News

The holiday season is still more than a month away, but the state already has chosen its 2015 Christmas tree. The 66-foot spruce comes from Wakefield in the western Upper Peninsula and is being donated by Florence Daniels in memory of her husband, the late Jim Daniels. Daniels taught and …

An advocacy group and others are calling on the US Senate Finance Committee to close offshore tax loopholes, saying Michigan is losing over $3 billion per year in state tax revenue because of them. Linda Teeter of the Michigan Citizen Education Fund cites a recent PIRG report which shows the …

Legislation to make it easier for firefighters coming from out-of-state to be certified in Michigan passed the state Senate. Bill sponsor, state Senator Dale Zorn, says the bill would provide firefighter certification reciprocity with states that have the same certification standards as Michigan. He says the measure would help local …

State lawmakers continue to disagree on tax cuts included in a proposed plan to repair the state’s roads. Legislative leaders and the governor had been working on a plan to raise $1.2 billion to fix the roads. The latest plan included about $400 million in general fund dollars and $800 …

Lawmakers in the Michigan House have passed a Good Samaritan measure billed as a way to protect people under the age of 21 who are trying to get help for a prescription drug overdose. State Representative Al Pscholka is sponsoring the bill and says someone wouldn’t be charged with possessing …

The Republican leader in the Michigan Senate expects changes to bills that would allow nonviolent inmates to get out of prison earlier. The presumptive parole legislation would allow nonviolent offenders to get out of prison after serving their minimum sentence. The legislation has already cleared the state House. But Senate …

Food insecurity is when you’re not sure if you and your family will have enough to eat. It affects nearly 17 percent of those living in Houghton County and more than 18 percent in Baraga County. Finlandia University’s Campus Ministry is teaming up the Western U.P. Food Bank and Feeding …

HOUGHTON—Upper Peninsula Power Co. customers can recycle their old refrigerators, freezers and more Saturday at the HEET Energy Show—and get paid for their trouble. Efficiency UNITED is accepting working freezers, refrigerators, room air conditioners and dehumidifiers (sorry, no stoves or electronics) between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Dee Stadium. …

The Department of Natural Resources and several partners released more than 6,300 juvenile lake sturgeon into various public waters across Michigan this summer and fall in an effort to rehabilitate this culturally significant fish species. The table below shows which agencies stocked fish, how many fish were stocked, and the …

The Calumet High School Media Production class is being listed among the top programs in the nation. At the CLK Board of Education meeting Tuesday, Sean Jacques, Mike Roland and members of the class were congratulated for being named an “Elite” school for the 2015-16 school year by the National …