County supports RES wind farm

Tammy
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COMMENTS, QUESTIONS–The Baraga County Board allowed comments and took questions on the RES Summit wind proposal at a special meeting on Friday, April 27, 2018. The board then voted unanimously in support of the project through a two-page resolution. L’Anse Township has the authority to determine the fate of the project.

by Barry Drue
In a full court room Friday, April 27, 2018, the Baraga County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a two-page resolution supporting the proposed RES Summit Lake Wind Project. To date the county board and L’Anse Area Schools Board of Education have voted to support the wind farm. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Council has voted to oppose it. Ultimately L’Anse Township’s board will determine the fate of the project. L’Anse Township’s Planning and Zoning Commission has voted to remove the possibility of a special use permit for wind turbines in Forestry-zoned areas, which is where they are planned on Weyerhaeuser land. A public hearing on the recommendation to remove the special use permit option will be held before the township board votes, both of which are expected in May. (The scheduled special meeting and public hearing for May 2 has been postponed. It will be rescheduled later in May. See legal advertisement on page 3.) At Friday’s special meeting of the commissioners Chairman Mike Koskinen set the ground rules for discussion of the wind issue prior to the county board’s vote.  He maintained control over the meeting and did not let the discussion devolve into back-and-forth claims between those in the audience. The discussion lasted about 40 minutes. Some mentioned a feeling of “betrayal” on the part of the board, and lack of transparency. When the board was asked if it had data regarding the feasibility of the RES proposal, Koskinen said, “I’m
sure it’s out there or they wouldn’t be pursuing it”. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

‘Annie’ rocks the house!

Tammy
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CURTAIN CALL–The cast and director of “Annie Play Will Do” included front row, l-r, Alexis Aleo, Noah Aleo, Drew Dorsky, Mara Grentz, Callie Frisk, Jayce Forcia, Camryn Hahn and Abbey Nankervis. Middle row, l-r are Darien Francois, Kayla Hoffman, Kyle Usimaki, Chloe LaForest and Rachael Velmer. Top, l-r are Director Denise Laakko, Ethan Hansen and Breanna Hoffman.

by Nancy Besonen
The L’Anse High School Drama club delivered this past weekend with its production of “Annie Play Will Do.” The comedy rocked the house at its Friday, April 20, 2018 opening followed by performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Following the Friday night opening, Director Denise Laakko was pleased with a fuller house than usual and its appreciation for the production. “What a great audience!” Laakko said after final bows. “Usually Friday night (attendance) is a little lower. This was a really nice crowd!” Her performers earned high praise as well for hitting their comedic marks. The talented and versatile cast cut loose as players in two separate productions, “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Little Orphan Annie,” accidentally combined into one rollicking comedy that all worked out in the end. Ethan Hansen and Breanna Hoffman played the leads as Paul and Laura, high school sweethearts who open the play by breaking up. Due to a  miscommunication, their flustered drama teacher learns she has just one day to cast, practice and stage the high school play. Of course, she turns to the kids. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

KBOCC Career Fair packed

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Bus loads of H.S. juniors, seniors met with employers at job fair last Friday.

by Barry Drue
The first Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College Career Fair was a huge success on Friday, April 6, 2018. The event packed the OCC Wabanung Campus. KBOCC Business Department Chair Megan Haataja and staff organized the career fair. “We had 50 businesses (and organizations) here and over 150 participants came. It was definitely a success,” Haataja said. “We went from a few businesses in a classroom to the whole place. L’Anse High School sent students, Baraga brought two buses of juniors and seniors, Chassell school and Ontonagon also sent students to the career fair. “The majority of the businesses that are here are offering jobs and hiring. Others are more promotional,” Haataja said. Among those looking for employees was Baraga-Houghton-Keweenaw Child Development. Gwen Elmblad and Caroline Penny represented the organization at the Career Fair.  To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

Eliason grateful member of the ‘Survivor’s Club’

Tammy
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BOB & DEBBIE–are in the war together against his esophageal cancer, with an amazing amount of community support for which the couple is deeply grateful. Bob was declared cancer-free following surgery to remove his esophagus in December.

by Nancy Besonen
Bob “Eel” Eliason is back to work. It doesn’t seem that big a deal. People do it every Monday morning. But the head of the L’Anse Village Department of Public Works has fought the battle of his life these past seven months with an outpouring of community support, and folks are heartened to see “Eel” back behind the wheel. Eliason was diagnosed Aug. 21, 2017, with T3 locally advanced esophageal cancer. He and his wife, Debbie, traveled to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN in early September for further testing and to chart the course for his treatment: Chemotherapy and radiation, followed by surgery to remove his esophagus. The Eliasons returned to Mayo shortly after to begin Bob’s course of radiation five days a week and chemotherapy one day a week. Treatment was delayed due to a lost battle with insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), over the type of radiation recommended by Eliason’s oncologist.  To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

