Speed is being be linked with those driving under the influence of drugs. Gladstone State Police Post Commander 1st Lt Gregg Cunningham says excessive speed by drugged drivers has resulted in traffic crashes and death. Cunningham attended a virtual meeting of the Capitol Area Traffic Safety Network this week that dealt with the speeding issue by drugged drivers, especially those using marijuana and driving.

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Delta County confirmed 60 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and 1 new death. The U.P. added 179 new cases yesterday including 30 in Marquette County, 20 in Dickinson County and 14 in Menominee County.

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A small punch list of items on Gladstone’s 9th Street Project was put together last week during the final walkthrough of the project. Gladstone City Manager Eric Buckman says he is happy with the results.

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The Lemmer Elementary and Jr/Sr High School buildings in the Escanaba School District have closed for the rest of the week. Students will move to online instruction. School Superintendent Coby Fletcher says an increase in COVID-19 cases at the school buildings has reduced staffing levels and quarantined a growing number of students as COVID-19 numbers increase in Delta County.

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Delta County is the first county in the Upper Peninsula to exceed 1,000 positive COVID-19 cases. The county reported 27 cases Friday and 15 Saturday for a total of 1,004 Coronavirus cases since March. Two new deaths were were also reported, one Friday and one Saturday, for a total of 22 deaths, the most of any county in the U.P.

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Getting absentee ballots to voters in some cases has been slow in Delta County as city and township clerks deal with a large number of requests for ballots. Delta County Clerk Nancy Przewrocki says local clerks are doing a great job responding but there have been issues of getting absentee ballots out in a timely manner.

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The Christmas Tress Lighting ceremony will occur in Gladstone this year the Friday after Thanksgiving but the other parts of the Old Fashion Christmas program have been cancelled. With rising cases of COVID-19, Gladstone Downtown Development Authority Director Ron Miaso says it became apparent that they couldn’t have face paintings or kids sitting on Santa’s lap.

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Ten of the 15 counties in the Upper Peninsula are in the state’s highest risk level for the spread of COVID-19. Gogebic and Keweenaw Counties were added to the list yesterday. They join Dickinson, Alger, Iron, Delta, Marquette, Mackinac, Menominee and Ontonagon Counties as coded red or averaging more than 25 new COCID-19 cases per day per 100,000 people. 

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The Upper Peninsula saw another 253 positive COVID-19 cases Sunday and Monday six deaths including two deaths in Delta County. Iron County also saw 2 deaths, Gogebic and Houghton Counties had the other two deaths.

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Coronavirus numbers in the U.P. have school districts on edge as they attempt to continue to provide in-classroom instruction. Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District Superintendent Doug Leisenring says schools have been targeting areas were infections occur to try and keep schools open.

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The Upper Peninsula reached a record daily high of 174 new COVID-19 cases yesterday. The state also had a record 2,030 new cases for a total of 141,091 cases. Delta County now has more than 800 cases, adding 23 cases and 1 new death yesterday.

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Delta County Prosecutor Brett Gardner says the court system is currently being inundated with child abuse and neglect cases that resulted from stay home orders early in the Coronavirus pandemic. Gardner says they have had to remove children from homes in several situations as law enforcement is able to respond.

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At least two city officials are objecting to the Escanaba City Council switching its meeting Thursday from virtual to in person at city hall after a Supreme Court decision Monday ended virtual meetings. City Clerk Phil Demay posted the change yesterday after a state Supreme Court ruling Monday immediately ended Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 related executive orders, including an order that allowed local governments to hold meetings online.

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Crews were taking down ash trees yesterday in downtown Escanaba killed by the Emerald Ash Borer that has moved into the community.  In an effort to save some of the trees, the city has been working with Joe Kaplan at Common Coast Research and Conservation. He began injecting the trees last year with a compound to kill the Emerald Ash borer.

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Both the Escanaba Jr and Sr High and Nah Tah Wash School in Hannahville are to return to in classroom instruction today. Both school buildings closed two weeks ago for COVID-19. The Learning Center at the Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District also reopen today. The building in Soo Hill closed for more than a week after staff at the Learning Center tested positive for COVID-19. 

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Four deaths related to COVID-19 were reported yesterday in the Upper Peninsula. Delta County reported two new deaths. The other deaths were in Dickinson and Houghton Counties. Delta County now has 13 COVID-19 deaths, the most of any county in the U.P. There are 12 deaths in Marquette County and 10 deaths in Iron County.

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OSF St. Francis Hospital and Medical Group has been testing between 140 and 170 patients a day for COVID-19 as numbers continue to climb in Delta County. Dr. William Hook, Chief Medical Officer at OSF, says they have been learning to better manage the numbers of people who need to be tested. It includes a drive-in area that can take the pressure off of the walk-in clinic. 

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The Upper Peninsula added 70 new COVID-19 Tuesday and two new deaths. Dickinson County reported 22 new cases and one death for a total of 235 COVID-19 cases and three deaths.. Iron County reported another death and 6 new cases for a total of 254 and 10 deaths.

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Delta County reported two new COVID-19 deaths yesterday for a total of 10. Iron County reported another death for 8 confirmed deaths. The three deaths were part of numbers released for Sunday and Monday in the Upper Peninsula for a total of 42 deaths.

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The same day that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer walked the Upper Peninsula back on the MI Safe Start Plan from Phase 5 to 4, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the 1945 law  unconstitutional that the governor was using to enact her executive orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whitmer said Friday that the U.P. has "the most concerning numbers in the state" after numbers started "sharply increasing" in mid-September.

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Eighty-three businesses and organizations in Delta County impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic shared $513,000 from the Michigan Small Business Restart Program, It was part of the $4.5 million awarded through InvestUP to businesses with less than 50 employees. Ed Legault at the Delta County Economic Development Alliance says there were 163 applications in Delta County.

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The Learning Center at the Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District is closed today and tomorrow for contact tracing for COVID-19. ISD Superintendent Doug Leisenring says two staff members tested positive for COVID-19 Public Health of Delta and Menominee Counties is assisting with contacting tracing which Leisenring says will result in multiple students and staff being quarantined.

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