Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 5954 - 5978 of 9848
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Gogebic Community College Board of Trustees approved the college's 2016-17 budget Tuesday evening. GCC Dean on Business Services Erik Guenard said the college's 2016-17 general fund budget "reflects a very modest increase of less than 1 percent in expenditures, and about a .4 percent increase in revenues." "This reflects an approximate 2 percent increase in enrollment that we experienced this fall, a slight increase in state aid and...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD - "I cannot thank you enough," Kenneth Wegmeyer, of Ironwood, said Monday as the people who saved his life on Aug. 17 were honored. The Ironwood City Commission recognized the citizen volunteers, public safety officers and Beacon Ambulance attendants who revived Wegmeyer after he suffered a heart attack while riding his bike with the Superior Riders that evening. Wegmeyer was able to joke Monday that he really doesn't remember much of that...
By ISABELLE KLEINSCHMIDT [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Wakefield City Manager Richard Brackney asked the city council to consider increasing several fees at its meeting Monday. Brackney suggested the disconnection fee for city services be raised from $30 to $100 for the summer and $200 during the winter months as a means of offsetting the costs to disconnect services. According to Brackney, about 200 Notices to Disconnect were sent out this month, and he would like for the increase to...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER — A plea agreement was reached in the two cases against a man authorities say is a key figure in the Gogebic Range drug trade which will see him serve at least eight years in prison. In Gogebic County Circuit Court Friday, Adam Lee Stone, 36, of Ironwood, pleaded guilty to a total of four felonies — two in each of the cases against him. Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs said he pushed for the sentence due to Stone’s importance in the area’s illegal drug trade. “After processing these r...
By ISABELLE KLEINSCHMIDT [email protected] BESSEMER - Orange balloons speckled the skies of Bessemer over the weekend in celebration of the 38th annual Pumpkin Festival. The festivities put on by the Bessemer Area Chamber of Commerce began on Thursday and carried on through Sunday in downtown Bessemer. Thursday evening, the event kicked-off with a Spaghetti Dinner at the American Legion Post 27. Later on at the Pitstop, the Chamber sponsored a "Business After 5" social and a Poker Run took...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - To support the fight against cancer, more than 50 residents attended a Touch of Gold gala, benefiting Cole's Foundation Saturday evening at Big Powderhorn Mountain Resort. Peter Grewe, of Ironwood, played the keyboard as people gathered for the evening at the Gun Barrel Lodge. In his welcoming remarks, Grewe said gold is the color of pediatric cancer awareness. Cole's Foundation was founded in 2008, after Cole Ruotsala, a...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] EWEN — The Ewen-Trout Creek Board of Education Wednesday learned that taxpayers will get a break due to a decreased interest rate and the district’s strong financial position. Business Manager Tammy Gibson reported taxpayers will see a lower than projected millage rate on their winter taxes with the lower than anticipated interest rate on the bonds sold to finance the building project. Taxpayers approved a 1.7 mill increase in taxes in November 2015 to complete the building project. Gibson said, however, tax...
HURLEY — Since 1966, Highline has continued to provide rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities in Iron County and the surrounding area. When the disability services program became incorporated in 1966, people thought it wouldn’t last more than six months, according to current CEO Donna Reinerio. In response, Hurley Mayor Paul Santini and a group of like-minded people formed a board and selected Santini to be chairman. They were determined to prove the naysayers wrong, Reinerio said. Moving forward, in November 1966 Rei...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] IRONWOOD - When Pat Gallinagh's sister died of suicide in 1967, he wanted to do something about it. To raise awareness of suicide, he joined the Lifekeeper Memory Quilt program. Through the quilts, Gallinagh, of Ironwood, said it puts a human face on the tragedy of suicide and the toll it takes on the victim's family and the community. Gallinagh, a member of the Range Suicide Prevention Council, said the club finished its sixth quilt earlier this...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] IRONWOOD — Theatre North is continuing its 53-year-old tradition of providing community entertainment by presenting three shows this season. The season begins with the classic American comedy “You Can’t Take it With You,” directed by Helen Fashbaugh. In the play, set in 1936, Alice Sycamore and Toby Kirby Jr. fall in love. When Kirby proposes, Sycamore fears of introducing her “crazy” family to the “snobby” Kirbys. There are fireworks thrown in when the IRS threatens Grandpa because he doesn’t believ...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - In an effort to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of broadband service in Iron County, particularly the resources offered to senior residents, the Gogebic Range Broadband Committee and University of Wisconsin Extension System are holding an upcoming focus group session. "The primary reason (the focus group) is coming together is to analyze the resources that are available to the senior citizens of this area. And senior citizens when I say...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] MARENISCO - After a proposal to build a water-bottling plant in Presque Isle, Wis., was turned down, the plants developers are contructing a similar plant 10 miles away in Marenisco. The Presque Isle town board rejected a request for the plant because of concerns about using water from the nearby Carlin Club well because it could cause a reduction in the aquifer level. In response, the Marenisco Township board gave the developers 10 acres of land to...