The average unemployment rate in the Upper Peninsula dropped last year, eight-tenths of a percentage point below the 2017 average rate. The latest seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates were released Thursday by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. Though the unemployment rate dropped for all major labor markets in …

Michigan Technological University and the City of Negaunee, Michigan, are collaborating on a pilot study to determine if abandoned mines can be profitably converted into utility-scale batteries, storing “green” energy for consumers on the electrical grid. Researchers hope the study, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will demonstrate a …

Live reindeer will be returning to the Copper Country for this Saturday’s Heikinpäivä celebration after a multi-year hiatus. Dave Maki from the Finnish American Reporter says reindeer are a big deal at this year’s festival.  “We thought for it being the 20th anniversary of the festival, we’d try to do …

HANCOCK — The Heikinpäivä Hymn Sing, slated for 2 p.m. on Sunday, January 27 at Zion Lutheran Church in Hancock, will be a great way to stay warm both inside and out, as a cadre of talented performers has been assembled to provide a top-notch wrap up to the festival …

IRONWOOD —Gogebic Community College is working on creating a new five-year plan, what officials are calling a “Strategic Agenda,” which they hope will help guide the internal and external operations of the college.  They’re also looking for feedback from the community. A survey will ask respondents to first identify their …

Charges are expected against a woman who left her 2-year-old child out in the car with freezing temperatures. Ishpeming Police say they responded to a report Wednesday from employees at the Salvation Army that a small child was locked in a vehicle with no one around.  The vehicle was not …

A local power plant is hoping to add to its fuel source in the near future and it has citizens who reside in its general vicinity concerned.  Many turned out at the L’Anse Area School last night for a set of public meetings that could result in permitting the L’Anse …

A proposed project to transform the waterfront in Downtown Houghton recently received an important “thumbs up” from the state.  The Michigan Economic Development Corporation sent the city of Houghton a letter of interest concerning the transformative project to install a boardwalk-style pier between the Portage Lake District Library and the …

Laurium – James Paul Seppala passed away peacefully with his family by his side on January 22, 2019. James was born in Laurium on February 6, 1948 to Robert and Margaret (Osterman) Seppala. Surviving are his son Shawn (Arianna) of North Las Vegas, NV; brother Robert of Laurium; sisters Linda …

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan residents still can apply for and receive Medicaid and public assistance benefits such as food and cash assistance; Women, Infants and Children (WIC); State Emergency Relief and child care reimbursement despite the partial federal government shutdown. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is clarifying …