News

Northern Michigan University is holding a free juried art competition for Upper Peninsula artists. Between three and five winners will have their work displayed on banners outside the DeVos Art Museum on campus from mid-November through February. Winners will also receive a $250 cash prize. Artists must live and work …

The People of the Heart Water Walkers are expected to wrap up this year’s water walk today. Small groups of walkers left the Sand Point Lighthouse in Baraga Saturday morning. Carrying a copper vessel filled with water, they traveled to Houghton the first day, from Houghton to Eagle River yesterday, …

The Houghton County Road Commission is getting more goodies from the federal government than we were first told. A release from Congressman Jack Bergman’s office late last week identified U.S. Department of Agriculture funds that will be used to purchase a quad axle truck, a truck with a water tank …

The legal cases against those facing state charges in the alleged attempt to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and attempt to overthrow the state government have begun. • Paul Bellar of Milford is being held in South Carolina, where he is awaiting extradition; • Shawn Fix of Belleville was arraigned …

Authorities in the eastern Upper Peninsula are trying to track down around 50 men who gathered for a retreat last weekend. A person with an active case of COVID-19 attended the gathering, which took place at the United Methodist Church in Pickford. Others who attended are at risk, but leaders …

Houghton County schools will resume face to face instruction this morning. With revised state rules in place, all students will be required to wear masks at almost all times at school facilities, including inside classrooms. Mask-optional policies enacted earlier by some local school districts are no longer valid. Similar restrictions …

Enrollment is down at Michigan Tech this year, but not as much as had been feared, given the challenges posed by COVID-19. Vice President for University Relations and Enrollment John Lehman told the Board of Trustees this morning that total enrollment is off by 170 students, with the foreign student …

Extended unemployment benefits for Michigan residents would continue under a bill passed by the state senate yesterday. Most of the provisions would remain the same as those included in Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order, which was recently struck down by the Michigan Supreme Court. One exception is that recipients would …

We’re learning more about the alleged attempt to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. 13 men have been arrested in connection with the plot. Six face federal charges, and seven face state charges. Officials say two right-wing militia groups planned to kidnap the governor from her vacation home in the northern …

K-12 school students in Houghton County may return to the classroom on Monday. The decision was finalized by the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department yesterday afternoon. Health Officer Kate Beer said that COVID-19 infection rates have begun to moderate – falling from a high of 78 per hundred thousand residents …