Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 5329 - 5353 of 9785
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — Thirty-three years ago the Ontonagon Area Scholarship Foundation presented its first scholarship award of $500 to a graduate of the class of 1984. Since that time the foundation has granted $340,000 to 602 graduates from the Ontonagon Area Schools. Last year’s graduates who applied for foundation scholarships each received $1,500 toward college or trade school. The foundation now has more than $1 million due to the generosity of donors and the 37 named scholarship trusts. Ten of the trusts, eac...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER - The Bessemer City Council came together in council's chamber Monday to discuss regular city business with a condensed agenda. The council approved the expenditure of $83, 192 dollars to pay the bills before Rob Coleman elected to read his correspondence publicly for addition to the record. Coleman reminded the room he was interrupted in the last meeting when he tried to speak by Kathy Whitburn and John Frello, which Coleman assumed was due...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - The fledging Ontonagon Area High School Robotics team has qualified to compete in the World Robotics competition in St. Louis Missouri. Team coaches and members attended the Ontonagon Area Board of Education meeting Monday to explain funding efforts are now underway and to obtain permission for competing team members for the overnight trip. The team qualified for the World Championships by its performance at State in Saginaw, April 12-15. Coach...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — Ironwood Township will continue to repair its roads according to its road plan after the board of trustees decided Monday not to divert money from this year’s repair fund for extra paving work on Lake Road at Little Girl’s Point. “I think we should stay with our road plan, I hate to say it. I feel for them out there, I really do, but it’s going to (be) better than it is — better than it was before the flood — with the 18 culvert repairs and the patching” Clerk Mary Segalin sa...
By ISABELLE KLEINSCHMIDT [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Gogebic Medical Care Facility held its annual Easter egg hunt on Saturday. The facility's residents spent time filling and hiding the eggs around the outdoor garden area in preparation for the event. The facility distributed baskets for the kids upon entry. Around 40 children attended in all with their families. Of course, no egg hunt is complete without the Easter Bunny in attendance. Between unwrapping candies, and visiting,...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD — Gary Mariani, golf course manager at the Gogebic Country Club in Ironwood said they opened the course April 8. The early melting and lack of rain dried out much of the course and made it playable earlier than normal. Mariani said, “We did well the first week. Opened the club today and we still have golfers paying green fees!” Mariani also described a Beginner’s Class he is planning on hosting in June. The class historically is made up of w...
Mercer, Wis. — The Mercer Library will hold its first Earth Day Fair on Saturday, April 29th at 10:00 a.m. in the Mercer Library and Community Center. The fair will feature information and activities for adults and children from 10:00 a.m. until noon and a performance by folk musician Skip Jones at noon. Jones is a well-known Wisconsin folk singer who has been bringing people together around music for over 20 years. He plays the guitar, banjo, and Native American flute, and audiences always enjoy his interactive concerts. This event promises e...
ONTONAGON - More than 200 people turned out to celebrate the $2.8 million expansion project at Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital Thursday. The state-of-the-art 8,210-square-foot expansion and in-patient unit renovation drew praises from residents as they toured the facility, which fully enhances and expands emergency care for Ontonagon County and the region. Charlotte Mallotte, who came to Ontonagon in 1974 and worked 25 years as a nurse, including the emergency room at Ontonagon, called the new...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Carnegie Library in Ironwood hosts a Pokemon Club every second and fourth Thursday at 4 p.m. Mac Byrne donates his time to work with the kids and the kids love getting together and playing with the different cards. Rachel Peck, a mother who brings her son, Sawyer, to all the Pokemon meetings, said he literally does a countdown until the next meeting. He knows when the meetings are and can barely wait between sessions, torturing his 5-ye...
BESSEMER — The 911 surcharge of $1.30 per month on all communication service providers capable of using the system was continued Wednesday by the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners. The surcharge on telephones and electronic devices that can access 911 was approved by voters on Nov. 4, 2014, on a vote of 3,571 to 1,301. It will remain in effect to Dec. 31, 2020, unless changed by a resolution of the county board. The 911 system began in the county in 2002. —Ralph Ansami...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER - Two weeks ago, Northern Michigan University in Marquette announced it had received a $6.5 million grant to provide educational broadband services to the entire Upper Peninsula. On Wednesday, the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners learned how the Educational Access Network of NMU will provide Internet services to the western U.P. Eric Smith and Don Salo of NMU addressed the board and answered questions throughout a 45-minute presentation....
