Where to
EAT MENU GUIDE
Check out the latest menus from the area’s hottest restaurants! In the EagleHerald & online at ehextra.com
Coming Soon! Oct. 28
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016
75 CENTS
THREE SECTIONS
Meeting to focus on assessment issues By PENNY MULLINS EagleHerald news editor/digital director pmullins@eagleherald.com
MENOMINEE — The City of Menominee Finance Committee will meet Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with only one item on the agenda — that of seeking an “update on assessment issues.” The meeting was called by Finance Committee Chairman Frank Pohlmann. One of the members, Council member Bill Plemel, has asked for more information about the intent of the meeting, since the City Assessor Mari Negro has resigned effective Oct. 31, and many different assess-
Board approves softball program
ment issues still hang over the city. The other two members of the committee are Council member Steve Fifarek and Mayor Jean Stegeman. The city has until Tuesday to respond to an Oct. 4 letter from Kelli Sobel of the Michigan Department of Treasury regarding Negro’s removal of land adjustment values in 2015 assessments without documentation, which was discovered in a follow-up review of her responses to corrective actions the State Tax Commission sought on the seized 2015 tax roll. Those undocumented changes may lead to the state “assuming jurisdiction” of the
2016 tax roll, Sobel said in her letter. Beyond that, the city still needs to address changes made to the Economic Condition Factor districts, since council was told by its former manager in March that the existing ECFs had been changed from 36 to four. A Freedom of Information Act request from the EagleHerald Sept. 1 failed to produce the changed ECF districts or map from 2016 and also did not have a map from 2015. Interim Manager/City Attorney Rob Jamo responded to a second request from the newspaper for those missing documents with a letter Oct. 11. In it, he stated that the city had supplied all the
records it had in its possession. “Records you requested, but did not receive, do not exist.” The changes to the ECFs and the land value adjustments led to about a dozen complaints filed with the city’s March Board of Review. When changes were denied by the Board of Review, those landowners filed petitions with the Michigan Tax Tribunal. According to information received from the Michigan Department of Treasury in Freedom of Information Act request on Thursday, the followup review of the corrective action plan revealed the changes Negro See SPECIAL MEETING, A3
Art decor considered for center By EMMA KUHN EagleHerald staff writer ekuhn@eagleherald.com
By CHELSEA EWALDT EagleHerald staff writer cewaldt@eagleherald.com
MENOMINEE — The Menominee School District can now add another sports team. As a result of a unanimous vote during Thursday night’s board of education meeting, there will now be a club softball team at Menominee High School for the spring season. “There are so many emotions right now,” said Hannah Bell, softball coach for the Menominee Recreation Team (15 and 16-year-olds). “We’re so excited to have this opportunity.” During the Sept. 15 meeting, the Blesch Intermediate School library was packed with standing room only due to the overwhelming support the program had attracted. Originally listed as an action item, President Ken Pulver changed the softball for spring 2017 to non-action due to many questions from the board. Again, during Thursday night’s meeting the room was packed with girls hoping to have their shot at the sport they love. The motion that was read and ultimately approved stated, “The program will follow MHSAA and MAPS rules and regulations. Complete funding must be met by March 1, 2017. If the funding goal is not met by March 1, 2017, then the program will be allowed until March 1, 2018, to raise the remainder of the funds to implement a self-funded girls softball program.” According to Bell, over the last year she has been planning on coming to the board to seek approval for the program. “Ever since I saw the athleticism of the girls that were playing (during the summer in rec league), I thought holy cow why (isn’t there a program)?,” she said. “They have nothing to play for and they need that. That’s how this began.” Bell is confident there will be enough girls to parSee SOFTBALL, A3
67288 18092
Trout spout
Amy Gardon releases 2,763 eight-inch brown trout into the Menominee River Thursday in Marinette. The fish were from the Thunder River Fish Hatchery, Crivitz, and this is the last time to make this delivery of fingerlings as the hatchery is closing down.
See CENTER, A3
Marinette begins evaluation of tourism By EMMA KUHN EagleHerald staff writer ekuhn@eagleherald.com
MARINETTE — The City of Marinette took its first steps to understanding what the city has
By JULIE PACE, JOSH LEDERMAN and JILL COLVIN Associated Press
DELAWARE, Ohio — Mocking his critics, Donald Trump pledged Thursday to fully accept the outcome of next month’s presidential election — if he wins. The Republican said he reserved the right to contest questionable results, deepening his unsubstantiated assertions that the race against Hillary Clinton could be rigged against him. Trump’s comments came a day after his stunning refusal in the final presidential debate to say whether he would concede to Clinton if he loses. His resistance, threatening to undermine the essence of American democracy, was
Schick, Edward Schmidtke, Mona Swiatnicki, Jean
5
to offer tourists and where it can improve its destination image on Tuesday afternoon. The first meeting of the Marinette Destination Assessment ad hoc committee took place on Tuesday, where a group of local and county
officials met with Jeff Anderson, a regional tourism specialist with the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Tourism, to talk about what the city has to offer visitors and where promotional improvements can be made.
Anderson began the meeting with a presentation on “the power of tourism,” which showcased how important tourism is for the state’s economy. He explained that tourism in the state resulted in $19.3 See TOURISM, A3
Trump: I’ll accept election results — if I win
DEATHS
Good morning, Larry Barker! Thank you for subscribing to the EagleHerald
6
EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard
MARINETTE — The Marinette Board of Public Works discussed the possibility of local art decor for the new community center and the state of the Hattie Street bridge during its Tuesday meeting. UW-Marinette Professor Emeritus of Art James LaMalfa presented his reasonings for the inclusion of art in the proposed new community center to kick off the meeting, including a list of public art installations currently in place around the community. “We have a rich tradition already of public art,” he said. “Basically what I want permission to do is to continue a dialogue with the city.” LaMalfa listed art pieces around the area for reference, including the statue “Swimmers” at Stephenson Island, the UW-Marinette
Details on A5
a lengthy statement. “A concession isn’t just an exercise in graciousness. It is an act of respect for the will of the American people, a respect that is every American leader’s first responsibility.” With the presidential race slipping away from him, Trump has repeatedly raised the specter of a rigged election, despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud heading toward Election Day or in previous presidential contests. His top advisers and running mate Mike The Associated Press Pence have tried to soften Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, accompanied by Democratic presidential his comments, only to watch candidate Hillary Clinton, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, right, speaks helplessly as he plunges ahead. Thursday at the 71st annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation in New York. Asked in Wednesday’s roundly rejected by fellow nominee, called the peaceful come of the 2008 election. debate if he would accept transfer of power “the pride But I had a duty to conRepublicans. the election results and concede, and I did so without Arizona Sen. John of our country.” McCain, the 2008 GOP “I didn’t like the out- reluctance,” McCain said in See TRUMP, A3
TODAY’S INDEX
INSIDE Outdoors: “Camp K” continues to be a Menominee County gem. A9 Sports: The Menominee volleyball team swept Westwood on Thursday night. B1
TODAY: Partly cloudy. North northwest wind to 8 mph. HIGH: 50 LOW: 31
Advice B9 Comics B8 Classifieds B6-7 Crossword B9 Deaths/Obits A5 Local stocks A2 Lottery A5
A4 Opinion A5 Records B9 Sudoku Scoreboard B2 B1-3 Sports B8 TV listings A2 Weather