Local News

With a little more than a week to go, the restrictions laid out in the latest pandemic order from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services seem to be having a slight positive impact. The seven-day rolling average of new COVID-19 diagnoses has fallen from more than 7,200 on …

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day now celebrated internationally as an opportunity to support charities and service organizations. Mike Babcock from the Portage Health Foundation says the goal is to refocus us on a purer meaning of the holiday season… “It’s meant to change the conversation back from money, and …

A Chassell man is dead following a single-car crash in Portage Township Sunday night. State police troopers say 50-year-old Rodney Barnes was southbound on Superior Road near Haapapuro Road when he apparently lost control on the icy pavement. His vehicle slid into a ditch, rolled over, and hit a tree.  …

There could be more money coming to help repair damage done to our local trails by the 2018 Father’s Day Flood. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has recommended that $1.5 million dollars from the Land and Water Conservation Fund be allocated to help rebuild the ATV and snowmobile trail …

Former Michigan legislator Tom Casperson has died. The Escanaba Republican spent six years as the 108th District State Representative, then served two terms as the 38th District State Senator. He was term limited in 2018, and it was about that same time that he was diagnosed with lung cancer that …

The increasing number of COVID-19 diagnosis in the Western Upper Peninsula is now being reflected in a rising death rate.  The latest update from the Western Upper Peninsula District Health Department includes reports received from last Tuesday through Friday. It includes 159 more confirmed positives, and 13 deaths. Baraga County …

A Copper Country restaurant is among the first in the state to be cited for not following the latest pandemic order from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Café Rosetta in Calumet was assessed a $1,000 fine for violating the safety guidelines. The standard fine is $1,000 per …

Work is scheduled to begin today on repairs and improvements to the Houghton-Hancock Bridge.  Over the next nine months, the Michigan Department of Transportation plans to replace the motors that lift the bridge deck, paint the interiors of the machine rooms in the bridge towers, and replace the finger joints …

Michigan’s firearm deer season ends this evening. Hunting concludes at 5:49, which is 30 minutes after local sunset. Michigan’s deer check stations have been closed for most of the season, because of COVID-19 concerns, so we haven’t received any official updates about how the hunt has gone. Sales of licenses …

A six-month investigation has led to the seizure of drugs, guns and money in Copper City. Detectives from the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team executed a search warrant at a home in the village today. They collected methamphetamine, MDMA and numerous illegally obtained prescription drugs. They also picked up two …