_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Volume 128 No. 52 $1.00 Copy Wednesday, December 30, 2009 Ontonagon, Michigan 49953_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The

Ontonagon Herald“Serving Ontonagon County and Surrounding areas since 1881”

Classifieds . . . . . . . 13Editor Page . . . . . . . . 3Kid’s Page . . . . . . . 14Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 6

Sports . . . . . . . 10, 11Sudoku Mania . . . . . 2Sudoku Solution . . . 6Year in Review . . . 8, 9

Index

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HOLIDAY EARLYDEADLINE NOTICE

Due to the New Year Holiday, all adsand articles must be in the Heraldoffice Wednesday, December 30 forinclusion in the following week’sissue.

Lake Gogebic Chamber honorsmember and citizen of the year

Submitted by Chamber Treasurer,Dick Armstrong

The Lake Gogebic Area Cham-ber of Commerce held its’ annualmeeting at the Konteka in WhitePine, December 6, with the namingof the Citizen of the Year and Cham-ber Member of the Year along withthe election of officers and direc-tors.

Melanie Fullman, OttawaNational Forest Ranger and BillBaer, Ottawa National Forest Recre-ation Manager were presented withthe chamber “Citizen of the Year”Award for their support in the devel-opment of Multi-Use trails in theLake Gogebic Area as well as beingactive on the National Ski Patrol,Bessemer Fire Department, local

search and rescue, the Ottawa His-torical Center in Bergland andactive in the Back Country Horse-man Association and more.

Ron Searles from West ShoreResort was honored with the Cham-ber Member of the Year award forhis long service on the board ofdirectors, 15 years of activity insnowmobile trail signing and brush-ing, building and donating snowmo-bile trail map boxes and fish displaycases for the chamber booth at sportshows, is chairperson of the Cham-ber’s Communications Committeeand a member of the fishing com-mittee. He has placed fish cribs forthe Lake Improvement Associationand writes articles for the Gogebic

2008 Chamber “Citizen of the Year” Tom Chase presents MelanieFullman and Bill Baer with the 2009 “Citizen of the Year” Award”.

Chamber Treasurer Dick Armstrong presents Ron Searles with the2009 Chamber “Member of the Year” Award.

An afternoon at the museum

By Anne SussexWhat kind of excitement could a

person expect at the Ontonagonmuseum on a cold wintry Saturdayafternoon? Plenty if you were luckyenough to stop by last weekend.Eddie Stevens, who now informsme that he is 10, spent the afternoon,playing four different instrumentsand making the day merry andbright. Young Mr. Stevens who is afifth grader at Land O Lakes ele-mentary school says he likes com-ing to the museum to play the musi-cal instruments. This was his secondvisit to the museum and this time agroup of people were waiting to seewhat he was going to play. Thisreporter had a favorite piece ofmusic dating back quite a few years.Eddie looked at the music and said

he hadn’t played it before. The firsttime was a bit hesitant, but by thethird time he played “UnchainedMelody” so well that visitor LindaKoski sang along while he played.

Eddie played the pump organ,and his Christmas songs soundedwonderful. He said it took him a fewminutes to figure out how fast topump the organ so the sound justpoured from the organ. Eddiebrought his cornet with him andgave a great rendition of SilentNight. But when he picked up theantique Wurlitzer accordion andstarted playing polkas a lot of feetstarted tapping right along. He thenmoved on to the “square” piano.There were about 20 people listen-ing to him play and he told the

Eddie Stevens at the organ

OASD may build new garageBy Anne Sussex

The Ontonagon Area schoolboard met for its regular monthlymeeting on Monday, December 21.President, Dean Juntunen called themeeting to order with all memberspresent. A group of high school stu-dents were present to observe theproceedings.

At the last meeting, MemberBruce Johanson asked for anaccounting on the music/band pro-gram for the school. Music teacher,Ben Mayer sent a written memo thatoutlined how the elementary andjunior/senior high school band andmusic classes are conducted. Mayernoted in his memo that the numberof students in band programs hasalmost doubled. Johanson asked ifthe school was providing instru-ments for students and who was thevendor for any rentals. Johansonalso indicated that he was not happywith the lack of ‘beginning” instru-ments.

The board then agreed toincrease the At Risk services for theJr/Sr High school by one hour perschool session day through the endof the current school year. Superin-tendent Gray Webber indicatedthere was enough money in thebudget and with the high percentageof At Risk students that it would bea good move on the part of theboard. The cost for the extra hourwould be about $3,000 for thesemester. Some criteria that define

an At Risk student would be lowMEAP scores, if a student is eligiblefor a free or reduced lunch, and fam-ily marital status.

The board then moved on toapprove a second reading of theJr/Sr High Handbook which furtherdefines the meaning of a closedcampus. The board also approved afirst reading of a policy change forstudents who wish to graduate early.This policy would require a studentto be enrolled as a senior and main-tain a full schedule. If a studentwants to graduate in advance oftheir current class, they would haveto petition the board to be advancedto the level of a senior student.They would then be a member of theclass. A student who requests earlygraduation after the start of theschool year would not be consideredas a class member and wouldreceive their diploma through themail.

The board also approved a virtu-al class access policy. This policyoutlines requirements for a studentto enroll in a virtual class as part oftheir curriculum.

Webber then introduced aRetirement Incentive Plan. Thisplan is a onetime deal outside of theregular contract for teachers whodon’t fit parameters of the contract.Webber explained that it would beless costly than a layoff. He said thata maximum of five people would

Stupak coming to OntonagonBy Anne Sussex

Congressman Bart Stupak’soffice has announced that he will bevisiting the Western UP in Januaryto hold town hall meetings.

He will be in Ontonagon on Jan-uary 6, at the Ontonagon Jr/Sr HighSchool. He is scheduled to hold ameeting from 5:30 to 7:00 pm.

He will also hold meetings onJanuary 5, at Gogebic CommunityCollege and in Houghton on Janu-ary 7.

This will be an opportunity forMr. Stupak to speak on a variety oftopics from health care to the econ-

omy and an opportunity for localresidents to let him know what is ontheir minds. Stupak said in a pressrelease that he “looks forward tohaving discussions with residents inIronwood, Ontonagon andHoughton. These town hall meet-ings provide me with valuable feed-back and help to spur dialogue onimportant issues within the FirstDistrict.”

It will also be an opportunity forlocal residents to speak directly toStupak about their concerns forOntonagon County.

A candid interview with Representative LahtiHarold S. Riter, Reporting

The Herald had a surprise visitoron December 21, when 110th Dis-trict State Representative MikeLahti dropped in for a brief chat. Ofcourse, this reporter is always anx-ious to talk with and also to talk atour lawmakers, so Lahti’s droppingby was most welcome. He had justarrived home from Lansing on Sat-urday and was taking a quick swingthrough the district to talk to variousorganizations and individuals.

Being involved with education,this reporter decided to open up thechat on that subject. Currently, indi-vidual Michigan school districts arebeing asked to sign on to a promo-tion being pushed by the Depart-ment of Education as well as by USSecretary of Education, Arne Dun-can.

Certain powers that be in Lans-ing are really pushing this “Race tothe Top’ as a way of getting ahold of$400 million dollars. We asked Rep.Lahti about his feelings on this mat-ter.

“It’s a red herring that will leadto bringing in more charterschools,” replied Lahti. Heexplained that the “Race to the Top”

funds are meant to shore up failingschools, or to replace them, “...andwe don’t have any failing schools uphere,” he continued, suggesting thatjumping through a number of hoopsand amending State school laws justto get the federal money didn’tpromise that any of it would reachthe schools in this area.

As for the Michigan schoolfunding crisis, Lahti said, “We haveto make cuts or raise taxes. Resolu-tions don’t solve problems. Talkingabout something else (such as ‘Raceto the Top’ keeps us from facing the

State Representative Mike Lahti

Traxys considers expandingrenewable power business

The 40-megawatt plant in White Pine will be converted from coal tobiomass using the existing infrastructure. The engineering prefeasibili-ty study is underway and environmental permitting will be submittedin early January 2010.

Traxys is a global raw materialmarketing and sourcing firm spe-cializing in base metals and concen-trates, minor and alloying metals,industrial minerals and chemicals,materials for steel mills andfoundries, and carbon products. Itholds investments in various miningoperations around the world andoperates both coal handling facili-ties and power generation assets inthe U.S. The company has 21offices worldwide and in 2008 post-ed revenue of $4.5 billion.

The Traxys Power Division islocated in the Upper Peninsula ofMichigan. The Group operates a 40-megawatt coal plant in White Pineand a 20-megawatt plant in L’Anse,MI. The L’Anse facility is a biomassplant that burns over 400 tons ofwaste wood per day, supplies

“green” steam to neighboring indus-trial plant and is recognized asMichigan’s first biomass green plantsince Governor Granholm passedthe “Renewable Energy Portfolioand Energy Efficiency Act” in 2008.

Mike Reid, Vice President ofTraxys’ Power Division, indicatedthat Traxys is interested in expand-ing its green business to 115megawatts using four different siteslocated across the Upper Peninsula.According to Reid, “It makes goodsense to take idled existing coalplants and convert them to biomass,since wood is such an abundantresource in the Upper Peninsula.Biomass power is the most reliablesource of renewable energy with an85% dispatchable rate, compared towind and solar power, which are 30-40% dispatchable”.

Weekly Snowfall

Report

Snow Fall for the week of December 22 - 28: 21”Total for 09’-10’ Season: 113”

As reported to the NOAA’s National Weather Service by localWeather cooperative observers along the shore of Lake Superior

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Harold S. Riter, ReportingA year ago, when commenting on the year 2008, we wrote, “2008 was a

year that many are happy to see gone.” Unfortunately, we may have somethings to say about 2009 that make 2008 seem like a cakewalk.

In closing out 2009, we are confronted with the closure of the County’ssingle largest remaining employer, Smurfit-Stone Container and theimpending financial crisis this means to many families in Ontonagon andsurrounding communities. There has been a pulp mill operating in Onton-agon since 1920, and that same mill has been producing high quality papersince 1925. Though it was reported in the December 16 Herald, that execu-tives of Smurfit-Stone had informed the employees that “historically, if amill is shut down, it will not run again.” We remind our readers that histor-ically, the Ontonagon Mill, has been shut down twice before, once in 1921,and was resurrected in 1922; and more recently, it was shut down in 1954,stood idle for just under two years, and became productive again. UntilSmurfit-Stone closed it this year, the mill has run constantly since 1956.Folks, there is always hope.

In the meantime, there was some relief in gasoline prices and tourism,for all its limited affect on the local economy, seemed to bounce back some-what.

On the national level, a year that started off as full of promise from a newleadership in Washington, health care reform was bogged down in partisanbickering. Health care reform, which had been touted as being the major ear-mark of the new Administration was so tied down in Congress, that the orig-inal ideals of a public option and containing the cost of health insurance forthose who would now be required to purchase it were buried in even morepartisan wrangling, as the people who elected and trust the representativesin Congress grew more and more disillusioned with what was taking place.

A war half a world away that has been draining national resources and ageneration of our young people was about to switch fronts from the unfor-tunate venture in Iraq back to Afghanistan, where it all began in 2001,amidst expressions of dismay from those who have felt that a major contrib-utor to the country’s economic problem is an undeclared war with no specif-ic goals stated and no end in sight.

On the State level, the public schools were once again being held hostageby a legislature that is either unable or unwilling to address financing ofpublic schools to the point that public schools all over the State of Michiganare teetering on the edge of insolvency. The image of Nero fiddling whileRome burned comes to mind

In our own County, Ontonagon schools are just hanging on and only bythe regrettable action of closing one of the two remaining campus’ and put-ting all pupils under one roof.The Ewen-Trout Creek School was strong-armed by the Department of

Education into a debt reduction plan that would create havoc with elemen-tary class division and size, as well as high school electives. There was a realconcern that this large school District could survive as an independent enti-ty for another year. Losing this District would be a real disaster for the chil-dren was well as the communities it serves.

Maple Manor Nursing Facility closed its doors in September which cre-ated a forced relocation of many local elders to unfamiliar surroundings,separated from family and friends by distance. Beacon Ambulance, whichwas affiliated with the corporation that owns Maple Manor created a crisisby announcing their plan to abandon ambulance service to the northern 7Townships in Ontonagon County. This was met by a resourceful responsefrom our people, the story of which is contained in the following report.

What follows is not an attempt to cover every happening of the past year,but only to skim the top of the news and events that make up our lives in thisspecial corner of the world.

Business:The Pamida store in Ontonagon has gone out of its way, over the past

year to become an accepted member of the community. The Pamida Foun-dation presented $1,000 to last year’s St. Nicholas Project, a local charityeffort to make the Christmas holidays a bit brighter for those in need in theCounty. Pamida has made several other donations throughout the year toworthy causes as well, including $1,000 to the County Food Pantry, $640to the Ontonagon Area Schools, and another $1,000 to this year’s St.Nicholas Project, as well as $1,000 to SONCO North to help tide things overuntil the election in February, and $1,000 to the Ontonagon County Veter-ans’ Association.

The Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCo), divested itself of someof its real estate holdings to local businessman Norman Pestka. The landinvolved includes parcels surrounding the Victoria hydroelectric dam reser-voir in Rockland Township and also the area surrounding the Prickett hydroin Baraga County.

UPPCo also started lowering the water in its reservoirs somewhat earli-er, anticipating a heavier spring run-off due to the abundant snow fall expe-rienced in the last months of 2008 and early in 2009.

Smurfit-Stone Container, parent firm of the Ontonagon mill, filed forprotection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws in January. Smurfit-Stone hadclosed the Ontonagon mill, “due to market conditions” in November of2008. Ontonagon’s mill is one of 14 paper mills operated in North Americaby Smurfit-Stone, and the Ontonagon mill had become a cornerstone in thelocal economy as a generational employer. It had been announced that themill would reopen some time in January, but the long-delayed resumption ofoperations did not began until late May.

Ironically, Smurfit-Stone reported its safest year in company history for2008 when CEO Patrick J. Moore announced “Our employees dedication toworking safely every day continues to move us closer to our goal of an acci-dent free workplace.” These words fell hollow on local ears where a closedplant certainly contributed to the company’s safety record.

After a little over three months of profitable operation, Smurfit-Stoneagain announced the closure of the Ontonagon mill to take place in mid-Sep-tember. The reason given was, again, market conditions. During the sum-mer, the Smurfit-Stone mill had utilized trucks for transportation of its prod-uct, abandoning rail transportation in spite of its reportedly much lower cost.The big white Swift Trucking semitrailer trucks rolled through the streets oftown, many using outdated maps or GPS devices that showed a now nonex-istent bridge across the river. One fully loaded Swift semi carrying 40,000pounds of paper product was overturned on the Norwich Road attempting totake a short cut to M -28.

In October, the E & LS Railroad announced that it was in the early stagesof beginning official abandonment of the railroad tracks north of Mass Cityleading into Ontonagon, and possibly, all of the trackage between Sidnawand Ontonagon. This would leave the Village of Ontonagon without railtransportation. It was reported that an industrial crane company that wasconsidering Ontonagon as a location for a new plant canceled considerationof Ontonagon as a site for a new plant upon hearing of the possible rail aban-donment. Abandonment of the rail line would leave the local paper mill asthe only paper mill in Michigan without rail facilities and make the closedmill practically unmarketable.

Congressman Bart Stupak waded into the railroad issue in October witha strongly worded letter to both the E & LS Railroad and to the HeartlandBusiness Bank of Dubuque, Iowa stating his opposition to any rail abandon-ment to Ontonagon and his intention to direct his staff to investigate waysand means to stop any such attempt to leave Ontonagon without rail service.Reportedly, the Heartland Bank is demanding that the E & LS abandon therail link to Lake Superior and use the salvaged iron of the rails to pay offpart of its accumulated debt. The Smurfit-Stone bankruptcy had left the E &LS with $1.3 million in freight charges unpaid.

On Saturday, November 21, a sad procession of rail cars left the Smur-fit-Stone mill yard wending its way down the tracks towards Escanaba.Within a week, not a piece of railroad rolling stock belonging to the E & LSRailroad remained in Ontonagon. Does this end a tradition of railroading the

stretches back to 1881 in Ontonagon?There was even greater frustration voiced over this turn of events which

was compounded even more when Smurfit-Stone, in mid-December,announced the permanent closing of their Ontonagon Mill and invoked theWARN Act...a required 60 day advance notice of permanent closure. Thiscast a pall over the County reminiscent of a Christmas in 1953 when Nation-al Container, then owner of the Ontonagon mill decided on very short noticeto close its doors. As the old saying goes, history repeats itself...what goesaround comes around. Is there a new prospective owner in the wings? IsSmurfit-Stone willing to sell a working paper mill? The weeks ahead willreveal the end of this tale.

The Porcupine Mountains Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, formed in2004 to collect the 2% lodging (pillow) tax to be used for the sole purposeof marketing the specific area from which is was paid held a marketing sym-posium in January at Silver City. Originally, the “pillow tax” had been paidto the Western U.P. Convention and Visitors’ Bureau in Ironwood and wasused in an effort to market the entire Western U.P., but it had been felt thata large portion of this was being used to promote Big Snow Country and thatOntonagon County was not receiving enough benefit by being part of thelarger effort. The firm of Pilch & Bernet was contracted to promote the localarea through a “destination marketing’ approach.

While not directly affecting the Port of Ontonagon, the Soo Locksopened officially on March 25, starting the navigation season on Lake Supe-rior for the year 2009.

The Ontonagon County Chamber of Commerce held its annual meetingon March 31, which featured presentations by Sheryl Mason, AssistantManager of Pamida; Mike Drew representing Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital;and Tom Cogswell, Village Manager.

Yet another blow to the area’s economy became known on June 18,when it was announced that Hudbay Minerals, the Canadian mining com-pany that has been shipping copper to the White Pine refinery will be clos-ing its smelter at Flin Flon, Manitoba in July of 2010 and its White PineRefinery shortly thereafter.

The Ontonagon County Economic Development Corporation (EDC)was without an Administrative Secretary as of the first of the year followingthe resignation of Mary Smith. Ten applications had been received, but nodecision to interview applicants had been made, instead, the hours of theoffice secretary were increased and filling the Administrative Secretary’sposition was put on hold.

The late Brian Paulson of Upper Lakes Coal assured the EDC that thefire danger of the coal stored on the EDC dock near the historic OntonagonHarbor Lighthouse was minimal. He also informed the EDC Board thatWhite Pine Electric Power had purchased the entire stockpile of stored coal.In January, there were approximately 53,000 tons of coal in storage andthrough the year, much of this coal was removed.

The EDC learned of a huge appropriation for harbor dredging of$800,000, roughly twice the amount required in previous years to clear thechannel of silt. Harbor dredging got underway on May 21.

One of the primary roles of the EDC is to process and recommend loansfrom the County Revolving Loan Fund. Ontonagon County has roughly$368,000 available for business loans. The EDC was alarmed about plansto bring all of the revolving loan funds in the region into one fund whichwould end the exclusive local control over this money. Ontonagon Countyhas a relatively large balance available for business loans, whereas otherunits had as little as $28,000. Authorities pressing for this regionalization ofRLF money made it clear that it w as not a mater of “if,” this would takelace, but when. If an EDC chose not to join the regional loan fund, the statethreatened to “recapture” all the loan fund money anyway. By year’s end,the consensus of opinion on the EDC Board was to do nothing, neither tocooperate or resist the State of Michigan in this matter.

A Regional Innovation Grant had produced some interesting results. Ledby Northstar Economics, a consulting firm, had analyzed data collected overthe past year from Ontonagon County, across the Upper Peninsula and thenorthern counties of Wisconsin, with a regional development plan evolvingfrom the study. The EDC was urged to get involved and take action on thisplan.