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER — The finishing touches are being made on Phase 2 of the Western Gateway Trail that will stretch from the Ironwood city limit to Bessemer by the end the construction season in October. The authority governing the trail learned Wednesday paving of the trail is complete all the way to the end of Phase 2 on Moore Street, according to Coleman Engineering’s Paul Anderson. Also, the observation decks are complete, he said. Work on fencing the trail where necessary is in progress. Meanwhile, wor...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon County Board Tuesday joined the growing chorus of those objecting to the decision of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) to cancel the services of the White Pine Electric Plant. In a letter to the governor, the Michigan Agency for Energy and MISO; the board stated it understands MISO plans to replace "this critical generating resource (White Pine) with a 1998 operating protocol called radial reconfiguration that will provide the same level, or assurance, of r...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER - As concerns about the environment grow, Greyson Morrow, of Wakefield, informed residents and the Bessemer City Council Monday evening about the effects of climate change. In front of a large audience, Morrow said the American Association for the Advancement of Science announced climate change is a "growing threat to society." According to its website, the AAAS is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science for...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD - Xcel Energy's new office building in the city's industrial park is taking shape. Market and Johnson, of Eau Claire, Wis., is the general contractor for the project in the northeast part of the park, across from the speculation building that was purchased by Scandinavian Log Homes, of Kimball, Wis. Tim Durand, who is fill-in supervisor for the project this week, said Tuesday much subcontracting work is under way or has been completed in areas...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - In an effort to improve student safety, the Ironwood Area Schools Board of Education Monday approved requiring the district's self-funded sports teams use the district's buses for transportation. "It's time to change the way we transport all the self-funded sports," said Ironwood Superintendent Tim Kolesar. "Traveling in a school bus is definitely our safest and best (option). We have highly trained and certified bus drivers. I'm...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER - Pending approval of the Bessemer Area School District's upcoming May referendum, the Bessemer City Council Monday approved the closure of Iron Street between Mine Street and Moore Street and to deed that portion of the road to the school district. Standing in front of a large audience, Bessemer Superintendent David Radovich said obtaining the city council's approval to close the street is the last step before the school district can move...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — The Hurley School Board on Monday gave its blessing to a “Senior to Senior” project designed to bring the younger generation closer to their elders. Mark Marczak, head of the Iron County Senior Citizens Center, said there’s a “generational gap” between students and senior citizens and he’d like to bring them closer together. The high school students will help senior citizens with tackling social media, such as using Facebook. Marczak said many elderly people have reservations about using compu...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] RONWOOD - There was no shortage of help Saturday for Fall Clean-up Day on Ayer Street in Ironwood. A total of 31 JROTC students from Luther L. Wright school assisted city workers and volunteers in the effort, free to city residents. There are 74 students in JROTC this year at Ironwood and the city requested around 30 helpers, according to Col. Sandy (Bowman) Keefer, who's in charge of the JROTC program at the school. The turn-out was light for much of...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] KIMBALL, Wis - A small crowd gathered at Little Finland Sunday for a showing of the World War II movie, "Tali Ihantala." The film is also known by several other names in various countries, including "1944: The Final Defense." While featuring little plot or characters, the movie - which was made in 2007 - portrays the Finnish victory in the battle of Tali Inhantala. The battle, fought in the summer of 1944, was a Finnish attempt to stop the Russian...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — August was warm and wet in Ironwood, with only two days with temperatures lower than 50 degrees. The weather wrap-up for the month from Kevin Crupi, of the National Weather Service office in Marquette, notes that a typical August would include nine days with readings under 50. A southwest flow of air prevailed for the month, sending in all of that warmth. The 4.49 inches of rain that fell on Ironwood in August was 1.33 percent of the normal total. The June through August 2016 period is n...
MERCER, Wis. — Representatives of the Mercer Veterans Memorial on Friday dedicated a POW/MIA memorial and the Ladies Auxiliary Memorial at Veterans Memorial Park. Rhiannon Stryjewski, 15, of Mercer, sang the Star Spangled Banner in front of about 20 people. The crowd then made its way to the Ladies Auxiliary Memorial. Dressed in her uniform, Betty Snyder said the memorial is intended to honor the ladies who have supported veterans. The memorial was proudly donated by the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary Post 424 of Mercer and Manitowish W...
IRONWOOD - Based the success of the first miners mural in Ironwood, the Gogebic Range Murals and Attractions Committee is in the process of establishing a new mural that will feature the Pabst Mine. "We have history, and history is our future," committee member Sandy Sharp said Friday. She said the first Ironwood miners mural on McLeod Avenue has been well received, but "it's time for another mural." With that, Sharp and fellow committee member Peter Sturgul said the group is committed to...
