Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 5727 - 5751 of 9883
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The Ironwood Township Board of Trustees adopted a $910,700 2017 budget on Dec. 23, mostly unchanged from this year. The budget includes general appropriations and water, wastewater and special grant funds. Trustee Kevin Lyons discussed the idea of opting of out Public Act 152 before a motion to do so passed. The government sets a ceiling on the amount of money that can be spent to cover the health care of employees. The township...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — Bond has been set at $50,000 for an Ironwood man who was being held in the Gogebic County Jail Thursday following an armed robbery threat at the Holiday Station Store on Cloverland Drive. According to an Ironwood Public Safety Department report, Chad Andert, 35, of 663 E. Cloverland Drive, was arrested after telling the male clerk at the store that he was about to rob it. The IPSD report said Andert instructed the clerk to call 911 and inform the dispatcher that he was about to be robbed. H...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD - A Christmas delivery was very special to an Ironwood area couple this year. On Christmas Day, Olivia Reini and Darryl Anderson Jr. went to Aspirus Ironwood Hospital because Olivia was experiencing back pains while pregnant. The obstetrics department sent her to the emergency room because she wasn't in labor and her baby was due on Dec. 27. Reini had been in the hospital a couple of times previously for the same lower back pains. She was...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER - Leroy Kangas concluded a 28-year career as a Gogebic County Commissioner Wednesday by announcing a new road commission board member. John Matonich, who serves on the Michigan Natural Resources Board, was the interview committee's choice among four candidates for the position, Kangas said. The board then unanimously voted for Matonich. Matonich will fill the term of the late Don Bennetts, of Bessemer, who died earlier this year. The term...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and city of Ironwood are still negotiating about how much the city owes for the gasification plant cleanup of three years ago. On Monday, city commissioners approved a “tolling agreement” with the EPA that will allow negotiations to continue through July 1. City attorney Tim Dean said that will, in effect, give the city six months to come up with a financial settlement with the government. The former Ironwood Manufactured Gas Plant was located on the...
IRONWOOD - The Patrick O'Donnell Civic Center was filled with activity Tuesday afternoon as open skating drew a good-sized crowd. "It's been crazy busy. It's great," said civic center director Brian Roehm, as he helped man the skate rental and concession stand. "It's great to see the place being used." The civic center has open skating every day over the holidays, drawing skaters young and old from near and far. "People come from the ski hills, people come from all over the world," said Roehm....
HURLEY - The Hurley Area Chamber of Commerce will host the annual Vintage Snowmobile parade Friday evening. Sleds will line up at the Depot in downtown Ironwood around 5:30 p.m. The parade starts at 6 and will follow the snowmobile trail into Hurley, ending at the Iron Horse trailhead at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Silver Street. Fireworks are planned at the trailhead following the parade. The parade is part of the greater Vintage Snowmobile races set for Saturday at the Gogebic County Fairgr...
By JUSTIN LIBERTOSKI [email protected] IRONWOOD - The eighth annual Sisu Ski Fest that will begin on Friday, Jan. 6, will feature several changes in the events this year. The main difference in the event are the changes in the distances for the races. The Sisu Ski Race has been shortened to 31 kilometers instead of its previous 42k. Also, the Heikki Lunta race has been shortened to a 15k race, instead of 21k. According to race director Jackie Powers, "We think that these distances fit in...
By JUSTIN LIBERTOSKI [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The fourth annual YooperBeiner Snowshoe Race and Walk will take place Saturday, Jan. 14, at Wolverine Nordic Ski Trails. Plans call for a 10k race, a 5k race and a kids' race. The kids' race will begin at 9:30 a.m., with the other races starting at 11 a.m., at Wolverine Nordic Ski Trails. The event will also feature door prizes, many provided by area businesses. According to Susan Spaete, almost everyone who came out last year...
Icy conditions prevailed over the weekend on area roadways and sidewalks. Highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s since Friday aided a bit of melting and refreezing that seemed to Zamboni many surfaces. High winds and a third of an inch of precipitation overnight Monday made for a slick Tuesday, as well. Local deputies responded to a few single-car accidents, but no injuries were reported. Iron County responded to two vehicles in the ditch, another in a snow bank and one stuck in a driveway. Gogebic County heard reports of a pair of car-deer...
IRONWOOD - As Ironwood gears up for an influx of snowmobile racers for the next few weeks, Tom Auvinen and crew are busy making ice and preparing the track. Without the ice-makers and hay bale layers, there would be no racing in Ironwood, but for Auvinen and crew, they are fine with the racers receiving all the attention. Next Saturday, Dec. 31, between 9a.m. and 4 p.m., vintage racers will ascend to race on the historic half-mile oval at the Gogebic County Fairgrounds. On Jan. 7-8, the...
