News

Yesterday’s Portage Health Foundation Giving Tuesday campaign produced nearly $200,000 in online donations alone. PHF Marketing and Communications Coordinator Mike Babcock reports that giving through their website reached $197,023. Donations received by check have not yet been tallied, and are sure to push the total well past $200,000. The Foundation …

The numbers in the most recent Western Upper Peninsula Health Department COVID-19 report are modest, although testing and reporting may have been slowed by the extended Thanksgiving holiday. Since the previous update was released late Friday, just 37 more confirmed positives have been reported in the five-county region. 38 additional …

Governor Gretchen Whitmer couldn’t say yesterday if the current three-week pandemic order issued by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will be extended… “It’s really to early to say precisely where we will be in a few days, much less next week, but I think it’s important for …

The Community Action Agency has scheduled surplus food distributions today in Ahmeek, Laurium and Houghton. To claim food, you must have a green certification card issued by the agency, or be income-eligible. For pick-up times, call 482-5528 or 231-5938.

The Copper Country Intermediate School District Board is asking for public input as it begins the search for a new superintendent.  An online survey has been posted, that any resident in the district can fill out. Questions center on the qualifications and background the superintendent should have, and whether the …

The Pure Michigan Small Business Relief Initiative has allocated a half-million dollars to assist small businesses in the Upper Peninsula that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 virus.  Grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded on a “first-in” basis to qualified businesses. The application window opens December 15th. …

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 …