Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 4808 - 4832 of 9848
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Ironwood firefighters responded to a report of a small fire at the Luther L. Wright K-12 School Monday. The fire, reported shortly before 2:30 p.m., was caused by faulty wiring in a drinking fountain in the second floor back hallway. "Ironically, we just had a fire drill about 15 minutes before this happened. So ... all the kids just followed all the procedures and did everything really well. We had the buses here immediately so we could...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield city council on Monday welcomed newly-elected member James Anderson and also voted to appoint John Granato as the new mayor and Amy Tarro as Mayor Pro Tempore. Granato and Tarro, along with council members Kay Wiita and Pat Mann, all remain on the council after being voted in as incumbents in the Nov. 7 election. Anderson was a write-in candidate who filled the vacancy left by Joe DelFavero, whose last meeting with the council...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission on Monday agreed to move ahead with a company’s plan to install a tower on Mt. Zion, but took no action on a second request. GogebicRange.net and Northern Michigan University have requested to install towers for wireless service on Mt. Zion. The city owns the land, but permits would be needed through Ironwood Township. City commission members spoke favorably of a plan by Gogebicrange.net to attach fixed wireless technology to the top of two existing light pol...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] HURLEY - Dorothy Walesewicz and Kyle Anderson were talking about the older upright piano in the Hurley Memorial Building. Kyle works with buying and selling pianos, and he was buying the old upright piano, but wanted to give the the faithful instrument a good send-off. Dorothy said to Kyle, "How about a talent show?" They both thought it was a good idea and Dorothy and her husband Joe set it up for the evening of Veteran's Day, about two weeks before the e...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - Area hunters arrived at the Superior Range Shooters Club in Ironwood Township to either find their zero or confirm their zero before hunting season opens up in Wisconsin and Michigan this week. The range was marked for known distances out to 100 meters with fresh targets for rifle zeroing. The club opens its doors each deer season to non-members so they can make sure they hit what they aim at. Club members help people adjust their...
By STEVE NEWMAN [email protected] KIMBALL — Singer/storyteller Tanya Stanaway presented a program of Finnish music along with stories of Finland at Little Finland Sunday afternoon, to the joy of the assembled crowd. Stanaway played accordion and did “sing alongs” of songs in Finnish while accompanying on guitar. Stanaway was born in Finland and moved to the United States when she was younger, but she retains her love for her native country, as anyone who listened to her presentation could tell. She has stayed in touch with her roots...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The veterans' detail that visited the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 school for its Veterans Day program Friday afternoon stood for the national anthem when it was played, as did the student body, and Col. Brad Wakefield, U.S. Army Retired, thanked everyone for it. Wakefield was the guest speaker and addressed the combined student body about a range of topics, from free speech to defending the Constitution as a sworn officer of the military. He...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - The music program at the Ontonagon Area School District received a financial boost Wednesday with the presentation of the funds from the Ontonagon-White Pine Rotary Labor Festival Log Scramble program. Rotary President Jan Wolfe presented band director Ben Mayer with a check for $768 which will be used for music instrument replacement and repair. Mayer told members of the Rotary the band program now has 120 kids, the largest since he became...
