Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 6453 - 6477 of 9826
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER — Following a closed session, Ray O’Dea, an area attorney, announced the city of Bessemer will begin seeking a new city manger and will discuss the personnel matters with all attorneys involved in the issue. At the Dec. 7 meeting, the council voted to buy out former City Manger Michael Uskiewicz’s contract and appointed former Wakefield City Manager Margot Anderson as his replacement, pending Anderson’s acceptance of the position. It was also agreed the council would interview Anderson on De...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — A 29-year-old Hurley woman entered no contest pleas Monday in Iron County Court to delivery of heroin and maintaining a drug trafficking place. Carol Walitshek, of 505 Maple St., was found guilty of those two counts by Iron County Judge Patrick Madden, who ordered a pre-sentence investigation be completed within 60 days. Charges of harboring or aiding a felon and misdemeanors for bail jumping, possessing drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct were dismissed through a plea agreement b...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] MARENISCO - With the sun shining over Lake Gogebic, more than 100 local and visiting ice fishing enthusiasts came to the Gogebic Lodge Saturday to compete in the 33rd annual ice fishing derby. Scattered across the entire lake this year, ice fishing enthusiasts carved a whole in the ice with their augers and began a day's worth of fishing. In years past, Don Bergquist, event coordinator, said participants were restricted to a confined area, but...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] KIMBALL, Wis. - Over 800 people got a turkey dinner at the Kimball Community Center Sunday as part of the Kimball Fire Department's annual turkey dinner fundraiser. Fire Chief John Smith said the number was down a little from past years - the highest was approximately 1,100 - the traffic had been steady. "It's been steady all day. People were here early, because of the good weather I think," Smith said, adding that he thought the low turnout may...
MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Public Library will host a presentation on dragon boat racing Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. Dragon boat racing — featuring 45-foot long boats capable of holding 20 paddlers and decorated with an ornate dragon head at the bow and tail at the stern — is a 2,000-year-old sport with roots in Chinese culture, according to Beth Wetzler. She is organizing an Iron County team to compete in this summer’s dragon boat festival in Minocqua. Wetzler said the sport is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world and is regulat...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] HURLEY - In honor of Dr. Seuss, students at Hurley K-12 and their grandparents ate green eggs and ham for breakfast Friday. Holding food trays, the children and grandparents waited in a long line to get their food. Among those in line were Kamryn Swartz, a fourth-grader, and her grandmother, Deb Swartz. Kamryn said she was excited about eating food inspired by the famous children's book by Dr. Seuss. At the front of the line, Linda Zarzyski and...
HOUGHTON — For the second year in a row, Ironwood JROTC cadets left the Michigan Technological University campus overall winners of the Day of Challenges competition. Sponsored by the Michigan Veterans of Foreign Wars and Michigan Tech Army and Air Force programs, the competition took place Feb. 27 and consisted of a series of events focusing on teamwork, as well as mental and physical challenges. Among the events was a timed obstacle course and several leadership tests, an Ironwood JROTC spokesperson said. Six schools sent 23 teams to the e...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER — The three people who were arrested following an investigation by the Gogebic-Iron Area Narcotics Team have been scheduled for arraignment. On Thursday, Feb. 11, GIANT executed a search warrant at a Bessemer residence on Porter Street, resulting in the arrest of Dylan Robert Smith, 27, of Bessemer; Michael Scott Johnson, 27, of Ramsay; and and Stephanie Juntti, 22, of L’Anse. Smith and Juntti are scheduled to arraigned on March 15. Johnson is scheduled to be arraigned on March 17. The cha...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield City Council agreed Thursday afternoon to make Michael Womack an offer to be city manager and to negotiate a contract. Womack was interviewed on Feb. 19. The council interviewed all seven potential candidates for the city manager position: Richard Brackney, Perry Franzoi, Eva Smith-Fergason, Mary Servia, Thomas Budgick, Jason Laumann and Womack. At Thursday's special meeting the council unanimously offered Womack the job....
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER - Bessemer area middle-high school students explored possible job opportunities in the area during Career Day Thursday. To fill the A.D. Johnston High School gymnasium, Brian Haanpaa, of Michigan Works, invited local businesses to participate. Haanpaa said more than 10 businesses were present for Career Day. Students could explore careers in health care, cosmetology, machinery, counseling, forestry, communications, hospitality, restaurant...
