Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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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...
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] 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...
Email calendar items and community news to [email protected]. For more information, call 906-932-2211. Thursday, April 18 Bessemer St. Vincent de Paul, financial assistance, 9-10 a.m.; food pantry, 10 a.m. to noon. 906-663-4436. Gogebic-Ontonagon Community Action Agency food commodity distribution for seniors, Bergland, Lake Gogebic Senior Center, 9:25-9:40 a.m. EDT; White Pine, Carp Lake Township Hall, 10-10:15 a.m. EDT; Ontonagon, Holy Family Catholic Church, 11-11:30 a.m. EDT; Mass City Resource Center, 12:30-1 p.m. EDT. Ironwood St....
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...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] MARQUETTE --- Ewen-Trout Creek's Bree Besonen joined a pretty exclusive club last week. The eighth grader was named to the All-U.P. Second Team at the 49th annual Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association girls basketball meeting last week. She's believed to be one of just three girls to ever be named to the All-U.P. team as an eighth grader. She knows the other two pretty well - they're her sisters. Elise Besonen made it in 2017 and...
While Mercer voters approved a school bond proposal, several incumbents in various local races across Iron County lost in Tuesday's election. The Mercer School District asked voters to approve a bond proposal to raise $800,000 a year beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, through the 2028-2029 school year for maintaining operations, programs and facilities. The measure passed 455 to 286, or 61% to 39%. A similar proposal failed last year 393-365 (52%-48%). Also in Mercer, Tanner Hiller...
HURLEY - The 2023 annual report of the Iron County Forestry and Parks Department includes both good and bad news. On one hand, the report summarized, "2023 proved to be a challenging financial year for the ICFD. Declining stumpage prices, lack of consistent pulpwood markets, and continued high inflation caused lower revenues and a higher cost of doing business." On the other hand, the report added, "The department still had another busy year with many recreational users visiting our county parks...
Email calendar items and community news to [email protected]. For more information, call 906-932-2211. Thursday, April 4 Bessemer St. Vincent de Paul, financial assistance, 9-10 a.m.; food pantry, 10 a.m. to noon. 906-663-4436. Ironwood St. Vincent de Paul, food pantry and financial assistance, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., located behind Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church. 906-932-4325. Gogebic County Veterans Service Officer, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Wakefield City Hall; 1-2 p.m., Watersmeet Township; 2:45-3:15 p.m., Marenisco Township. 906-667-1110....
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — The location for the 2024 Gogebic County Fair has been declared officially as the Pat O’Donnell Civic Center in Ironwood. Fair Board members had been optimistic about the change in venue, and the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners also had voted to approve the switch from the county fairgrounds. But Jay Kivisto, manager of the Civic Center, assured on Tuesday that his board of directors also now has made it official. Regarding Fair Board members, he said, “Our Civic Center board met last...
By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] Tuesday is Election Day in Wisconsin. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Not only is it the Presidential primary across the state, but there are also local county, city, town and school board seats up for election. There is also a bond proposal in the Mercer School District. While the presidential primary season is all but over because President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican, are the only two candidates left standing before their parties’ conventions t...
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] Tamarack Health Ashland Medical Center is performing a community survey in Iron County to determine the public’s health-related concerns in the community. The survey is aimed at residents of Iron, Ashland and Bayfield counties. “This is something we do every three years with the area health departments,” said Tamarack Health spokesperson Abby Miller. “We are a critical access hospital, so it is a requirement for us as a hospital to do this, but really it is just a good way for us to tap into what our com...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY — Members of the Iron County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday evening to approve Phase 1 recommendations for the 2024 budget. They also voted to establish a new capital fund that will be geared toward the ongoing goal of greater fiscal responsibility. Board Member Kurt Wolff, who has been leading the push for budgetary reform, summarized the results of Phase 1 that he had outlined in greater detail in a recent Finance Committee meeting. He said that, even after meeting with many department h...
