by Barry Drue
Lives were forever changed within seconds in a snowy, white-out, three-vehicle crash on U.S. 41 near Canyon Falls south of L’Anse on Wednesday night, March 8, 2017. Skarlett Swartz, 5, and sister Peyton Thomas, 7, from Marquette, were severely injured and were airlifted to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. The vehicle they were in was driven by Peyton’s father, Ryan Thomas, who was also severely injured. Skarlett is the daughter of 2003 Baraga High School graduate Dave Swartz, now living in Marquette. Swartz and the girls’ mother, Ellexsis (Lexie) Thomas, are in Ann Arbor with the girls. They are staying at the Ronald McDonald House. Baraga County Sheriff ’s Department reported the crash took place about 8:30 p.m. last Wednesday during “complete white-out conditions”. Ryan Thomas, 32, of Marquette was northbound when his vehicle collided with a southbound vehicle driven by James Tricka, 55, of Bessemer. The Tricka vehicle was then struck by a northbound semi driven by Brad Trudell, 39, of Calumet. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
LAS gets security grant
by Melissa Lehto
The L’Anse Area School (LAS) district was one of eight in the UP to receive funding through the Michigan State Police Competitive School Security Grant. The funding was discussed at the Feb. 21, 2017 board meeting. LAS has been awarded $25,641 to fund projects such as security film on glass entrance doors, entrance control with remote locking in the library, upgraded radios, updates to interior camera systems and new exterior camera systems. The new camera systems will be internet based. LAS Superintendent Susan Tollefson stated LAS plans to add cameras in the gym and the cafetorium which will allow posting a link to school events such as holiday programs and commencement online. “This will be a nice upgrade for our school and I am thankful to the four local law enforcement agencies who wrote letters of support for our projects,” said Tollefson. The L’Anse Area Schools library was awarded the grant for the digitization of the old L’Anse Sentinels. There is a link to these on the LAS website that will be updated by the Library of Congress as the various years become available. Tollefson remarked, “Thank you to all who sent postcards or tweeted to vote for our library. The Friends of the Library group was instrumental in pursuing this goal over the past two years. CJ Sullivan Elementary second and sixth grade teachers will be piloting the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) the week of Feb. 27, 2017. The NWEA is an assessment which accurately measures student growth and learning needs. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
Kids learn CPR in school
by Barry Drue
Last summer the Michigan Legislature passed the “CPR in School” bill by an overwhelming vote. The law requires school districts to teach Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of automated External Defibrillators (AED) at least once to students during grades 7-12. L’Anse School Nurse Laura Schneider, RN, thinks it was about time the State caught up! “I went back and looked at my records. I’ve been teaching CPR since 1994,” Schneider said. The new law took effect for the 2017-18 school year. Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia mandate CPR training before high school graduation. However, the new Michigan law is not overly rigorous in its requirements. “The law requires 30 minutes of training,” Schneider said. “It’s not so much that they want each student to be an expert, they want them to recognize what’s going on and know when to call the EMT’s.” When passing the law the sponsor of the bill in the House of Representatives, Rep. Thomas Hooker (R-Byron Center) was quoted saying, ”I’m proud of my colleagues in the House for ensuring 100,000 Michigan high school students every year graduate equipped with the lifesaving skill of CPR.” To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.
Solar panels installed
By Melissa Lehto
The L’Anse Water Treatment Plant’s solar powered panels are now up and running, with the hope that it will save village customers some money in the future at the faucet. WPPI Energy, a non-profit wholesale power supply company, which L’Anse Village is a member of, provided a $25,000 grant to the Village of L’Anse to install an 11.4 kilowatt solar photovoltaic resource project at the village water plant. The village paid the remaining $18,000 on the $43,000 project. L’Anse and Baraga are two of seven Upper Peninsula municipalities that are WPPI Energy members. The other five locations are from the central U.P. “The power-generated electricity will feed back to the village water system, hopefully saving village customers money in the future,” said Village Manager Bob LaFave. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.