EDITOR’S NOTE: Superiorland Yesterdays is prepared by the reference staff at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

30 years ago

ONTONAGON — Ontonagon Memorial Hospital officials expect an 18.4 percent reduction in Medicaid payments through state budget cutbacks. The reduction would damage the viability of the village-owned hospital’s long-term care facility, which generates the bulk of the hospital’s revenues, Village Manager Glenn Anderson said. Medicaid payments are federal funds which are administered by the state and matched by the state. If cuts go though as expected, the hospital will lose $16,000 a month in revenues, or up to 30 percent of its Medicaid reimbursements to the long-term care facility.

60 years ago

MARQUETTE — The mighty mammoth moose is well on his way toward becoming another of the Upper Peninsula’s many tourist attractions. During the past several years, reports of moose sightings unaccountably began being turned in after many years during which the majestic animal presumably had completely vanished from the Upper Peninsula. The first reports came, understandably, from the eastern tip of the Peninsula, and it was assumed that these animals were swimming across the St. Marys River from Ontario, which has had a sizable moose population through recent history. But during more recent years, moose apparently have been spreading gradually westward through the Upper Peninsula. Last year, a moose was reported near the junction of M-28 and U.S. 41, virtually on the outskirts of Marquette. In fact, moose signs have been observed as far west as Houghton County.