Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 6135 - 6159 of 9848
HURLEY — The Iron County Forestry and Parks Department has reopened most of the county’s all-terrain vehicle trails. According to information on the department’s website, all the trails are reopened, except for Trail 2, from its intersection with Trail 6 in Kimball, through Saxon and Gurney, to the Ashland County border. The trails had been closed following the storms that hit Iron and Gogebic counties Monday night, causing widespread flooding and road closures. The department asks that trail users obey all route closures, as wash-outs conti...
OMA, Wis - While most of the attention following Monday night's storm was on the northern part of Iron County, Jim Saari's farm in Oma also sustained considerable damage. The Iron County Sheriff's Department received a call shortly before midnight Monday reporting a power line down across U.S. 51 at Saari's property on Lyons Road. Saari said he was in bed, having just finished watching television for the night, when he heard a loud noise and a bang. He said he told his wife he thought a tree...
HURLEY - Iron County officials held a brief press conference Wednesday to provide an update on road closures in the county and the aftermath of Monday's storm. According to county officials: - While there are no U.S. 2 closures in Iron County, the closures in Ashland County continue to prevent thru traffic. The official route for travel west on U.S. 2 is from U.S. 2 to southbound U.S. 51, westbound Wisconsin 77, southbound Wisconsin 13, westbound Wisconsin 77, southbound Wisconsin 63 and...
BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners would like Gov. Rick Snyder to follow Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s lead and view damage caused by Monday’s violent thunderstorm and tornado. County board members unanimously agreed Wednesday to send a letter to Snyder, inviting him to tour the damage, including the devastated Little Girl’s Point area and the damage in Wakefield. “It’s all the same storm,” Gogebic County Road Commission Engineer Darren Pionk told the county board, referring to the damage in neighboring Iron County, Wis....
A violent lightning storm Monday evening caused flooding that washed out Iron County roadways, downed trees and severely damaged Saxon Harbor, where a man was found dead in his vehicle. Former mayor of the city of Montreal and county board member Mitchell Koski, 56, was pronounced dead at the harbor, according to Iron County Sheriff Tony Furyk. Koski and his wife, Kathy, were caretakers at the county park. The vehicle had been swept into swollen Oronto Creek near the harbor campgrounds and the b...
The Gogebic County Emergency Management Agency and other local officials declared an emergency Tuesday morning because of the severe storm that began Monday evening. Reports of damage began around 9 p.m. in Gogebic County. Heavy rain and strong winds caused flash flooding and knocked down trees in Bessemer Township, Ironwood Township and the city of Wakefield. The Gogebic County Sheriff's Department said Wakefield, Little Girl's Point and Black River Harbor were heavily affected by the storm....
SAXON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker made an unexpected trip to Iron County Tuesday to meet with local officials and get a first-hand picture of the damage caused by Monday night’s storm. “What a huge impact on something so beautiful,” Walker said, following a helicopter tour of the impacted area in the northern part of the state, including Saxon Harbor. “You can see the incredible damage there. Obviously, first and foremost (the concern) is going to be safety.” “It’s good for us to see first hand and then we’ll keep all the different state a...
BESSEMER - Residents sounded off Monday evening on whether or not Pat Steiger should be allowed to rezone Steiger Timber Operations on Tamarack Avenue. In front of more than 30 people, Steiger said his property is currently zoned as a M-1, or light industrial. But he said he needs it be rezoned to M-2, or heavy industrial, in order to continue running his multiple businesses. Steiger said his business is a 24-hour business. He said trucks deliver lumber to and from his site, and customers use...
IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — The Ironwood Township Board of Trustees approved an update to the township’s zoning ordinance Monday. The approval comes after the township’s planning commission recommended the adoption of the document’s latest draft in June. Among the changes made by the commission during the revision process were: new language regarding the placement of wind energy in the township, a redefinition of blight to make it appropriate for the township, added penalties for nuisance and blight and changes to bring the ordinance in line with ch...
IRONWOOD - Construction of the outpatient complex at Aspirus Grand View Hospital is about halfway to completion. Work on the $16 million, 42,000-square foot complex broke ground in November and is on track to be completed on Nov. 9. During the winter months, Miron Construction, the general contractors, laid the foundation and placed the steel framework of the future complex. Aspirus spokesman David Sim said the weather didn't affect the crew that much and they were able to keep on schedule. Sim...
MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Area Chamber of Commerce has received a $6,000 grant from the state for its Sept. 2-4 Can-Yak Fishing Tournament and Festival. The Joint Effort Marketing tourism grant will be presented Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. to the chamber on the lake behind the Great Northern Hotel on U.S. 51. The event is designed to combine canoes, kayaks and fishing, highlighting the hundreds of opportunities anglers have in Mercer area lakes and flowages. The tournament begins with a rules briefing for fishermen at 6 p.m. that Friday. A free f...
