Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The American Power Boat Association is off to the races with Tuesday’s start of the national competition on Sunday Lake. It was a good day for one long-time racer who has been part of the sport for 71 years. Andy Hansen, age 80, took second place in the 200 Modified Runabout division, losing only to Kelsey Bennett of St. Augustine, Florida, who came in first. Timing of the race was not recorded as Hansen said the only point was to see who reached the finish line first. “It felt really good,...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] GREENLAND — The Ontonagon County Fair was blessed with good weather and high times this past weekend. After a Friday registration day in Greenland, the fair kicked in to provide a large variety of activities for people of all interests. Saturday included cattle-sorting, a trout pond, a livestock clinic, a mock rodeo, and live music by Jack Jolliff and Bosch 9, along with games, crafts and vendors. Sunday began with a horse show that was expected to continue throughout the day with various divisions. ...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission adopted an ordinance prohibiting the dumping of snow in most residential districts at its meeting Monday. The evening began with a public hearing on the proposed ordinance where seven people spoke in favor of the measure. Most of them live near a vacant lot in a northside neighborhood that a private contractor has been using to dump snow. The contractor had a permit from the city to do this, but the neighbors complained of excessive snow melt, early m...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD - Local historians gathered in what appeared to be a perfect spot to talk about the region's mining heritage on Saturday - a wide spot in the Miner's Memorial Heritage Park Trail - for a presentation that marked the second of the ongoing Emberlight Festival's Performance Infusions. The Ironwood park trail is the site of Emberlight's third annual outdoor art exhibit, as well as a series of planned Performance Infusions focusing on a variety of...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — In the coming week, for the 18th time since 1980, Wakefield will feature the American Power Boat Association’s National Boat Races on Sunday Lake. Trials will take place on Monday, followed by races from Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday Lake will be closed to public use during those six days. The town is ready, said John Siira, president of Forward Wakefield, on Monday. “We’ve been working on it for months,” he said. “Now we’re making sure everything falls into place.” He estimates that...
HURLEY – The Hurley Education Foundation will honor four individuals at the 20th annual Distinguished Alumni and Friends award ceremony on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Hurley K-12 School. This year’s honorees are Jeanne Leccia Erickson, class of 1972; Gen. J. Gregory Pavlovich, U.S. Air Force, retired, class of 1970; former longtime school board president Joe Simonich; and Zona Wick, class of 1975. Erickson has used her knowledge and skills as a nurse and social worker in working with the underprivileged, especially pregnant women, mothers and...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD - Crowds flocked to Ironwood to celebrate the ever-popular annual Festival Ironwood this past week. Four days of festivities included food, music and other live performances, games for young and old, a craft fair and car show. The live music and food kicked off on Wednesday, July 12, under the big tent and continued every day and into the evenings. Opening ceremonies were held on Thursday with the assistance of the Ironwood American Legion Post...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — City Manager Robert Brown Jr. reported on Tuesday that the city continues to seek a deputy treasurer while he now assumes those added responsibilities. The last day of former Treasurer Mandy Lake was June 30. Her closing pay was $23.75 per hour, but Brown said that members of the City Council felt that rate was too high for someone entering the job new. Hence, the council voted last week to offer a starting pay of $22 per hour for a newly conceived position of deputy treasurer, which would g...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — The state Department of Natural Resources is considering the possibility of stocking trout in Plymouth Lake, which is just north of Old U.S. 2 in Wakefield. The lake, also sometimes called a pond, is known to many local residents as Plymouth Open Pit because of its history as a mine in the previous century. According to Wakefield City Manager Robert Brown Jr., the City Council already granted permission last month for the state to conduct a study of the lake’s water. “The first thing we would...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — Interest in remodeling the Bessemer City Hall was sparked when members of the Downtown Development Authority learned last week of a new state grant opportunity. DDA Coordinator Samantha Dorr said the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, known by its acronym of LEO, is offering a Community Center Grant that ranges from $150,000 to $2.5 million. She said the competitive grant — to which she was alerted by Melissa Lupino, library director of the Bessemer Public Library — is a...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Ironwood marked the 100th anniversary of its Memorial Building Friday evening with the taking of a photo - a mass photo of everyone who came to a brief program held in front of the grand structure on the corner of McLeod Avenue and Marquette Street. The idea was to re-create a photo taken on Aug. 27, 1923, at the dedication of the building. That photo coincided with a state convention of the American Legion. Ironwood Mayor Kim Corcoran...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD — Festival Ironwood is here again, and as always, it comes with a slew of activities for all ages, according to Will Corcoran and Keith Johnson, two of the organizers. The midsummer community festival centered in the Depot Park downtown offers music, food, fun and games morning, afternoon and night through Saturday. There will be a fun run, craft fair, car show, plenty of music under the tent, and the world’s largest duck pick enjoyed by all -- everyone’s a winner. “We have a lot of new enterta...