Ontonagon County took a big hit in unemployment numbers in November, while Gogebic County remained practically the same as in October. The Ontonagon County rate jumped from 6.9 percent in October to 8 percent in November. While the civilian labor force remained the same both months at 2,225, total unemployment jumped from 150 in October to 175 in November. Total employment also dropped by the same 25, from 2,075 to 2,050. A year ago, the Ontonagon County rate was 7.1 percent. The layoffs at White Pine Electric were not measured in that report...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER - The A.D. Johnston High School in Bessemer held a Christmas Gong Show Thursday afternoon. Blaine Pellinen and Lilly Wieringa were the primary student organizers of the event and recruited and signed 10 different acts for the show. Teachers Mark Movrich, Kim Saari and Tracy Rowe were judges. As the gymnasium filled, it became apparent the school was awash in Christmas spirit, with students wearing different holiday-themed sweaters and shirts....
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — While the Iron County Human Services Board picked a candidate to offer the position of Aging and Disability Resource Center branch manager/aging manager on Wednesday, it made it clear Mark Marczak isn’t going anywhere. The Iron County Board of Supervisors voted last December to merge the Iron County Aging Unit and ADRC. According to information presented at the meeting, Marczak was missing a specific certification needed to oversee the ADRC portion of the job, hence the primary reason for...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] HURLEY - The Hurley K-12 school opened its doors and taste buds to some real Latin flavor Thursday. With tables set up in the small gym representing different countries and different meals, the school's Spanish 2 and 3 classes, as well as Advanced Placement students, came together to put on the annual Festival de Navidad. Around 45 kids were involved and teacher Natalie Patritto helped organized the event to motivate and challenge the kids to get...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — A group of Ironwood students will be on hand to see the beginning of the Trump administration as it travels to the nation’s capital to attend the inauguration ceremony. Twenty-six students in grades nine through 12 will go with social studies teacher Gordon Erickson and two other chaperones to Washington D.C. for a three-day trip. The trip is organized through WorldStrides Discoveries Programs, Erickson said, explaining the company reached out to him about the opportunity to attend the...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — The first morning of winter arrived in Ironwood with the hint of a snowstorm that quickly subsided before noon. Wednesday was the first day of winter and that means daylight begins to increase every day. The dusting of snow that fell Wednesday morning was enough to make streets slippery and send out the plow crews with sand and salt. The snow returned around 2 in the afternoon. Santa’s sleigh may be flying a bit low this year as the forecast calls for mild temperatures through Christmas tha...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] ONTONAGON — It’s the season for giving and the village of Ontonagon has received good tidings from the state of Michigan. A $45,000 Recreation Passport grant was announced Tuesday for Lake Superior beach walkway lighting renovations. The money will allow renovations to install new, more durable lamp poles with energy-efficient, dark-sky compliant LED lamp fixtures, the DNR said. New benches, trash receptacles, bike racks and signs will also be installed along the beachfront park. It is one of several g...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Supervisors saved the best for last Tuesday night, voting 14 to 1 to restore Saxon Harbor to the state it was in prior to the flooding during the July 11 storm that destroyed the harbor. Brad Matson was the lone no vote. Prior to the vote, Matson said he thought the board needed more information regarding its alternatives before voting to return to the pre-storm design. “I think we need to look at putting that creek where it used to be, and where it wants to be,...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Gogebic Community College Board met on Tuesday, closing out the year. During the meeting the board discussed the changing of rates for the Mount Zion ski hill. The $85.00 ski pass for local schools will not change, which the school felt is a solid deal for students, but the daily rates and rentals are increasing for the first time in two years. With two minimum wage pay increases absorbed recently by the school, they must recoup some...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon County Board Tuesday paid tribute to its longest serving member John Pelkola. Pelkola, who served 23 years on the board, many of those as its chairman, was defeated in the November election by one vote. Commissioner Carl Nykanen, commended his long service to the people of Ontonagon County and other board members applauded Pelkola for his years of working for the people of the county. John said he was please to be a commissioner for 23 years. Prior to his election to the board, he a...
IRONWOOD - The July 11 storm is affecting winter tourism on the Gogebic Range. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has temporarily closed snowmobile Trail 160 because of damage from the storm, including wiping out the Mud Creek bridge. The 25-mile-long trail heads north from Trail 2 in Ironwood, connecting to the Wisconsin trail system at the mouth of the Montreal River, near Saxon Harbor. "Damage to the bridge abutments was extensive and resulted in a permanent closure until the...