IRONWOOD - With great pleasure, the Ironwood City Commission approved the city's new brand and logo Friday afternoon at Depot Park. In front of more than 30 people, Ironwood Economic Development Commission member Gina (Jacquart) Thorsen said the tag-line of the new brand is, "Ironwood, find your north. "Find a path yet to be taken both literally and figuratively," she said. "Find a new shop, a great restaurant or new new favorite trail. Find a community group and make new friends. Find an...
IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The barriers the Michigan Department of Natural Resources installed last fall to try and prevent erosion at Oman's Creek at Little Girl's Point appear to have worked. The DNR's installation of the Beach Prisms - 4-by-10-foot concrete blocks specially designed to allow the movement of water through them - in October were the first use of the technology in Michigan. Jeff Gaertner, park manager for the Porcupine Mountains State Park and Lake Gogebic area, said because the beach...
IRONWOOD — The weather is getting warmer and that means Festival Ironwood is coming up. Soon, the big blue- striped tent will be set up at Depot Park and sounds of music will fill downtown. The annual community festival begins Wednesday and continues through the weekend. The event serves as a homecoming for many, as several class reunions are planned for the weekend. Every year, co-event coordinator Keith Johnson says people “look forward to the event and enjoy socializing with people downtown.” Music, food and refreshments play a big role...
IRONWOOD - Wages in the western Upper Peninsula are higher than the eastern U.P., but both regions lag substantially behind the state average. That was one of many labor analyses presented Thursday at Gogebic Community College to about 25 people. Leonidas Murembya, a regional research coordinator, and Eric Guthrie, a state demographer, spoke at the two-hour session. They are from Michigan's Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiative. Murembya said the average wage of $18.14 in...
IRONWOOD - Robin Hood and his merry men are ready to save Sherwood Forest when the Prairie Fire Children's Theatre presents "Robin Hood" Saturday at the Historic Ironwood Theatre. With original script and music by Daniel Nordquist, HIT Managing Director Bruce Greenhill said "Robin Hood" continues PFCT's tradition of presenting classic tales on the Ironwood stage with local youth talent. The PFCT is a professional touring company based in Barrett, Minn., and has been bringing a theatrical...
IRONWOOD — Children wandered through Miners Memorial Heritage Park Thursday morning and found fish in the trees as part of an art exhibit by Kate Greenough, of Ironwood. As rain trickled down, Ironwood Carnegie Library Assistant Director Lynne Wiercinski read a story to the children under the fish. She read “The Rainbow Fish,” written and illustrated by Swiss author Marcus Pfister. In the award-winning children's book, the most beautiful fish in the ocean is asked to share one of his shining scales with a little blue fish, and he refuses. All t...
BESSEMER -The Bessemer Area Schools District and its planning committee are developing plans to renovate and expand A.D. Johnston High School and close Washington Elementary School, meaning all the district's students would be in one building. Planning committee chairman Todd Johnson said tentative plans call for expanding the ADJ to the north, including closing West Iron Street, which is adjacent to the Gogebic County Courthouse and Sheriff's Department. Plans also call for moving and adding...
BESSEMER - Mary Smith, of Kimball, Wis., has a new lucky number, 11622. She is this year's big Bessemer Blast 50-50 raffle winner, worth a prize of $33,490. Smith is an Iron County native and moved back from San Diego in 2009. As a kid, Smith said she remembers celebrating Fourth of July with her family in Bessemer. Since moving back home, Smith said she purchases raffle tickets every year and has come come close to the winning number before. Smith said she didn't make it to the Fourth of July p...
HURLEY — The Iron County Human Services Board approved the job description for a billing clerk/receptionist position with the county’s Human Services Department Wednesday, and directed the position be advertised. The position is intended to help cut down on the amount of overtime for the current employees and prepare for software changes in the department “The sooner we can get financial help in that office the better,” Opal Roberts, the chair of the human services board, said. According to information presented to the board, the position will...
BESSEMER - Former Erwin Township Clerk Prisilla Gerovac, 56, was sentenced in Gogebic County Circuit Court Tuesday to 30 days in jail for embezzling money from the township. In May, Gerovac pleaded no contest to the charge of embezzlement by an agent or trustee of an amount more than $1,000, but less than $20,000, a five-year felony. In sentencing Gerovac, Judge Janis Burgess said while Gerovac didn't have a criminal record, the nature of the crime merited the sentence. "The purpose of jail time...
BESSEMER - Bessemer Planning Commission Chairman John Turkal explained to the city council Tuesday evening why the commission made its recommendation that the council approve a petition from Patrick Steiger to amend the zoning of Steiger Timber Operations on Tamarack Avenue. He read from a prepared statement, explaining why the commission is in favor of rezoning to allow an asphalt plant to be built there. On May 3, the city council heard Northwoods Paving Company, of Ashland, Wis., had applied...
