30 years ago

MARQUETTE — It was March in the Upper Peninsula. Ten deer weakened from weeks of bitter cold and belly-deep snow finally found refuge on some railroad tracks. But their safety was short lived. Stressed from one of the most severe winters of the century, the deer refused to jump back into the snow and were run down by a train. The deer were so stressed that their reaction and senses were altered, causing them to run in fear down the tracks rather than respond to the dance of the train. The deer were among hundreds of thousands of white tails that experts estimate died last winter in the Upper Midwest as nature compensated for years of mild winters that have allowed deer populations to flourish.

60 years ago

MARQUETTE — City police early this morning conducted an intensive search in the vicinity of W. Kaye Ave. and Hebard Ct. for the boa constrictor which was released from a locked station wagon on the Northern Michigan University campus Wednesday night. The 15-pound, five-foot snake, greenish brown in color, is nonpoisonous, according to police, but moves swiftly. It will not attach unless provoked, police said, praying on animals. Police plan to use a large net to trap the snake if they see it. Persons spotting it have been asked to immediately notify police, and not to toy with the snake.