Chamber of Commerce President Victoria James addressed the EDCstrongly urging them to find someone who knows marketing and get themon board as soon as possible.

In July, Avanti Corporation, operators of Maple Manor Nursing Centerannounced the permanent closing of the nursing facility at Ontonagon.Lower occupancy coupled with reduced funding from the State of Michiganhad made the operation unprofitable. Maple Manor had served the needs ofthe elderly in the Village for over 30 years.

In mid-August, Avanti Corporation, parent firm of Maple Manor offeredto turn over to the Village the real property of Maple manor; that is the build-ing and grounds, for a waiver of current taxes. Council moved eagerly toaccept the building, though there were cautionary words from one councilmember who reminded the Village that it would be expensive to maintainthis building without a specific purpose in mind, and that by accepting it,they were giving away roughly $4,000 a year in taxes. By year’s end, thepaper work had not been processed transferring the property. It then becameknown that there were some problems with the transfer that the Villagecould not accept. By mid-December, all bets were off and Avanti was offer-ing the building to the EDC, but again, with stipulations that they too couldnot accept. It is left to the new year, or beyond to determine the fate of theformer hospital.

With the closing of Maple Manor, Avanti Corporation, which also ownsand operates Beacon Ambulance Service announced that as of August 30,they would be removing their ambulance service from Ontonagon County.SONCO Ambulance, a service supported by voted millage in the south endof Ontonagon County temporarily extended its license to include the northend and Aspirus provided an ambulance vehicle to be based at Ontonagon.Special appeals for funding brought the entire County together. JackieStrauch, EMT, took the lead in evangelizing the need for support for anextended ambulance service and soon became coordinator for SONCOnorth. Thanks to her concern for a special need and the dedicated emer-gency staff that rallied to the need, ambulance service has been provided. Acounty-wide election is scheduled to make the arrangement permanent in aspecial election in February, 2010.

UPPCo announced plans to replace the main spillway gate at the BondFalls dam with a two gate structure during the summer of 2010. Of someconcern was the limited amount of water flowing down the middle branchof the Ontonagon River. In its announcement, UPPCo stated that a by-passwill allow water to flow over bond falls and down the Middle Branch to sup-port aquatic life (trout). The project is expected to be complete by Novem-ber of 2010. The original spillway and gate were installed in 1937.

Education and the Schools:Following the defeat of a bond issue to replace the failed roof on the

Ontonagon Area High School and to build a new elementary school wingonto the high school building (shutting down the older campus on theGreenland Road), a new proposal had been formulated by the Board of Edu-cation which presented to the voters a proposal to replace the roof usingQZAB low or no interest bonds, a project that was considered absolutelyvital to keep the building safe and usable. Besides replacing the roof with arubber membrane material, the proposal was to include repairing water dam-age, adding additional insulation, and addressing several other health andsafety issues to include replacing several windows and ceiling tile. Twoother projects were also presented, one was to replace nonfunctioningkitchen equipment and upgrade the building in several other areas. The thirdproposal was to replace a part of the current heating system with a woodfired boiler to burn locally obtained wood chips. On February 24, the elec-torate of the district approved not only the roof proposal, but the other two

proposals as well, by a significant majority.In February, it was announced that Gray A. Webber, who had been serv-

ing as interim Superintendent of Schools at Ontonagon, would be offered aregular three year contract to serve as part-time Superintendent of Schools.Webber had retired after 27 years in the District as manual training andbuilding trades instructor.

The Ontonagon Elementary School, recognized as one of the most out-standing architectural design was 70 years old in February, being dedicatedon February 2, 1939. This building, stands as a monument to the role thatthe federal government can, and perhaps should play in public education.50% of the cost for construction was financed as a Works Progress Admin-istration project in 1938.

The Ontonagon Gladiatorettes Varsity Basketball team took the 127thDistrict Championship winning over Bessemer 61-29, a repeat performancefor the Ontonagon teams. Shortly thereafter, Ontonagon’s ladies of the bas-ketball court captured the Regional title with a 58-41 victory over NorthCentral.

Not to be outdone, the Ewen Trout-Creek Panther boys captured the Dis-trict 127 title over the Ontonagon Gladiators, giving them a perfect 0-22 sea-son.

It was revealed, shortly after the successful passage of the bond propos-al, that a majority of the Ontonagon Area board of Education memberswished to pursue a single campus approach, and would do so by moving theelementary pupils into the high school building, following extensive reno-vations, which would be paid for out of borrowing from the General Fundover a period of roughly 20 years. This departure from the duel campus wasnecessitated by declining enrollment and thus, declining income for the dis-trict, which was struggling to remain operating “in the black.” The elemen-tary school building would remain in use for the 2009-10 school year andthe new elementary classrooms at the Parker Avenue campus would beready for the start of the 2010-11 school year.

Over the summer, the massive task of replacing the roof on the Onton-agon Area high School was accomplished. A membrane-like product calledDuraLast was in place with only a bit of finish work to be done by the timeschool opened right after the Labor Day weekend.

The annual School election on May 5, returned Ann Cleary to the Boardof Education, confirmed Michelle Wilber for the three years remaining ofthe term of the late Mary Jane Rubich, and placed Marjory “Peg” Carrothersof Greenland Township on the Board. Carrothers, however, resigned afterserving only until September and was replaced by the appointment ofCharles Yost of Ontonagon.

The Music and Art departments of the Ontonagon Area High Schoolshared the limelight with the first of their “Fine Arts Nights.” A band con-cert featuring the high school and junior high bands, as well as the 5th gradebeginners’ group, a dance troupe, the school choir and several displays ofthe artwork created by local students in the art department. It was a granddisplay of creativity.

The White Pine School District was officially dissolved in March, withthe territory becoming part of Ontonagon Area Schools, making the Onton-agon Area Schools the largest school district, in squares miles, in the Stateof Michigan. The children of the former White Pine Schools are now Onton-agon pupils, unless, by school of choice, they wish to attend classes else-where.

The Ontonagon Area Board of Education, struck out at the restrictions ofthe Michigan Merit Curriculum by endorsing HB 4410, a provision thatwould allow for accumulating mathematics credits as part of a Career Tech-nical Education program. Better known as the Sheltrown Bill, this was lateradopted into law by both Houses of the Legislature.

A team of history buffs from the Ontonagon Area High School compet-ed in the 7th annual History Smackdown at Calumet on April 20. This is thesixth time that a team from Ontonagon has taken part, and out of those sixtries, Ontonagon teams have brought home the traveling trophy three times!This year, Ontonagon had three teams participating, and the winning groupconsisted of Thane Fuller, Francesca Picotte, and Matt Wetsel. The compe-

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 2____________________________________________________________________________________

S u d o k u M a n i a

Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logicallywithout guessing. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces.Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, asmust every 3x3 square. Solution in this issue

T h e Ye a r i n R e v i e w 2 0 0 9

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The opinions of the writers are not those of the editor.

Editor’s Mail:December 21, 2009The Honorable Judge Shannon 824 N. Market St. 3rd floorWilmington, DE 19801Re: Case number 09-10235-BLSChapter 11Dear Honorable Judge Shannon:

This letter will most certainlynot be your first and only regardingthe Smurfit Stone bankruptcy, norwill it be your last. I am one of manyconcerned people regarding the clo-sure of the Smurfit Stone mill inOntonagon, MI. Having been bornand raised in Ontonagon, I know thevalue the mill has in the community.My family owned and operated asmall business in Ontonagon forover 60 years. In that time, I waslucky to live through some goodeconomic times, and watched thisfine community stick togetherthrough some hard times. Onton-agon is a unique community; nes-tled on the south shore of LakeSuperior in Michigan’s UpperPeninsula where logging and min-ing has been this area’s mainstay forwell over a hundred years. TheWhite Pine copper mine and thelocal shipyard closed in the 1990’s.This was a huge economic blow tothe county. With a 19.5% unemploy-ment rate, the residents of Onton-agon still remained strong and hope-ful. Many residents were forced tomove from the area to provide for

their families. A permanent closureof Smurfit Stone’s Ontonagon plantwill mean a permanent end to a oncefine community.

I’ve been following closely theclosure of the mill. On January 26,2009 a motion for an interim orderprohibiting utility providers fromdisconnecting services was filed inBankruptcy Court. I respectfullyrequest that a similar order be putinto effect to assist in maintainingand sustaining the mill until it ispurchased or ownership is trans-ferred. Without an order of this kindwith additional provisions to main-tain a minimum staff to control vitalelectrical and heating systems, themill will essential cripple and dieand become useless to potentialfuture production. This future pro-duction is the only hope that couldsave Ontonagon.

This bankruptcy goes so muchdeeper than the hundreds of legalfilings and motions of another failedcorporation due to tough economictimes. There are very real human,family and community issues. Theinitial loss of almost 200 jobs fromOntonagon will be the beginning ofthe end. The domino effect of eco-nomic hardship will eventually andswiftly silence the heartbeat of thisfine community.

This letter by ThomasRosemurgy Jr. of Chassell, MI willbe continued in next week’s issue.

Lake Gogebic Chamber honorsmember and citizen of the year

An afternoon at the museum

Eddie (l) and Linda Koski, with Eddie’s grandma (r) looking on

OASD may build new garage

A candid interview with Representative Lahti

Traxys considers expandingrenewable power business

Escanaba; Traxys and the City of Escanaba are in exclusive negotia-tions for the purchase of the existing coal plant that would be convert-ed to 25-megawatts of biomass.

The L’Anse Warden site is already operational and is supplying 20-megawatts of green energy and steam on a daily basis.Ninety minutes to the west of L’Anse is the Sawyer site, which sits on 23acres. It is planned that Sawyer would be is a 30-megawatt plant with50,000 pounds per hour of green steam and is in final engineering andpermitting.

Traxys Power Division has about 40-acres of hybrid willow and poplarclosed loop material growing in Skandia and White Pine. The test plotswill yield about 25 tons per acre of biomass on a 4 year rotation. Reidsays this is an opportunity to take unproductive, abundant farmlandand utilize it for cash crops, specifically biomass. In full production, itis the goal of Traxys to have 10,000 acres under management.

The combined plants will useabout 800,000 tons per year of bio-mass utilizing a combination ofopen loop and closed loop biomass.Closed loop biomass is agriculturalproduct grown with the specific

intent of being burned for energyconsumption and the ash from thewood is returned to the field for fer-tilizer; open loop wood consists ofwaste wood and wood bi-productmaterials.

The capital expenditure of theplants would be approximately $120million with an 18 to 20-month con-struction period and would requireover 200 tradespersons to build thefacilities. Once commissioned andrunning, the Traxys Power Divisionwould directly employ over 100people to run the plants, as well ascreate an additional 100 to 125 spin-off jobs with the aggregation of theopen loop and closed loop fuel

needed to fuel the plants.The Traxys Power Division is in

the process of securing long termgreen energy supply agreementssupplemented by 15-year fuelagreements. Reid commented,”With those agreements in place, theUpper Peninsula of Michigan willsee many jobs created in construc-tion, farming and the trucking of thefuels needed to supply the plants”

Continued from Page 1issue,” Lahti said. (we found it inter-esting that Lahti would say some-thing such as this in the face of suchslogans from Mike Flannigan, Supt.of Public Instruction, who keepstelling school leaders to “Re-imag-ine education,” and to support theRace to the Top as a “leap of faith.”)

The gist of the matter is thatthese temporary federal funds arejust that, temporary, and once theyare spent, they are gone, and theproblem of properly financing pub-lic education remains.

Lahti also pointed out that thetotal state budget is shrinking, pre-dicting that soon we will have abudget the size that it was in 1965,“but we still have to have fire andpolice protection, and take care ofour old folks,” he added.

We broached the subject of theMichigan Merit Curriculum, anunfunded mandate that is causingschools to limit even more the num-ber of electives for the students.Lahti told this reporter that most of

the Legislature agrees that theMichigan Merit curriculum must beamended or fixed, but we didn’t getinto more details.

Briefly we discussed the situa-tion with the railroad and the millclosure. Both Lahti and SenatorMike Prusi have been in contactwith E & LS railroad president,John Larkin, and Lahti told thisreporter that one of the problemswith getting new industry intoOntonagon is the uncertainty of therailroad’s situation. The mill closuremake it harder to justify the rail-road’s existence, and precludesother industry, such as industrialcrane manufacturers, from locatinghere.

Lahti alluded to the develop-ments at the Copperwood Project,but was quite clear that the Mi-Water ballot proposal, if it makes itto the voters, must be defeated

We thanked Mr. Lahti for histime and invited him back when hecan stay longer for an extendedgrilling.

Continued from Page 1qualify for the incentive. Webberalso believes that if a teacher has tobe laid off, the retirement incentivewould be less expensive for the dis-trict than having to pay unemploy-ment. Member Ann Cleary said shewould like to have more details onthe savings stating the board hadjust completed the negotiationprocess. Member Nancy Mattsonagreed stating that she thought thismatter would have brought beforethe board sooner. Cleary also askedhow many people had been offeredand that without knowing the partic-ulars, the incentive would be hard tosupport. Webber responded by say-ing there would be one less teachernext year and that it could either bea layoff or through a retirement.

The superintendent recommend-ed the board accept a proposal fromthe Wolgast Corporation for$20,000 to act as the constructionmanager for the school renovation.As construction manager, the com-pany will oversee the biddingprocess and the bid letting. Theywould take care of all subcontractsand all paperwork and permits. Theboard agreed to this proposal.

Webber then introduced the ideaof abandoning the current schoolbus garage located at the elementaryschool and building a new facility atthe high school. The superintendentasked the board to accept an engi-neering proposal from IntegratedDesigns to engineer and spec thebuilding for the amount of $3,972.Webber had some informationshowing the cost of the currentbuilding compared to a new build-ing. According to the information,he had, the annual cost of the newbuilding would be less than the cur-rent building. The projected cost ofthe new building is $66,200. The fee

for IDI services would be $3,972,however, if the building is notapproved, IDI administration feeswould not be invoiced. This propos-al was passed by the board withBruce Johanson and Michele Wilbervoting no.

The board discussed a memo ofunderstanding as a request by theMichigan of Education’s request.Webber said the State is hoping toreceive up to $400 million from thefederal government as part of theRace to the Top initiative. WhileMichigan has not yet been offeredthe money, the State superintendentcalled it a “leap of faith” and schoolattorneys advised schools to pro-ceed “at your own risk.” Johansonsaid that State Representative Lahtihad called the move a “red herring”stating that it would allow down-state districts to establish more char-ter schools. After some discussionthe board agreed to take no actionon the memo of understanding.

The board also approved anovernight trip for the Quiz Bowlteam. The team is now in the thirdround and will be going up againstHoughton.

Head teacher Jim Bobulathanked Kirsten Menigoz for herefforts for the Kaboom Play Daycontest. The Kaboom organizationis trying to get an NFL player tocome to the elementary school for apresentation later in the year.

Principal John Shiner said theChristmas concerts went very well.He also wanted to thank the BoosterClub for the financial support whichis allowing the gym floor to berefinished. Shiner also informed theboard that snowmobile safety forstudents will be offered on January12-13. The accreditation committeefor the North Central Associationwill be here on the same days.

Continued from Page 1group he was working on an opera.The adults didn’t really believe himuntil he pulled out his handwrittensheet music and started to play.

Later when he took a break,Eddie was asked why he likes tocome to Ontonagon. He said it wasthe lake. He says that Lake Superiorsings to him. He said he also likes togo to Bond Falls, because it soundslike a timpani. Eddie said that hecan hear music almost anywhere. Atone point, a visitor asked him to

play a song, but he didn’t know it.The lady sang the song to him andEddie played it back for her.

Eddie has a younger sister whohas a talent of her own. She is anartist. While sitting and talking tothe visitors, she drew a humming-bird that was really very good.

Eddie and Gracie spent severalhours with the museum and saidthey would be happy to come in thespring. Gracie said she would bringsome art work, and Eddie will bringhis music!

Continued from Page 1Times.

Barry Drews of Bear’s NinePines resort was re-elected presidentof the Chamber for 2010 with DaleKuivanen, Bergland, Vice President,Dick Armstrong Treasurer, MaryLou Driesenga secretary and LindyMoen – Konteka, Tom McCarthy –Bergland Bay Bar and Julie Berquist– Gogebic Lodge elected to a two-year director term. Returning direc-tors are Kent McDonough, RonSearles.

The Chamber is sponsoring a“Fun Run” which began on Decem-ber 15, and will run through March15, 2010 with $200 “Snowbuckdrawings to participants eachmonth. Visitors to the area visiting aminimum of 10 of the more that twodozen business sponsors in the LakeGogebic Area will be eligible for thedrawings.

The Lake Gogebic Area Cham-ber represents over 80 businesses inthe Lake Gogebic Area in Gogebicand Ontonagon Counties.

Continued from Page 1

NOTICEVILLAGE OF ONTONAGON DDA

DOWNTOWN FAÇADE PROGRAM

The Village of Ontonagon DDA is accepting applicationsfor the 2010 Façade Improvement Program. Only business-es in the DDA District are eligible for the program. Maxi-mum grant is $1,500.00 and the maximum loan is $3,500.00.Contact or stop by the Village Office, 884-2305, for programdetails and to pick up an application.

Deadline for submission is 4:00pm January 29, 2010

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Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 4____________________________________________________________________________________

The Night Sky January 2010

MOON & PLANETSJupiter is the bright white object

low in the southwest in the earlyevening sky. Mercury can beglimpsed in the early morning skyafter mid-month. It will be extreme-ly low in the southeast shortlybefore sunrise. High in the southbefore dawn are Mars and Saturn.Saturn usually outshines the muchsmaller Mars, however for the nexttwo months Mars will be brighter.Saturn is slightly dimmer than aver-age due to its rings appearing almostedge-on, while Mars is rapidlybrightening as it moves towardopposition at the end of January.Reddish Mars rises well before mid-night preceding Leo and yellowishSaturn rises around midnight fol-lowing the Lion. The crescent moonis to the right of Jupiter on the 17thand above it on the 18th. The moonis near Mars on the night of the 2ndand by Saturn on the 5th.STARS & CONSTELLATIONS

Mars starts out January in Leobut by month’s end it moves back-wards into Cancer. This backwardmovement (which the ancients had a

hard time explaining) is called retro-grade motion. This motion is in partdue to Mars reaching opposition onthe 29th. Opposition takes placewhen a planet is opposite the sunfrom us just like a full moon. Ittakes Mars about two years to orbitthe sun and during this time theEarth is moving faster in its orbitand overtakes Mars. The Earthmoves ahead of Mars just like afaster horse at a racetrack taking theinside rail position. From our pointof view, Mars appears to start mov-ing backwards as we pass it. Everytwo years as Mars reaches opposi-tion it is closer to the Earth than anyother time in its orbit. Mars will be62 million miles away on the 27th.For all of January and February,Mars appears very bright to theunaided eye and large enough ineven moderate-sized telescopes tobe able to glimpse some surface fea-tures.

For more astronomy informationon line: http://www.space.com,h t t p : / / s k y t o n i g h t . c o m ,http://www.astronomy.com

Visitor Center winter hoursThe Ottawa National Forest Vis-

itor Center in Watersmeet will beginits winter operating schedule onJanuary 3. Beginning in January, theVisitor Center will be open to thepublic Tuesday thru Saturday from9am to 5pm (CST) and closed onSundays and Mondays.

The Center provides an excel-lent source of information about thelocal area and recreation opportuni-ties (snowmobiling, hunting, fallcolor tours, hiking, maps, forestproductpermits).

Operated jointly by the USDA-Forest Service and the Ottawa Inter-pretive Association, the “Bear’sDen” gift shop offers many environ-mental books, unique gifts, andother nature-related items for pur-chase. Proceeds from these sales,after expenses, goes back to theOttawa National Forest in the formof grants for interpretive projectsaround the Ottawa.

