Local News

Michigan’s unemployment rate has dropped to 4.9 percent, with Houghton County at 5.4 percent unadjusted in March. Both are below the national average, but aided by a shrinking labor force. In February 2020, before economic consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic caused havoc in the area, Houghton County had 17,009 people …

Koppers’ Hubbell location spearheaded a nearly $20,000 donation to Mercy EMS that will help save lives. The LUCAS chest compression machine, first designed in Sweden, has been rapidly adopted by EMS personnel throughout the world. Mercy’s Patrick Boberg says the equipment has been in use for over a month and …

A culvert is scheduled to be replaced that runs underneath Sharon Avenue just east of M-26. The work begins next week and will see traffic detoured onto Razorback Drive from both directions. A left-hand turn signal was recently added to the Razorback/Memorial Drive intersection, which should help in ensuring backups …

It’s been a long time coming, but the Copper Country Intermediate School District is ready to debut the new location of its commercial greenhouse. An open house is scheduled for Saturday morning from 10:00 to noon. Coordinator Karyn Juntunen says the structure was originally located behind Copper Country Mental Health, …

Although COVID numbers continue to trend in the right direction, one new death was registered in Houghton County in the past week. It is the first one since March. There were 19 cases in the region’s largest county over the last seven days, a far cry from the beginning of …

State Representative Greg Markkanen issued a release Thursday morning requesting Secretary of State branches reopen to walk-in customers. The department has moved many services online, including registration and license renewals. It has also moved to open up self-service kiosks to allow residents to complete these same tasks if they have …

As COVID-19 cases tumble statewide from nearly 9,000 per day at the spring peak to current levels between 1,200 and 1,500, restrictions are being lifted and the “Vacc to Normal” plan is no more. Michigan led the nation in new cases from late March through the month of April, but …

At Monday’s Hancock Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Steve Patchin laid out plans for the new Northern Lights Summer Learning Program and the Northern Lights Outdoor Adventure Program. It will be conducted in cooperation with the Lake Linden-Hubbell and Chassell School Districts. The learning program resembles something closer to summer …

Chassell Historical Organization Board President Keith Myers gave an update on their summer plans on Facebook late Wednesday. After being closed for all of 2020, operations will resume at the Heritage Center in July three days a week. Tuesday from 1:00 to 4:00 PM, Thursday from 4:00 to 9:00 PM …

Hancock assessor Laura Erhart had a lot of positive news to share during the City Council meeting Wednesday night. Eighteen new building permits were issued in 2020 that were counted on the rolls in the most recent report leading to a little over $600,000 in additional taxable value. When taking …