Ryan Spitza News Today

The Forum took home six special awards, 24 first place wins, 26 second place, 20 third place, and 12 honorable mentions.

Ryan Spitza joined The Forum in December 2021 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Marquette, Mich., a city of 20,000 on the southern shore of Lake Superior. He majored in multimedia journalism and minored in public relations at Northern Michigan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in May 2019. While attending college, Spitza gained real-world experience covering high school and college athletics for both The Mining Journal and The North Wind. Spitza can be reached at 701-451-5613 o...

The NDHSAA executive board made some changes to the original plan, but has optimism growing for a new class.

The board unanimously voted Thursday to formally accept — not approve — the proposed three-class basketball system as presented and will now move forward with studies of finance and the impact to existing or new staff.

MARQUETTE — COVID cases continue to rise in four eastern Upper Peninsula counties. Mackinac County added the most cases throughout April with 131 cases, followed by Luce County with 100 cases. Alger and Schoolcraft Counties each increased by a total of 47 cases, according to the Luce, Mackinac, Alger, Schoolcraft District Health Department. The largest case increase over the last month was reported in people ages 19 to 64, with that age group comprising around 55% of cases across all four co...

rspitza@miningjournal.net MARQUETTE — The pool has been narrowed down to one finalist in the search to find the city of Marquette’s next manager after candidate John Kramer withdrew his application from consideration, city officials confirmed Friday. Kramer was named one of two finalists under consideration for the position at a Marquette City Commission special meeting Tuesday night. The other finalist named Tuesday is Karen Kovacs, city administrator for downstate Milan. Kramer was named...

MARQUETTE — Marquette Branch Prison recently recognized two of its correctional officers with yearly honors. Jeffery Vining was selected as MBP’s 2021 Correctional Officer of the Year, while Susan Judkins was selected as the 2020 recipient. A celebration for Judkins was unable to be held last year due to the pandemic. Recipients are chosen based on many factors, including leadership ability, work ethic, time and attendance, communication skills, an ability to relate to coworkers, and pris...

rspitza@miningjournal.net ESCANABA — Shoppers and employees at Walmart in Escanaba are safe after an evacuation for a false alarm on Tuesday night. Officers from the Escanaba Department of Public Safety responded to Walmart, located at 601 N. Lincoln Road, for reports of a man entering the store with a rifle. Officers searched the store while employees and civilians evacuated, and the building was locked down, according to a news release. Police searched the business and found no concernin...

rspitza@miningjournal.net Old Lakeshore Boulevard in the city of Marquette is pictured. Phase one of the Lakeshore Boulevard restoration project, which raised the road and moved it inland, was completed in October of last year. Phase two of the project, which will involve additional shoreline stabilization and restoration, was discussed in a city commission work session on Tuesday night. (Photo courtesy of Baird/city of Marquette) MARQUETTE — The city of Marquette has come a long way in the r...

RICKAUER MARQUETTE — United Way of Marquette County is getting closer to its annual fundraising goal of $400,000, but donations are still needed. “We’re at 92 percent of our goal, but we still need that last push to let us hit that goal,” said Andrew Rickauer, executive director of UWMC. “That goal is set up to fill basic community needs and impact areas, to help our neighbors and help our community grow and rebound.” While UWMC has seen an increase in volunteers over the last mon...