For additional information,about the Visitor Center, call 906-358-4724 or visit www.fs.fed.us/r9/ottawa.

Submitted by Nancey WithrowSanta arrived at the log cabin in

Stenson Park, located in Greenlandon Sunday December 20, wherethere was a group of children andadults awaiting his arrival. Santacame prepared with 100 bags ofcandy and passed out over 50 bagsof candy to all the children. Pic-

tures were also taken and printedwhile you waited. All of the extrabags of candy were then distributedto the senior citizens of Mass andGreenland. This event was madepossible due to donations from thepeople, and Greenland’s 150th Cel-ebration Committee.

Santa visits Stenson Park

Santa makes his grand entrance

Santa visits with Lucas Kin

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Sleighful of Gifts winner

Ontonagon County Telephone Company’s annual Christmas Sleighfulof Gifts winner was Pam and Dale Karttunen of Green. The sleigh wasfilled with a variety of gifts for every family member worth approxi-mately $150. Congratulations to Pam, Dale and their family!

Gustafson graduates from basiccombat training

Army Pvt. Shane E. Gustafsonhas graduated from basic combattraining at Fort Jackson, Columbia,South Carolina.

During the nine weeks of train-ing, the soldier studied the Armymission, history, tradition and corevalues, physical fitness, andreceived instruction and practice inbasic combat skills, militaryweapons, chemical warfare and bay-onet training, drill and ceremony,marching, rifle marksmanship,

armed and unarmed combat, mapreading, field tactics, military cour-tesy, military justice system, basicfirst aid, foot marches, and fieldtraining exercises.

He is the son of RobertGustafson of Hemlock Street, WhitePine, Michigan, and SusanGustafson of M-28, Merriweather,Michigan.

Gustafson is a 2009 graduate ofEwen-Trout Creek ConsolidatedSchool, Ewen, Michigan.

Pilot project in Michigan’s U.P. aimsto keep more ash trees alive

The emerald ash borer (EAB),an exotic wood-boring pest, contin-ues to spread, killing millions of ashtrees in Michigan and surroundingstates. Now scientists and state andfederal officials are working to findways to slow the rate of ash treedeath in EAB-infested outlier sitesin Michigan’s Upper Peninsula aspart of the SLAM – SL.ow A.shM.ortality pilot project. Outlier sitesare infestations of EAB that are wellbeyond the infested area in thestate’s Lower Peninsula.

The research partners fromMichigan State University (MSU)and Michigan Technological Uni-versity (MTU), and officials fromthe Michigan Department of Agri-culture (MDA) and the USDA Ani-mal and Plant Health InspectionService (APHIS), and forest healthspecialists from the MichiganDepartment of Natural Resourcesand the USDA Forest Serviceinvolved in the SLAM pilot projectare continually surveying EABinfestations to track the spread ofthe pest and to develop ways to slowthe build-up of the EAB population.The goal of the project is to delaythe spread of ash mortality in thearea. Lessons learned in the pilotproject will benefit not only Michi-gan, but other states dealing withEAB.

“The data gathered this year inthe communities of Moran and St.Ignace are giving us a better idea ofthe EAB population, how it grewand how it is spreading,” said Bren-da Owen, SLAM project coordina-tor. “We know that EAB will neverbe totally eradicated, but we aredeveloping ways to slow it down. Ifwe can buy time, other controloptions may become available.”

In the St. Ignace area, EAB lar-vae were found in four areas thissummer. One was just inside thestate park boundary, another was inthe city and two infested trees wereoutside the park and city bound-aries. No EAB were found in thedowntown of St. Ignace in ash treesthat were girdled or had purpleprism traps in them during the sum-mer. Fifty trees in St. Ignace with novisible signs of EAB infestation

were injected with insecticide.The EAB survey size in Moran

doubled this summer from a 3-mileradius to a 6-mile radius because ofadditional EAB finds in that area,according to Owen.

Survey methods to detect EABincluded using purple prism“sticky” traps in ash trees. The trapsare baited lures that may attractadult EAB beetles. They are placedin trees early in the summer whenEAB beetles begin flying, thenremoved in the fall once the beetlesare gone. Another method involvesusing ash trees themselves as“detection” trees. Researchers haveshown that EAB beetles are attract-ed to stressed ash trees and lay moreeggs on stressed trees than healthyash trees. To survey for EAB, select-ed ash trees are girdled in spring byremoving a band of bark around thetrunk. This affects the ability oftrees to move nutrients from theleaves to the roots and slowlystarves the tree. In fall, the girdledtrees are felled and the bark isremoved to see if EAB larvae arefeeding on the tree. Knowing whichtrees are infested and how many lar-vae are on the trees helps the SLAMpartners monitor the growth of theEAB population. Partners in theSLAM project are also using insec-ticides to help slow the build-up ofEAB populations. Once the data aregathered and processed, the approx-imate density and spread of the EABpopulation in a given area can beestimated.

The SLAM pilot project, whichwill continue in 2010, is providingnew options for managing areaswith low densities of EAB. Resultswill be shared with managers inother states such as Wisconsin, Min-nesota, New York and Missouri,where EAB has recently beenfound.

Not only will the SLAM pilotproject slow the rate at which EABimpacts ash trees, it also providesemployment for another year for atleast 15 Upper Peninsula residents.

More information on EAB canbe found at www.emeraldashborer.info, or www.michigan.gov/eab.

____________________________________________________________________________________Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 5

Gogebic-Ontonagon Community Action AgencySenior Meals Program

Ewen/Trout Creek/Bruce Crossing/Bergland

Tues., Jan. 5: Chili con carne, coleslaw, juice, bread, margarine, apple. Thurs., Jan. 7: Salmon patties,baked potato, creamed corn, bread, mar-garine, apricot whip.

The Senior Meal Program is for people 60 and over or a spouse of some-one 60 years of age or over. The suggested donation is $3.50 per meal.

Anyone under age can also eat at any of the sites but it will be a chargeof $6.00 per meal.

Ewen meals are served on Tuesday and Thursday at the CloverlandSenior Center. This site also cooks for Trout Creek and serves at the Luther-an Church. Meals are served at 12:00. All meals include bread and milk.

Ewen also provides the Home Delivered Meals for Ewen, Bruce Cross-ing and Trout Creek.

Call: Ewen 906-988-2463, Trout Creek 906-852-3426, for more information or to sign up for meals.

Gogebic-Ontonagon Community Action AgencyCongregate & Home Delivered Meals

Ontonagon/Greenland/Mass City/Rockland400 Block on River Street, Ontonagon

Tues., Jan. 5: BBQ pork rib, oven roasted potato, winter blend, chunkyapplesauce, oatmeal raisin cookie, bread, margarine, beverage.Tues., Jan. 7: Chiken cacciatore, noodles, carrots, tropical fruit, sherbert,bread, margarine, beverage.

Portions sizes are 1/2 c. (#8 scoops) for fruit, veggies, potatoes, pasta &rice. Desserts are 1/2 c. (# scoops) servings or 1/4 c. (#16 scoops) forDiabetics. Meat portions are approximately 4oz. servings. Casserole mealsare 8oz. portions (or 2-#8 scoops). Gravy is 2oz. serving, or 1oz. forDiabetics.

Cost: $3.50 donation for seniors on all incomes.Meals are served on Tuesdays and Thursdays.Mass City meals are Tuesday and Thursday at the Greenland Township

Community Building. Meals are served at 12:00. This site serves HomeDelivered Meals to Mass City, Rockland and Greenland.

Call 884-2106 for more information or to sign up for meals.

ONTONAGON GOLF CLUBNOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

January 1, 2010

To the Stockholders of the Ontonagon Golf Club:Notice is hereby given that the Annual Joint Meeting

of the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of theOntonagon Golf Club will be held at the Golf Club onthe 27th day of January, 2010 at 7:00 o’clock p.m. forthe purpose of electing directors and for the transactionof any other business that may come before the meeting.If unable to attend, please sign and return the enclosedproxy to PO Box 236, Ontonagon, Michigan, 49953.

Linda Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer

NOW BUYING Standing merchantable

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Stress Reduction Seminar to be heldOntonagon County Michigan

State University Extension and sev-eral community partners will beholding a Stress Reduction Seminaron Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 6 pmat the Ontonagon Area ElementarySchool Library.

Seventy-five percent of Ameri-cans suffer from ongoing stress-financial, personal, work related,health-the list of sources is endless.Over the long-term, stress can affectyour everyday life, including yourhealth, finances, your job and yourpersonal life. This one-hour seminarwill assist you and your family inlearning how to handle stress andprevent it from affecting your every-day life. Taryn Mack, of CopperCountry Mental Health, will provide

a variety of stress reduction tips andtechniques. Breakout sessions willinclude instruction on yoga therapywith Brandi Steiner, massage forstress reduction with Kristie Koski-Gonzales, preventing children’sstress with Jody Maloney and astress reduction workgroup lead byTaryn Mack.

The workshop is free of chargeand open to the public. Preregistra-tion is requested by January 4th,2010. Childcare will be provided bymembers of the Ontonagon CountyChildren’s Trust Fund for childrenage 3 and up. For more informationor to register, contact the OntonagonCounty MSU Extension office at884-4386.

VFW CribbageDecember 22, 2009

M. Hill & R. Gonzales . . . . . 964T. Marzack & D. Marzack . . 941R. Akerlund & R. Shamion . . 939C. Ross & T. Schuster . . . . . . 938F. Jezek & M. Zimmer . . . . . 934D. Kekke & J. Schuster . . . . . 929W. Solberg & W. Kempen . . . 926D. Bussiere & S. Morin . . . . . 925S. Schuster & B. Pajak . . . . . 922S. Hennings & J. Pattison . . . 922T. Frazer & M. Schuster . . . . 916R. Myllylahti & G. Besson . . 909J. Reid & N. Schnell . . . . . . . 906L. Kekke & S. Roehm . . . . . . 903J. Broemer & P. Bailey . . . . . 898D. Guzek & J. Leinonen . . . . 897J. Gertz & M. Bradley . . . . . . 891D. Morin & S. Huff . . . . . . . . 866High HandsM. Schuster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24P. Bailey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24J. Leinonen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24J. Leinonen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23S. Huff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21D. Guzek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20P. Bailey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20F. Jezek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20R. Myllylahti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

*****

SCHOOLLUNCH MENU

Milk served daily

1/4 to 1/8E-TC HIGH SCHOOL

Milk, fruit, bread & peanut butterserved daily.

Monday: No school.Tuesday: Tacos, meat, shell, let-

tuce, onion, tomato, cheese.Wednesday: Chicken nuggets,

potato rounds, green beans.Thursday: Toasted cheese sand-

wiches, tomato soup, crackers.Friday: Pasties, coleslaw.

**********ONTONAGON AREASCHOOL DISTRICT

Milk served daily. Bread, butter,peanut butter & jelly will not beserved on days when other sand-wiches are on the menu.

Monday: Cheeseburger, bun,French fries, mixed fruit.

Tuesday: Ravioli, green beans,pineapple.

Wednesday: Vegetable soup,tuna salad, lettuce, pears.

Thursday: Chicken nuggets,mashed potatoes, gravy, Mandarinoranges.

Friday: Pizza, fresh veggie,fresh fruit.

3 Day Pass $58.50 (Reg. $90) • Single Day $22.75 (Reg. $35)Children ages 7-12 only $10 for 3 days or single day

Purchase through www.porkiesfestival.org, call 884-2653 or toll free 1-800-344-5355, LOCAL OUTLETS: Ontonagon Herald, PetersonsCottages & Superior Shores Resort

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Thank You~~~~~~~~~~Thank you!

We thank the following for helping to give the soldiers of the 1431stEngineer Company (Sapper) of Ontonagon County a warm welcome home!

The Village of Ontonagon, Ontonagon Area Schools and Students,Peninsula Graphics, and the Shamrock Bar - thanks to all!

Thank you to the local businesses and individuals for donating towardthe cost of the welcome home page in the Ontonagon Herald: OntonagonCounty Telephone Company, Pat's Foods, White Pine Electric Power, WhitePine Copper Refinery, Ontonagon Herald, Lake Superior Credit Union, Cit-izens State Bank along with employees, Renee Tarnowski, Debra Haas,Michele Smith, Joan Wilber, Nickie Weiner, Gerald Platzke, Fay Deiter,Maureen Pettit, Wendy Pence, Mary Ross, Gail Miilu, Laurie O'Connelland Willie DuPont.

Thank you to all the businesses who displayed banners, posters and"Welcome Homes"!

Your thoughts, support and donations were much appreciated! Please continue to support our troops as many are still serving this great

country!Happy Holidays from the Soldiers, Families and Friends of the 1431st

Engineer Company (Sapper) "Good As Done"~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you to anyone who helped us out in any way during the loss ofour home.

Some of you we do not even know, but your overwhelming generositywill not be forgotten.

Thank you to-- Vivian Fish LeMoine, who took us in the night of the fireuntil my parents got there; the Village Manager and his wife, who gave usclothes to put on; the Ontonagon Volunteer Fire Department; Tammy Lan-cioni and other faculty at the Ontonagon High School who started a fundfor us and then Tammy and friend who took the girls shopping in Houghton;American Red Cross; Maurices of Houghton; Walmart of Houghton;Tammy Lancioni’s Mother who works at Marquette Walmart and the Man-ager there; Employees of K&W Landfill in Greenland; Employees of WasteMangement of Houghton and Iron River; Department of Social Services andEmployees; St. Vincent DePaul; Paula Domitrovich’s office; DomitrovichInsurance; our Neighbors, Friends and Family; whomever Kaylene is.

Again thank you to everyone who said a kind word, donated food, cloth-ing, furniture and money. We will be forever grateful.

