Students are returning to classrooms this week for the first time since March when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit. As school starts this week, Doug Leisenring, superintendent of the Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District, asks parents to be patient, especially when it comes to busing.

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The Escanaba Downtown Development Authority and Brownfield Redevelopment Authority approved an interlocal agreement yesterday concerning the hotel development at the former Delta County Jail. The agreement requires the DDA to forgo its capture on the property until the Brownfield Eligible Activities and other costs are fully reimbursed. 

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The Michigan State Police returned to the home in Delta County yesterday where they seized 134 dogs and puppies Monday to take another seven horses and 11 miniature horses as part of their neglect investigation.

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Black Liquor from the Escanaba Paper Mill is being blamed for the fish kill this month on a portion of the Escanaba River. Black liquor is a byproduct in the breakdown of pulpwood. Officials with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy fish kill was the result of a pipe failure at Verso Corporation.

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Although the actual funding is not yet known, Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District Superintendent Doug Leisenring says the Return to Learn bills signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last Thursday will provide stability for local school districts.

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Bay College has completed its first week of in-person classes without any problems. Bay President Laura Coleman says everyone enjoyed seeing each other in 3-D.

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Delta County is receiving an increase in its Indigent Defense funds from the state. The program offers attorney services at arraignments and initial court procedings. County Administrator Emily DeSalvo says they found out this week that they will receive an increase of $180-thousand.

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When students in the Escanaba School District login for online instruction this year, Escanaba School Superintendent Coby Fletcher says they will be learning from a teacher from the Escanaba school district rather than a contracted service. 

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The use of crystal meth has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic in Delta County. That’s what Lauren Wickman says. She is the Delta County chief assistant prosecutor who focuses on the drug crimes in the county.

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As part of back to school plans, districts are identifying quarantine rooms to hold students who may be symptomatic for COVID-19. Delta Schoollcraft Intermediate School District Superintendent Doug Leisenring says they are designating a small conference room as a quarantine room.

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Department of Natural Resources Fishery Biologist Jennifer Johnson called the fish kill on the Escanaba over the weekend a serious event. They found a variety of dead fish in all stages of life.

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State officials are investigating a large die-off of fish that may have been the result of a chemical spill from the Escanaba Paper Mill. Jay Parent, district supervisor of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s Water Resources Division, says Verso reported a ruptured pipe that contaminated the mill’s wastewater treatment plant. They did not release what type of chemical that was spilled.

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As part of Escanaba’s back-to-school plans approved Monday by the Escanaba School Board students from the 1st through 12th grades will be required to wear masks throughout the school day.  School Superintendent Coby Fletcher says he knows that wearing a mask can be “onerous” or burdensome.

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Delta County is updating an agreement to take inmates from the Hannahville Indian Community. There used to be an agreement but Delta County Sheriff Ed Oswald says Delta County backed away from it. Oswald says housing tribal inmates became a problem.

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The Escanaba City Council last week passed a resolution to provide more oversight of Harbor Tower in Escanaba. Escanaba City Manager Patrick Jordan says the council is concerned about the operations of the housing facility.

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Delta County Sheriff’s deputies will be focusing on speeding problems in certain areas of the county to slow drivers down where excessive speed is a problem. Sheriff Ed Oswald says one of those areas is a dead end road on the Green Peninsula that leads to the Dock Grill & Bar. The Bay View Road between Gladstone and Rapid River is another section of road that is getting a lot of complaints of excessive speed.

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Only five people tested positive for COVID-19 at the U.P. State Fairgrounds on July 24 out of the 500 people who were tested. Delta County Administrator Emily DeSalvo says that was good news for the county that had seen numbers rise since the Fourth of July.

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Millage renewals for Delta Area Transit Authority service in Escanaba, Gladstone and four Delta County Townships were approved in yesterday’s election. DATA was asking for .6 mils in Escanaba and Gladstone and .5 mils in four townships. The millage renewal passed in Masonville Township 196 to 107, Ford River Township 293 to 117, Ensign Township 113 to 81 and Brampton Township 146 to 73. It passed in all four precincts in Escanaba 1,405 to 546 and both precincts in Gladstone 599 to 214.

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Listen to Craig Woerpel's full newscast

Listen to Craig Woerpel's full newscast