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD - Like a scene straight out of a Mario Puzo book, the skippers of the Range Oldtimers Softball League circled around three square tables Wednesday evening at the Aurora Club to discuss the upcoming season. Currently the league consists of seven teams, but a potential eighth team manager was present at the initial meeting. Jim Kuker, Rigoni's manager, held sway and moderated the meeting of the grizzled veteran coaches. Last year's end of...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Supervisors approved hiring Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC as the engineering firm for the reconstruction of Saxon Harbor Tuesday. It’s a key step to re-opening the park by the county’s target date of May 2019. Rain and flooding last sumer during a July 11 storm destroyed the harbor. The De Pere, Wis.-based Foth was one of three companies bidding for the project, according to the Iron County Forestry Department. The project will be split into two parts...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — The Donald Rick sentencing hearing in the Bear Trap murder-arson case has been changed from today to June 1 at 10 a.m. Rick, 45, of Saxon, admitted to murdering Lisa Waldros of Kimball in the fire that destroyed the Bear Trap Inn in Saxon on March 12, 2016, and will be sentenced in Iron County Court. Rick previously entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder and five additional counts were dismissed, but will be read into the record at the sentencing hearing. A jury trial had been s...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER - The Bessemer Planning Commission came together Wednesday evening and took care of business and the commission and audience turned around and went home, without any hard feelings being witnessed on either end. Charly Loper, city manager, informed the commission she would like the commission to either become a blight committee or join forces with the city counsel to form a blight committee that can enforce a more tactical blight code. The...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — There are some new faces at the Mercer Area Chamber of Commerce, including new director Chelcie Pinsonneault. Pinsonneault, who started her position March 27, said she has enjoyed the job so far, but is still settling in as director. “I mean it’s definitely a learning curve,” she said. “It’s something I’m not used to, but it’s a challenge I’m willing to take on and learn all I can.” One of her primary tasks is focusing on the chamber’s membership. “We really want to start focusing...
BESSEMER - Proponents of a May 2 bond issue gathered in the A.D. Johnston High School multi-purpose room in Bessemer Tuesday evening to discuss the bond and project. No one spoke in opposition. Beth Steiger, a school board member, made the presentation - chosen because she missed the last board meeting, she said. "What are we going to do for citizens of the future?" asked Steiger, adding that the town owes it to the children and their future to pass the bond and remodel the school. Steiger said...
IRONWOOD - Ironwood City Manager Scott Erickson told the city commission Monday at least two road projects are on the horizon. Van Buskirk Road will be seal-coated. The project is expected to begin in four or five weeks, he said. The Michigan Department of Transportation plans a summer project to mill and overlay (resurface) U.S. Business Route 2 throughout the city, extending from Cloverland Drive, through downtown and all the way to Hurley, Erickson said. The commission also learned the new...
HURLEY — A $2,500 bond was set Monday in Iron County Court for an Ironwood man who faces a felony bail jumping charge in connection with numerous other cases. LeRoy Hamm, 34, appeared before Judge Patrick Madden, who ordered a blood draw for analysis for Hamm, who faces charges dating to 2014. Under conditions of the bond, he may not use controlled substances, nor alcohol. Madden questioned Hamm about a black eye and his swollen face, asking whether that occurred in the county jail. Hamm said he had been in an altercation at an Ironwood r...
HURLEY — A 48-year-old Ironwood woman was sentenced Monday afternoon in Iron County Court to a year in jail and three years probation for a single count of identity theft. Wendy Wuorinen had originally been charged with 26 counts of theft for withdrawing around $7,613 from a customer’s account at the Iron County Community Credit Union in Kimball without authorization. She earlier entered a guilty plea to a single felony, under an agreement that the other felonies would be dropped, but read into the record. Although a pre-sentence inv...
MERCER, Wis. - In a celebration of the public ownership of the state's natural resources, Wisconsinites gathered Monday night to vote on more than 80 measures regarding Department of Natural Resources policies, during the Wisconsin Conservation Congress' annual spring meetings. All 72 counties in the state held meetings, with Iron County's being at the Mercer Community Center. While many of the proposals didn't directly impact Iron County, several proposals would change the regulations within...
WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield City Council agreed to a 5-year contract for Internet services through the Merit Network Monday evening. The council spent some time discussing the network, the contract, and the benefits of the higher Internet speeds at a fixed rate. "It would move the city into the next level of providing service," said City Manager Richard Brackney. "I envision the meetings being streamed to get more people active in the politics in the area, and we would have the capability to hold...
BESSEMER - Medical marijuana advocates made the case for supporting the industry in the Gogebic Range at an informational event, held Saturday at the Bessemer City Hall. Beginning with an informal tour of several information stations organizers had set up throughout the building's auditorium, the event then featured two local advocates - Chandra Portell and Willie Dufour - explaining the potential benefits to the area. In addition to the medical benefits the speakers said marijuana offered...
BESSEMER - Warm weather brought out many families to enjoy the annual Easter egg hunt at the Bessemer VFW Saturday morning. The high temperatures and sunny skies allowed for the egg hunt to be held outdoors this year. After the egg hunt, families lined up stretching into the parking lot to wait their turn to get inside, where there was food for everyone, as well as sweets and many craft projects for the kids. The Easter Bunny's arrival was a highlight. Many of the children lined up to get their...