Email calendar items and community news to [email protected]. For more information, call 906-932-2211. Thursday, March 28 Bessemer St. Vincent de Paul, financial assistance, 9-10 a.m.; food pantry, 10 a.m. to noon. 906-663-4436. Ironwood St. Vincent de Paul, food pantry and financial assistance, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., located behind Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church. 906-932-4325. Alcoholics Anonymous, noon, Salem Lutheran Church, Ironwood. area74.org. Government Downtown Ironwood Development Authority, 8 a.m., Women’s Club Room, Memorial...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY — The Finance Committee of the Iron County Board of Supervisors voted last week to forward an issue regarding the compensation of elected county officials back to the board. The action followed a discussion relating to a Feb. 27 board meeting, during which members voted to approve a resolution regarding the salaries of Interim Clerk Christan Brandt, Treasurer Clara Maki and Register of Deeds Daniel Soine for the next four years. The resolution states that those employees now will receive the s...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — Members of the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted last week to approve a resolution that commits to a multi-county approach to materials management planning. The action followed a report by Commissioner Joseph Bonovetz, who is this county’s representative on the commission for the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region in Hancock. Jerald Wuorenmaa, WUPPDR’s executive director, told county commissioners several months ago of the state-driven movement to upgrade each...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY — Finance Committee members of the Iron County Board of Supervisors voted last week to refer Phase 1 of the county’s budget reconciliation plan to the full board for approval. The action at the March 14 meeting occurred after committee member Kurt Wolff presented the conclusions of Phase 1 to fellow committee members. “We still have about a million and a quarter budget deficit, so we still have a ways to go,” said Wolff regarding the county’s financial status upon completion of Phase 1, during wh...
Email calendar items and community news to [email protected]. For more information, call 906-932-2211. Thursday, March 21 Bessemer St. Vincent de Paul, financial assistance, 9-10 a.m.; food pantry, 10 a.m. to noon. 906-663-4436. Gogebic-Ontonagon Community Action Agency food commodity distribution for seniors, Bergland, Lake Gogebic Senior Center, 9:25-9:40 a.m. EDT; White Pine, Carp Lake Township Hall, 10-10:15 a.m. EDT; Ontonagon, Holy Family Catholic Church, 11-11:30 a.m. EDT; Mass City Resource Center, 12:30-1 p.m. EDT. Ironwood St....
By MEGAN HUGHES [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Gogebic-Iron County Airport voted Monday at its regular monthly meeting to replace the airport’s water pump, which failed earlier in the day, leaving the airport without access to water in the main buildings. Airport manage Jeremy Busch said that with the lack of access to water, the bathrooms were unusable, and in the meantime the airport called in for portable toilets to be brought to the site until repairs could be made. “The capacitor went bad,” said Busch. “His suggestion was to re...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] HURLEY - Members of the Hurley City Council learned Tuesday evening that the city's $2.3 million utility construction project is set to start as soon as weather permits. Jeff Seamandel, a project manager in the Rhinelander office of MSA Professional Services, said he has scheduled an April 3 pre-construction meeting. He predicted that a May start date for construction led by Jake's Excavating and Landscaping will be set at that meeting. The session is expe...
Email calendar items and community news to [email protected]. For more information, call 906-932-2211. Thursday, March 14 Bessemer St. Vincent de Paul, financial assistance, 9-10 a.m.; food pantry, 10 a.m. to noon. 906-663-4436. Ironwood St. Vincent de Paul, food pantry and financial assistance, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., located behind Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church. 906-932-4325. Gogebic County Veterans Service Officer, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Wakefield City Hall; 1-2 p.m., Watersmeet Township; 2:45-3:15 p.m., Marenisco Township. 906-667-1110....
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Pat O’Donnell Civic Center may be the site of this year’s Gogebic County Fair in Ironwood. County Fair Board members voted on Monday evening to have board member Linda Nelson prepare a related proposal to submit to the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners in time for that board’s March 13 meeting. Board member Thomas Hampston opposed the vote, but all others voted aye. Before the vote, Nelson said she already had spoken with Jay Kivisto, Civic Center manager, and said that he and his ass...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] In what has been called a no-snow or low-snow winter, area ski hills are ending a short season early. In Wisconsin, Whitecap Mountains Resort in Upson closed on March 1. In Gogebic County, Big Powderhorn Mountain Resort and Mt. Zion Ski Hill closed on Sunday. The latter is on the campus of Gogebic Community College. In Ontonagon County, the Porcupine Mountains Ski Area and Adventure Mountain - due to their reliance only on natural snow - have each been ope...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] BESSEMER — At their most recent meeting last week, the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners delivered a hard no to any attempts to retain the 2024 fair at the county fairgrounds. The agenda included two items: 1. Reconsideration of the board’s Oct. 11, 2023, vote to close this year’s fair at the fairgrounds, along with any other major events there; and 2. Subsequent action to consider a revised proposal by county Fair Board members, who have been pushing for a smaller version of the fair that would...
Email calendar items and community news to [email protected]. For more information, call 906-932-2211. Thursday, March 7 Bessemer St. Vincent de Paul, financial assistance, 9-10 a.m.; food pantry, 10 a.m. to noon. 906-663-4436. Ironwood St. Vincent de Paul, food pantry and financial assistance, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., located behind Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church. 906-932-4325. Gogebic County Veterans Service Officer, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Wakefield City Hall; 1-2 p.m., Watersmeet Township; 2:45-3:15 p.m., Marenisco Township. 906-667-1110....