George Bittner, Jr & Daughter, NicoleParents, George & Nickie

Sister, Peg & FamilyBrother, Joe & Wifeand Alex Denman

~~~~~~~~~~

Written by Steve Hofstetter, Keith Alberstadt, Ryan Murphy, and Chris Strait

The New Orleans Saints lost. Now the only ones with 14 victories arethe Indianapolis Colts and Tiger Woods.

PGA commissioner Tim Finchem believes the Tour can survive withoutTiger Woods. Though the groupies might get a bit lonely.

Only 2,600 fans showed up to watch the Clippers beat the Sixers inPhiladelphia. And half of that was Allen Iverson's posse.

Nate Robinson's agent has issued a trade request. He'd like to be tradedto another client.

And Mike Holmgren is interested in joining the Cleveland Browns. Nowhe just needs to find some players who will do the same.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich picked up his 700th careervictory. New Jersey Nets coach Kiki Vandeweghe is hoping for his 3rd.

Greg Oden believes he can still return this season. Just as long as the restof the league also fractures their left patella.

Larry Holmes said Tiger Woods shouldn't be punished for a series ofmeaningless "30 second" encounters. In related news, Larry Holmes is ter-rible in bed.

Terrell Owens complained that he is being underused by the BuffaloBills, and might move on after the season. His agent is excited to see whatteam he can alienate next.

And free agents Jason Bay and Bengie Molina are still interested in theMets. Mainly for the health insurance.

For more of the Sports Minute (Or So), visit minuteorso.com

HAVE AN ICE DAY“Have an ice day,” the typo read.

Not hard to do this time of year. Butdealing with ice can be anything butnice.

My brother proved that one win-ter when he wiped out while deliver-ing pizza. Unable to brace himselfwith his hands, “my keester took thefull impact,” he said. But he takespride in the fact that the pizzaremained unscathed.

“Oh sure,” my sister repliedwhen I asked. “I try to fall once ortwice a year.” She relayed the timeshe finished her night shift and car-ried a mug of cocoa to her car.

Sis slid on some ice and, thoughshe didn’t go down, her arms flailedin an effort to keep her balance.Cocoa splashed onto a neighboringvehicle and promptly froze to itswindshield. “Not one of my moreshining moments,” she recalls.

Mom likes to share the storyabout the time her mother fell whenthey were out running errands.Grandma made a soft landing in asnowbank, her legs dangling underthe car. My mother tried repeatedlyto help Grandma to her feet beforethe ladies dissolved into a fit of gig-gles.

Mom is not immune to gravityeither, though. One of our familystories centers on the time she brokeher hip. The driveway had beenclear except for one tiny patch of ice- the one her non-grip boot found.

Somehow she dragged herself tothe front porch, where she extendedthe scraper as far as she could reachto ring the bell. Dad looked out, sawnothing, and resumed his business.So she rang it again, adding hervoice for emphasis. That got hisattention.

All of the commotion drew MYattention, as well. When I realizedMom was hurt, I added idiocy toinjury by fainting, thus giving myfather two patients for the price ofone.

But it’s not just fall in the fami-ly. Plenty of non-relatives wipe outthis time of year and live to laughabout it. Others fail to see thehumor. Like the folks who sue theowner of the premises on whichthey land. Instead of paying rent.

Then there’s the Illinois manwho took a digger that promptednearby kids to laugh. He pulled outa gun and shot one in the anklebefore making his escape.

So much for having a nice day.

CCoorrkkyy’’ss CCoorrnneerr

Economic advance is not the samething as human progress.

- John Clapham

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 6____________________________________________________________________________________

ObituariesMelvin P. Forrest

Melvin P. Forrest of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan died Wednesday, Decem-ber 2, 2009 at his home. He was born July 2, 1918 in Brimley, Michigan.

He was a Member of American Legion Post #3; Life Member of WelshMcKenna Post #3676 VFW; Life member of Elks Lodge #552 and a Veter-an of the U.S. Navy having served during WWII.

Melvin is survived by his wife, Delema ‘DOOD’ Forrest whom he mar-ried August 9,1947 in Ontonagon, Michigan. Delema is the former Delema“Dood” Geist from Ontonagon and she graduated in 1945 from OntonagonHigh School. He is also survived by daughter, Loris (San Man) McKerchie;sister, Patricia Stevens; brother, Weldon Forrest; grandchildren, Diane Dias,C.B. Kempf, Wayne (Sara Slayton) McKerchie. great grandchildren Aman-da Kempf, Tadd Hill, Cassandra Dias and Madison McKerchie; and great-great granddaughter, Haydon McLean.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Eugene and Carrie MongeonForrest; son, Eugene Forrest; sisters, Delia Lessard, Lenna Sims, ElvaAlexander, Helen Hardychuk and Regina Deuman.

Funeral services took place December 5, at Clark Bailey NewhouseFuneral Home with Deacon Bill Piche officiating.

Final resting place will be at Bay View Cemetery in the spring. Memor-ial Contributions may be made to the VFW Post 3676 Children’s ChristmasParty.

Carole Anne LeRoyCarole Anne LeRoy, 69, of Menominee, Michigan, passed away at home

on Saturday, December 12, 2009, surrounded by her family. Carole wasborn on February 24, 1940, in Trout Creek, Michigan to the late Robert andEffie (Bonnin) Mackey.

Carole married Loran LeRoy in 1973. He preceded her in death in 2000.Carole was a member of the North Shore Baptist Church in Menominee.Carole worked as a nurses aid. She also like playing bingo, working on puz-zles, crocheting and arts and crafts projects.

Carole is survived by her children, Ann Schmidt of Mesa, Arizona, PamGibson and Kenneth (Lori) Kopsi, both of Menominee, Michigan, LindaLeRoy of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Patti O’Connor (Ralph) of Stephenson,Michigan, Peggy Aho (Bob) of Marinette, Wisconsin. and Mike LeRoy ofMenominee, Michigan; twenty-six grandchildren and twenty-seven great-grandchildren; three sisters, Leona (Ted) Banks of Las Vegas, Nevada, Ellen(Bill) Holden of Casper, Wyoming and Judy Komenda of Carla, Montana;three brothers, Don (Alice) Mackey of Kenton, Michigan, Fran (Mary)Mackey of Safety Harbor, Florida and Raymond (Cindy) Pittsley of Glen-rock, Wyoming; many nieces and nephews and her special friend, Amy.Along with her parents and her husband, Carole was preceded in death bythree sisters, Betty, Grace and Virginia and one brother, Bob Mackey.

Funeral services for Carole were held at the Cadieu Funeral Home onDecember 16 with the Reverend Tim Gunderson officiating.

A memorial fund has been established in Carole’s name.

C o m m u n i t y C h u r c h e sASSEMBLY OF GOD

Assembly of God, 104 N. Steel St., Ontonagon. 906-884-4622. Paul R.Sewell, Pastor. Service schedule: Sunday- 9:45 AM Adult Sunday School,10:45 AM Morning Worship, 6:30 PM Evening Service. Wednesday- 3:30PM K-6 Wed. School, 6:30 PM Adult Bible Study & Face It Youth Groupwhich meets at the Heritage House, 209 S. Steel St.

BAPTISTOntonagon Baptist Church, 615 Greenland Road, Pastor Brian Mason

- 884-2453/390-0067. Sunday: Sunday School, 9:45 a.m.; Morning Wor-ship, 11 a.m.; Evening Service at 6 p.m. Wednesday: Bible Study andPrayer Time, 7:00 p.m.

CATHOLICHoly Family Catholic Church, Ontonagon, Michigan Ave. & Pine St.,Daily Mass – Tuesday 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9:00a.m. Saturday Confessions at 11:00 a.m. with Mass at 6:00 p.m. Sunday Mass at 9:00 a.m. Fr. Michael Jacobus, Pastor.St. Mary Catholic Church, Rockland. Saturday - Confessions at 3:30p.m. with Mass at 4:00 p.m. Fr. Michael Jacobus, Pastor.St. Jude Catholic Church, White Pine, Sunday Mass at 11:00 a.m. withConfessions after the Mass, Fr. Michael Jacobus, Pastor.

St. Ann Catholic Church, Bergland, Father Thomas Ettolil, Pastor. Sun-day Mass at 11:00 a.m.

LUTHERANApostolic Lutheran Church, 15121 W. State Highway M-28, Bruce

Crossing, Church Phone: 827-3295. Interim Pastor, Jesse Aho. SummerWorship Service 9:00 a.m. Holy Communion 2nd Sunday.

Apostolic Lutheran Church, M-28, Watton, MI 49970. Worship servic-es at 10:00 a.m. Worship service on fourth Sunday at 2 p.m.

Bethany Lutheran - M-28 West, Bruce Crossing. Pastor Robert Oberg,(715) 561-3242. Sunday Worship 5:00 pm

First Lutheran - ELCA, Ewen, Pastor Gerald Anderson - Interim Pas-tor, (906) 667-0891, 988-2594, Saturday Worship 4:30 p.m., WednesdaySchool after School.

First Lutheran - ELCA, M-26, Winona, 883-3602, Pastor John West,883-3450. Worship 11:30 a.m. with Holy Communion on the 1st & 3rdSunday of each month.

Our Saviour Lutheran Church - ELCA, Paynesville, Pastor GeraldAnderson - Interim Pastor, (906) 667-0891, 988-2594, Sunday Worship9:00 a.m., Friday School after School.

Redeemer Free Lutheran Church - By the bridge, Ontonagon. Rev-erend David Nelson. - Sunday worship 9 a.m. Fellowship following theservice. Communion - last Sunday of month. Wednesday Noon worshipmusic; 1 p.m. Praise Team Practice; 7 p.m. Youth at Heritage House; 7 p.m.Bible Study. Thursday 10:30 Women’s Bible Study.

St. Paul’s Lutheran - ELCA, 1409 Ridge, Mass City, 883-3602, PastorJohn West, 883-3450. Worship 10:00 a.m. with Holy Communion on the 1st& 3rd Sunday of each month.

St. Paul Lutheran Church - Pastor Howard Neider - 906-884-4788Wed., Dec. 30, No Bible Study in the Book of Isaiah. No Church School

& Confirmation Class in the Upper Rooms. No Mid-week worship.Thu., Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m., Elders’ Prayer time, if you have a special

prayer need please make the elders or pastor aware of it. Sun., Jan. 3, 9 a.m., Sunday Worship with the Eucharist. 10:15, St. Paul

Family Fellowship.Wed., Jan. 6, 9:30 a.m., Bible Study in the Book of Isaiah. 4 p.m., Church

School & Confirmation Class in the Upper Rooms resume. 6:30 p.m., Mid-week Epiphany Celebration with the Eucharist.

Trinity Lutheran Church - LCMS, Bergland, Rev. Steve Hyvonen -Interim Pastor, assisted by Lay Pastor Larry Oehlerking every other Sun-day. Worship - 9:15 a.m. Holy Communion on the 2nd and 4th Sunday.

Trinity Lutheran - ELCA, Trout Creek, Pastor Gerald Anderson - Inter-im Pastor, (906) 667-0891, 988-2594, Sunday Worship 11:00 a.m., HolyCommunion 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month.

Wainola Lutheran - ELCA, 223 Mud Creek Road, Mass City, 883-3602, Pastor John West, 883 3450.5:00 p.m.Saturday with Holy Commu-nion on the 1st & 3rd Saturday of each month.

METHODISTBergland UMC: Rev. Ted Trudgeon. Worship Service at 11:00 am Ewen UMC: Rev. Ted Trudgeon. Worship Service at 9:00 am Greenland UMC: Rev. Cherrie Sporleder Sunday 11:30 am, worship

service.Ontonagon Circuit UMC: Cherrie Sporleder, Pastor, Office Phone 884-

4556. Sunday: 8:45 am, morning worship, nursery provided; coffee fellow-ship following. Everyone welcome. Church School at 3:15 p.m. Wednes-day. 6:00 pm Bible Study at Maple Manor.

Rockland St. Paul’s UMC: Rev. Cherrie Sporleder Sunday: 10:15 am,worship service.

Wakefield UMC: Rev. Ted Trudgeon. Worship Service at 12:30 pmWhite Pine UMC: Rev. Rosemary DeHut, Pastor. Sunday, Praise

Singing 8:45 a.m., Service 9:00 a.m. Christian Kids Club after school onFridays for Elementary children, Jr./Sr. High Youth Group Sundays at 5:00p.m. www.whitepinecommunityumc.org

PRESBYTERIANFirst United Presbyterian Church, Trout Creek. Worship services

11:00 a.m.SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST

Seventh Day Adventist Church, corner of Greenland & Firesteel Rds.,Greenland, MI. Every Saturday worship services with childrens programsat 10:00 a.m. and Sabbath school for all ages at 11:00 a.m. Everyone is wel-come. For more information call Pastor, Israel Ramos at 523-6162 or theChurch at 883-3433.

WESLEYANNorthwoods Community Church, Former Hoefferle Building, 900

River Street, Ontonagon. Sunday Service 11:00 a.m. Discipleship groupsheld at various church families homes throughout week now through May.Pastor Scott B. Sacrey 884-2504.

___________________________

Bruce Crossing Bible Church. Stannard Township Hall, 827-3170,827-3279, 827-3670. Sunday Service at 9:00 am.

Ontonagon Christian Centre. 22673 M-64, Ontonagon. Praise & Wor-ship God with music and hear the Word. Coffee - fellowship after. Thurs-days 7 p.m. Ladies lunch, Bible study and prayer Tuesday 12:00 noon.

D.C. Martinson,

D.V.M., will be in Ontonagon

every Wednesday

For an appointmentcall toll free

1-888-380-6319or 884-6045

KRISTIE'SMASSAGE THERAPY, LLC

A great way to start the New Year!Call for appointment

(906) 884-4410

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122 Greenland Rd., Suite AOntonagon, MI

Happy New Year!

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Sudoku Solution

In Loving Memory ofReino (Ray) Metsala

November 27, 1921 ~ December 28, 2008I’d like the memory of me

to be a happy one.I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles

when life is done.I’d like to leave an echo

whispering softly down the ways,Of happy times and laughing times

and bright and sunny days.I’d like the tears of those who grieve

to dry before the sun,Of happy memories that I leave

when life is done.(Author Carol Mirkel)

Ray was a loving husband, father andgrandfather who was fun to be around andleft us all with countless, wonderful mem-

ories. We miss him so much, but know that, because he believed in Jesus ashis Savior, we can look forward to being with him forever in heaven! “ForGod so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoeverbelieves in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

From his wife, Lorraine and DaughtersPhyllis (Bill) Vogelmann, Susan (Bill) Thomas, Claranne (Randy) Ongie,

and grandchildren Karyn (Jerry) Juntunen, Jason (Melissa) Thomas,Robin (Drew) Mikola, David (Alissa) Ongie,

Matt Ongie and fiance Lettie Hernandez, Jared Ongieand great-grandchildren Tyson, Joy, Fletcher Thomas & Fiona Ongie

Playwright Alfred Uhry is theonly writer to have won thePulitzer Prize for Drama, anAcademy Award (both for “Dri-ving Miss Daisy”) and a Tony(“The Last Night of Ballyhoo”).

The Bill Hall ColumnJOHN GLENN AND THOSE BIG BILLS

Early in 1975, I found myselfseated on a cross-country flight nextto a green new senator from Ohionamed John Glenn. And he wasn’tgreen because he was airsick.

Airsick was my job. But I didn’thappen to be airsick that day. I wassitting next to a guy who had calm-ly sat atop the controlled explosionof a space rocket and then whirledaround the globe in a bouncy littlespace boat without losing his lunch.I also had a steady stomach that day.Maybe freedom from airsickness iscatching.

But Glenn was legislativelygreen. He sounded like some citi-zens I hear today talking about theastonishing size of a new bill beforeCongress.

“Good Lord,” some hysteric ona cable news show will say, “thatbill is 2,000 pages long! Does any-body ever read it?”

Similarly, John Glenn, freshmansenator, was boggled because hewas encountering that problem forthe first time. He sat there fishingthick bills out of two briefcasesstuffed with proposed legislation. Atone point, he turned to me almost inaguish.

“Look at all of this!” he said in alament typical of a new legislatorwho had never realized the volumeof bills before state and federal leg-islative chambers. The new senatorsaid a person could read bills dayand night and still not get throughall of them before he had to vote.

His concern was commonamong beginners. In every new ses-sion of the state legislature or ofCongress there are always a fewbrave and conscientious freshmenlike John Glenn who are determinedto read every word of all the billsthat come before them.

In truth, it can’t be done. Toomany bills. Not enough hours in theday.

I now hear a lament lately simi-lar to John Glenn’s complaint. Peo-ple trying to stop some huge bill liketo use the size of the legislation as atactic for defeating it. They say it istoo long and windy. They go beforethe cameras and heft the bill like thelead weight it is. They ask howmembers of Congress can possiblyread something so enormous beforethey vote on it.

It ain’t easy. Doesn’t that mean that members

of Congress don’t know what

they’re doing?Yes. Many of them don’t. But even the many others who

do know what they’re voting on areable to learn what’s in a bill withoutpersonally reading every word inevery one of the thousands of billsthey encounter each year. They dothat with teamwork. Just as nobodyin football can simultaneously playquarterback, center, left tackle anddefensive back, nobody on a legisla-tive team can simultaneously playspeaker, minority leader, left waffleor offensive hack.

So the members specialize.Some make themselves experts ondefense bills, some education bills,some wheat bills. And when youhave a large bill like health carebefore you that threatens to remodelthe entire national health system, themembers specialize on variousaspects of it, asking each other andSenate staff specialists about all thedetails before voting.

So there’s no reason a novicelike John Glenn, who was just tryingto do his new job well, should havebeen embarrassed about being over-whelmed by two fat briefcases glut-ted with long, boring bills. He didn’tknow any better.

But some of the legislative vet-erans we’ve seen lately making agrand show of how large a bill isactually do know better. They’refunning us about their outrage andthey probably should be embar-rassed about that.

Mind you, I’ll bet I could cut atleast 10 percent of any of those billswithout hurting them. But some ofthem, trying to plug loopholes andcover all bases, do require a lot ofdetail. They aren’t meant to readlike novels.

A legislative bill is a lot like theblueprints for a space capsule. Youhope it covers everything crucial inlong and boring detail.

And that reminds me of whatJohn Glenn once said:

Asked what it feels like to sitatop a rocket during a countdown,he replied that it “felt exactly howyou would feel if you were gettingready to launch and knew you weresitting on top of two million parts –all built by the lowest bidder on agovernment contract.”

Did he actually say that?I’m fairly certain he did but I

don’t have time to read all the thingsthat John Glenn ever said.

*****Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes, and adversity is notwithout comforts and hopes.

- Francis Bacon

Ontonagon County98th District Court

The following cases were recent-ly heard and disposed of in 98th Dis-trict Court in Ontonagon, presidedover by the Honorable Judge AndersTingstad, Jr. and Magistrate MaryJane Loukus.

All fines reported include courtcosts unless otherwise noted.

• Speeding: ChangjwokNyikako, Chicago, IL $150; UrsulaStock, Marquette, MI $105.

• Seat Belt Violation, $65: FarahFors, Ewen, MI; Louis Morningsta,Bruce Crossing, MI.

• Other Violations: Changjwok,Nyikako, Chicago, IL, Fail toChange Address, $125; RobertWalker, Caro, MI, AttemptedWildlife Conservation Pa., $513.

Ontonagon CountySheriff’s Department

• On 12-19-09 at 5:50 pm GeraldLeaf of Ewen was traveling west onM28, 100 feet from Metos Roadwhen a deer ran into roadway. Hewas unable to avoid hitting the deercausing moderate damage to hisvehicle.

• On 12-19-09 at 8:15 pm Stew-art Geldhof of Belingham, WA wastraveling west on M28, 100 feet eastof Choate Road when a deer ran intothe vehicle. Geldhof lost control ofthe vehicle and ran into the ditch hit-ting a traffic sign. The vehicle sus-tained moderate damage.

• On 12-20-09 at 11:15 pmKaren Byrnes of Trout Creek wastraveling west on M28, 1 mile westof US45 when a deer ran into theroadway. She stated she was unableto avoid hitting the deer causingmoderate damage the vehicle.

• On 12-19-09 at 2:35 am theOntonagon County Sheriff Officearrested a 50 year old Bruce Cross-ing resident for PPO violation andResisting and Obstructing. He wasreleased on $3,000 bond to appear12-21-09 in 32nd Circuit Court.

• On 12-19-09 at 6:30 am theOntonagon County Sheriff Officearrested a 24 year old Trout Creekresident for Malicious Destructionof Property and Disorderly Person.She was released on $200 Bond toappear 12-22-09 in 98th DistrictCourt.

• On 12-20-09 at 3:47 am theOntonagon County Sheriff Officereceived a call that the ShamrockBar in Ontonagon was being brokeninto. The Ontonagon County SheriffOffice investigated. Anyone withinformation is asked to call the Sher-iff Office at 884-4901.

• On 12-21-09 at 7:35 pm RobertMarcotte of Hazel Park, MI wastraveling west on M28, near OldM28 when he passed another vehi-cle and then lost control of the vehi-cle and then it rolled over causingconsiderable damage. The vehiclewas removed by Howie’s towing ofBergland. Marcotte and passengerwere not injured in the accident.

• On 12-21-09 at 8:35 pm Bran-don Butzler of Madison, WI wastraveling north on US45, near Sand-stone Creek when he lost control,struck a guardrail and crossed overto the east side of the road into theditch. The vehicle had considerabledamage and was removed byHowie’s Towing of Bergland. But-zler was not injured.

• On 12-21-09 at 4:05 pm MaryMazurek of Ontonagon was travel-ing east on M64, 800 feet west ofSteel Street, as she was crossing theOntonagon River bridge struck apatch of ice, spun 180 degrees andstruck the bridge guardrail causingminor damage to the vehicle.

• On 12-22-09 at 9:44 am theOntonagon County Sheriff Officereceived a call from the CitizensState Bank in White Pine reporting apossible attempted Robbery.Nobody was injured and no moneywas taken. The incident remainsunder investigation. If you have anyinformation please call the Onton-agon County Sheriff Office at 884-4901.

Michigan State Police

