Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 5381 - 5405 of 9883
SILVER CITY — Experienced sawyers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are heading to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park to help clean up downed trees from last week’s snow and ice storm. On April 26-27, higher elevations at the park received up to an inch of ice, which was then covered by two to four inches of snow. Numerous trees were weighed down and weakened by the thick coating of ice and snow. With 40 to 50 miles of the park’s roughly 90 miles of hiking trails assessed so far, 17 miles of trails are in “extr...
HURLEY - In addition to providing valuable evidence in case they become lost or abducted, Wednesday's fingerprinting session at the Hurley K-12 school allowed students to bond with police officers. Police Chief Chris Colassaco and officer Don Packmayer began the collection effort early in the morning in Tonette Obradovich's kindergarten classroom, where the students were eager to dab their fingers in the ink. Colassaco explained to the youngsters that no two fingerprints are alike before each...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD - Billy Demong, olympic gold medalist in Nordic Combined, CMO for Reynolds Cycling in Utah, and executive director of the USA Nordic Sports team, visited Gogebic Community College and spoke to local area high school students Wednesday morning. Demong is the classic determined, over-achieving, pull yourself up by the bootstraps kind of guy most Americans love, because he not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. Demong, by all appearances...
MARQUETTE — David Kel Baldwin Jr., 45, of Watersmeet, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for assault resulting in serious bodily injury, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney also ordered Baldwin to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term, pay a $2,000 fine and a $100 special assessment. Baldwin pleaded guilty to the charge Feb. 2. The charge stems from Aug. 12, 2016, when Baldwin — who is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona — assau...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - Voters rejected a Bessemer Area Schools bond proposal in Tuesday's special election by a vote of 604 to 354, blocking the district's plan to turn A.D. Johnston into a K-12 building. Voters in the city of Bessemer voted 385 to 234 against the proposal, while voters in Bessemer Township voted 219 to 120 against the measure. Voter turnout was 34 percent in the election, with 36 percent of Bessemer voters and 30.9 percent of Bessemer Township...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] ONTONAGON — County voters rejected an Ontonagon Area School request for a renewal of the district’s sinking fund, voting 367 to 323 against the proposal on Tuesday’s ballot. The measure — which only 46.8 percent of voters supported in the polls — would have provided funds to update original equipment and fixtures as needed in the 50 year old building. The district had requested 1.9 mills; a decrease from the 2.15 mills that is dropping off the tax rolls this month, according to Superinte...
SILVER CITY - Roads have been reopened at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park after ice and snow felled hundreds of trees last week. Jeff Gaertner, park supervisor, said Tuesday, "All roads are open and passable, but park motorists should expect some wood and debris on park roads." Highway 107 to Lake of the Clouds and the road to Summit Peak were closed late Thursday as trees weakened by a thick coating of ice and snow continued to fall, hampering efforts of clean-up crews. The road...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The towns of Gurney and Saxon have declared a state of emergency following Wednesday’s ice storm, enabling them to qualify for state funds for the clean-up effort. The declarations are required to receive funds from the Wisconsin Disaster Fund, according to Iron County Emergency Management Director Stacy Ofstad. “It’s a source for the towns (to get reimbursed) some money when it’s a small enough event it doesn’t need state or federal designation,” Ofstad said. “It’s ... a mechanism to help...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER - It did not take long Monday for the divisions on the city council to rear their head. It began with mayor Kathy Whitburn reading Star Kolesar's letter regarding the noxious fumes near her house. John Frello followed Whitburn by reading his own letter for addition to the Documents and Correspondence of the city regarding what he considered Ad Hominem attacks on his person at previous meetings. Frello wished to address events from past...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — Veteran weather watchers on the Gogebic Range were scratching their heads to remember an ice storm quite like the one that arrived Wednesday and blanketed the Gogebic Range for two days. The storm caused numerous Xcel Energy power outages that lingered through Saturday in the Saxon-Gurney area as thousands of trees and branches came down under the weight of the ice. All of that ice came crashing to the ground when the temperature hit the 40s on Friday. The sound of the melting ice was a...
By ISABELLE KLEINSCHMIDT [email protected] WAKEFIELD - Dove, Inc. held its 2nd annual Color Fun Run on Saturday morning at Sunday Lake in Wakefield. Despite the recent cold weather, there was a large turn-out for the event. This year, the event was co-sponsored by the Gogebic Range Health Foundation and is held in conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Participants began the run at the John Siira pavilion and continued on the path around Sunday lake. While many chose to run,...