IRONWOOD — The weather forecasters were accurate in predicting the 6.5 inches of snow that fell for Ironwood beginning Wednesday evening and carrying through Friday morning. The Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Plant weather station off U.S. 2 measured 4.5 inches for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. Thursday and 2 more inches for the period to 7 a.m. Friday. The Lake Superior-effect snow was caused by strong north winds blowing over the warmer water of the lake. There was 6 inches of snow on the ground Friday morning at the treatment plant, l...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER — Terry Kryshak is unofficially in and Louis Miskovich out in the Bessemer City Council race after 51 missing votes were located Thursday. The unofficial results announced early Wednesday morning after Tuesday’s election for all five council seats had Miskovich earning a seat with the fifth most votes and Kryshak on the outside looking in, as the sixth highest vote-getter. Upon further review Thursday, city officials discovered an error was made in tallying the votes and Kryshak was act...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER - The former high school principal at the A.D. Johnston school in Bessemer, Dan VanderVelden, nominated Jamie Stiffarm, special education and peer-to-peer mentor teacher for LifeChanger of the Year before his departure last spring. The LifeChanger of the Year program annually recognizes K-12 educators and school employees across the country who make a difference in the lives of students by, "exemplifying excellence, positive influence, and...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners Wednesday approved a county indigent defense system plan that requests a grant of $112,254. The total indigent defense system cost is pegged at $214,386, with the local contribution set at $102,132. The county board approved the public defender plan without much comment. Commissioners were told the deadline for the application for funding for the program is Nov. 20. Gogebic County Circuit Court Judge Michael Pope earlier this year formed a c...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - If 25 years as a police officer in the downstate communities of Holland and Wyoming; and 14 more as an officer in nearby Wayland Schools taught Harry Werkema anything, it's how much the world has changed, and not always for the better. As part of a talk about preventing violence, Werkema told an assembly of Luther L. Wright middle and high school students they need to speak up - and further more, change the way they "think, talk and pay...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] WAKEFIELD - It's been another banner year for the Wakefield Michigan State Police Post's annual food drive. The post - with the help of volunteers from around Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota who contacted the post about a community service opportunity - distributed 21,760 pounds of food to food banks across the Gogebic Range Tuesday, including in Ironwood and Bessemer. The post also collected 2,000 pounds of food in Ontonagon for food banks in...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners approved two appointments Wednesday. Sara Ribble, of Ironwood, was appointed court magistrate and John Matonich, of Lake Gogebic, was named to the Peer Review Group for the Gogebic County Remonumentation Program. Gogebic County District Court Judge Joel Massie joked about the revolving seats in the county when the Ribble appointment was approved. She takes the position of former magistrate Lisa Hewitt, who was named county treasurer upon the r...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - The engineering team designing the reconstruction of Saxon Harbor now has a direction to move in after the Iron County Board of Supervisors approved a general design plan for the harbor Tuesday. The board voted 12 to 2 to follow the recommendations of the design team and the county's forestry and parks committee on the general design of the campground and marina. "I think you're giving us our best product right now. Somewhere down the line...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — For the second time in a little more than a month, the Wakefield Planning Commission voted Monday to increase 2018 rates at the city’s Eddy Park Campground. On Oct. 2, the commission already had proposed a series of fee hikes, and the Wakefield City Council voted on that recommendation at its Oct. 9 meeting. At the same Oct. 9 meeting, however, council members also voted to form a committee to consider the interests of the campground. The campground committee consists of one city council membe...
ODANAH, Wis. — The Bad River Tribal Council has declared a public health emergency because of the heroin and opiate problem on the Bad River Reservation. The tribal council, on a 4-0 vote, last week declared the public health emergency to address the drug problem and is seeking outside assistance to address what id calls a “life-threatening issue.” Chairperson Robert Blanchard said the decision to designate a state of emergency is a positive step in the battle to address the growing problem of drug addiction. “Our communities need the resourc...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] It's Election Day in Michigan cities - including Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield - as voters will head to the polls to choose their city representatives. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. In Ironwood, there are seven people running for all five open seats on the city commission. Incumbents on the ballot include Annette Burchell, who is mayor; Kim Corcoran, Jim Mildren and Rick Semo. Also on the ballot are Joseph J. Cayer, Dave Kinnunen and Bill...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — A small group met in the Ironwood Memorial Building Monday to continue their effort to form a youth ski and biking team in the area. One of the driving forces behind the creation of the team was to get kids more active on the area’s trail system year-round. “(The hope) is to get kids out and involved in the things that are available to them in Iron and Gogebic counties,” said Neil Klemme, one of the organizers. “We didn’t have a (cross-country) ski program here, and we’re in the snow b...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD - A five-year project has preserved a great deal of Ironwood history for the Gogebic Range Genealogical Society. A family book of photos and stories featuring Ironwood's Rigoni and Malmberg families has been donated to the society and is available to be viewed at the Ironwood Depot Museum. Over the past several years, Diane Rigoni Oliphant has battled ALS, a debilitating disease. She currently resides in a Mellen Wis., care facility, while her...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Trail supporters gathered at the East Wing in Hurley for the Iron County Outdoor Recreation Enthusiast’s trailhead fundraiser Sunday, within view of the planned trailhead’s location. “We had a really good turnout,” said Mike Fauerbach, one of the organizers. “There were a lot of people from Ironwood, we had lots of people from Mercer.” The planned trailhead will be located between the motorized and non-motorized trails on the 500 feet of land between the Montreal River and Second Avenue...