• On 12-18-09 Troopers from theMichigan State Police Post inNegaunee were dispatched to Mar-quette General Hospital in referenceto an assault that took place inForsyth Township earlier in thenight. Upon contacting the victim ofthe assault it was reported that thevictim was walking on Stratofortnear the intersection of Pantherwhen he was contacted by three orfour fourteen to fifteen year oldmale subjects, One subject demand-ed items of value from the victim.When the victim attempted to walkfrom the scene it was reported thatthe suspects attacked him. Duringthe altercation the victim received asevere laceration to his left wrist.

The victim was able to identifythe suspects as white males, 5’6” to5’8”, who appeared to be betweenfourteen and fifteen years old withsmall to medium builds. Three sus-pects were wearing dark knit hats.One suspect had dark hair, a thingoatee, black (possibly Carhartbrand) jacket with a hood, blue jeansand snowmobile boots. A secondsuspect was identified as a whitemale with brown hair and short ponytail.

Anyone who witnessed theassault or may have informationleading to identification of suspectsis asked to contact the MichiganState Police Post in Negaunee(906)475-9922.

U.S. Department of Justice

• Grand Rapids, Michigan -Frederick Arnold Hogan, D.O., age58, of Lansing, pled guilty to onecount of unlawful distribution ofOxyContin, U.S. Attorney DonaldA. Davis announced. Hogan, whoran a Lansing pain clinic doing busi-ness as Non-Invasive Pain Manage-ment, pled guilty before the Honor-able Robert Holmes Bell, U.S. Dis-trict Judge in Grand Rapids.Because OxyContin contains oxy-codone, a Schedule II controlledsubstance, Dr. Hogan faces up totwenty years in prison.

The investigation leading to thecharge and conviction began withthe execution of federal search war-rants at Dr. Hogan’s office and theresidences of several of his patientsliving in Marshall, Michigan, byMichigan State Police (MSP), theSouthwest Enforcement Team(SWET), and the federal DrugEnforcement Administration (DEA),after law enforcement learned thatthe patients were selling Oxycontinpills. The investigation resulted infederal charges, convictions andprison time for three of thosepatients for their illegal distributionof oxycodone. Dr. Hogan was subse-quently indicted by a federal grandjury in April 2009 for distributingOxycontin pills containing oxy-codone outside the usual course ofprofessional practice and for nolegitimate medical purpose. At theplea hearing, Dr. Hogan admittedthat he issued prescriptions for Oxy-Contin in the name of a patient whowas in prison and allowed familymembers of the patient to pick upthe prescription. Dr. Hogan admittedthat, associated with these prescrip-tions, he received payment for officevisits that did not occur and that herecorded notes in the patient’s filefalsely reflecting that he had actual-ly examined the patient. Thepatient’s family subsequently dis-tributed the OxyContin on the streetfor profit.

U.S. Attorney Davis explainedthat his office “has taken notice ofthe growing problem of prescriptiondrug abuse and is combating crimi-nal conduct that fuels the abuse,specifically including the illegaldiversion of prescription medicinefrom legitimate medical purposes.”He noted that DEA statistics revealthat nearly 7 million Americans areabusing prescription drugs-- morethan the number who are abusingcocaine, heroin, hallucinogens,ecstasy, and inhalants combined.Twenty-five percent of drug-relatedemergency department visits areassociated with abuse of prescrip-tion drugs. The DEA also reportsthat misuse of painkillers representsthree-fourths of the overall problemof prescription drug abuse, and this

level of abuse reflects an 80 percentincrease in just 6 years.

This case is part of an initiativeto combat the illegal diversion ofprescription drugs in West Michiganand the Upper Peninsula. This initia-tive has included the participation ofthe DEA, MSP, SWET, the StraitsArea Narcotics Enforcement Team(SANE), the Uppers Peninsula Sub-stance Enforcement Team (UPSET),the United States Attorney’s Office,and other state and local lawenforcement. Earlier this year, inMay 2009, a Menominee doctor wassentenced to four years in prison forwriting illegal prescriptions formethadone as part of this ongoingfight against prescription drugdiversion and abuse.

Dr. Hogan is being prosecutedby Assistant U.S. Attorneys RayBeckering and Chris O’Connor.

• Grand Rapids, Michigan - Mar-cus Wade Buggs, age 23, of GrandRapids was sentenced to 190 monthsin federal prison and FrederickDenard Buggs, age 25, was sen-tenced to 121 months in prison fol-lowing their convictions on drugtrafficking and firearms charges, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davisannounced. Both men will serve fiveyears of federal supervised releaseafter completing their prison sen-tences. The Honorable Robert J.Jonker, United States District Judge,imposed the sentences.

The convictions and sentences ofthese armed drug dealers are theresult of an investigation initiated bythe Grand Rapids Police Depart-ment when officers learned thatFrederick Buggs was selling crackcocaine on the northeast side ofGrand Rapids. A search warrant wasexecuted in April 2009 at an apart-ment rented by Marcus Buggs.Police recovered crack cocaine witha street value in excess of $9,000, aquantity of powder cocaine, aloaded and stolen Taurus .45 caliberhandgun, an unloaded Walther .22caliber handgun, assorted drug traf-ficking paraphernalia, and almost$4,000 in cash. Both men wereindicted by a federal grand jury inMay 2009. Marcus Buggs pledguilty to conspiracy to distribute andpossess with intent to distribute 50grams or more of cocaine base(“crack”) and possession of afirearm in furtherance of a drug traf-ficking crime. Frederick Buggs pledguilty to conspiracy to distribute andpossess with intent to distribute 50grams or more of cocaine base(“crack”) and for being a felon inpossession of a firearm.

Both men faced up to a lifetimein prison for their crimes. MarcusBuggs was sentenced as a “careeroffender” under the federal sentenc-ing guidelines because of his priorstate criminal convictions, whichincluded delivery/manufacture lessthan 50 grams of cocaine and thirddegree fleeing and eluding a policeofficer. Frederick Buggs hadincurred several prior state convic-tions, including a felony convictionfor delivery/manufacture of mari-juana.

U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davispraised the coordinated efforts of theGrand Rapids Police Department,the Drug Enforcement Administra-tion (DEA), and the Bureau of Alco-hol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explo-sives (ATF). The case was prosecut-ed by Assistant United States Attor-ney Chris O’Connor.

• Grand Rapids, Michigan -United States Attorney Donald A.Davis announced the sentencing onDecember 21 of Alonzo Lamar Hol-loway, 44, of Oakland, California,on a four-count Indictment thatcharged him with bank fraud, wirefraud, aggravated identity theft, andwith conspiracy to commit bank andwire fraud and identity theft. Hol-loway, who is one of 16 defendantsfrom Oakland charged in a long-run-ning investigation conducted by theU.S. Secret Service and the U.S.Attorney’s Office, was sentenced byU.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonkerto serve 11 years in Federal prison,to pay restitution of almost$700,000, and to serve five years ofsupervised release following hiseventual discharge from prison.

Of the 16 defendants, 11 havebeen convicted, two are fugitives,and three are pending trial. The con-

victed defendants include a formerBank of America (BOA) employeefrom Oakland, Mocha M. Aldridge,31, who assisted the fraud ring byselling account information and per-sonal identifying information ofBOA account holders, informationthat was then used to make fraudu-lent high-value cash withdrawalsfrom BOA branches across the Unit-ed States between 2007 and 2009,including in the Western District ofMichigan. The case, which is beinginvestigated by the U.S. Secret Ser-vice, began on January 9, 2009,when employees of a BOA branch inWyoming notified the WyomingPolice Department that a person hadjust attempted to make a large cashwithdrawal under suspicious cir-cumstances. Wyoming officersresponded within minutes andarrested four suspects as they weredriving away from the bank branch -Holloway; Shawncy McGowan, 26;Kamillah Brown, 33; and KirkUsher, 51, all of whom were Oak-land residents. All four have sincebeen convicted. Members of theMetropolitan Fraud and IdentityTheft Team (MFITT), working outof the Wyoming Police Departmentunder the direction of Chief JamesCarmody, began the investigation,notifying the Grand Rapids office ofthe U.S. Secret Service within hoursof the arrests when they developedevidence indicating that the activityunder investigation reached wellbeyond Grand Rapids.In imposing the sentence, JudgeJonker commented on Holloway’sleadership role in the fraud, the largescope and geographic reach of theactivity, the significant financial lossassociated with the crimes, and theneed to deter others from commit-ting identity theft and related finan-cial crimes.

U.S. Attorney Donald A. Daviscommended the Holloway investi-gation and prosecution, noting thatits success was the result of a coop-erative effort between the WyomingPolice Department and the Secret

Service that led to the destruction ofthe long-running fraud scheme, ascheme that lasted as long as it didbecause it spread its activities acrossmany different states, which made itmore difficult to identify, arrest, andprosecute those responsible. Davisalso noted that his office is in theprocess of establishing an IdentityTheft Working Group, with the par-ticipation of numerous Federal lawenforcement agencies, including theSecret Service, the FBI, U.S. ICEand others, along with the MichiganState Police and numerous Sheriff’sand Police Departments, that willfocus on investigating and prosecut-

ing identity theft and related finan-cial frauds.

That Working Group is being ledby Assistant U.S. Attorney HagenW. Frank, who is also prosecutingthe Holloway defendants. Accordingto Frank, “The goal of the WorkingGroup is to make sure that identitythieves come to view WesternMichigan as their Bermuda Triangle-someplace they don’t want to stayin, come to, drive through, or flyover. Oakland, California ID-thievesare learning that lesson, and wewant to help other ID thieves learn itas well.”

____________________________________________________________________________________Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 7

*****BRUCE CROSSING

Sigrid Bonetti 827-3455*****

KENTON Verna Pentilla 852-3304

*****MASS CITY-GREENLAND

Ann Pihlaja 883-3678 *****

*****ONTONAGON

Fax to 884-2939 orEmail to

maureen@ontonagonherald.com*****

ROCKLANDCaryl Miilu 886-2989

*****TROUT CREEK

Lois Perttula 852-3522*****

CCOOMMMMUUNNIITTYY HHAAPPPPEENNIINNGGSS

*****BRUCE CROSSING

*****Jon and Norma Miller returned

from Acworth, Georgia where theyvisited their sons and daughter, Pamand Robert Ryan, and Brent Miller,and also with Joe Saaranen. They allenjoyed a camping trip at AltoonaLake and the surrounding area.

Dorothy Wonsey spent some timevisiting her daughters and son -in-law, Kelly Edwards in Bay Cityand Geoff and Peggy Spalding anddaughters, Darcy and Dana atMarne City and also with her broth-er-in-law and sister, Everet andJoanne Pagan in Armada.

Leonard and Sally Ellsworth vis-ited her brother and sister-in-law,Bruce and Debbie Rolston and fam-

ily in Jackson, Wisconsin, with BillEllsworth in Hartford and withSally’s aunt Marge Mertin inRacine.

Corann and Ron Schuit returnedto their home in Venice, Floridaafter visiting here with their son anddaughter-in-law, Brett and TracyNiemi and daughters, Molly andTaylor and with Corann’s sisters andbrothers, Pat and Dennis Brown andAlan and Vicki Kurtti.

*****MASS CITY-GREENLAND

*****Please send Christmas cards to

Jeanette Leaman, a former residentof Mass City. Her address isJeanette Leaman, c/o Always CareResidential Home, 1306 W. 214thStreet. Torrance, CA 90501

T h e L o n g A r m o f t h e L a w

Continued from Page 2tition is sponsored by the Keweenaw National Historical Park. The competi-tors from Ontonagon use the Ontonagon Co. Historical Society Museum astheir resource center.

The Class of 2009 graduated at Ontonagon on May 24 with 40 graduateswalking down the aisle to receive their well earned diplomas. The Com-mencement speaker was Jennifer Cleary, 2004 Valedictorian.

At Ewen-Trout Creek Schools, a donation from the Ontonagon CountyChapter of Whitetails Unlimited was received by Principal Paul Healey inthe amount of $300.

Other news coming from the Ewen-Trout Creek Schools was that JimRainer of Ironwood replaced Lee Lindberg as Superintendent and the Michi-gan Department of Education was tightening the fiscal loop on this finan-cially troubled District. There had been resignations from the Board of Edu-cation and the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate District had becomeinvolved in the search for replacement Board of Education members.

A real community booster and lifting of morale was accomplished whensmall town America triumphed over much stiffer competition in the Ka-Boom Playday competition. Ontonagon received over 91,000 votes amount-ing to over 46% of the total votes cast. In the end, Ontonagon took the leadand never looked back as people from all walks of life sat at their comput-ers and voted for the underdog. Ontonagon was out-gunned, but certainlynot out-classed. The KaBoom and NFL consortium will provide $10,000 inamenities for the new Ontonagon Area Elementary School Playground.Such a spontaneous outpouring of support was indeed heartwarming inthese difficult times.

County and State:110th District Representative Mike Lahti ( D Hancock) took the oath of

office for his second term representing the area in the State Legislature.The Ontonagon County Democratic Party took a very proactive role in

voicing strong support for the local work force in demanding Federal andState intervention to restore the economy of Ontonagon County. A resolu-tion to this effect was passed at the party’s spring convention and sent to theGovernor, State Legislators, Congressman Stupak, and both US Senators.

Mark Brewer, Michigan Democratic Party Chairman met with CountyDemocrats in Bruce Crossing on February 10, and got a real ear full, espe-cially regarding the Governor’s proposal to curtail funding for the State Fair.Concerns about the mandated Michigan Merit curriculum being pushed inthe public schools and the negative effect this unfunded mandate has onvocational education were also voiced. The Ontonagon County meetingwith the Democratic Party Chairman was the largest turnout he had experi-enced in the UP.

The Ontonagon County Board of Commissioners went on record asbeing in favor of alternative # 3, a plan by the US Forest Service to increasethe number of trail miles for ATV/ORVs. Proposal #3 would include a con-nector between route Sidnaw and the Iron River-Marenisco Trail creating aloop and a north-south connector.

Local units of government have been moving towards opening moreareas for ATV/ORV use and a special dispensation was granted by the DNRto allow ATV’s in the Twin Lakes and Baraga State parks. ATV’s are over-taking snowmobiles in the number of registrations in Michigan and moretouring groups are seen in the Western U.P.

It was announced in April that a U.P. State Fair authority has been creat-ed which would be given jurisdiction over the State Fair Grounds in Escan-aba. This would, in effect, allow a U.P. State Fair to be operated, but with-out monetary support from the State of Michigan.

The Ontonagon County Road Commission has had a long-standingagreement with the Townships of the County that the Road Commissionwill pay 75% of the costs of road improvements, but on June 10, the RoadCommission changed the formula for their cost share to 50%. This willseverely hamper the efforts of Townships such as Ontonagon which voted ina special road millage to pave most of the Township roads over a 20 yearperiod, based on the original cost-sharing formula.

The County Board, having held a parcel of land of over 800 acres ofprime timber for sale was informed by Youngren Lumber Company thatthey could not commit to the Kennedy Lake timber sale in Haight Township.Rather than place the parcel’s timber up for sale again, the Commissionersdecided to hold onto the timber in anticipation of better prices in the future.

A major concern has been the barrels of industrial waste that weredumped into Lake Superior under the direction of the Corps of Engineers.The barrel dumping took place between 1957-1962 along the North Shorenot far from Duluth, Minnesota. The dumping of the industrial waste fromthe Honeywell Plant in the Twin Cities was done in secret under tight secu-rity. Just what is contained in those barrels has never been determined for

certain, but according to one report, radioactivity was detected near some ofthe 1457 barrels. The metal skin of the barrels is deteriorating and they werediscovered when a fisherman snagged the barrels in his nets. There has beenmuch publicity lately on these barrels and a huge public outcry to bring themto the surface and remove them. The natural currents around Lake Superiorcould conceivably carry any contamination from the contents of these bar-rels into the drinking water supplies of communities that draw their waterfrom Lake Superior. The Ontonagon Regional Water System draws its waterfrom an intake located 1/2 mile offshore in Union Bay. The EPA has classi-fied the barrel dump as a superfund site, but with a low priority! Incredibleas it seems, some of the drums which have been brought up for analysis con-tained benzene, PCBs, lead, cadmium, arsenic, barium, and other dangeroussubstances. The Michigan Congressional delegation has been made aware ofthe situation.

Speaking of the U.S. Congress, which, at year’s end, had the House ofRepresentatives and the U.S. Senate locked in two quite different health carebills, neither of which was meeting with wide-spread approval, exceptamong the members of Congress. A wise man once said, “We have thefinest Congress that money can buy.” A very sad commentary on whatseems to be happening on Capitol Hill. The U.S. House of Representatives,however, did vote to extend unemployment benefits up to 13 additionalweeks. Some were wishing that they would stop taking the easy way out andwork instead to encourage the creation of new employment opportunities inplaces such as Ontonagon County, an area rich in natural resources and withrail, harbor, and two first rate industrial sites, neither of which is availablefor local development, but are held hostage for the benefit of far away inter-ests.

In September, the Road Commission replaced two bridges over theFiresteel River, one on Kangas road and the other on Wilderness Drive.

Governor Jennifer Granholm dropped a surprise on the DNR and MDEQwhen, by Executive Order, she undid a 1995 order by Michigan’s formerGovernor John Engler and reunited the Michigan Department of NaturalResources and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality backinto one agency, effective in January of 2010. Though there were many whohailed this decision for various reasons, the primary motivation was said tobe financial.

One item of interest from the DNR was an admission that there arecougars in the U.P. when mountain lion tracks were confirmed in the East-ern U.P. In addition, a trail photograph, taken near Bruce Crossing, report-edly shows a cougar walking through a food plot. This report is under inves-tigation.

In November, at the specific invitation of the Ontonagon County Boardof Commissioners, all parties concerned with the economic health of theCounty area gathered. Among the groups represented were the EconomicDevelopment Corporation, the Ontonagon County Chamber of Commerce,The Ontonagon Village Downtown Development Authority, the OntonagonCounty Historical Society, the County Planning Commission, the Onton-agon Village Council, Rockland Township, The Ontonagon County Demo-cratic Party; Village Planning Commission; Friends of the Porkies; Onton-agon Township, Ontonagon Village Management; McMillan Township; theUS Forest Service; the Ontonagon Area Schools, and many members of thebusiness community. In all, the courtroom was packed nearly to capacitywith over 53 present.

Chairman John Pelkola welcomed those in attendance and stated that thepurpose of the meeting was to “bring everyone together to look to the bet-terment of conditions in Ontonagon County.” Following the opening exer-cises, the floor was opened for public comment, but first Pelkola suggestedremaining in session until 7:30 p.m., concluding his opening remarks with,“I don’t think this County can survive unless we can work together forProgress.”

Succeeding meetings have been held, but no specific action has beentaken other than to formulate a job description for a County marketing coor-dinator, should it be definitely decided to hire someone to fill such a posi-tion. The sessions have led to the formation of an initiative called Onton-agon County Economic Partnerships.

In the meantime, Village Manager Tom Cogswell and Council memberVictoria James have been attending U.P. Regional Planning sessions androlled out an economic opportunity study that had been part of an effort byUPEDA and Michigan Works. Basically, the Ontonagon area has all theingredients to be economically successful and there are many former resi-dents, with specialized skills and talents who would move back home at thedrop of a hat if there was employment opportunity. Again, the issue of mar-keting...selling the region to the world came up.

