This weeks column features a collection of pictures I have scanned over the years. The photo above shows a group of ladies at leisure from Munising (some dressed in swimwear somewhat similar to the tank suits we had to wear at the Mather swimming pool). Noting that my mother is in the ...
KINGSFORD — A capital improvement plan for the years 2025-30 is in place for the city of Kingsford, calling for infrastructure improvements, equipment purchases and building upgrades. The plan is needed for the city to apply for grants, said City Manager Mike Stelmaszek. The plan approved by the city council was a collaborative process involving Stelmaszek, department heads, Ryan Carigg of Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission and the city’s planning commission. The plan has $301,500 of expenses listed in 2025; $26,288,000 in 2026; $1,903,000 in ...
ESCANABA — Escanaba is experiencing one of its largest spikes in COVID-19 cases in the last three years according to an unlikely source — sewage. Changes in the way confirmed cases of COVID-19 are counted and reported have made it difficult to accurately gauge the number of infected people in any given area. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, most testing was done by medical professionals who submitted their test samples to laboratories, making it easy for epidemiologists and government officials to track infection trends. Now, the vast majority of infections are discovered ...
IRON MOUNTAIN — Kwik Trip has further established itself in the Upper Peninsula, opening stores in Iron Mountain and Kingsford in roughly a month’s time. Scott Zietlow, CEO for the La Crosse, Wis.-based convenience store and fueling station chain, was present Tuesday along with wife Jill for the official ribbon-cutting at both new locations. “For communities like Iron Mountain, our goal is to provide a clean, safe location to purchase fresh products of value with outstanding desk service,” Zietlow said. Until now, Kwik Trip’s only Upper Peninsula stores were in Ironwood ...
HANCOCK — Hancock’s city council will keep the same leadership for 2024. Council members unanimously appointed Kurt Rickard as mayor and Lisa McKenzie as mayor pro tem for one-year terms at Wednesday’s meeting. There were no other nominations for the positions. Rickard was named as ...
ESCANABA — When Tom LaFave was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer in 2015, the Escanaba resident didn’t let the dire news get him down. “He was very positive the whole time,” says his wife, JoEllen. “The diagnosis was a shock, and we knew it was serious, but Tom’s mindset was ‘we just have to do what we have to to fight this.’ That was his motto in life.” Tom and JoEllen were high school sweethearts who married and raised four children. Following high school, Tom enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served until his honorable discharge in 1967. During ...
