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

30 years ago

MARQUETTE — About 175 people applauded and cheered when the Marquette Planning Commission unanimously voted to reject a permit for a proposed Skandia Township soil incinerator. The action came during a public hearing Wednesday after three hours of testimony from people opposed to the controversial project. The incinerator, called a thermal extraction plant, was proposed by Melvin Silta of Skandia Township. It would be run on his property of Silta Road in Skandia Township and would burn off petroleum contaminants left in soil by leaky underground storage tanks. The planning commission originally approved a mineral extraction permit for the project in June, but the Skandia Township board appealed the permit and the Marquette County Zoning Board of Appeals sent the decision back to the commission. The appeals board advised planning commissioners to either support their original decision with facts or withdraw the permit. Wednesday’s decision was based on opposition to the site by the planning commission staff and the Marquette County Health Department as well as findings that the plan violated the standards for granting a mineral extraction permit according to the county zoning ordinance. Officials from the health department have recommended that a different site be selected that would better protect public and environmental health. Pat Gruber, a Marquette County Planner, said the county’s resource management staff opposes the site because “it is an environmentally sensitive area with high ground water, shallow bedrock and a close proximity to wetlands.” The staff also had concerns over noise pollution and whether roads to the facility could be properly maintained.

90 years ago

NORWAY — They may grow tomatoes big in Iron Mountain, but Carlo Bianche, residing on Norway Hill, Norway, claims the record. Bianche admits that the two-and-one-half-pound tomato grown by Tony Cavaiani, Iron Mountain, was “fair”-sized, but adds that when bigger and better tomatoes are grown, Carlo Bianche will grow them. Bianche exhibits proof in two large tomatoes, one of them weighing three and one-quarter pounds and the other two pounds and seven ounces. The larger of the two, while not symmetrical in formation, measures 21 inches the long way around and 14 inches at the smallest part. The smaller tomato measures 18 inches the long way round and 12 inches at the smallest part. In addition to the two, Bianche has other tomatoes that weigh from one to one and one-half pounds, but are too “small” to display.