Local Government:The cleanup of the burned out district on River Street that had resulted

from a disastrous fire that swept away several business buildings on August31, 2008 had been delayed because of the early heavy snows and MDEQconcern about the disposal of the fire waste. Julio Contracting of Hancockwas awarded the contract.

The Village of Ontonagon got very involved with zoning concerns. Theconcept of “form based zoning” and the development of yet another zoningplan for the Village would consume discussions for most of the year. It wasagreed to hold the planning costs to a maximum of $19,850.

The Village Council took official action to close the walkway leading tothe East Pier until repairs can be affected. The U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers has vacillated about repairing the damage caused by wave action thatwas amplified by pier “improvements” made in the mid 1990’s. Councildecided to push the issue of having the Corps live up to their obligation torepair the damage they caused. The Corps of Engineers, following a “study”on the problem with the walkway, concluded that they were not to blamefore the collapsed walkway, stating in their report that the walkway was notproperly constructed in the first place. As of this writing, the walkwayremains closed.

At Bergland, the DNR announced that the construction of a new dock onLake Gogebic would commence beginning July 30, the $200,000 projectwas to include a parking area for 35 vehicles with trailers, a 36’ X 70’ ramp,and other amenities.

The Rockland Township Board became concerned over the nonprofitstatus of the Society for the Restoration of Old Victoria and the question ofliability insurance for the historic site. Old Victoria is a partially restoredresidential location located near the Victoria Mine at the foot of Forest Hillin Rockland Township. Local effort to save and preserve the historic sitebegan in 1973. The log village had been under the protection of RocklandTownship, but had been given independent status with a reversionary clausein the deed issued by the Township that if Old Victoria were to lose its non-profit status, the property would revert to the Township. An annual craft fairis held at Old Victoria in August of each year. Old Victoria is currently a

Heritage Site in the Keweenaw National Historical Park network.The Village Downtown Development Authority offered a building

facade improvement grant-loan program to spruce up the business districtand was receiving applications by mid-February.

The Village of Ontonagon renewed the lease on the Recreational Facili-ty to the Ontonagon Amateur Hockey Association, which has been operat-ing the building, relieving the Village of the major cost of its operation andproviding indoor skating for hundreds of young people and the public overthe long winter months.

The Ontonagon County Board of Commissioners received word that$597,415 under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determina-tion Act and of these funds, $89,612 must be used for Title II projects thatwill be overseen by a Resources Advisory Committee which will make rec-ommendations on how the funds are used. MSU Director Frank Wardyns-ki asked the Commissioners to approve sending a letter to Smurfit-StoneContainer thanking them for their existence in the community, and pledgingthat the County will do everything in its power to keep the harbor dredged.

In Haight Township, the results of the settlement of the suit filed byNaterra Land against the UPPCo was met with some measure of relief.UPPCo had sold land bordering the eastern rim of the Bond Falls damflowage to Twin Cities land developer, Naterra, but due to zoning problemsand other complications, Naterra had changed its mind and sued to recovertheir purchase price. As a result of the suit UPPCo reacquired the land andthe back taxes were now going to be paid, amounting to a considerable sum.These property taxes are vital to the fiscal health of the Townships that bor-der on Bond Lake.

The Ontonagon Village Council became embroiled in a request from aresident to keep a flock of chickens in the Village as his residence. This mat-ter occupied Council for several weeks, reviewing the animal ordinance, andhearing comments from numerous residents. The issue was put to rest witha revision of the animal ordinance which would disallow keeping poultry inthe Village limits, however, the matter is hardly settled. It seems there is alaw on the books in Michigan that gives anyone the “right to farm, nearlyanywhere which would prevail over a local ordinance. The matter has notbeen pursued further as of this time.

A joint Village Council and Planning Commission meeting took place inmid-October to review progress being made on the new zoning ordinance.There was concern expressed that the plans had exceeded their originalscope but a zoning map has now been prepared. The project goes on into thenew year.

Rockland Township was in the news when the Zoning Board approved avariance for a new road being built by Pestka Construction Company. Nor-man Pestka, who has purchased most of the land made available by UPPCoaround the Victoria Dam Flowage told the Board that he intends to developthis area into smaller parcels, stating, “I have a pristine piece of propertyand we plan to develop as much as we can. This will not be a place forcampsites. It’s a place for nice cabins.”

The Michigan Court of appeals reversed a previous Ontonagon CountyCircuit Court Decision dismissing a lawsuit which involved rezoning ofInterior Township lands surrounding the Bond Falls flowage. InteriorTownship had rezoned the area in 2006 to accommodate the planned devel-opment of the area by naterra Land. A suit was bought against the Town-ship for not submitting the matter to a vote, and a petition requesting suchan election was dismissed by the Township Clerk. The higher court ruledthat the petition to hold an election should not have been dismissed and thematter of the rezoning of the lands surrounding Bond Lake will now be putto a vote in Interior Township.

Changes in the Community:In early January of 2009, Ontonagon County had a total of 127 inches of

snow along the lakeshore. At this time, the total stands at over 90 inches andrising, and the bulk of that snow came all at once, 58 inches over a 4-dayperiod in December. For the year, it was generally a much cooler summerand very wet October. Global warming or a coming ice-age? Does anyonehave a crystal ball?

The much ballyhooed change to digital television all but crippled over-the-air television reception in Ontonagon County, forcing residents to eitherpurchase satellite dishes or go without in areas where cable television is notavailable. The promise of crystal clear images was, instead, no signal at all.It seems that the little boxes, which were being promoted and sold at gov-ernment subsidized prices do not work well in fringe areas as the digital sig-nal is not available.

Aspirus Ontonagon installed a new nuclear medicine machine in March.In appearance the new device resembles a CAT scan, but can actuallydemonstrate organ function, and detect the tiniest bone fractures. The$85,000 diagnostic tool is available to the local medical staff and was justone more enhancement of services being brought by Aspirus to the localhospital. The entire X-Ray Department has been replaced with newer equip-ment, at a cost of $250,000, and physical therapy services was being offeredat Bruce Crossing.

Ontonagon County Animal Protection, which has had a new animal shel-ter under construction for the better part of two years, was nearing the pointwhen it could begin to move some of the orphan animals into their tempo-rary home. The building, located on M-38 just out of Ontonagon, boastsgeothermal heating and a total air exchange system. Veterinary examinationrooms, isolation rooms and other special facilities are part of the new shel-ter. An open house is planned later in the spring. As an added boost to theconstruction, Ontonagon High School building trades students helped withnailing up the dry wall.

In April the cleanup of fire debris was begun, with Pestka ConstructionCompany subcontracted to do most of the hands-on work. The Camp 1building, which had also suffered extensive water and smoke damage wasdemolished and many truck loads of fire and building waste were removedfrom the west side of River Street. The former building sites were filled,graded, and grass planted where six business buildings had once stood.River Street now has a more open look, but a major hole now exists in thecentral business district.

Up on what was once known as Hawley’s Hill stands the OntonagonMemorial Township Building. Built in 1923 as a memorial to the young menfrom the Township who served in the Armed Forces of World War I, thebuilding houses the Ontonagon Township offices, the Township Library, andthe Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts. Starting with the advent of thetheater board’s work on restoring the auditorium, other steps at restorationand upgrading of the building have been taking place. Over the summer, thefront windows in the enclosed portico above the front entrance werereplaced, providing a viewing room of the Village from the second floor.Other improvements in recent years have included new front steps andwalks, a barrier-free entrance to the theatre, parking spade improvements onboth sides of the building, an enlarged stage and performing area, new dress-ing rooms, a theatre lobby, and of course the new theatre seating and air con-ditioning. Not only is the Ontonagon Theater of performing Arts one of thefavorite performance places for the many groups and solo acts that appearon the local stage, but the building is again becoming a show place. It alsohouses what is perhaps the best small library in the Western Upper Peninsu-la.

Rockland, the second oldest community in Ontonagon County, hasestablished one of the nicest play areas in the region right in the center oftown. In addition to slides and swings, a play train was constructed thisspring and a picnic pavilion was completed by summer’s end. Rockland’sefforts to provide a play area for its youngsters is commendable and a realcredit to that community.

At White Pine, the Carp Lake Township Library, which has occupiedspace in the White Pine High School for several years needed a space torelocate to. A new home for the library was found at the Mineral RiverPlaza, but the task of moving a library is a monumental task involvinginstallation of shelving, reviewing the entire collection of books, reference

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 8____________________________________________________________________________________

The Year in Review 2009

Please see Page 9

KEMPPAINEN CONCRETE & CARPENTRY

from forming to finishing

Randy G. Kemppainen

Licensed & Insured

Business/Home:

906-883-3693

Cell: 906-250-0495

Ontonagon Herald326 River Street,

Ontonagon, MI 49953906-884-2826

Continued from Page 8materials and periodicals; setting up computers, etc. A grand opening washeld on June 13.

By some strange stroke of happenstance, Ontonagon, from the air atleast, bears an uncanny resemblance to parts of Iraq, the town was buzzedby F-16 Fighters. It was later learned that this was a training exercise by themilitary and that several areas in the community had been targeted for sur-gical air strikes, including Maple Manor, the Recreation Center, and even ablue pickup truck parked in Alston. Members of the ground crew had beenin town and provided the coordinates for the simulated air strikes. Onton-agon was chosen for this training exercise because of the relatively smallamount of air traffic in the area.

On the Ontonagon waterfront is located the oldest and westernmostlighthouse structure located on the mainland of the Keweenaw regiondecommissioned in 1964, the lighthouse was falling into disrepair until res-cued by the Ontonagon County Historical Society. Starting in July, a majorrenovation of the building’s exterior was undertaken, with all of the mason-ry work being restored. the original mortar was sampled and analyzed toassure that the new grouting would match the original. Broken bricks werereplaced and the cracks in the walls repaired. Finally, to crown the work, thethree terra-cotta flues that had been missing for a number of years werereplaced. In late August, new emerald green shutters, built to match the orig-inal shutters that were removed in 1919 were put in place. Lighthouse Assis-tance Program Grant Funds paid for roughly two-thirds of the work and allwork was approved by the State Historic Preservation Office. For all practi-cal purposes, the lighthouse now appears just as it did in 1916, or perhaps abit better!

The Ontonagon Lighthouse was recognized as the Featured Lighthouseof the year at the Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival held at Alpena in earlyOctober.

Bergland was in the news this past year when the Capitol Christmas Tree(Holiday Tree to some), selected to be displayed on the capitol grounds inLansing was harvested at Bergland. The 67 year old spruce was carefullytaken down and trundled off to Lansing to be the State Christmas Tree, whileschool children from Ewen-Trout Creek and Ontonagon Elementary lookedon. Music was provided by the Ewen-Trout Creek School Choir whichadded a festive note to the occasion.

Special Community and Cultural Events:The Jock Kemp Snowshoe Mail Race took place as scheduled for Feb-

ruary 14. This event, the last survivor of the former “Snow Go-Bye” winterfestival had been hosted by the Ontonagon County Historical Society for theprevious four years. The event had traditionally been run on the frozen iceof the Ontonagon River or on the frozen slough and would include anoptional 5K course as well as a mile-long course. The race commemoratesthe US Mail delivery to Ontonagon from Wausau, Wisconsin in the late1850’s.

The snowshoe race took place, under the guidance of Tom Jachim. Tak-ing first place in the 5K was Greg Nelson of Ontonagon; Gerry Platzke, thebanker on snowshoes came in 2nd, and Jeff Jensen took third place. Therewere 4 placers in the 1 mile walk competition; Brook Thomas of L’Anse infirst; Roberta Johanson of Ontonagon in second; Victoria James of Onton-agon in third, and Lisa Walters of Ontonagon in fourth place.

The Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts continues to be a major cul-tural center for the Ontonagon community. The theatre’s season opener wasthe Silver Express, a singing, dance troupe that has been in existence since1985 and hails from the Hurley high School. In March, Miz Behavin andthe Swing Cats, perhaps one of the most talented small jazz combo groupsaround, played the Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts and did a returnengagement on September 25th. U.P. Rising, a retro-rock group made theirdebut at the local theatre on May 1. Conga se Menne did a return engage-ment at OTPA on June 12. In June, Measured Chaos, the big sound fromDetroit was in Ontonagon with their unique brand of blues, soul, rock n’roll. The Uptown Swingsters from the Calumet area appeared on June 24,featuring much of the same talent that played with Miz Behavin.’

The Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts offers variety and somethingfor all tastes. In July, the Pine Mountains Music Festival presented a pro-gram of chamber music featuring the Clark String Quartet and the SonrisaWoodwind Quintet. A magic show featuring master illusionist TimothyTegge and his wife, Barbara took place in July, and a musical production ofDickens’ Oliver Twist featuring music from the acclaimed Broadway Musi-cal, Oliver, was produced by the Harbortown players, also in July. TommyO, a program of music and impersonations took place as a theatre benefit,also in July, making that month an extremely busy one at the Theater.

It was in July that Dr. Jon Rieger, benefactor of the Ontonagon Theaterof Performing Arts presented to Norman and Dan Pestka, a special commu-nity service award for the instrumental role that Pestka Construction playedin the reconstruction of the theater facility and the various renovations thathave taken place. By August, it was time for Kathy Skolasinski and her‘boys’ to do an evening with Patsy Kline. The annual Voices for a Cure con-cert, a benefit for Huntington’s Disease research, took place on September11. Kitty Donahoe was featured on October 9, and the incomparable BobMilne, ragtime pianist and musicologist. A stunning change of pace wasonly a sort time later with Alex Marciniak, on piano, but playing art music(not classical) by such greats as Chopin, Scarlatti, and Schumann. TheOntonagon Gospel Choir presented a program of inspirational music inNovember. A talent show of elementary schoolchildren was also at the The-ater in November.

History was made when the Keweenaw Star, an excursion boat fromHoughton became the first vessel to discharge commercial passengers atOntonagon since the year 1909. Aboard were over 80 members of the Greatlakes Lighthouse Keepers’ Association. Ontonagon was their first shoreleave stop and the group landed on the west side of the river channel nearthe historic Ontonagon Harbor Lighthouse and spent two hours walkingthrough the buildings and over the grounds admiring the work being donethere by the Ontonagon County Historical Society. SHIP interns were onhand to guide the group through the rooms, refreshments were served in thelighthouse kitchen, and there was even a brass band at the dock to welcomethe arrival of the vessel and play for its departure. What was especially note-worthy was the fact that an excursion vessel entered the Ontonagon Harbor.Perhaps with a bit of promotion and enhanced docking space this could bea regular occurrence.

Bill Jamerson of Escanaba, troubadour of the U.P. was at the OntonagonElementary School where, dressed in lumberjack garb, he presented a pro-gram of music and action about the great white pine logging era, to thedelight of the school children.

The Midwest Rendezvous, which was held at Ontonagon in 2005,announced plans to return to Ontonagon July 28-August 8, 2010. The Mid-west Rendezvous is a federal nonprofit organization formed for the manage-ment of living history between 1640-1840. Participants come from all walksof life and every part of the United states and set up their camps, much as afur trading spring rendezvous would have been set up on the OntonagonRiver. The public is invited to visit the encampment. It is a great learningexperience for children as well as adults.

The Lake Superior fishing classic was reeling ‘em in on May 30-31.Prizes ranged from $600 for the most fish weight caught, 36.89 lbs. down to$25 for 30.43 lbs caught. Eight teams were in the money.

The Home Show, held in late April was well attended over the two daysthe exhibits were in place at the Recreation Facility in Ontonagon. Over 40vendors were present with everything from quilting supplies, bicycles andcanoes, seamless drain gutters, pellet stoves, and a host of other productsand services. Radio Y-101 FM is the chief sponsor of the annual event.

The communities of White Pine and Bruce Crossing each held their tra-ditional Independence Day observances. Each community stages a paradecomplete with floats, and there is usually food and music. A fireworks dis-

play at Bruce Crossing was donated by Lac Vieux Desert in memory of CoryThompson.

In Greenland, the Adventure Mining Company hosted the first “Miner‘sRevenge” mountain bike race on July 12, in which contestants actually rodeover Adventure Mountain and then through a portion of the adventure mineitself. The event drew 105 participants! The course was approximately 4.5miles long and the race required several circuits of the course. Described asone of the most challenging races of its kind, the event received wideacclaim.

Lake Superior Day was observed in the Village of Ontonagon with fes-tivities being centered near the Red Metal Minerals area near the foot ofRiver Street. There was live music, a craft fair, a food booth, and three boatexcursions using the services of the Keweenaw Star. The Ontonagon Coun-ty Chamber of Commerce hosted the event and had arranged for the boattours to 14 Mile point and a cruise along the coast to the Porcupine Moun-tains. All boat tours were narrated and the Star was loaded to capacity on alltrips. An awareness walk also took place to draw attention to the very realdangers of the industrial waste dumped in Lake Superior. The event was aresounding success and the weather was in full cooperation.

In Bergland, the grand opening of the Bergland/Matchwood TownshipMuseum took place in early August. Located in the former Ranger’s resi-dence of the Bergland Ranger Station, the museum collection containsschool displays, and artifacts from throughout the community. Above thefireplace hangs a portrait of Gunlek A. Bergland, the Norwegian lumbermanwho founded the town in 1903.

The Bergland heritage Center also had its day to shine on September 25,with the dedication of a native plants garden behind the former Ranger Sta-tion with beautiful Lake gogebic as a backdrop. An open house was held atthe Bergland/Matchwood Historical Museum where a presentation of aHardinger Fiddle to the by members of the Bergland family took place.

At Rockland, the Historical Museum of that community celebrated its50th year by introducing information on an opera that is currently beingwritten memorializing a shooting incident that took place in Rockland in1906, and based on the recollections of Alfred Laakso, an eye witness. Theopera, entitled, Rockland, relates the story of the shooting of two Finnishminers during a 4th of July picnic in 1906 during the time of a miners’ strike.The music is being composed by Julla Linkola.

