Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood will continue to help fund the work of the Gogebic County Council of Veterans Affairs, but only after a memo of understanding is approved by the city commission. The commission asked for such a memo to be drawn up after hearing from several officials at its meeting Monday, including city manager Paul Anderson, city attorney Timothy Dean and Gogebic County Veterans Services Officer John Frello. Anderson said the issue arose in February after city finance director P...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Area School Board heard the resignation of Superintendent Travis Powell at its meeting Monday evening. Powell, who has been superintendent for six years, said he has been offered a position at the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District as a director of instructional services. “It has been an interesting and rewarding six years,” said Powell. “I have learned a lot, and believe we have accomplished a lot together in this time. I believe that in many areas the distric...
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By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — The end is near for a 3-year project involving tens of millions of dollars worth of utility and road work throughout the city of Bessemer. “It’s been a long project,” said Darren Pionk, project manager with C2AE, the city’s planning and engineering firm that coordinated the progress. Pionk told The Globe on Tuesday that he’s “pretty satisfied” with the results. He conceded that the construction, which occurred consistently during months without snow, amounted to a logistical “nuisance” for...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] GILE, Wis. — Iron County has been awarded a $4.1 million federal grant that will allow the Gile Flowage Land Conservation Project to acquire 1,055 acres of undeveloped property. Eric Peterson, the county’s forestry administrator, told The Globe on Tuesday that he expects most of the funds to be used to purchase desired property from Xcel Energy. He added that any remaining funds would go toward restoration of the land. “It’s primarily scattered land around the east, south and west sides of the Flowage...
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By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — A play about motherhood is arriving just in time for Mother’s Day at Theatre North in Ironwood. “Listen to Your Mother,” created by Ann Imig, will be presented from May 9-12. “I thought it would be a good fit for Theatre North and something different than your standard play,” said Sandy Gertz, who is directing the local show. “It’ll be a lot of chuckles.” “We have 13 people — 11 women and two men,” she said, adding that none of the participants will be in starring roles. “It’s completely...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — The grand opening of the Art and Pottery Studio in Ironwood drew more than 150 people last Saturday. Proprietors of the establishment are Ann Marie Batiste, a longstanding local painter, and Jesika Cane, a potter. Cane described the grand opening as “excellent” and explained the women’s desire to establish a shared location. “We were looking for more space,” she said, explaining that — until now — she worked only out of her home-based studio whereas Batiste is closing her own art studio in H...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] WAKEFIELD — Members of the Wakefield City Commission voted on Monday evening to approve repealing an ordinance relating to feeding deer within city limits. The motion included the scheduling of a first reading on the repeal at the council’s next regular meeting. “You have to have three readings of it,” said City Manager Robert Brown Jr., noting that a public hearing then also must occur, followed by 30 days of publication, before the repeal can be officially on record. Monday’s action follows the counc...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSSEMER — At their Monday evening meeting, members of the Bessemer City Council voted to table posting an opening for city manager. It was the second time that members tabled the matter, with the first vote having occurred at their April 8 meeting. Monday’s discussion explored whether to seek a traditional city manager or whether to split the job into more than one role to best suit the city’s needs. “We need a grant person,” said councilman Adam Zak. “Perhaps we should consider seeking someone, no...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSSEMER — A Monday public hearing on the 2024-25 fiscal year budget drew no comments at the start of the Bessemer City Council meeting in Bessemer. A council vote on the budget is expected at the next regular meeting on May 13 at 6 p.m. In a Tuesday email, Interim City Manager Mandy Lake, who is also the clerk/treasurer, reported that estimated revenue and expenses for all 2024-25 funds total more than $4.2 million. Specifically, revenue is estimated at $4,226,653, whereas expenses are estimated at $4,2...
