News

The Hancock School District is looking for input about its public library.  The Library has been operated by the Portage Lake District Library for the past several years. PLDL management and school officials have posted an online questionnaire to get feedback from users and community members. The survey includes 10 …

Three search and rescue teams in the region are honing their skills through practicing full scale rescue operations. Last weekend Superior Search and Rescue invited the Baraga County and Marquette County Search and Rescue teams to the Copper Country to practice a full rescue scenario, with an action briefing afterward. …

Happy National Pasty Week. A favorite dish for many around the world, the pasty comes from the Cornwall, England. And has found it’s way to places like Australia and New Zealand, and Mexico. Other states in the country also make their own pasties, but the best are from Michigan. “Copper …

Projects for a new coffee shop and another marijuana retailer in Houghton are a step closer to proceeding, after the city’s planning commission approved their site plans last night. The marijuana shop will be located in the former Bambu Restaurant on Ridge Road. Owners say they’ll employ around 20 full-time …

The Hancock city council, planning commission and downtown development authority will hold a joint session tonight. The agenda calls for discussion about the city’s master plan, along with updates about city projects and the police department. See it here. https://www.cityofhancock.com/news-view.php?target=1068 The meeting will be held in the Wiitanen Room at …

Two Upper Peninsula projects will receive financial boosts from the state. The Michigan Strategic Fund will provide $1.4 million to help the Keweenaw Co-op’s relocation to the former Bruno’s Motors building in downtown Hancock. The Co-op plans to expand the building by 50 percent, and maintain around 28 employees. The …

Marijuana retail is boosting the budgets of several local governments. Two local jurisdictions which allow marijuana retailers receive a share of the state fees and taxes collected from those businesses. The state released its 2022 revenue-sharing figures yesterday. The proceeds per outlet came to 51,841.21 With three outlets, the city …

The Portage Health Foundation is making $100,000 available to help boost mental health treatment options in the region. PHF Executive Director Kevin Store said the grant offering was prompted by reported increases in anxiety, suicide ideation, violent crime rates and addiction issues.  In the 2018 Upper Peninsula Community Health Needs …

The current staff shortage across the nation has begun to affect areas of local government, especially with local law enforcement and emergency services. And forcing some departments to rethink how they market law enforcement to perspective officers. One thing that is helping departments such as Houghton police, are first responder …

A trial date has been set for a Covington man charged with drunk driving resulting in the death of two people. Ryan Orzechowicz, of Covington, is scheduled for a jury trial on July 10th, after waiving his rights to his circuit court arraignment on February 15th. On November 4th, Orzechowicz …