Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 5406 - 5430 of 9848
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...
BESSEMER — Louis Miskovich’s grandpa said Louis should be a barber, not only because the city of Bessemer needed a barber after the last one retired, but also because Miskovich has the gift for gab. Miskovich listened closely and set to becoming a barber, using his GI Bill to learn the trade and opened up a shop in the Bessemer Commons. Unfortunately, Miskovich’s dad took ill with cancer and died during this process. But before dying, and only after receiving his last half dozen hair cuts from his son, Louis Miskovich Sr. asked his son to se...
IRONWOOD - HOPE Animal Shelter is celebrating its 25th anniversary by looking forward. Randy Kirchhoff, director of the Help Orphaned Pets Everywhere shelter located in the Ironwood Industrial Park, said, "We have all sorts of things planned for the coming year, including fundraisers. We'll be at Festival Ironwood with a food booth. We'll be at both the Gogebic and Iron county fairs." More immediately, the shelter just moved back into the eastern half of its 2,800-square foot building this week...
SPRINGSTEAD — While district-wide totals won’t be official until the canvass is completed, two incumbents who appeared on the ballot in the town of Sherman won another term on the Chequamegon School District’s board of education in Tuesday’s election — as they were running in uncontested races. The still yet unofficial results show Lois Freeland received 888 votes districtwide, including 45 votes in Sherman; and Jim Wilson garnered 751 votes across the district and 90 votes in Sherman, according to Pamela Steger, the school district...
The Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour passed through the area Wednesday, somewhat in secret, as team officials kept their local schedule close to the vest. The team left Ashland, Wis., Thursday morning and had an event in Houghton Thursday night. In between they made three stops on the Gogebic Range Wednesday morning. The first stop was at the Hurley K-12 School, where school officials had tried to keep the news of their arrival a secret. The younger kids went to the gym, where they interacted...
HURLEY — The effort to acquire a section of land between the Montreal River and Second Avenue in Hurley — while nearing its final stages — still has several steps that need to be completed, according to information at the Thursday’s Iron County Regional Trail Committee meeting. Hurley Mayor Joe Pinardi said city attorney Ray O’Dea is working on drawing up the documents to purchase the land, which is necessary to continue Michigan’s non-motorized Iron Belle Trail into Iron County. The local portion of the Iron Belle — which will run between B...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] BESSEMER - Action Floors of Mercer, Wis., is sprucing up the St. Sebastian School in Bessemer with a new polyurethane gym floor. And, it's free. Cory Corullo, who heads up Action Floors' synthetic product lines, said the company considers the floor a gift to the community. "Bessemer is part of our community." Action Floors is not new to the synthetic game, and it's growing, said Corullo. "We do a lot of maple hardwood floors - we always have and we...
HURLEY — The search for a missing New London, Wis., man ended Wednesday morning after he was found by a Hurley Police Department officer. According to an Iron County Sheriff’s Department news release, the department received a report of the missing 71 year old at 7:06 a.m., Wednesday. The man, who had a possible medical condition, was last seen near Mosinee Road in the town of Oma. According to the post, he had been alone at his cabin and hadn’t been heard from since Tuesday afternoon. Deputies on en route to the cabin were informed relat...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — Mercer has a new town chairman after John Sendra defeated long-time incumbent Jim Kichak in Tuesday’s town election. Sendra received 311 votes to Kichak’s 298 for the win. Tom Thompson will join incumbent Jeff Stenberg on the town board, as the pair were the top two vote-getters in the town supervisor race. Stenberg received 367 votes, while Thompson received 338 votes. James Schmidt came in third with 297 votes. Mercer Clerk Christan Brandt received 548 votes and Treasurer Lin M...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER - Scott Dianda, D-Calumet, visited six courthouses on Tuesday to announce his candidacy for Michigan's 38th State Senate District today. Starting at 5:00 a.m., Dianda and his staff covered 700 miles before pulling into the courthouse parking lot in Bessemer. In an interesting note, Dianda was behind the wheel. Was he making a statement, does his staff drive poorly, or were they taking turns? Either way it works out, Dianda has not outgrown hi...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - After nearly a whole day of jury selection, the first day of the trial of a Tennessee man accused of criminal sexual conduct wrapped up with opening arguments from both sides in Gogebic County Circuit Court Tuesday. James Victor Hackler, 39, of Harriman, Tenn., is facing one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person under the age of 13 and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person under...
HURLEY - Iron County voters head to the polls today in a series of state and local races. At the state level, voters will decide between incumbent Tony Evers and Lowell Holtz to see who will be the state's next superintendent of public instruction. Annette Ziegler is running unopposed for another term as a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Iron County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Madden is also running unopposed for another term on the bench. Iron County's local municipalities also have...
BESSEMER — The Bessemer City Council moved through many items on the agenda Tuesday, but those results were overshadowed twice by heated discussions about which city officials are truly looking out for the city. The most contentious of the two was during the Public Comment section at the end of the meeting. Board member Rob Coleman said he had been denied an agenda item. Coleman described some law enforcement issues and hearsay regarding the proponents of medical marijuana and culminated with his displeasure of city attorney Mike Korpula’s per...