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By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - The Mercer Library and community center drew hosted an Earth Day fair on Saturday, drawing 21 vendors to speak about area efforts to protect the environment. "This is the biggest one we have had yet," said library director Teresa Schmidt "We had 21 vendors, meaning businesses to local organizations, county conservation department and DNR. It is showing off what people are already doing in the community that has an eye toward sustainability."...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY — As a result of an April 2 election, four new members of the Iron County Board of Supervisors took their oath of office on Tuesday afternoon. New leadership also was elected. The new members are Mario Loreti of District 2, Hurley Ward 2; Roxanne Lutgen of District 13, Mercer Ward 3; Doug Swartz of District 7, Kimball; and Paul Mullard of District 1, Hurley, Ward 1. A fifth new member — Rick Boes of District 11, Mercer Ward 1 — also was elected but was absent on a preplanned vacation. He filled the...
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By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood Carnegie Library is planning for a new future after receiving a $750,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. The library had applied for a $2.5 million grant in 2023, according to library director Lynne Wiercinski, with plans to add approximately 5,000 square feet to the library. The state received far more applications than it had planned, said Wiercinski, resulting in more grants being distributed...
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By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD - A launch party for the fourth annual Emberlight Festival, which will run for eight weeks this summer, took place Saturday night at Theatre North in Ironwood. It was an opportunity for festival co-founders Miles Mykkanen and Cindy Franck - who are also the creative director and artistic producer, respectively - to announce the new season's lineup of entertainment while also kicking off a fundraising raffle. "It's a little insane to me that we...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] HURLEY – The Hurley School Board agreed Monday to hire Jackie Franzoi as a school counselor beginning for the 2024-2025 school year. Her hire means the district will now have two school counselors. Franzoi will work with grades 6-12, while current K-12 counselor Sarah Eder will focus on K-5 beginning in the fall. Franzoi, a Hurley High School graduate, comes from a school counselor position at the Winter School District. The board meeting began w...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — Members of the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted April 10 to undertake discussions with Watersmeet and Marenisco townships regarding how PILT funds are distributed. The acronym PILT stands for “payment in lieu of taxes,” and representatives of the two townships approached commissioners with their related frustration in what they view as unfair allotments. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, “Payments in Lieu of Taxes are federal payments that help local governm...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — Members of the Downtown Development Authority continued a debate at an April 10 meeting as to whether to release a city lot to support a local business or to retain the land for possible future development. The discussion related to a letter of request from James Thull dated Nov. 16, 2023. Action on Thull’s request has been tabled since that time. Thull said in the letter that he now owns a building at 119 E. Sellar St. that he uses to rent apartments. His request was to purchase the adj...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD – The Pat O'Donnell Civic Center hosted a health fair on Tuesday where people gathered to learn about health resources in their community. A collaborative effort by the Western U.P. Health Department, Michigan State University-Extension and the Upper Peninsula Health Plan, more than 40 organizations were represented, bringing with them activities for the entire family. The event combined the health fair aspect with a family fun night, said MSU-Ext...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY — Two new faces joined the Hurley City Council on Tuesday as members took their oath of office from Clerk/Treasurer Stacey Wiercinski in a reorganizational meeting. Logan Dahlbacka and Joseph Kasper were newly elected on April 2 when the following incumbents were also re-elected: Jamey Francis, Rita Franzoi, Robert Lanctoe and Stephanie Innes. Joanne Bruneau was also re-elected as mayor. Seven persons had run for the six at-large council seats. Former Councilman Joseph Pinardi lost his seat by g...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted last week to appoint Peter Tacconelli of Bessemer and Whitney Vernetti of Ironwood to 3-year terms on the Board of Directors of the county’s Community Mental Health Authority in Wakefield. The board also voted to reappoint three incumbents to the board: Joseph Bonovetz of Bessemer, who also is a county commissioner; Carrie Braspenick of Wakefield; and Patricia Crabtree of Ironwood. Bonovetz abstained on the otherwise unanimous vote. The act...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] HURLEY - A canvass of the April 2 election in Iron County by the county's Board of Canvass on Monday morning showed no problems, according to county officials. Board members included interim County Clerk Christan Brandt, Deputy Clerk Kathy Brauer and Clara Maki. Besides being the statewide presidential primary, the ballot also offered voters races for many local county, city, town and school board seats. A school bond referendum in Mercer was also...
