by Porter Davis
Co-founders Dhruv Patel and Matthew Jaquez of Syncurrent and Joe Thiel of Innovate Marquette visited the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) Niiwin
Akeaa Center this week to ignite entrepreneurship in Baraga County. Syncurrent, an economic development company, held the Ignite Your Ideas Event On Thursday, April
27, 2023. Syncurrent’s goal is to guide anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit toward the reality of turning their ideas into a business. Utilizing their AI system, individuals can follow
a step-by-step process that will not only educate them in business but also help them to create their own. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland
Life Saving Awards were presented to James D. (JD) Denomie, Chief of Police Irvin Smith, and Tribal Police Officers Durwyn Chaudier and Mark Smith at the last Village of Baraga  Council Meeting for saving the lives of Michael Markham, Sr., and James Hoke in February after the two men fell through the ice on Keweenaw Bay. Markham and Hoke were stranded in the water for approximately 35 minutes before rescuers were able to reach the  submerged fishermen and the two brought to Baraga County Memorial Hospital for  treatment. The rescuers were presented the awards at the last council meeting held
April 13, 2023, along with awards presented to Markham and Hoke, with Mark Smith accepting the award on behalf of Durwyn Chaudier as he was unable to attend the meeting (as was Hoke). To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by John Raffel
MDOT officials had to deal with flooding issues in recent weeks with the snow melting rapidly from a rapid warm-up. Area MDOT spokesperson Dan Weingarten said US 41 in Delta County and US 2 near Rapid River were experiencing water on the roads, along with M28 near Ewen. On Monday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer activated the State Emergency
Operations Center (SEOC) due to flooding caused by snowmelt in several counties in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She declared Houghton and Gogebic counties under a state of emergency because of the flooding situation. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland
Arvon Township School (ATS) received a sweet field trip at the end of March just before Easter break began, traveling to ATS Head Teacher Kristina Waara’s camp for a full day of experiencing the maple syrup process. To prepare students for the event, students were busy tapping maple trees along the ATS property and were educated on how to drill,
tap spiles in the trees, hang bags, and collect the sap before the planned trip took place.
According to Waara, over the years Arvon has incorporated more place-based education into the school year with the hopes to connect students to the community around them and create a sense of responsibility for taking care of it. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland
Arvon Township School (ATS) students enjoyed participating in many activities the past few
weeks during March is Reading Month. Students participated in Battle of the Books where
they read books in a MarchMadness bracket. ATS Head Teacher Kristina Waara noted  students started the Madness with 16 books and eliminated those down to the  championship. “Students went to stations throughout the school with a buddy and voted on one book of the pair,” noted Waara. “The buddies consisted of one older student and one
younger student.” To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland
The Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) and the Copper Country  Intermediate School District (CCSID)’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center
recently held a recruitment event for Baraga (BAS) and L’Anse Area School (LAS)  sophomore students to help give them a glimpse of CTE offerings available for sign up during their upcoming junior year. The event was held Tuesday, March 14, 2023, and 59 students attended between both BAS and LAS sophomore students to learn about CTE offerings provided by KBOCC. The recruitment event was held at the Baraga and L’Anse KBOCC campuses as well as the local high schools. Students were introduced to KBOCC
classes, including Business Entrepreneurship, Certified Nursing Assistant, and Culinary Arts and Education. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by John Raffel

Wow, what a week.
There may have been more Baraga people in East Lansing from last Thursday to Saturday than in their hometown. It’s what happens when your girls basketball team plays in its first ever state championship game at Michigan State’s Breslin Center. It started with a trip to Munising on Tuesday, March 14, for the quarterfinals with Baraga edging a strong Mackinaw
City team 40-36. This put the Vikings back in the semifinals for the second straight year against two-time defending state champ Fowler, located northwest of Lansing. Baraga squeezed out a 46-44 win to make its first state title appearance. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by John Raffel
The L’Anse-Baraga Figure Skating Club will be presenting their annual show, “Music of Our
Lives” on Saturday, March 18 at 6 p.m. and on Sunday, March 19 at 2:30 p.m. at the Meadowbrook Arena in L’Anse. Sarah Solberg is president of the figure skating club. The show, in living with the theme, “is music the girls picked throughout,” Solberg said. “It will
be a different type of music which we’ve never had prior that’s about five minutes long. We are honoring our soloists Grace Usimaki and Logan DesRochers.” To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Newland
Baraga Area School’s (BAS) Philip LaTendresse Elementary School (PLES) students and staff were busy the first couple weeks of February getting ready to bring back the Science Fair and get projects done to display. The Science Fair was held on Thursday Feb. 16, 2023, at PLES with TK-5 participating in the event and parents were encouraged to attend to see the finished projects. BAS Fourth Grade Teacher Ashlee Adams noted TK-2 did whole class
projects while grades 3-5 did individual or partner. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.