Small schools have increased security

Tammy
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KEEPING AN EYE —Baraga school building has 48 security cameras in strategic locations. Principal Tim Marczak can monitor 32 of them with 16 images on each of two screens. The elementary school office has a screen that monitors 16 more views. The operator can zoom in on any image for a closer look.

by Nancy Besonen
Sacred Heart School (SHS) in L’Anse and Arvon Township School in Skanee work hard at keeping their students both safe and secure. Recent upgrades, training, drills and diligence are helping to arm both schools against the unthinkable. Principals Christy Miron from SHS and Lori Johnson from Arvon Township School spoke of the often intersecting paths their schools have taken toward greater security. Arvon Township School “Our entry doors are locked, and we have video cameras on the property,” said Johnson, who also teaches grades 3-6 at Arvon Township School. “We have a motion sensor so we know when someone has entered the driveway, and an audible alarm when someone is on the stairway.” Video cameras were installed by the front and back doors this past summer, Johnson said. The new technology features audible alarms that sound in the classrooms, similar to a doorbell, where a quick look at an i-pad or laptop by school staff provides a visual. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

Baraga VBots compete in Esky

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PIT CREW–Members of the Baraga High School VBots team work between matches during FIRST Robotics Competition in Escanaba this past weekend. Pictured from l-r are Jeremy Brown, Alexis Hebert, Roger Hebert behind Alexis), Zach Welch on the floor, Kara Laramore, Ryan DesRochers, Katie Parker and Opal Ellsworth. Photos courtesy of Baraga lead mentor John Westman.

 

by Nancy Besonen
The Baraga High School (BHS) VBots wound up in the middle at FIRST Robotics Competition this past weekend in Escanaba. The acronym stands “For Inspiration of Science and Technology,” and Baraga placed a respectable 20th among 39 teams throughout upper and lower Michigan in Baraga’s second year at bats in robotics. FIRST is a world-wide organization promoting skills that will serve students into in the future, whatever their futures may hold. Working together to design and build a robot and compete with others teaches a wide range of lessons, from tool use to social skills to coding and more. John Westman and Eric Lauritsen serve as lead mentors or co-coaches for the team, with mentors Roger Herbert and Jeremy Brown. Team members who traveled to Escanaba included Katie Parker, Zach Welch, Opal Ellsworth, Alexis Hebert, Kara Laramore and Ryan DesRochers. The FIRST season got off to a rousing start with a launch at Houghton High School in January, including the reveal of an 80’s Arcade Games theme for 2018. Baraga’s VBots team began meeting soon after to create a robot that could hold its own, and  sometimes soar, in competition. The FIRST organization covers most of the cost of the first two years of competition. Team sponsors lend support after. Westman donated his coaching stipend back to the school this year to help cover travel costs so the young team could focus entirely on its robot. He traveled with the team to Escanaba. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

L’Anse Robotics hedging bets on ‘Peaches’

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PEACH’S PIT CREW–Left to right are Donnie Paquette, mentor Nathan Taisto and Coach Cara Wightman. Left of robot “Peaches”, standing l-r are team captain Ethan Hansen, Greg Dowd, Corey Fus and Sienna Stein and seated, l-r, are Noah Aleo, Brea Hoffman and Shelby Harrison.

by Nancy Besonen
The L’Anse High School Robotics team is preparing to conquer the world with “Peaches.” Peaches is the robot the team will take to the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics competition this weekend in Escanaba. It will mark L’Anse’s second FIRST after a strong start in competition its rookie season. “We rocked it last year,” said team coach Cara Wightman, who teaches science, physics and chemistry at L’Anse Area Schools. “We were hard to beat. Our ‘bot was bulletproof!” That’s FIRST-speak for success. L’Anse went all the way to statewide competition, which means Peaches has a lot to live up to. It all started the first weekend in January when the team traveled to Houghton High School for the FIRST Launch, a pep rally to help fire up kids from across the Western UP to gear-up for robotics competition. Wightman, who also coached last year, said every competition is a whole new ballgame. Here’s how it works, in L’Anse at least: Wightman said FIRST Robotics provided a kit of parts and the chassis for a robot, paid for by grants the school received from the state. The L’Anse team also recycled (sounds better than “cannibalized”, which the team suggested) parts of last year’s robot for this year’s entry. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