In Rockland Township, one event that always brings a great turnout isthe Arts and Crafts Fair at Old Victoria, and this year’s event in August wasno exception, with good food, good music, and a number of exhibitors onthe grounds in a very unique setting.

The 5th Annual Porcupine Mountain Music Festival got off to a greatstart, however rain and cold marked a good part of the weekend. Undeterred,the festival planners moved operations inside and by Sunday, the sun wasshining and the 27 different offerings were a pleasant memory to the approx-imately 1,200 who had attended this gala event. Plans were already underway to make next year’s Porcupine Mountain Music Festival an event to beremembered. Mark your calendars: August 27-29, 2010.

Labor Day weekend is the “big weekend” in the Village of Ontonagon.Stretching out over Friday through Monday, this year’s event was held as atribute to the village firemen and others who helped fight the flames thatthreatened the town only a year before. Saturday’s Maxwell Street sales anda large auto show set the stage for the gala parade on Sunday that continuedthe rivalry between the Stein club and the Norwich Country Club. This year,the Norwich Club’s float, “Pirates of Gitche Gumee” took top honors. Mon-day’s Kiddie Parade ended the weekend, during which the weather cooper-ated fully.

The Haunting of the Lighthouse is becoming an annual event that drawsvisitors to the Village from afar. There is something about walking into thelighthouse at night, with oil lamps flickering, and watching the characters ofthe past moving about. There is a certain appeal to being able to talk withthose from a past age. The three nights’ run of the Haunted Lighthouseplayed to capacity audiences and brought a bit of history alive in a settingthat is appropriate for Halloween. The Historical Society, which producesthe show is very clear about this being a history lesson and not simply a“spook house.”

A final item on the supernatural. A proposed 280 foot communicationstower is being considered in Haight Township, but investigation has shownthat the tower falls close to the line of sight of the mysterious PauldingLight. A Haight Township Zoning meeting, to be held on December 22, andattended by representatives of Terracon, the company which wishes to buildthe tower was to consider the matter. In the words of a company representa-tive who had contacted the Ontonagon County Historical Society and hadbeen advised to seek more information on the WEB, “I think we have aproblem.” Will the Paulding Light be turned off? Tune in next year to findout!

The annual Hometown Christmas observance took place on the firstweekend in December, with the trimming of the Community ChristmasTree, the Christmas Walk craft and art show, and the open house at theMuseum. The Santa Claus Parade and the opportunity of the kiddies to visitwith the Jolly Old Man, while mule train rides, dog sled excursions, and hayrides were conducted about the streets of the Village. Fireworks topped theevents of Saturday night and a good time was had by all ringing in theChristmas season.

People in the News:The Ontonagon Area Board of Education had the sad duty of filling a

Board vacancy because of the unexpected death of Mary Jane Rubich, whohad been elected to the board the previous spring. After interviewing threeapplicants, Michelle Wilber was chosen to fill the vacancy until the regularelection in the spring. Wilber has two children currently attending theOntonagon Area Schools.

Steve Pollick, Outdoor Editor of the Toledo Blade had put in some timeas a guest of the Friends of the Porkies as an artist in residence. He took upresidence in a winter cabin in the park on January 25. Pollick presented avery engaging travelogue to the students of the Ontonagon Area High

School taking the students virtually around the world.High School Principal John Shiner was presented a very pleasant sur-

prise when he was handed an oversized check for $25,000 by local HoraceMann Insurance Agent Tim Marczak in February. This was part of the Gofor the Green promotion sponsored by Horace Mann Insurance.

Aspirus Ontonagon announced the addition of new members to theirgrowing medical staff. Dr. Richard Chaltry was to be at the Family Practiceclinic; Dr. Tim Hayes is available at the clinic at Bruce Crossing as well aste Family Practice clinic, and a new Nurse Practitioner, Jennifer JarisWeaver joined the medical staff in early April. A newly renovated lobby andpatient registration area had been added to the hospital and the OntonagonAspirus Foundation was making many improvements to the grounds nearthe Long Term Care Unit.

Deputy Sheriff Tom Cousineau of Bergland, longtime D.A.R.E. instruc-tor to hundreds of Ontonagon County school children. Known as “DeputyTom” to his many students, Cousineau was forced into early retirementbecause of health issues. He has been sadly missed by countless childrenthat had come to know him through the years as coordinator of the D.A.R.E.Program.

The Pestka Pee Wee hockey team became the district 8 Champions win-ning over Lake Linden 4-3. This qualified the local kids to advance to thePee Wee B finals at Mackinaw City in March.

Kathryn Dickerson, oldest resident of Maple Manor nursing home cele-brated her 100th birthday on March 30, 2009, and then, sadly, quietly passedaway on April 8. Kathryn had been active in the Historical Society, the RedCross, and in 1996 had received the Chamber of Commerce CommunityAction Award.

In May, Leonard Rogers, formerly of the US Army Air Corps returnedto the Ontonagon-Silver City area where he had bailed out of a flaming B-17 over the Porcupine Mountains. Then only 19 years of age, Rogers hadwandered about the wilderness for nearly two days before being found.Rogers, now age 85 wanted to meet the “young teacher” who he heard hadsearched for him. That young teacher was none other than Victor F. Keefer,the 102 year old retired Superintendent of the Ontonagon Schools, who wasall too happy to meet with Rogers and the two shared recollections of theincident. Later in the week, the octogenarian Rogers hiked up the mountainto revisit the wreckage of the plane he once served as tail gunner on.

In July, Greg Anderson was named interim manager of the Smurfit-Stone Mill at Ontonagon, replacing Chris Broome who was transferred toPanama City, Florida. Anderson has worked at the Ontonagon plant for 24years and was formerly Production Manager.

In August, Charles E. Flood was welcomed as the new administrator atAspirus Ontonagon Hospital, replacing Mike Gutsch. Flood had previouslybeen the compliance officer at Marquette General, and assumed his newposition at the end of August.

The Ontonagon County Veterans’ Association took possession of a newFord 6-passenger Ford Explorer. The van will be used in the disabled veter-ans transportation network to take veterans to doctor’s appointments at theVA Hospital at Iron Mountain. Purchase of the vehicle was through gener-ous donations by businesses and citizens of Ontonagon County. The van isdriven by volunteers. Howard Walters coordinates the program.

One of the people in the news was a former physician who had been onthe medical staff at the Ontonagon Memorial Hospital, Dr. Profirio Orta-Rosario. Dr. Orta was convicted of conspiracy to distribute controlled sub-stances to an unlawful drug operation based in North Carolina. The drugsinvolved were prescription pain killers and other medications.

Eugene Sullivan, entrepreneur from Covington, has expanded his StumpJumper Enterprises into Ontonagon County with a regular waste pickup,lawn care, and other services. Sullivan’s business is a classic story of whathard work and a bit of willingness to take a chance can accomplish.

Michigan Works Director Jim Saari closed out 35 years of service to jobseekers on Friday, October 23. Saari will be missed by those who have hadthe pleasure of working with him on job fairs and other community projectsthrough the years.

Dr. James P. Strong, successfully completed his Recertification Exami-nation as a Family Practice Physician. Strong is a native of Ontonagon andpracticed with his father, also a revered local physician. To become certifiedby the American Board of Family Practice, a family physician must verify300 hours of acceptable continuing medical education over the past six yearsand pass a stiff examination.

Chris Brees, demonstrating entrepreneurial spirit, found an alternativeuse for the former Building block Child Care Center by converting thebuilding into the Superior Business enter which houses several small busi-nesses in convenient location on the Greenland Road.

Speaking of people with unusual entrepreneurial skills, have you heardabout the bee-keeper in Bruce Crossing who is the largest honey producerin the U.P.? Les McBean has been keeping bees for 23 years and has madea real business out of it. Besides honey, he produces bees-wax products aswell.

Eddie Stevens, age ten, while visiting the Ontonagon Historical SocietyMuseum with his parents and grandmother, eyed the numerous musicalinstruments on display and asked if he could play one of the pianos. Theboy then tried an accordion, a cornet, and one of the organs, demonstratingfacility on all of the instruments he handled. Young Stevens, played a returnengagement at the museum on December 19

Those who keep track of such things noted with interest that on Septem-ber 14, 1959, 50 years ago, Dan Dobeck of Ontonagon, a 1952 graduate ofthe local schools, entered the Major leagues by signing with the WashingtonSenators. Dobeck followed te Senators to Minnesota as a member of theMinnesota Twins. Dan, who lives in Portland, Oregon, is Ontonagon’s claimto professional athletic fame.

In Conclusion:It has been a most trying year which has put new challenges before our

people. Through it all, it must be remembered that Ontonagon County hasweathered the worst of times before and survived. The curtain hasn’t fallenon the last act of the Ontonagon Country yet by a long shot.

We have some of the most resourceful people on earth among us. Ourpeople are proven survivors, and if not given a chance, they will create theirown opportunities. Don’t count this area out yet. It will take more than thegreed and pressures of the outside world to do us in. Let’s put our mosthopeful foot forward in the year ahead.

____________________________________________________________________________________Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 9

The Year in Review 2009

Currently we are staying with OCAP, but need a loving home.

OCAP Pets of the Week

MOLLIEYoung Female

Jack Russell Terrier

PATCHESAdult Female

Domestic Short Hair, Tabby [Mix]

More information, cats - call Linda 906-884-2544; dogs - Greg & Linda 884-4227.Please help us reduce the number of unwanted and homeless animals - spay or neuter

your pets. • P.O. Box 315 • Ontonagon, MI 49953 • www.petfinder.com •

Learning ways to manage yourmedicines could help protect yourhealth.

A new brochure by the Elder-care Locator and Consumers Union,the nonprofit publisher of Con-sumer Reports, outlines some sim-ple steps to help make sound healthcare decisions concerning prescrip-tion drugs:

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• Find out about differentoptions to pay for your medicines.To learn more, request the brochure“Prescription Drug Options forOlder Adults: Managing Your Med-icines” at Eldercare Locator at (800)677-1116 or www.eldercare.gov.

The Eldercare Locator is a freeservice of the U.S. Administrationon Aging and is administered by theNational Association of Area Agen-cies on Aging.

Managing meds *****Thunder is good, thunder isimpressive; but it is the lightningthat does the work.

- Mark Twain

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 10___________________________________________________________________________________

Gladiator girls perfect at 5-0By Jean Nordine

The Ontonagon girls basketballteam take a perfect 5-0 record intothe holiday break and have fourCopper Country Conference wins totheir credit. Also in the CCC, theChassell Panthers are 6-0 on the sea-son with three conference wins. Thetwo teams will not meet each otheruntil February.

Last week the Gladiators girlschalked up their fifth win with ahome victory over the Dollar BayBays, 63-37. Ontonagon jumped outto an 11-0 lead before the Bays evergot on the board. All ten of theGladiator girls were able to get plen-ty of playing time, with everyonescoring at least two points. Duringthe first, Sara Hirvela swished in acouple of long bombs. Janele Linnaadded four points, Lauren Siren sixand Nicole Pestka two. After onecomplete the Gladiators were cruis-ing, up 18-6.

Olivia Soumis scored the firstfour of her eleven points in the sec-ond quarter. At intermission Onton-agon led 28-15, then widen the mar-gin to 22 at the end of the third. Witheight minutes to go, Ontonagon haddouble the points of the Bays, hold-ing a comfortable 44-22 advantage.Taylor Cleary was the seventh Glad-iator to score during the third framewith two free throws.

In the fourth quarter Brittney

Penegor and Courtney Karttuneneach scored, before Halley Borsethbecame the tenth Gladiator to score.At 1:09 Borseth sank twofreethrows. Karttunen added anoth-er hoop at :35, then Dollar Bayscored the final basket.

Lauren Siren led the Gladiatorswith fifteen points. Janele Linnabattled hard for thirteen points,while Olivia Soumis netted eleven.Ontonagon posted nineteen fourthquarter points to fifteen for the Baysfor the final 63-37 Gladiator victory.

Box scoresOntonagon: Nicole Pestka 1 0 0

4-2, Olivia Soumis 4 1 0 0-11, Brit-tney Penegor 2 0 0 0-4, CourtneyKarttunen 2 0 0 1-4, Halley Borseth0 0 2 4-2, Taylor Cleary 0 0 2 2-2,Sara Hirvela 0 2 0 2-6, Janele Linna5 0 3 2-13, Emily Shiner 2 0 0 2-4,Lauren Siren 7 0 1 2-15. Totals 23 38-12 19 63.

Dollar Bay: Julia Tervo 0 0 1 0-1, Danielle Benson 0 0 1 2-1, Brit-tany Engman 1 1 3 3-8, Kelsey Fal-lon 2 0 1 2-5, Taylor Quarless 2 0 01-4, Hailey Messner 0 0 1 0-1, Tay-lor Patchin 0 1 1 0-4, Taylor Bakki-la 0 0 0 1-0, Mariah Marcol 3 0 2 4-8, Stephanie Leclaire 1 0 1 2-3, KateZerbst 1 0 0 2-2. Totals 10 2 11-2617 37.

Scoring by quartersOntonagon 18 28 44 63Dollar Bay 6 15 22 37

Everyone scored in the Gladiator girls victory over the Dollar BayBays. Here is Nicole Pestka making her basket at 2:55 of the first quar-ter to put the Gladiators up 15-2.

Gladiator senior, #50, Lauren Siren, battled hard to lead all scorerswith fifteen points. On the right is the Bays #50 Mariah Marcol, and#54, Kate Zerbst on the left.

By Jean NordineThe Lady Panthers came back

from trailing by as many as elevenpoints, to take a nail biting 44-43squeaker over the Bessemer Speed-girls in their final game before theholiday break.

E-TC scored the first threepoints of the Porcupine MountainConference battle, before Bessemergot on the board at 5:18 and scoredseven unanswered points. The Pan-thers were having a hard time han-dling the pressure by the peskySpeedgirls, turning the ball overeight times during the first quarter.At 2:40 Panther freshman TaylorNiemi hit the front end of a one andone, then Bessemer poured in anoth-er five unanswered. After one quar-ter the Panthers were trailing 12-4.

In the second quarter the Pan-thers cut down on their turnoverswith five and were able to hold theSpeedgirls to six points, while post-ing eight of their own. Emily Jarviput a rebound back up at 7:00. ZoeyMcGeshick hit a short jumper at5:36. At 3:32 Jarvi chipped in a pairof free throws to pull the Cats with-in five, 15-10. Then a long field goalfrom Kelsey Byrne at 1:12. At thebreak the Panthers were down byjust six points, 18-12.

Bessemer started out the thirdquarter by outscoring the Panthers7-2 to hold their largest lead of thegame, 25-14 with 4:46 on the clock.After a Panther timeout, the LadyCats picked up their defense. TheSpeedgirls were denied the shotswhile the Panthers clawed their wayback into the game with McGechickposting six of her ten points thatframe. With one quarter to go thePanthers were down by just threepoints, 28-25.

Ten seconds into the fourth,Brittany Suomumaki nailed a threepointer tying the game. HeatherSilen put the Speedgirls back outfront at 6:36, before Panther fresh-man Rebekkah Driesenga, all aloneunder the hoop, put it in for anothertie, 30-30. The Speedgirls made acouple of free throws, then Suomu-

maki was fouled attempting a longbomb. In a silent gymnasium, Suo-mumaki calmly sank all three freethrows to erupt the crowd and givethe Panthers their first lead of thegame since early in the first quarter,33-32, 5:18 to go.

The lead changed hands twomore times with Bessemer taking athree point advantage, 38-35.Kelsey Byrne sank a free throw at2:09, then another trey from Suomu-maki. E-TC out front, 1:35 on theclock. Bessemer responded rightaway with a three pointer of theirown from Jessica Rundell giving theSpeedgirls a two point advantage.Twelve seconds later, Suomumakiripped another trey from in front ofthe Panthers bench putting the Catsout front for good. Bessemer sentthe Panthers to the line for two freethrows giving E-TC a three pointedge. The Speedgirls had to go for atrey in order to send the game intoovertime, but the Lady Cats did afine job of denying them the outsideshot. Bridgette Whitburn did makea short jumper at the buzzer for thefinal, E-TC 44, Bessemer 43.

Brittany Suomumaki led allscorers with 20 points, fifteen ofthose in the fourth quarter. ZoeyMcGeshick was also in double fig-ures with ten. Bessemer was led byHeather Selin with thirteen.

Box ScoresEwen-Trout Creek: Sam Robl 0

0 0 3-0, Rebekkah Driesenga 1 0 01-2, Kelsey Byrne 1 0 1 3-3, AlissaPietila 0 0 1 1-1, Brittany Suomu-maki 2 3 7 4-20, Zoey McGeshick 50 0 3-10, Taylor Niemi 0 0 1 3-1,Emily Jarvi 2 0 3 4-7. Totals 11 313-24 22 44.

Bessemer: Bridgette Whitburn 10 0 0-2, Heather Selin 2 2 3 1-13,Shiann Dean 3 0 5 5-11, CarissaMarchelle 1 0 0 5-2, Paige Berwald3 0 0 4-6, Megan Ahnen 1 0 2 4-4,Jenna Pedrin 1 0 0 0-2, Jessica Run-dell 0 1 0 3-3.Totals 12 3 10-26 2243.

Scoring by quartersE-TC 4 12 25 44Bessemer 12 18 28 43

Big comeback for Lady CatsBy Jean Nordine

The Ontonagon Gladiatorsdropped a Copper Country Confer-ence game against the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes last week in the newLake Linden-Hubbell gymnasium.

Things started out alright for theGladiators as they outscored theLakes 14-11 in the first quarter.Ontonagon kept the momentum intheir favor stretching their advan-tage to nine points in the first por-tion of the second quarter. After thatthe Lakes began to gel. Led by TroyDove, LL-H pulled to within two byintermission, 28-26. By the end ofthe third the game was all knotted at38-38.

The Gladiators had their chancesto take the win, but the Lakes hadsome key defensive plays to holdOntonagon to just four fourth quar-ter points. Cody Doan posted thelast Gladiator bucket with threeminutes left on the clock for anOntonagon 42-41 advantage. LL-Hscored on the next possession totake back the lead, then proceededto hold the Gladiators scoreless forthe remainder of the contest.

Brett Gervais blocked a Gladia-tor shot, then Dove sealed the dealwith two free throws at 9.2 for aLakes three point edge. With foulsto give, the Lakes made it very dif-ficult for Ontonagon to get down the

court to tie the game with a threepointer. By the time the Lakesslapped the Gladiators with twofouls, there was less then two sec-onds left on the clock. Not enoughtime to get a good look and theGladiators couldn't get a shot off.Lakes take the Copper CountryConference game, 45-42.

Two Gladiators had double dig-its, Nick Soumis and Jake Yaklyvicheach had a dozen. The Lakes alsohad two in double digits. Troy Doveled all with eighteen and Brett Ger-vais had fifteen points.

Ontonagon is on hiatus untilMonday, January 4th when theytravel to Chassell to take on theChassell Panthers.

Box ScoresOntonagon: Nick Soumis 1 1 7

4-12, Jake Yaklyvich 5 0 2 0-12,Cameron Menigoz 1 2 0 4-8, CodyDoan 2 0 0 3-4, Joe Husar 2 0 0 2-4,Mike Schmaus 2. Totals 12 3 9-1415 42.

Lake Linden-Hubbell: TroyDove 8 0 2 0-18, Brett Gervais 5 1 22-15, Vincent Beaudoin 3 0 1 2-7,Joe Negron 0 0 2 3-2, Jordan Hahka1 0 0 4-2, Travis Ambuehl 0 0 1 3-1.Totals 17 1 8-12 14 45.

Scoring by quartersOntonagon 14 28 38 42LL-H 11 26 38 45

Lakes drop Gladiator boys

#22 Brittany Suomumaki led the Lady Panthers in their comeback winover the Bessemer Speedgirls landing three three pointers and finishedwith twenty points, fifteen of those in the fourth.

Zoey McGeshick scored ten points for E-TC. Here she sinks a jumperduring the Panthers, 44-43, Porcupine Mountain Conference victoryover the Speedgirls.

This week’sfeatured sponsor is:

State Bank of Ewen Ewen & Bergland

• Pestka ConstructionOntonagon

• State Bank of Ewen Ewen and Bergland

• Citizens State BankOntonagon, Mass City & White Pine• Ontonagon Herald - Ontonagon

• Ontonagon County Telephone Co.Ontonagon

• White Pine Copper Refinery, Inc. White Pine

• Pat’s Foods - Ontonagon, Houghton,

Calumet, Hancock, L’Anse• Settler’s Co-op - Bruce Crossing

Please patronize these area businesses.

Ontonagon County Sportsare brought to you by:

*****Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the thingsyou didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sailaway from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

___________________________________________________________________________________Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 11

Midgets toomuch forPanthersBy Jean Nordine

The Hurley Midgets were justtoo much for the Ewen-Trout CreekPanther boys to handle. The Pan-thers traveled to Hurley for their lastgame of 2009 on Tuesday, Decem-ber 22, and fell hard, 88-50, to awell rounded Midget squad. Thiswas the first regular season loss forE-TC since January 23, 2007 whenthey loss in Bessemer 60-56.