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — Last week’s meeting of the Bessemer Parks and Recreation Commission was a walk in the park, literally. Members gathered at Bluff Valley Park to conduct their annual tour, during which they noted whatever progress has occurred, while also addressing projects that still need attention. Trevor Jackovich said one of the park’s four bridges — the one on the far western end of the property — needs rebuilding. “It’s dangerous.” Eric Longhini mentioned the need for an ADA-compliant swing. Otherwis...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — An attempt to resolve criticism in relation to a recent increase in renting city property reached an impasse at Monday’s meeting of the Bessemer City Council, wherein two motions failed in tie votes. The issue relates to the new cost of $75 per use, along with a refundable $100 deposit, for renting space such as the auditorium in the Bessemer City Hall. Gina Movrich, who rents the auditorium several times a month to run fitness classes, addressed the council with a group of her clients standing...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission awarded a $9,554,000 bid to build Phase I of a proposed water plant to C.D. Smith Construction at a special meeting on June 29. Jeff Sjoquist of Coleman Engineering presented financing details from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development. He said two recent developments allowed the project to move forward. First, Rural Development obligated an additional $1,580,000 in grant and $361,000 in loan to the project, and the city received a waiver f...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] BESSEMER - This year's Bessemer Blast Fourth of July celebration drew quite a crowd to Sophie Street on Tuesday evening, even as the threat of rain lingered overhead. Crowds began to gather at 5 p.m. as organizers set up barricades. After a cruise of the parade by members of the Klassic Kruisers Car Club, the parade officially began shortly after 7, led by the Michigan State Police and Gogebic County Sheriff's Department, followed closely by an honor...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] BESSEMER — Bessemer hosted their 34th annual Hometown Run on Saturday, with more than 250 participants gathering at Bessemer City Hall early in the morning to start the day off with a run, or perhaps a brisk stoll. This year’s race had 256 racers sign up, including 25 people who walked the 2 mile or 10K with strollers, according to Lori Bennetts, one of the organizers of the event. It takes quite a few hands on deck to handle the annual event, and Bennetts was extremely grateful for all the work the vol...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] ERWIN TOWNSHIP — The Erwin Township Historical Society members held a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new Historical Society Museum and the Ahti Nurmela Trail on Saturday afternoon. The ceremony began at 1 p.m. with Historical Society president Tom Pelissero giving a welcome to visitors, and introducing the history of the building. The structure, known originally as the East End School, was originally located 3 miles away, and underwent not only relocation but also a large restoration project that t...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] GOGEBIC COUNTY — A long winter has interfered with the first year of Gogebic County’s new 5-Year Recreation Plan, but related projects are still scheduled at several sites this summer — albeit a little later than anticipated. In fact, one project slated for this year was completed in advance last fall. That involved the lengthening of campsites at Lake Gogebic County Park in Marenisco. “It’s been an ongoing project,” said Greg Ryskey, director of Forestry and Parks for Gogebic County. “For the most part...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] The tri-county region will have no end of Independence Day activities before, during and after July 4 as a variety of communities take turns offering holiday fun for both residents and visitors. Celebrations occur over days and times will allowing people of all ages to attend events in more than one community. Below is a list of some of the activities. Gogebic County Wakefield’s annual town picnic will begin in the main pavilion of Eddy Park on July 3 at noon. Live music, games and other fun will be a...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD — Gogebic Community College is looking at a major project coming in the near future, as the college’s board of trustees has given their go-ahead on a $3.1 million project to construct a new ski chalet once enough money has been raised for the self-funded project. The Mr. Zion Ski Hill chalet building opened in 1970, later being moved in 1980 to accommodate the new chair lift. Since then, the chalet has remained much the same, but this is planned to change. Retired Ski Area Management direc...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer Area School District board bid a fond farewell to retiring Superintendent Daniel Niemi and K-6 Principal Mark Switzer at their meeting on Monday afternoon. This was Niemi’s final meeting with the school board, and as such, he ended with his last report as the superintendent at the schools, speaking about how all the students are registered for the upcoming year, and that ongoing searches for a foreign language teacher may change the schedule a bit. After he had completed his repor...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER - The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted last week to fund repairs to the livestock building at the county fairground in Ironwood. The repairs are not to exceed $9,135 and will be concentrated at the main entrance, which has suffered damage in the way of falling brick and siding. Although other fairground structures are targeted for demolition, county officials recently said the livestock building was the immediate priority, as it houses...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] BESSEMER — The Bessemer Area School Board welcomed Richard Matrella and Nick Heikkila as the district’s new superintendent and dean of students, respectively, at a special meeting on June 14. They replace retiring superintendent and 7-12 principal Dan Niemi. Matrella has been teaching social studies and coaching in Bessemer, while Heikkila has been a physical education and health teacher, and a coach. Board member Beth Steiger said the board is hopeful to have their contracts signed by its June 26 reg...
