Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 6875 - 6899 of 9848
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - A large crowd came to Gogebic Community College to support the pool, but they didn't leave happy. After much debate, the GCC Board of Trustees approved the college budget for the 2015-16 school year, keeping the pool closed, while exploring the possibility to lease the pool to Snowflake Aquatics for $1. Several audience members expressed interest in keeping the pool open. Ceci Aho, Barracuda Swim Team coach, said running a pool...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — Ontonagon Village Manager Joe Erickson told the village council Monday the village will receive a $900,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to study the sewer system. Erickson said he has received a notice of the grant approval and expects the grant agreement documents to be in Ontonagon in the next few weeks. The Stormwater, Assessment and Wastewater grant will provide the $900,000 to devise a sewage, collection and treatment plan. The village could receive an a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - It's 7 a.m. - 1 hour before classes start - and Ironwood K-12 Principal Denise Woodward is arriving for another day at Luther L. Wright. Upon arriving at her office, she is greeted by three students turning in a cell phone found outside the school and a student returning from a disciplinary issue. "It kicks in quick around here," Woodward said. "Honestly, I have no idea what time I have to be here to beat the first kids here." By 7:05,...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - For the second consecutive year, Mercer has been recognized as a Department of Public Instruction "Spotlight School." Last week, Mercer was notified of the honor by DPI State Superintendent Tony Evers. "I'm pleased to offer the opportunity for the Mercer School to continue sharing successful Spotlight practices across the state, having positive impact on education in Wisconsin," Evers said. The Mercer School District will receive a $25,...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — On a split vote, the Ironwood City Commission approved an ordinance Monday designed to keep heavy truck traffic off McLeod Avenue and Ayer Street. The ordinance passed on 3-1 vote, with commissioner David Sim opposed and Rick Semo absent. It was supported by Mayor Kim Corcoran and commissioners Brandon Tauer and Joseph Cayer Jr. The ordinance was opposed by several business owners and the Ironwood Industrial Development Corporation. Keith Johnson, president of the IIDC, said both McLeod a...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] IRONWOOD - In honor of their 100th anniversary, St. Simon Orthodox Church welcomed home Bishop Anthony Michaels on Saturday and Sunday. In honor of the event, Anthony returned to Ironwood to say weekend services. On Saturday, Anthony said Great Vespers. Then on Sunday, the bishop gave a Matins and Divine liturgy. After the liturgy, Anthony dined amongst approximately 40 worshipers for brunch. "It was a homecoming," said Reverend Mark Hagan. "Bishop...
Aspirus Upper Peninsula Regional CEO Chuck Nelson was recently named among the “50 rural hospital CEOs to know” by Becker Hospital Review. Nelson, who oversees Aspirus hospitals in Ironwood, Iron River, Ontonagon and Laurium, is the only CEO in the Upper Peninsula to receive the designation. “To be recognized by leading organizations for the quality of care we provide is a statement about the quality of Aspirus health care overall in the Upper Peninsula,” Nelson said. “A key thing to know about the health care Aspirus provides to the communiti...
WAUSAU, Wis. — The Never Forgotten Honor Flight will fly 14 World War II veterans, 67 Korean War veterans and two Vietnam veterans from central and northern Wisconsin to Washington D.C. on Monday to view memorials honoring their service. Mercer residents Theodore Rogachuk and Ralph Tremmel will be on the flight alongside other veterans. Rogachuk served in the Army for Korean War and is honored to go. “I’m overwhelmed to be part of it and be recognized that we served this country and that we protected,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.” Tre...