Hurley had four players in dou-ble digits and were led by DaultonLevra's 24 points. The Pantherswere able to keep pace with theMidgets for the first half of quarterone, before the pendulum swung tothe Midgets side and stayed there.

Paul Abramson scored the firstbasket of the game, before Hurleyposted seven unanswered. JordanLaPlant swished a three pointer forthe Cats, followed by two pointsfrom Levra. Alex Brown put up twopoints to pull E-TC within two, 9-7,then Abramson's jumper from thefree throw line tied the game at 9-9.The pace of the game was fast andfurious, as Hurley quickly regainedthe lead on a hoop by Jake Rowe.From that point on the Panthers hadto play catch up, but Hurley was ona roll. At one point the Midgets hadstretched their lead to 25-15, beforeAbramson hit a couple of freethrows and Daniel Livingston hit abucket right before the buzzer. Onequarter in and the Panthers weredown by six, 25-19.

The Midgets manhandled thePanthers in the second quarter,pouring in 28 points to thirteen forE-TC, most of those coming off ofPanther turnovers. E-TC's regularball handler, Dillon Gordon was notplaying due to a health issue, andthose Cats that had to bring up theball, were having a hard time withthe Midgets pressure. Thingsweren't looking too bright for E-TCas they trailed 53-32 at intermis-sion.

The second half of the contestthe Panthers committed seventeenturnovers and just couldn't getthings gelling for themselves. E-TCscored just eighteen points theentire second half, a dozen in thethird and a meager six in the finalstanza. After three quarters Hurley'sadvantage was twenty-one, 65-44.When all was said and done theMidgets took the win by thirty-eight, 88-50.

Paul Abramson was high manfor the Panthers with twenty points.Jordan LaPlant finished with adozen. The Panthers are now idleuntil Monday, January 4th whenthey play their previously post-poned match in Lake Linden withthe Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes.

Box ScoresEwen-Trout Creek: Michael

Borseth 0 0 1 1-1, Jordan LaPlant 12 4 5-12, Alex Brown 1 1 0 2-5,David Livingston 1 0 0 5-2, DanielLivingston 3 0 0 3-6, Paul Abram-son 6 1 5 3-20, Aaron Schneider 2 00 4-4, Carter Robl 0 0 0 0-0. Totals14 4 10-16 24 50.

Hurley: Dillon Windt 2 1 2 2-9,Jake Rowe 3 0 0 4-6, Alec Gulan 30 0 1-6, Mike Leinon 6 0 2 4-14,Daulton Levra 6 1 9 1-24, Ty Patrit-to 4 0 2 3-10, Dylan Laurin 7 0 1 1-15, Jimmy Kuklinski 1 0 2 1-4, Tay-lor Koski 0 0 0 0-0. Totals 32 2 18-31 17 88.

Scoring by quartersE-TC 19 32 44 50Hurley 25 53 65 88

By Jean NordineThe last home game of the year

for the Gladiator boys basketballteam was a Copper County Confer-ence game with the Dollar BayBays. Mike Schmaus tipped the ballto Nick Soumis, who bolted to thebasket and was fouled by the BaysDavid Townsend. Soumis hit onefree throws to jump start Ontonagonon their way to a 61-33 thrashing ofthe Bays.

Dollar Bay couldn't handle theGladiators press and committednumerous turnovers. Joe Mellpopped in two points at 7:22. At6:29 Schmaus stole the ball andscored putting Ontonagon up 5-0. Atimeout by the Bays didn't help, asthey fouled a driving Soumis, whomade both free throws, upping themargin to 7-0. Dollar Bay didn't geton board until 4:42 with a freethrow. Cody Doan chipped two infrom the charity stripe at 2:56, fol-lowed by a long bomb fromCameron Menigoz. Menigoz hadthree treys on the night and finishedwith fourteen points. The Baysadded another free throw at 2:30,then hit their first field goal at 2:00.Ontonagon scored six more pointsbefore the quarter ended. Joe Husarfound the hoop at 1:31, before JakeYaklyvich, in the paint, scored backto back buckets. After one quarterthe Gladiators were well on theirway to another victory.

Yaklyvich had six of his twelvepoints, in the second quarter. The

Bays finally had a little success put-ting the ball through the hoop, land-ing three buckets from three pointland. Ontonagon added sixteen sec-ond quarter points, while the Bayschalked up a dozen. At intermissionthe Gladiators were over double upon the Bays, leading 34-16.

Menigoz hit his other two treysin the third. Soumis also contributedsix third quarter points, to lead allscorers with fifteen. With eight min-utes of play remaining the Gladia-tors enjoyed a healthy 23 point lead,52-29.

Ontonagon held the Dollar BayBays to just four fourth quarterpoints, while posting nine for thefinal 61-33 win.

Box ScoresOntonagon:Cody Doan 0 0 2 3-

2, Nick Soumis 6 0 3 0-15, AlexTaeger 0 0 0 2-0, Cameron Menigoz2 3 1 0-14, Mike Schmaus 4 0 1 1-9,Joe Husar 2 0 1 2-5, Jake Mell 1 0 01-2, Joe Mell 1 0 0 0-2, Jake Yak-lyvich 5 0 2 3-12. Ttals 21 3 10-1812 61.

Dollar Bay: Jeremy Pelto 3 0 12-7, Adam Granroth 2 0 0 3-4, Dal-las Bond 0 0 0 1-0, Tim Bumstan 21 1 4-8, Zach Matfolk 1 2 0 0-8,Danny Townsend 2 0 2 3-6, DaveTownsend 0 0 0 2-0, DerikClements 0 0 0 2-0. Totals 10 3 4-1217 33.

Scoring by quartersOntonagon 18 34 52 61Dollar Bay 4 16 29 33

The opening tip of the Gladiators game against Dollar Bay, went toNick Soumis, who immediately drove to the basket and was fouled.Soumis led the Gladiators with fifteen points in the 61-33 win over theBays.

#50 Jake Yaklyvich won this battle of the boards, in Ontonagonconference game with the Bays. Yaklyvich had ten first half points andfinished with a dozen.

Ontonagon boys trounce Dollar Bay

___________________________________________________________________

SPORTING TIMES SOLUNAR TABLEOntonagon, Michigan

____________________________________________FISHING/HUNTING TIMES

Longitude 89.31W Latitude 46.87N2010 A. M. P. M. SUN TIMES MOON MOONJan Minor Major Minor Major Rise Sets Rises Sets Up Down DST

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Major=2 hours/Minor=1 hour Times are centered on the major/minor windowF = Full Moon N = New Moon Q = Quarter > = Peak Activity!DST column will have * in it if effect that day.Calibrated for Time Zone: 5W

01 Fri F 5:59 ——- 6:30 12:15 08:43 05:16 6:39p 9:28a 1:28a 1:59p 02 Sat > 7:04 12:49 7:33 1:18 08:43 05:17 8:04p 10:03a 2:29a 2:58p 03 Sun > 8:06 1:53 8:34 2:20 08:43 05:18 9:28p 10:31a 3:26a 3:53p 04 Mon 9:06 2:53 9:32 3:19 08:43 05:19 10:48p 10:55a 4:19a 4:45p 05 Tue 10:02 3:50 10:27 4:15 08:43 05:20 NoMoon 11:17a 5:09a 5:34p 06 Wed 10:55 4:43 11:19 5:07 08:43 05:21 12:05a 11:38a 5:58a 6:22p 07 Thu Q 11:44 5:32 ——- 5:57 08:42 05:22 1:21a 12:00p 6:46a 7:10p 08 Fri Q 12:07 6:20 12:32 6:44 08:42 05:23 2:36a 12:25p 7:35a 8:00p 09 Sat 12:53 7:06 1:19 7:31 08:42 05:24 3:49a 12:54p 8:25a 8:50p 10 Sun 1:39 7:52 2:05 8:18 08:41 05:25 4:58a 1:29p 9:16a 9:42p 11 Mon 2:25 8:38 2:51 9:04 08:41 05:27 6:01a 2:13p 10:08a 10:34p 12 Tue 3:12 9:25 3:38 9:51 08:40 05:28 6:56a 3:04p 11:00a 11:25p 13 Wed > 3:59 10:12 4:24 10:37 08:40 05:29 7:43a 4:02p 11:51a NoMoon14 Thu > 4:47 10:59 5:11 11:23 08:39 05:30 8:20a 5:05p 12:40p 12:16a 15 Fri N 5:34 11:46 5:58 12:09 08:39 05:32 8:51a 6:11p 1:27p 1:04a 16 Sat > 6:22 12:11 6:44 12:33 08:38 05:33 9:16a 7:16p 2:12p 1:50a 17 Sun > 7:08 12:58 7:29 1:19 08:37 05:34 9:37a 8:21p 2:54p 2:33a 18 Mon 7:54 1:44 8:14 2:04 08:37 05:36 9:55a 9:25p 3:35p 3:15a 19 Tue 8:40 2:30 8:59 2:50 08:36 05:37 10:13a 10:28p 4:14p 3:55a 20 Wed 9:25 3:15 9:45 3:35 08:35 05:39 10:30a 11:32p 4:55p 4:34a 21 Thu 10:10 4:00 10:31 4:21 08:34 05:40 10:48a NoMoon 5:37p 5:15a 22 Fri Q 10:56 4:45 11:19 5:08 08:33 05:42 11:08a 12:39a 6:21p 5:59a 23 Sat 11:44 5:32 ——- 5:56 08:32 05:43 11:33a 1:49a 7:10p 6:45a 24 Sun 12:08 6:21 12:34 6:48 08:31 05:45 12:04p 3:02a 8:04p 7:37a 25 Mon 12:58 7:12 1:27 7:41 08:30 05:46 12:46p 4:15a 9:02p 8:32a 26 Tue 1:50 8:06 2:21 8:36 08:29 05:48 1:40p 5:24a 10:04p 9:32a 27 Wed 2:46 9:01 3:17 9:33 08:28 05:49 2:48p 6:25a 11:07p 10:35a 28 Thu > 3:43 9:59 4:14 10:30 08:27 05:51 4:07p 7:16a NoMoon 11:38a 29 Fri > 4:41 10:56 5:11 11:26 08:26 05:52 5:32p 7:57a 12:09a 12:40p 30 Sat F 5:40 11:54 6:08 ——- 08:25 05:54 6:59p 8:29a 1:09a 1:38p 31 Sun > 6:38 12:25 7:05 12:51 08:24 05:55 8:22p 8:55a 2:05a 2:32p

Rick Bernier Taxidermy&

Chainsaw Wood CarvingAward Winning Mounts

Remounts

Unique Life Size CarvingsExcellent for gifts

6135 US Hwy 45Land O’Lakes, WI

715-547-3522

It’s time to think about makingimportant life changes. Make a res-olution to better handle challengesand improve mental health.

The Live Your Life Well cam-paign offers tools to promote psy-chological well-being. The tools arepractical, easy-to-follow ways tohelp combat stress and live healthi-er lives.

From eating well to simple exer-cises to help relax, the suggestionshelp manage stress throughout theyear. These tools don’t require dras-tic changes in your life - simply bysetting aside a manageable amountof time each day, can reduce stressand strengthen mental health.

Live Your Life Well, a free,online program of Mental HealthAmerica, is dedicated to helpingpeople live mentally healthier lives.Visiting www.liveyourlifewell.org.

Successful NewYear’s Resolution

Pro Racing Weekly UpdatePostseason Edition

Biography:In 2001, Harvick became the Busch SeriesChampion while also driving full-time in theWinston Cup Series and finishing in the top10, a first for any driver. In a somewhat con-troversial move, Childress tabbed Harvick asthe replacement driver for Dale Earnhardtafter his fatal crash at the 2001 Daytona 500.In 2003, Harvick teamed with crew chief ToddBerrier and moved from 21st in the pointsstandings to 2nd. In 2006, Harvick had fivevictories, but he failed to keep that momentumgoing into the Chase for the Cup and finished4th in the Chase standings. Harvick’s 2007season started off with a bang as he won theDaytona 500, but that would be his only winthat year and he finished the season in 10thplace. Even without a victory in 2008, he stillmanaged a 4th place finish in the Chase forthe Cup. Harvick failed to win a race again lastyear and finished the season in 19th place.

Driver’s Bio

Racing TriviaJeff Gordon's karting career began in1981, when he was 10 years old. Thatyear he entered 25 karting events. Howmany did he win?

Racing HistoryDec. 28, 1921 - Nelson Stacy, who won fourCup races in 45 starts, was born on this day.After finishing 12th in his Cup debut at Dayton(Ohio) Speedway in 1952, Stacy didn't makeanother start until 1961. He won his first race thatyear, at Darlington, and won three more in 1962.He is the second driver to win consecutiveSouthern 500s at Darlington. Stacy, who alsowon the World 600 in 1962, was ARCAchampion from 1958 to 1960.

a) 5 c) 8b) 10 d) 25

Answer : d) In the year 1981, Jeff entered andwon 25 main events in the karts.

This Week’s Racing NewsDanica Patrick took five laps around Daytona International Speedway last week and said itfelt "a little slow", no surprise since IndyCars go about 50 mph faster. Patrick started the daywith a van ride around the track, getting a much better feel for the 2 1/2-mile tri-oval thanshe ever got testing IndyCars on Daytona's road course or racing in the Rolex 24 Hours ofDaytona in 2006 and 2009. Rain delayed the start of the session, and Patrick had dozensof photographers and reporters following her every move through the garage. Patrick wasone of a record nine women at the first day of the three-day test. Part-time IndyCar driver

Milka Duno, twins Amber and Angela Cope, Alli Owens and LeilaniMunter were among the others. But none of them received theattention Patrick got. Even NASCAR president Mike Helton showedup to watch the sport's newest star. Patrick will make her stock cardebut in the ARCA race at Daytona in February. She plans to drivea partial schedule in the Nationwide Series in 2010 and hasn't ruledout making her NASCAR debut at Daytona.

Kevin Harvick

Born: Dec. 8, 1975Sponsor: Shell/PennzoilCrew Chief: Gil MartinCar: Chevrolet

Get your local news with a subscription to the Ontonagon Herald.

Name______________________________________________Address____________________________________________City ______________________ State_____ Zip ___________

Enclose remittance and mail to 326 River St., Ontonagon, MI 49953

Terms of Subscription: In Ontonagon County: $42.95 / yearOut of County:$52.95 / year

Online subscriptions: $39.95 (see www.ontonagonherald.com)

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 12___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 13

_______________________

EMPLOYMENT_______________________PART-TIME PARENTLIAISON for newly estab-lished Gogebic-OntonagonGreat Start Collaborative, anearly childhood coalition.High school diplomarequired; bachelor’s degreepreferred. Must be parent ofa child under the age of 12.Contracted position. Grant-funded position. 10-15 hoursper week. Valid Driver’sLicense and reliable trans-portation required. Sendcover letter, resume, refer-ences to Great Start Collabo-rative, PO Box 218, Berg-land, MI 49910 or email toaliddle@goisd.org. For fullapplication packet, callGogebic-Ontonagon Inter-mediate School District(906)575-3438. Applicationdeadline: Dec. 31, 2009.Visit www.gogreatstart.orgfor more information. (4t49)

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MISCELLANEOUS_______________________

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REAL ESTATE_______________________

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RECREATIONALVEHICLES

_______________________***

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_______________________

SERVICES_______________________

***BANKRUPTCY Atty. CurtCzachor. 920-435-7300, 1-877-227-5915.

CONSTRUCTION SER-VICES “Handyman Prices”Windows, doors, decks,garages, additions, remodel-ing, basements, kitchens,bathrooms, siding, roofing,drywall, laminate, woodflooring, etc. State certified,licensed & insured. 920-373-4682 or 920-373-0181._______________________

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WANTED_______________________

***$$$$$.$$ IN CASH for OldGuitars & Amps! Gibson,Fender, etc. Toll Free 1-866-237-8116_______________________

LEGAL_______________________

December 30, 2009January 6, 13, 20

& 27, 2010NOTICE OF

MORTGAGE SALEDefault having been

made in the conditions of aMortgage made by Harold E.Ray, Jr. to Citizens StateBank of Ontonagon, datedMarch 20, 2007, and record-ed in the office of the Regis-ter of Deeds for the Countyof Ontonagon and State ofMichigan, on March 21,2007, in Liber 157 of Mort-gages, on page 835 on whichMortgage there is claimed tobe due at the date of thisnotice, for principal andinterest, the sum of EightThousand Seventy and38/100 Dollars, and no pro-ceedings having been insti-tuted to recover the debt nowremaining secured by saidMortgage; whereby thepower of sale contained insaid Mortgage has becomeoperative;

Notice is Given that theMortgage will be foreclosedby a sale of the premisestherein described or so muchthereof as may be necessary,at public auction, to the high-est bidder, at the MainEntrance, Ontonagon CountyCourthouse, 725 GreenlandRd, Ontonagon, Michigan,on February 4, 2010, at 11:00a.m. The premises will besold to pay the amount thendue on said Mortgage togeth-er with 8.25 per cent interest,legal costs, Attorneys’ feesand any taxes and insurancethat the Mortgagee pays onor prior to the date of saidsale. The premises aredescribed as follows:

Lot 228 of the Plat ofWhite Pine, Carp LakeTownship, Ontonagon Coun-ty, Michigan, according tothe recorded plat thereof;together with all tenements,hereditaments and appurte-nances now or hereafterthereunto belonging.

The period of redemp-tion will be six (6) monthsfrom date of sale unless theproperty is determined to beabandoned pursuant to MCL600.3241 etseq. in whichevent the redemption periodwill be 30 days from the dateof sale or until the time toprovide the notice requiredby MCl 600.3241a expires,whichever is later.Dated: December 30, 2009

Citizens State Bank ofOntonagon

501 River Street

PO Box 187Ontonagon, MI 49953

MortgageePaul J. Tomasi

VAIRO, MECHLIN &TOMASI, PLLC

Attorney(s) for MortgageeBusiness Address:

400 E. Houghton AvenueHoughton, MI 49931

(906) 482-0770_______________________

LEGAL_______________________

December 30, 2009STATE OF MICHIGAN

PROBATE COURTCOUNTY OF

ONTONAGONNOTICE TO CREDITORS

Decedent’s EstateFILE NO: 09-9870-DEEstate of William MichaelVlasak a/k/a William M.Vlasak a/k/a William Vlasak,deceased.Date of birth: March 24,1931.

TO ALL CREDITORS;NOTICE TO CREDI-TORS:

The decedent, WilliamMichael Vlasak a/k/aWilliam M. Vlasak a/k/aWilliam Vlasak, deceased,who lived at 306 WalnutStreet, Village of Ontonagon,Michigan, died November16, 2009.

Creditors of the dece-dent are notified that allclaims against the estate willbe forever barred unless pre-sented to Diane Lee Slachta,named personal representa-tive or proposed personalrepresentative, or to both theprobate court at 725 Green-land Rd., Ontonagon, MI49953 and the named/pro-posed personal representa-tive within 4 months after thedate of publication of thisnotice.

Jacobs, McDonald& Silc, P.C.,

Mark E. McDonald,(P35468)

319 East Aurora Street P.O. Box 725

Ironwood, MI 49938

(906) 932-0400Diane Lee Slachta

7113 Queen Palm CircleSarasota, FL 34243

(941) 780-3852_______________________

ANNOUNCEMENTS_______________________

***AA MEETINGS

SUN. Bruce Crossing FireHall, 3 p.m., open, no smok-ing. OMH Cafeteria, 7:30pm, closed, no smoking.

MON. Ontonagon, CaneCourt, 7:30 pm, closed, nosmoking.

TUES. Alternative School/Greenland Township Com-munity Center, 1502 MassAve., Mass City, MI 7:30pm, closed, no smoking.

WED. Ont. Cane Court,7:30 pm, closed, no smok-ing. Bruce Crossing FireHall, 7:30 pm, closed, nosmoking.THURS. White Pine Com-

munity Center 7:30 pm,closed, no smoking

FRI. Cane Court, 7:30 pm,closed, no smoking.

***SSA REPRESENTATIVE Area visits have been post-

poned indefinitely due tostaffing constraints. ForSocial Security issues call 1-800 772-1213 or 932-1321.

***OCAP MEETING

Ontonagon County AnimalProtection meets the thirdMonday of each month, at 6pm at the new shelter site, onM38, Ontonagon. All arewelcome.

***NARCOTICS

ANONYMOUS Narcotics Anonymous

meetings are held everyThursday at 7:27 p.m. at theAssembly of God Church,104 N. Steel Street, Onton-agon.

***HABITAT FOR

HUMANITYHabitat for Humanity is

currently seeking motivated

individuals to help raisemoney. Contact Rosa Hill(906) 231-7168 or if interest-ed in being a part of a com-mittee contact Violet Kendall(906) 884-2404.

***PEOPLE FOR PEACEPeople for Peace meetings

are held the first Wed. of themonth at 7 p.m. at varioushomes. For more informa-tion call Bruce Ruutilla at(906) 884-4340. The group’spurpose is to promote peaceand justice, to exist as avoice and an instrument todefine peace as a non-violentresolution of conflict at per-sonal, community, nationaland global levels and itintends that all actions bepositive. All are welcome toattend.

***RE AMBULANCE

N. ONTONAGON CO.A group is working with

SONCO to extend services,to North Ontonagon Countyand they are asking for thepublic’s assistance. Pleasemake a donation to help getthis coverage in the NorthEnd. Send donations toSonco, c/o Arlene Vlahos,PO Box 191, Bruce Cross-ing, MI 49912.

***VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

TO VISIT ASPIRUSLCTU

Aspirus Ontonagon Hospi-tal Long Term Care is look-ing for people to visit andshare their talents. CallActivities Dept. at AspirusLTCU at 884-8357.

***VETERANS SERVICE

OFFICERVeterans Service Officer

Patrick Holcomb, VFWDepartment of Michigan willbe in the Ontonagon CourtHouse the third Tues. eachmonth. Contact JacobettiVeterans Home, 425 FisherSt., Marquette, 906-226-3576 x 318.

***

Rogers InsuranceAgency

Your Partner ForLife Since 1938

Friendly, ProfessionalService For All Your Insurance Needs

Home, Life, Auto & BusinessHours: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

JIM PETERSON • AMY TRUSCOTT544 River Street, Ontonagon, MI 49953

906-884-4161

GREENWOOD APARTMENTSNOW TAKING APPLICATIONS FOR

1 & 2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS:Modern, well-maintained apartments inwooded Ontonagon location. Rent based on30% of adjusted income, qualifications andavailability. Includes stove, refrigerator, pri-vate deck or balcony, reserved tenant parking,on site laundry facilities. Barrier free unitsavailable. Equal Housing Opportunity. Formore information call Superior Mgmt. LLC(906) 884-6212.

Are you cryingyourself to sleep,

wondering about yourfamily’s safety,

or running to avoidthe violence?

It’s time to takethe first step.

Barbara Kettle GundlachSHELTER HOME•24 hour crisis line

•Emergency shelter•Counseling

•Referrals •Information

884-4004 Toll-free inU.P 1-888-337-5623

LOOKING FOR GOODQUALITY LOGGINGCREW: We need help withjobs in the Watersmeet, IronRiver and Sidnaw areas.

If interested call: J. Carey Logging, Inc.Channing, Michigan

(906) 542-3420(906) 282-3265

jlog@uplogon.com

RRIVERIVER RROADOADRRV PV PARKARK

& C& CAMPGROUNDAMPGROUNDFormerly known as ‘River Pines’

Call for Reservations

or Drive-in

NOW taking reservations

for...All School Reunion

& Rendezvous 2010!

600 RIVER ROAD, ONTONAGONPHONE (906) 884-4600

Protect yourself and your loved ones from the newest strain of flu.

Ontonagon Herald326 River Street • Ontonagon • 906 884-2826

An Ounce of Prevention

Classified Rates: 20 words or less, $4.95; 10¢ per word thereafter. Check or money order must accompanyad. No phone orders accepted. Mail to: Ontonagon Herald, 326 River St., Ontonagon, MI 49953

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Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Ontonagon Herald - page 14___________________________________________________________________________________

Support the Kids Page!Co-sponsor needed, cal l 884-2826