Township votes to disband Ambulance

Tammy
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COVINGTON CREW–Members of the Covington Township Ambulance pictured above included, l-r, Marvin Rajala, Daune Smith, Carole Rajala, Carol Holma, Shirley Younggren, David Besonen and Linda Rajala. Members of the new Covington Township First Responders include the Rajalas, Besonen, Younggren, Holma and Emmy Heikkila. Photo courtesy of Joanne Besonen.

by Nancy Besonen
The Covington Township Ambulance service has officially disbanded. At its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018 the Covington Township Board voted 4-1 to end the service effective March 1. The township has contracted with Bay Ambulance of Baraga to provide future emergency response services. The decision was made due to a small and aging ambulance crew. The staff of eight volunteers was required by law to provide around-the-clock ambulance services, seven days a week, 365 days of the year. With runs on the increase, the crew saw the day coming when it couldn’t keep up. “We have eight members, average age 60, which does not bode well,” volunteer Marvin Rajala said at a public meeting in January regarding the future of the service. “We’ve seen a steady increase in runs, maybe a reflection both our ambulance and people are getting older.” David Besonen of Covington has been a member of the ambulance crew from its start. He said a fatal accident on M-28 in Covington, in which two area children were killed and another seriously injured, highlighted the need for a local emergency response team. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

Volunteer dads bring positive impact to CJ

Tammy
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WATCH DOGS—Pete Dove volunteered to serve as a positive male role model at CJ Sullivan last week. Among the classrooms he visited was the second grade taught by Emily Maxson. At the table, l-r, with Dove are his d daughter, Emily, Mayson Thompson, and Arianna Loonsfoot, studying the math lesson her teacher has on the board.

by Barry Drue
C.J. Sullivan Elementary School in L’Anse has gone to the DOGS! As in the WATCH DOGS program. In this case “DOGS” stands for “Dads Of Great Students”. CJ has initiated a growing national program to encourage positive male role models to volunteer to interact with students at school. In 1998 the first WATCH DOGS program launched at Gene George Elementary in Springdale, AR. Now more than 6,450 schools across the country have WATCH DOGS programs. “Each school year hundreds of thousands of fathers and father-figures make a positive impact on millions of  children by volunteering millions of hours in their local schools,” the WATCH DOGS web site (www.fathers.com. watchdogs) explains. Under the guidance of CJ Student Service Director Darrin Voskuhl, the L’Anse school just started the program earlier in February. And so far it’s a huge hit with the dads, students and staff. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

Fact finding next for BCMH, union

Tammy
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CROWD PLEASER–Gwen Apger, right, greets Marcy Franti, left and many others at the MSU Extension booth during the 26th Annual Healthy Heart Fair in the Niiwin Akeaa Center in Baraga Feb. 14, 2018. Crowds come out for free screenings, information on healthy living–and nice giveaways!

 

by Barry Drue
Negotiations between Baraga County Memorial Hospital administration and BCMH’s approximately 50 AFSCME employees continue after stretching for seven months. A three-year contract for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union Local 2088 expired on Sept. 22, 2017. Negotiations began in August, 2017. AFSCME employees work in departments such as dietary, billing, housekeeping, admitting, and serve as ward clerks, lab staff and radiology technologists. BCMH CEO Margie Hale said administration and its attorney, Grant Pecor of Grand Rapids, MI, “met several times before being joined by a State Mediator. Following the parties’ November mediation session the union indicated it was going to take the employer’s proposal back for a vote.” AFSCME Staff Representative Bob Murphy of Ironwood has led the bargaining process for the union. He said it was never the intent of the union to go back to  membership for a vote, but rather to obtain feedback. He said administration left the a Jan. 5 meeting with the mediator and would not return. “They left the room. We had the mediator there and they never came back. One of the things we were prepared to address was the Health Savings Account. We could have had that done,” Murphy said.Hale said, “Instead of resuming our efforts to use a mediator to resolve the parties’ differences the union presented a petition for fact finding at the start of the parties’ January meeting and refused to engage in further mediation efforts. As a result the parties broke after only a few hours.” Hale and Murphy agree that a neutral fact-finding specialist from the Michigan Employment Relations Commission will be brought in to comb through the proposals. Fact finding is nonbinding, meaning neither party is forced to accept the results. Fact finding will likely take place sometime this spring. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

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