Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Articles written by Zachary Marano


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  • Ironwood City Commission closes out city square project

    Zachary Marano|Aug 10, 2022

    IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission held a closeout public hearing on the Downtown City Square project prior to the regular meeting on Monday. Routsala Concrete Construction finished concrete work in the city square and embedded a steel city logo near the intersection of Aurora and Lowell streets in June. Jerry Wuorenmaa, executive director of the Western U.P. Planning and Development Region, reported the completion of the project to the commission. Wuorenmaa said that a Community Development Block Grant provided $1,475,927 toward administr...

  • Festival Ironwood set to return next week

    Zachary Marano|Jul 7, 2022

    IRONWOOD — Festival Ironwood is returning next week from July 13-17 with five days of family-friendly events under a big top tent in the Historic Depot Park. The festival will feature food, live music, a classic car show and more. Festival events start at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13. Festival coordinator Will Corcoran said that the first night is organized by the Ironwood and Hurley Rotary Club and includes live music by the Lake Effect under the big top, as well as beer and brats through 10 p.m. The local Fat Tire and Superior Riders bike c...

  • Local officials urge safe use of fireworks

    Zachary Marano|Jul 2, 2022

    Fireworks can be an exciting Fourth of July spectacle, but when handled improperly, these pyrotechnic devices can cause fires, severe injuries and deaths. Local public safety departments recommend handling them with care over the holiday weekend and following all applicable laws. “Each July 4th, thousands of people – most often children and teens – are injured while using consumer fireworks. Despite the dangers of fireworks, few people understand the associated risks: devastating burns, other injuries, fires and even death,” Lt. Matthew...

  • Out-of-control fire extinguished near Saxon Harbor

    Zachary Marano|Jun 9, 2022

    SAXON, Wis. - Volunteer firefighters were roused from their beds around 3 a.m. on Wednesday to respond to a fire in Saxon Harbor, Saxon-Gurney Fire Department Chief Stacy Ofstad told the Daily Globe on Wednesday. Thanks to their rapid response, Ofstad said the fire was extinguished around 7:30 a.m. and there were no injuries. The fire was contained to a beach on the east side of Oronto Creek, Ofstad said. The fire destroyed some driftwood on the beach, but Ofstad said that mother nature helped p... Full story

  • Ironwood considers Depot Park curfew

    Zachary Marano|Jun 8, 2022

    IRONWOOD - Ongoing problems at the Historic Depot Park in Ironwood prompted the Ironwood Parks and Recreation Committee to consider setting a curfew on the depot park pavilion at their regular meeting on Tuesday. Committee chair Sam Davey said "the kids are just out of hand" at the park and proposed the curfew so they will have to leave the pavilion by a certain time or face charges for trespassing. The committee discussed a curfew time of 7 p.m. or 30 minutes before sunset, with the exact time...

  • Planning Commission discusses proposed marijuana site plan

    Zachary Marano|Jun 7, 2022

    IRONWOOD – Ankur Rungta, a business owner who hopes to open a retail marijuana establishment called QPS Holdings on 100 W. Cloverland Drive in Ironwood, recently presented an amended site plan for his establishment to the Ironwood Planning Commission, which was discussed in a public hearing on Thursday. Director of Community Development Tom Bergman clarified to the commission that QBS Holdings does not have a retail marijuana establishment license and is not pre-approved for one. However, they wanted to amend their already proposed site plan i...

  • COVID-19 community levels increase in Gogebic, Ontonagon

    Zachary Marano|May 21, 2022

    HANCOCK — New COVID-19 cases in the western Upper Peninsula continued to rise over the past seven days as Gogebic and Ontonagon counties moved from low to medium COVID-19 community levels, according to an update from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department on Thursday. From May 11-18, there were 60 new cases in Houghton County, 32 cases in Gogebic, 12 cases in Baraga, nine cases in Keweenaw and seven cases in Ontonagon, for a total of 120 new cases. This marked the fifth consecutive week that the case rate increased, the health d...

  • Iron County snowmobile trails close for season

    Zachary Marano|Mar 22, 2022

    In the aftermath of warm weather and temperatures above 50 degrees this past weekend, the Iron County Snowmobile and ATV/UTV Trails were closed for the winter season at 8 a.m. on Monday. The Iron County Forestry and Parks Department can legally keep the trails open until March 31, but they closed the trails 10 days early this year because of the warm weather and rain, Office Manager and Trail Coordinator Tara Krall said to the Daily Globe on Monday. When the rest of the snow melts and the ice...

  • Ironwood approves water rate for Snowmobile Olympus

    Zachary Marano|Dec 15, 2021

    IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission approved a special water rate for the Ironwood Snowmobile Olympus, a water and sewer infrastructure project and bids for a new portable generator at a lift station at its regular meeting on Monday. The city commission approved a request from the Friends of the Gogebic County Fair for a special water rate for their 2021-2022 Snowmobile Olympus being held at the Gogebic County Fairgrounds on Dec. 31 and Jan. 7-9. The town offers a 50% water rate to events that bring people to the community to help s...

  • Montreal applies for funding for new city park

    Zachary Marano|Nov 17, 2021

    MONTREAL, Wis. - Mayor Kelly Traczyk said that the city of Montreal applied for the Neighborhood Investment Fund Grant to receive funding for a proposed park at the Montreal common council meeting on Nov. 9. Traczyk said it will be named Riverside Park, which is also the name of the community center on a 1938 map of the city. The proposed park will be located on 22 acres of city property and will have a "mindfulness meditation walk," a dog park and community gardens. An old baseball field will...