IRONWOOD - Three people were arrested on drug and gun charges following a Thursday morning raid on a Coolidge Avenue residence. Gogebic-Iron Area Narcotics Team members and the Gogebic-Iron SWAT team members responded before 11 a.m. The names of the three people who were arrested were not included in a short GIANT press release. Officers entered the house with a search warrant, according to GIANT team leader Sgt. Chris Colassaco, of the Hurley Police Department. The three people who were...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - Representatives from groups working to promote and enhance the Gogebic Range gathered at Gogebic Community College Thursday to provide updates on their efforts and network with like-minded people. The event grew out of the Gogebic Range Next Generation Initiative, a group that began in 2008 as an effort to attract and retain young people. "That's what this is really all about, creating the kind of community that is attractive to...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] BESSEMER — The boat ramp at Black River Harbor will be closed from Oct. 5 to Nov. 13, the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners learned on Wednesday. Ottawa National Forest District Ranger Norman Nass updated the board on construction plans at the harbor. Work will begin on the retaining wall on the north bank of the river, immediately downstream from the suspension bridge. The retaining wall maintains a stable river bank, which supports a segment of the Lake Superior beach access trail. Nass said r...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] EWEN - Ewen-Trout Creek hosted a job fair for its junior and senior high school students Wednesday. Superintendent/principal Alan Tulppo said the "career and college fair" was the first of its kind at E-TC and he hopes to do it again. "The goal was to introduce our students to the different careers they could have in this area. We're encouraging them to go on and get a degree, get some training beyond high school - whether it's a four-year, a...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] August in Ironwood was a month of extremes, with very hot weather around mid-month followed by cool temperatures in the fourth week. Kevin Crupi, of the National Weather Service office in Marquette, noted since the extremes balanced out, the average temperature in Ironwood for August of 63.2 degrees was about one degree below the long-term norm. In the Aug. 23-27 period, mean daily temperatures fell as low as 10 to 15 degrees below normal. High temperat...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County’s 4-H program is looking for both new members and adults who can help teach important life skills to members, according to Neil Klemme, the youth development agent with the University of Wisconsin’s Iron County Extension Office. 4-H-related activities are open to students as young as those in kindergarten, according to Klemme, with regular 4-H activities beginning in third grade and running through the freshman year of college. Klemme hopes those who join 4-H gain a numbe...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER - Two audience members were escorted out of a Bessemer City Council meeting by Michigan State Police troopers Tuesday after exchanging heated comments with another audience member. While discussing a previously denied "medical marijuana dispensary," city council member Linda Nelson said the business is illegal in Michigan. "That's why Mr. (Richard) Duncanson, a licensed medical marijuana care giver, was shutdown," she said. "Medical...
HURLEY — An Ironwood man entered a not guilty plea to a possession of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, citation Monday in Iron County Court, when a seven-year-old charge resurfaced. Leland Ojaniemi, 58, was cited by Iron County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jason Geach on Sept. 6. An initial adjourned court appearance was set for Oct. 12, when Ojaniemi faces a $263 forfeiture for the citation. Ojaniemi, who was represented Monday in court by attorney Patrick Boerboon, also faces a worthless check charge dating to April 30, 2008, acc...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY - Hurley School District Administrator Chris Patritto discussed the ramifications of a drop in student enrollment of 15 students with the school board on Monday. Patritto told the school board the third Friday K-12 count was conducted last week and it registered 589 students. The district adds on the equivalency of four full-time students from the summer school count for a total of 593. He said he expected the decline. Patritto projects a...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] IRONWOOD - Shaun Munn and Ted are best friends. Four years ago, Michelle Kennedy, of Ironwood, got a golden labrador named Ted to help her son, Josh, after he had a stroke when he was 15 years old. To assist Josh, Kennedy said she trained Ted to get the mail. Around 2 p.m. every day, Ted paces next to the front door, waiting to get the mail from Shaun Munn, the mailman. As Munn pulls up to Kennedy's house in his postal truck, Ted runs to him. Munn put...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — Even though it was expected before the start of the school year, the playground equipment intended for the Ironwood Area School’s third through sixth graders has yet to be delivered to the district — an issue brought up during the public comment portion of Monday’s Board of Education meeting. “I’m just kind of wondering if the board — on the record — can tell me when, where, what’s the plan,” Jeff Ramme asked the board after recounting how the installation of playground equipmen...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] BESSEMER - Bessemer's athletes are going to have some more room to spread out after the school expanded the weight room Friday to make space for additional exercise equipment. Members of Bessemer's junior varsity football team helped clear a portion of the shop classroom that adjoins the existing weight room to make room for the new equipment. The district's booster club - along with an anonymous donor - raised around $8,500 to purchase some of the...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — An amendment to a sewer-water contract approved by the city commission last Monday will net Coleman Engineering around $88,000 in additional engineering fees. Coleman was awarded the engineering contract for the third phase of the 2014 water-sewer project carried out by Snow Country Contracting, of Bessemer. After a presentation from Jeff Sjoquist, of Coleman, the commission voted 4-1 in favor of the amendment to the Coleman contract. Joe Cayer Jr. was opposed. In a letter to the city c...
HURLEY — A Gurney, Wis., resident recently entered a not guilty plea to a charge of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle. The next Iron County Court appearance for Matthew Sorrels, 28, will be an Oct. 30 pre-trial hearing. Sorrels was involved in a Feb. 27 traffic accident on U.S. 2 in the town of Kimball that claimed the life of Harvey Harold Hill, of Washburn. Hill died at a Wausau hospital on March 14. Charges were filed on March 17. Sorrels is also charged with homicide by use of a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol content and homicide...