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

30 years ago

MARQUETTE — The Marquette City Commission is establishing an ad hoc solid waste advisory committee to study city garbage collection rates. Currently, households are charged a monthly $8 garbage collection fee. A suggested volume-based garbage collection rate would instead charge households according to the number of bags of garbage they generate, said City Manager Dale Iman. “The goal is to create a system that is more equitable and fairer to the consumer,” he said. “It would also encourage recycling and composting and extend the life of the landfill.” Those interested in serving on the committee may contact the city clerk’s office. Iman said he hopes to appoint the committee members before the commission’s Jan. 11 meeting.

60 years ago

ESCANABA — The tanker Martha E. Allen, carrying 32,000 barrels of jet fuel, pulled herself free late Friday from an ice field five miles off the Escanaba lighthouse. She had been stuck in the ice field since noon. The skipper planned to unload the tanker’s cargo at the Holly Corp. marine terminals, eight miles away. The Coast Guard was asked to provide an escort for the tanker through the ice fields on her way back to Chicago. The cutter Mesquite was dispatched from Sturgeon Bay, Wis., to assist the Allen. The Allen was en route from Whiting, Ind. Her master reported Thursday night he had expected no difficulty with the ice, six inches thick off the marine terminal’s mooring dolphins. The 440-foot tanker Amoco Illinois, loaded with petroleum products, left Detroit yesterday on one of the latest interlake voyages in Great Lakes history.