3/27/2026

ASHLAND - The nonprofit group, Chequamegon Bay Friends of the Fields or CBFF, has purchased the baseball and softball fields on the closed Northland College campus for $500,000 to be used for the enjoyment of the Ashland community. Northland shut down last spring, and the 100-acre campus went up for sale in September. The complex will be renamed Northern State Bank Park. Tamarack Health Field, will be the primary baseball field, Bretting Ballpark the softball & little league field, and Bretting Ballpark Training Facility for indoor training. CBFF President Mike Yankee emphasized that the organizations and people honored in the naming have been community pillars, long invested in giving back.

3/27/2026

IRONWOOD - Effective immediately, the dog room area of H.O.P.E animal shelter will be closed to the public.  All meet and greets with the dogs will be by appointment only.  The animal shelter citing a number of reasons for the change including the well-being of the dogs.  Every time someone enters the room, the dogs stress levels go up.  The change will help with keeping the dog's calmer throughout the afternoon and for the safety of staff, volunteers and the public.  During the afternoon hours when the shelter is open to the public, they are getting dogs in and out to their kennels, feeding, socializing and walking them.  The dog room being closed to the public will help them to do these things more efficiently and without interruptions from people just wanting to walk though and see the dogs.  The animal shelter hopes the public understand their decision.

3/27/2026

SAULT STE. MARIE – The Great Lakes Shipping season started this week and is already at a standstill not because of shipping traffic but because of ice.  The Mackinaw, the only heavy domestic U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, is currently unable to lock up to Whitefish Bay due to an engineering casualty. Ice conditions are more than 2 feet in spots covered by 3 feet of snow. An icebreaker from Canada was deployed to the area but abruptly departed to care for a couple of Canadian ships going to Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Meanwhile, the system remains essentially closed with U.S. vessels trapped in the lower St. Mary’s River and Whitefish Bay. No ship has passed downbound from Duluth at this point, and no cargo has been delivered to the steel mills on the southern lakes.