by Nancy Besonen
History repeats itself every day Ron Whitman opens up the Whirl-I-Gig in Zeba. The banquet hall and bowling alley have been opening for business since 1933 and 1946, respectively. Preferring restoration over renovation, Whitman has preserved a piece of both his family’s and the community’s past that plays well with the present. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
by Barry Drue
Interest in COVID-19 vaccines is undeniably high in the area. Baraga County Memorial Hospital opened its vaccine hotline number last Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, and quickly received 820 requests to schedule vaccine appointments. CEO Margie Hale said by Friday the appointment list had swelled to over 1,100. Last week and weekend a break in the schedule enabled nursing staff to offer vacinations on a drive-through basis. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
by Nancy Besonen
and Melissa Newland
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Service’s (MDHHS) order to restrict indoor dining due to COVID-19 ends Jan. 15, 2021. After having been under restrictions since Nov. 18, 2020, area bar and restaurant owners are looking forward with mixed emotions to getting back to some semblance of business as usual. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
by Nancy Besonen
Baraga and L’Anse Area Schools welcomed their full student bodies back to the fold when classes resumed after the holiday break on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021.
The start of the New Year marked the end of an order issued Nov. 15 by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). It called for a halt to in-person instruction at high schools and colleges for a three-week period due to rising COVID-19 cases. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
by Barry Drue
The Baraga County Board of Commissioners wrapped up two loose ends lingering from the regular December meeting with a remote Zoom session on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020.
Harry Miron was reappointed to another term on the Baraga County Road Commission. County Chairman Mike Koskinen’s proposal to award retirement pay in perpetuity to long-serving commissioners was “shelved” and not discussed. Commissioners voted unanimously to nullify that issue before adjourning the Zoom meeting. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
by Barry Drue
The long-awaited first round of COVID-19 vaccines hit Baraga County last week. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which must be stored and shipped in super-cold conditions arrived last Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, and health officials were administering doses through the week. Moderna’s vaccine, which requires only normal freezer temperatures to store and transport, may be arriving this week. It was recently federally approved on an emergency-use basis. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
by Barry Drue
For thirty years a Christ-centered effort to meet the needs of folks in the larger community has been spearheaded through Bethel United Pentecostal Church. Pastor Terry Langston, wife Sherry and family answered the call they felt to come to L’Anse and for three decades the church, volunteers and community have dovetailed with other agencies to help meet people’s needs. “We saw a great community need when we first came,” Terry Langston said from the church on N. Main Street in L’Anse. He and son Bryan met with a reporter Monday to explain the church’s mission in facilitating help for those in need. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
by Nancy Besonen
Area funeral homes are rising to the challenge of increasing COVID-19 mortality rates in Baraga County. Jacobson Funeral Home and Reid Funeral Service and Chapel, both of L’Anse, are keeping apace and continuing to provide services in a timely manner. Susan Jacobs, Licensed Funeral Director and owner at Jacobson, said the local death rate has risen about 12 percent since the virus
hit.“ We’ve been busy because there have been so many deaths,” said Dawn Supanich, Funeral Service Representative and Office Manager at Reid. “Traditional services are down regarding gatherings. People don’t want to gather because of the pandemic.” To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
Management at Bayside Village Nursing Home, L’Anse, responded to the Sentinel, updating COVID status Monday afternoon, Nov. 30, 2020. Bayside is a subsidiary of Baraga County Memorial Hospital. It is managed by Mission Point, headquartered in Bingham Farms, a north Detroit suburb. Mission Point’s Bayside administrator, Charles Venable, provided the following statement:
“The health, safety and wellbeing of our residents and our staff members is our top priority as we navigate this global pandemic and unprecedented health crisis. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
by Barry Drue
The annual Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly Thanksgiving dinners will be offered again this year at numerous area locations, with delivery but no on-site dining in. COVID-19 precautions are
in full effect for the volunteers who prepare meals and the many delivery volunteers shuttling meals to those who have requested them. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
