorial Heritage Park. The strip of property is a former Canadian National railroad grade. The railroad company still owns about half of the 2-mile stretch and the rest is owned by other private property owners, said Ironwood...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HANCOCK — It’s been almost two weeks since heavy rains caused flooding across parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula; and beaches across the western U.P. are starting to reopen after they were closed due to high E.coli levels from the storms. Twelve recreation locations are listed as open, according to a Western U.P. Health Department health advisory Thursday, including beaches in Gogebic and Ontonagon counties. The twelve locations are: Bete Grise, Calumet Waterworks, Eagle Har...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - A Gile man accused of sexually assaulting a child is going to have to come up with $50,000 to get out of jail after Iron County Judge Patrick Madden set a cash bond in that amount at a hearing Wednesday. Phillip R. Laguna Jr., 68, is charged with two counts of 1st degree child sexual assault-contact with a child under the age of 13, felony intimidation of a victim and physical abuse of a child-intentionally causing physical harm. "Mr. Lagun...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board heard key presentations from Jim Loeper and Jim Lorenson Wednesday evening. Loeper, the county’s emergency management and 911 coordinator, updated the board on damage assessments from mid-June’s rain storms. He’s recorded $244,314 in damages to public property in the county and $100,000 to private property. This clearly puts the county over the $60,000 threshold to be part of the state’s disaster declaration. He said he planned to meet with Federal Emergency...
MARQUETTE — The high levels of E.coli that have closed beaches and lakes throughout the Western Upper Peninsula has impacted another popular body of water, as the Upper Peninsula Power Company announced Wednesday it was closing the Bond Falls Reservoir. An UPPCO spokesman said the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department found high levels of E.coli and/or fecal coliform bacteria in surface water samples taken at the reservoir. “As a result, the WUPHD has closed the Bond Falls Reservoir to all recreational activities until further not...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Charges were filed against a Superior, Wis., man in Iron County Court Tuesday, in connection to a fatal accident in the town of Saxon. Jesse Troy Gasper, 34, is charged with homicide by vehicle-use of a controlled substance, possession of THC-second and subsequent offense, knowingly operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license causing death, operating with a detectable amount of a controlled substance in blood causing injury and possession of drug paraphernalia. THC is the main p...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - At Monday's Wakefield city council meeting, victims of recent storms struggled to control their anger and frustration at dealing with flooded basements after heavy rain during the three-day period of June 15 through 17. As a result, council members voted to create a procedure for future emergencies, although details have not yet been determined. The vote was unanimous, with council member Jim Anderson absent. Residents complaining said storm...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Barbara Roman offered a group of 10 aspiring young artists a look into pointillism at the Carnegie Library in Ironwood Tuesday afternoon. She showed the youngsters examples of the painting technique developed by Frenchman Georges Seurat in the late 19th century. Growing from impressionism, the technique uses little dots of color that when viewed from further away reveal a picture of something grander than a bunch of little dots. The child...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - A couple dozen children and half again as many parents and care givers gathered in the lawn of the Ironwood Carnegie Library Monday afternoon to learn about nature. Enter Bart Kotarba, director of education at the Northwoods Wildlife Center in Minocqua, Wis. He talked to the kids about frogs - their habits, their diet, their lifecycle and needed ecosystem. He also played recordings of frogs and had the kids create their own chorus of...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield city council voted Monday to appoint mayor pro tempore Amy Tarro as a representative to attend meetings of a regional committee that will work to keep Marenisco’s Ojibway Correctional Institute open under a new threat of state closure. The action occurred at the end of a slide presentation by Jean Graham, dean of students at Gogebic Community College in Ironwood. Graham said Ojibway once again is among possible candidates for closure by the Michigan Dept. of Corrections. She sai...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — While the numbers will change as the year goes on, the board of education for the Ironwood Area Schools voted 5-2 to approve the initial budget for the 2018-19 school year. Board members Amanda Sprague and Marilyn Carey voted no, arguing they hadn’t had adequate time to review the document before the vote. Superintendent Tim Kolesar said the numbers in the budget were just projections, in part due to the way the state finances education. “The state makes us have our projected budge...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] KIMBALL, Wis. - The 2018 summer solstice was Thursday, with Little Finland celebrating the occasion Saturday with its annual Juhannus celebration. The day featured a dinner and bonfire; while Gary Schlais, of Mercer, performed polka hits on the accordion. "What could be better than (this)," Little Finland president Ken Hannula said. "We had a nice turn out today, beautiful weather." Juhannus, which Hannula said translates roughly to St. John's Day,...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Santa needed his shorts and T-shirt Sunday at Cold Iron Brewing, as the Gogebic Range Health Foundation held its Christmas in June annual fundraiser. Featuring food, music, raffles and games; the health foundation's event raised funds for a variety of local causes. "(Things) are phenomenal, it's great," foundation executive director Candy Pogliano said. The money will goes toward the Iron County Cares program, Santa's Headquarters and...
HURLEY — When the Iron County Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday, it is expected to approve a disaster declaration for the storms earlier this month. The disaster declaration is for the “extensive road damage and some trees on roadways throughout the county,” caused by the flooding and winds on the morning of June 15, according to a copy of the declaration. The declaration cites the extent of the damage and county’s budgetary restraints as to why the declaration is needed. Iron County was included in Gov. Scott Walker’s state of emergency...
WAKEFIELD - The beach at Sunday Lake is closed until further notice because of potentially high levels of E.coli bacteria. "Please be aware that the Beach at Sunday Lake is closed until further notice," reads a short post on the city of Wakefield's Facebook page. "We received notification from the Western U.P. Health Department stating NO swimming, fishing, or kayaking at this time." An accompanying picture references E.coli and warns against ingesting lake water. According to information on...
