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There are several contested elections this year in Houghton County.
Residents were given an opportunity to ask questions of the candidates in those elections at a Candidate Forum Thursday in Hancock.
Candidates for county prosecutor, sheriff and three county commissioner districts took part in the event.
Some of the important issues were discussed, but not all of them.
Houghton County Prosecutor Michael Makinen said, “In the length of time we have, you can’t cover everything. It depends on how topical you want to get. For instance, the legislature has just amended the Medical Marijuana Act. That’s a whole issue all by itself. There were questions on marijuana to the sheriff’s candidates. There wasn’t any to the prosecutorial candidates, but there isn’t enough time.”
Many of the questions centered around the Houghton County Medical Care Facility, the area’s growing drug problem and funding for services.
But the most persistent questions had to do with the Houghton County Jail.
Sheriff Brian McLean said, “The jail sure seemed to dominate a lot of the discussions and not only for our session, but more so with the commissioners and even a little bit with the prosecutors as they have to deal with this also and the resources available to them.”
The forum was presented by the Copper County League of Women Voters and the Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce.