ERWIN TOWNSHIP — Members of the Upper Peninsula Regional Hazardous Materials Team responded to a reported mercury spill in Erwin Township Wednesday. Shortly before 3:30 p.m., a township resident was cleaning a basement when a glass bottle of mercury was knocked over, breaking it and spilling the mercury, according to a release from the Ironwood Public Safety Department. The homeowner evacuated the house and called 911. The responding hazardous material team recovered approximately three ounces of mercury, along with several contaminated i...
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER - As part of Dr. Seuss week , Jerry Mazurek, a Michigan State Police trooper, read the author's famous children's books to Washington Elementary School students throughout the afternoon on "Wacky Wednesday." In front of Gail Maki-Dalbec's second grade class, Mazurek read "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back." In the sequel to the famous children' book, the cat is back and is up to all sorts of mischief. This time, Sally and her brother are stuck sh...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - It was crowded Wednesday at the Mercer Public Library as Iron County's University of Wisconsin Extension Horticulture Assistant Darrin Kimbler explained how seed saving worked. Kimbler explained how the process of seed saving was designed to maintain the genetic variability, or a solid genetic base, of crops. The process uses open-pollinated seeds, Kimbler said, meaning they aren't genetic hybrids or selectively bred for certain...
BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Road Commission requests county residents check levels of heating fuels in their homes before weight limits on county roads take effect. Spring weight restrictions begin at 7 a.m. Wednesday, March 9. The GCRC urges residents to resupply heating fuel tanks (propane and heating oil) if they are at minimum levels to have enough fuel to last through the spring break- up. “Once the roads begin to thaw, the road strength is greatly reduced,” said GCRC Engineer-Manager Darren Pionk. “Some roads in the county will not be a...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY - A trio of Hurley high school students recently traveled to Madison to take part in the annual Superior Days visit by representatives from the state's northern counties. Hurley junior Melissa Simonar, freshman Dayne Stuhr and sophomore Cassandra Sobrack took part in the annual event that provides Northwoods residents the opportunity to lobby state legislators on a number of priorities deemed important to the northern part of the state....
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood has accomplished many goals set in the comprehensive plan that was adopted 18 months ago, according to community development director Michael Brown. “We’ve done a lot,” Brown told city commissioners last month. He said 98 percent of the projects that were implemented were funded by outside funding sources. It breaks down to grants of $3.2 million to the city, matched by the city’s contributions of $65,243. The plan, adopted in July of 2014, was the recipient of the 20...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — Garret Romosz wants Marines across the Gogebic Range who served in Afghanistan and Iraq to know about the resources available to them though the Wounded Warrior Regiment. An active Marine Corps regiment, the Wounded Warrior Regiment is designed to help wounded Marines who recently left the service get the treatment they need, Romosz explained. He made clear the regiment is in no way affiliated or associated with the Wounded Warrior Project. Romosz enlisted in the Marines in 1998 and i...
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD — Ironwood Public Safety Department Director Andrew DiGiorgio knows Ironwood is not alone with its drug problems. On Sunday, a Duluth television station offered a report on the meth scourge in nearby Ashland, Wis. “It’s a problem across the country,” DiGiorgio told the Ironwood City Commission last week in presenting his annual report. It may appear there is a bigger drug problem here because law enforcement has been so effective in tackling the issue, making many arrests, he said. DiGiorgio p...
By KELSEY HANSEN [email protected] IRONWOOD - It was the annual Bowl for Kids fundraising event Saturday at Larry's Lucky Strikes for the U.P. Kids Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) program. The day was split into three sessions at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. with about fifteen groups total participating in the event. Maggie Munch, program director out of the Houghton office and coordinator of the Bowl for Kids event, said the fifteen groups matches their total last year for teams. Munch did men...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - Carol Walters is 19 years old, but she has four children, nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren. It's not as impossible as it seems. Carol is a leap year baby and celebrates a real birthday every four years. She remembers well when she moved into the Rockland School from Rousseau, and her class was compose of four boys and two girls. The teacher asked the students when their birthdays were. When they got to the first girl, she said...
ONTONAGON — The strange weather this winter adds another oddity to its records, an early thaw. According to Ontonagon County Road Commission records, a thaw has begun on two of the three monitored highways in Ontonagon County. The frost is monitored to help determine spring break-up on U.S. 45 in Woodspur, U.S. 45 near Bruce Crossing and M-64. between White Pine and Bergland. The frost measurement Wednesday showed the thaw has begun on both U.S. 45 sites. In Woodspur, the tube was frozen to 42 inches and thawed 12 inches. Near Bruce C...