  • Iron County opens flu vaccine clinics

    Zachary Marano|Oct 21, 2021

    HURLEY, Wis. - Workers with the Iron County Public Health Department provided influenza vaccines to community members at a drive-thru clinic at the Iron County Highway Department in Hurley on Wednesday. Public information officer Zona Wick said that the health department provides influenza vaccines to the community annually in the fall. The health department starts reaching out to the community as soon as the influenza vaccine becomes available, she said. The health department works with the...

  • Mercer discusses essential worker compensation

    Zachary Marano|Sep 4, 2021

    MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Board of Supervisors discussed the federal stimulus bill, essential worker compensation and a bond for broadband services in the county on Thursday. Chairman John Sendra said the town recently received $72,272 in funds from the federal government as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act. They will receive the same amount again in a second installment of the stimulus bill in June 2022 for a total of $144,545. The town was also provided money from the state of Wisconsin to compensate essential workers who...

  • Ironwood prepares for new year with Back to School Fair

    Zachary Marano|Aug 21, 2021

    IRONWOOD — Students and their families were invited on Thursday to Luther L. Wright K-12 School in Ironwood for a Back to School Fair. The open house provided an opportunity for children and their parents to get ready for the first day of school on Tuesday by meeting teachers and completing important paperwork. Incoming students formed queues at tables in the gymnasium to receive their final class schedules and Chromebook laptops. “We’re one-to-one, so every student from K-12 has access to a Chromebook,” principal Melissa Nigh said. “A lot...

  • Masks not required in Ironwood school

    Zachary Marano|Aug 20, 2021

    IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Area Schools Board of Education held a special board meeting on Wednesday to hear an update on COVID-19 requirements and recommendation from superintendent Travis Powell. He said students will not be required to wear masks inside of the school building when they return for classes next week. “After careful analysis of the current conditions in our community as related to COVID-19 and thorough analysis of our legal obligations and requirements, I recommend making no change to our current policy on COVID response,” Powel...

  • Ironwood to hold meeting on masks

    Zachary Marano|Aug 18, 2021

    IRONWOOD — With their children planning to start classes next week, concerned parents attended the regular Ironwood board of education meeting at Luther L. Wright High School on Monday in large numbers. During the start of the meeting, when citizens are permitted to address the board about items on the agenda, some parents expressed their fears about sending their children back to school without masks being required for all students. Others threatened to withdraw their students if the school required masks. Travis Powell, the school s...

  • Gogebic Range Concert Band to remember COVID-19 victims

    Zachary Marano|Aug 6, 2021

    IRONWOOD - The Gogebic Range Concert Band will perform at 7 p.m. on Aug. 10 in Longyear Park in Ironwood. The concert will be dedicated to all those who the community has lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, band director Marie Eggleston said. "We'll be playing 'Amazing Grace' and 'Be Still My Soul' to call attention to the fact that just about everybody has lost someone or knows someone who has lost someone." Eggleston said. "There hasn't been any memorial because it's an ongoing pandemic. So, we...

  • Downtown Art Place hosts outdoor class

    Zachary Marano|Aug 5, 2021

    BESSEMER - Participants of all ages came to Bluff Valley Park in Bessemer on Tuesday for an art and natural science class hosted by volunteers from the Downtown Art Place of Ironwood. The class was led by Ian Shackleford, a botanist from Ottawa National Forest, and Polly Barbacovi, an artist with the DAP. Shackleford guided participants on a nature walk and shared his knowledge about trees and plant life that can be found along the trail. He also said there were invasive plants at the park such...

  • Mercer celebrates 41st annual Loon Day

    Zachary Marano|Aug 5, 2021

    MERCER, Wis. - The population of Mercer and surrounding communities gathered in town on Wednesday to celebrate the 41st annual Loon Day, a craft show featuring vendors from around the country. Melissa Biszak, executive director of the Mercer Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the event, said that Loon Day celebrates what the town is most well-known for: being the "Loon capital of the world." "We have some vendors that are from Nebraska, Iowa and Florida. They all have vacationed up here, love...

  • Summer classes return at the DAP

    Zachary Marano|Jul 3, 2021

    IRONWOOD — Summer art classes will return this month at the Downtown Art Place. The programs will provide participants with opportunities to learn new skills from artists from the local studio. According to a news release from the DAP, classes will be held from July 26 to Aug. 12. This year’s events will kick off with “Ceramics with Candace” at the DAP Clay Studio on July 26. The complete summer classroom schedule can be found on the DAP website. The website says the classes are open to all ages, but children under the age of 10 must be acco...

  • Bessemer plans 4th of July celebration

    Zachary Marano|Jun 11, 2021

    BESSEMER — The Bessemer Fourth of July planning committee is expecting “enormous” attendance at this year’s celebration of the nation’s birthday, said committee head Linda Nelson. After most events being canceled due to COVID last year, a full slate of Bessemer Blast activities are billed as the “biggest and best 4th of July celebration in the U.P.,” said Nelson. Much of the celebration will take place in downtown Bessemer on Sophie Street over the week prior to July 4, and will feature events for all ages. There will be many familiar even...