Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 6856 - 6880 of 9816
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis - A small crowd gathered in Mercer Veterans Memorial Park Friday for the third annual flag retirement ceremony. Several organizers of the event spoke about the importance of the flag before both the American flag and the Prisoner of War/Missing In Action flag were replaced with new versions and the old flags disposed of in the proper manner. This year's ceremony not only reminds people of proper flag etiquette but also honors veterans... Full story
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] WAKEFIELD - The Michigan Natural Resources Commission last week approved the purchase of seven permanent trail easements from private property owners in the Wakefield area. The 30-foot-wide easements total 1.4 miles and are located along the former Chicago & North Western Railroad corridor in Wakefield Township. That's good news for the local economy because Trail 2 from Ironwood to Wakefield is a highly used snowmobile route and it was in danger of... Full story
CRYSTAL FALLS — Detectives with the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team raided a residence on Thursday in Crystal Falls, according to a team news release, seizing drugs and firearms. According to the release, a search of the property — conducted by UPSET detectives, troopers from the Michigan State Police’s Iron Mountain Post and members of the Crystal Falls Police Department — resulted in the confiscation of 106 marijuana plants, over five pounds of processed marijuana and illegal firearms. A Crystal Falls man, 26, was arrested at the... Full story
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER — Bluff Valley Park improvements are almost finished. During the summer, the city of Bessemer upgraded the park on South Moore Street by replacing outdated equipment. City manager Mike Uskiewicz said one more piece of exercise equipment is left to be installed, then renovations will be complete. Uskiewicz said children will notice a new play structure. The $26,000 structure comes with four slides, two climbing areas, two “steering whe... Full story
Detectives with the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team made nine arrests in three drug cases in the Escanaba and Ishpeming areas earlier this week. Maurice Shaunetz Gray, of South Bend, Ind., and Jennifer Savanguaongsavanh, of Milwaukee, were arrested by UPSET detectives on Monday after they were spotted at an Ishpeming hotel. According a news release, the pair hve been the targets of an UPSET investigation for the last several months. During the arrest, detectives located heroin, morphine, packaging materials and more than $4,200 in... Full story
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] HURLEY — An Oct. 13 meeting is planned on a request from the Eagle Bluff Golf Course board to have the city reduce the golf club’s annual $10,000 lease payment. The city council met Thursday and finance committee chair Joanne Bruneau announced the Oct. 13 session. Mayor Joe Pinardi said the golf club is experiencing financial difficulties. The city owns the golf course property and charges the golf club an annual lease fee. It’s not the first year the golf course representatives have come before the c... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Not guilty pleas were entered in Judge Patrick Madden’s Iron County Courtroom Wednesday during the initial appearance of three defendants charged with a range of crimes including misdemeanor battery. John Paul Ranta, 29, of Woodruff, Wis., is facing a felony charge of strangulation and suffocation — which carries a maximum penalty of 6 years in prison and a $10,000 fine — and two misdemeanor charges. The misdemeanor charges — battery and disorderly conduct — carry maximum penalties o... Full story
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] RAMSAY - In honor of Bessemer Township veterans, the Bessemer Township Board of Trustees is planning to host a rededication for the memorial beside the township hall. Board Supervisor Jeff Randall said the rededication will serve to remind people that there are veterans from the township and the township supports them. Randall said the memorial has been there for years. The memorial has three stone slabs. The one in the center is approximately 7 1/2-f... Full story
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON - If you find yourself walking the woods trail west of the Ontonagon Area Schools building on Parker Ave., watch out for the bridge closures. OASD recently received a $2,500 grant from the Portage Health Foundation to improve the trail system and the area around the school/village tennis courts. The first order of business is the dismantling of four old bridges that cross some of the water courses on the property. A cooperative project involving the... Full story
By RALPH ANSAMI [email protected] IRONWOOD - There were two developments on Monday regarding the non-motorized Iron Belle trail from Detroit to Ironwood. The Ironwood stretch, called the Western Gateway trail, was dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony near Depot Park in the afternoon, attended by about 50 people. The city commission later agreed to transfer $10,000 in Bridge the Gap funds to the city of Hurley. That will allow Hurley to extend the trail from the Montreal River Bridge t... Full story
By TOM STANKARD [email protected] BESSEMER - Washington Elementary's outdoor recreation area received a facelift during the summer. Before Labor Day, physical education teacher Janet Hellman, Lee Schiller and his third-grade daughter, Janet, cleared the pavement of debris, then painted fresh lines. Armed with yellow paint, Hellman said they painted two baseball diamonds, a "very large" rectangle that can be used for touch football, two basketball keys and hopscotch lines. In the... Full story
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The Iron County Comprehensive Planning Land and Zoning Committee Tuesday again discussed a plan to install an electronic sign at the Mercer School, and while no formal action was taken, there was a consensus that the committee would reach a decision at its next meeting. The discussion stems from a request by Zoning Administrator Tom Bergman for the committee to clarify how it viewed the county’s prohibition of “flashing signs.” Bergman, in essence, wanted to know whether the committ... Full story