By ISABELLE KLEINSCHMIDT [email protected] The DNR ORV Safety Course was held on Saturday at Gogebic Community College. Children for ages 10-15 were present to learn about safety measures and precautions when operating an ORV. The course is held twice a year, once during the spring and once during the fall. The children arrived in the morning and were provided snacks, while being instructed by DNR Certified ORV Safety instructors Kim and Ross Kolesar and Gogebic County Sheriff's...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] IRONWOOD — National Arbor Day was Friday. On this day, people around the country plant and dedicate trees to provide oxygen and beautify areas. The Arbor Day foundation even gives away10 free trees for joining, while also providing nursery discounts. Their goal is to make the world cleaner and greener from the back yard to around the world by planting trees where they are needed the most, according to the arborday.org website. But when is a tree more than an oxygen producing, shade providing, v...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] BESSEMER - "More teens are killed between prom night and graduation night than any other time of the year," said Gogebic County Sheriff's Department deputy Brandon Lyons at a prom safety program Friday afternoon in Bessemer. Michigan State Police and the GCSD visited Ironwood last Wednesday and Bessemer Friday in an effort to keep kids safe, while encouraging good choices. All the schools on the Michigan side of the border between Ontonagon and...
ST. LOUIS — The Gogebic Range (Hurley-Bessemer) robotics team ranked in the top third Friday in its subdivision in national competition here. The first year team that won a regional tournament in Duluth to qualify for the nationals ranked 19th in its subdivision with a 7-3 record. There were 68 teams in the subdivision. OP Robotics, from Stony Creek, Ontario, ranked first in the same subdivision. A complicated scoring system listed the Gogebic team (6613) with a 1.77 ranking score, tied with two other teams. The first place OP team had a s...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] HURLEY - State Rep. Beth Meyers, Bayfield, of the 74th Assembly District, stopped at the Iron County Courthouse in Hurley Friday morning, where a friendly back and forth with local residents followed and dialogue regarding the concerns and needs of Iron County was shared. Meyers stressed her office maintains records of contacts. If a citizen contacts her office regarding an issue, it is recorded and she can then use those calls or communications in...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] GURNEY, Wis. - Xcel Energy crews were struggling Thursday morning to repair downed lines from the ice storm that began Tuesday night throughout the Gogebic Range. An Xcel worker from Hayward said four or five separate crews were working on the power lines in the Gurney-Saxon area, from Sears Road to the Frontier Bar along U.S. 2. By 6 p.m., power had been restored to Gurney residents. It was a dangerous clean-up effort with pine trees snapping as the li...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - A group of area seniors gathered at Gogebic Community College Thursday for the final day of the Iron County Aging Unit's Stroll for a Goal walking challenge. Participants met twice a week over the nine-week challenge to walk laps around GCC's indoor track. A total of 16 participants accrued a cumulative 332 miles, according to Mark Marczak, who oversaw the program. Thursday's walking time was cut a bit short, as the group gathered for cak...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER — For the first time in four years, the state equalized valuation for Gogebic County has increased. The 2017 valuation of $665,029,752 accepted by the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday is up 1.0796 percent over the $657,927,007 of 2016. The following are the valuations of the municipalities approved on Wednesday: Bessemer — $31,318,292, 4.71 percent of county total: Ironwood — $108,852,130, 16.37 percent; Wakefield — $27,669,715, 4.16 percent; Bessemer Township — $46,458,9...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] An ice and snow storm swept through parts of northern Wisconsin and the western Upper Peninsula Tuesday evening, causing scattered power outages through Wednesday. The cold, wet weather was expected to continue through tonight. The Superior and Bayfield areas started getting snow or freezing rainfall Tuesday night. Rain turned to ice on the trees across the Gogebic Range by Wednesday morning as the thermometer hung around 32 degrees. The snow and...
By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] The first year Gogebic Range (Hurley-Bessemer) Robotics Team left Tuesday at midnight for the robotics championships in St. Louis. According to Van Hill, the team’s schedule is packed, with very little time not dedicated to the competition, but they do have one scheduled non-robotics event planned. The team carved out time Friday to catch the St. Louis Cardinals host the Cincinnati Reds, weather permitting. The qualification match schedule for the team, going by number 6613, in the Curie Division i...
IRONWOOD - The Entrepreneurial Center for Innovation and Development at Gogebic Community College will host Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Demong. He is executive director for USA Nordic Sports. Demong will be in Ironwood on Wednesday, May 3, to provide multiple programs to the Gogebic Range. He grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and began ski jumping in the Lake Placid Ski Club. A cross country skier as soon as he could walk, he added the longer skis when he was 8 and fell in love with the sport...
BESSEMER — The first day of the trial of an Ironwood woman accused of fleeing the police ended Tuesday with both sides resting their cases in Gogebic County Circuit Court, leaving just closing arguments and deliberations prior to the verdict. Gina Marie Ransanici, 41, of Aspen Street, is facing one felony count of third degree fleeing a police officer; and two misdemeanors — reckless driving and operating a vehicle without a license on her person. The felony carries a potential maximum sentence of five years in prison, while the mis...
