Calendar

Marquette – The Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter will hold an Adopt-a-Thon on Friday, May 24 from noon to 4 p.m. at mBank at 300 N. McClellan, Marquette.

mBank and UPAWS will offer 75% off all adoption fees. There will be free snacks and the opportunity to find a new furry friend.

Adoption fees includes spay/neuter surgery, vaccines, micro–chipping, free pet insurance, and a Dr. Tim’s Pet Food discount coupon. Pets at UPAWS, Petsmart and Foster Homes included in the 75% Off Promo.

Marquette – Lego Club, for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders, will meet on Friday, May 24 from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. in the Community Room of the Peter White Public Library.

Read a story and use LEGO’s to build on the theme of the day. Call 226-4320 for more information.

Marquette – The Bootleggers Ball will be held on Friday, May 24 from 7 to 11:30 p.m. at the Ramada Inn of Marquette.

The event is being held to raise money for the CURED Foundation to help fund research into Eosinophilic Disorders. There will be dancing courtesy of Taylored Weddings d.j. Mitch Taylor, fun photos by the wonderful Tina Menhennick photography, appetizers, drinks, and more.

Tickets are $30 for one or $50 for two. Tickets will be available at the door, by calling 362-8909 or by going to www.curedfoundation.org and clicking on the Bootleggers Ball flyer under the current fundraisers tab.

Marquette – The Upper Peninsula Hospice Foundation will present the very first “Dancing with the Stars Marquette County Style” on Thursday, May 23 at the Forest Roberts Theatre at NMU.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with the show beginning at 7 p.m. Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be provided. The fundraiser will benefit the Upper Peninsula Hospice Foundation and its programs.  One hundred percent of the money raised will be donated back to Hospice patients and their families. 

Marquette – In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, Michael Papin, from MGH Behavioral Health, will present “Metabolic Syndrome of Psychotropic Drugs” during a “Lunch and Learn” on Thursday, May 23 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Community Room of the Peter White Public Library.

Attendees are invited to bring their own lunch or buy from the library café. There is no admission charge and no pre-registration is required. This presentation is part of Your Mind Matters, a community dialog on mental health issues sponsored by a coalition of community groups and the Peter White Public Library.

Call 226-4318 or visit www.pwpl.info for more information

Marquette – The human rights documentary “Education Under Fire” will be shown on Thursday, May 23 at 7 p.m. in the Shiras Room of the Peter White Public Library.

The film highlights the ongoing violations of human rights in Iran and reminds us of the value of freedom, education, and belief.

The event is sponsored by the Baha’is of Marquette. For more information, call 226-3252 or go to www.educationunderfire.com.

Gwinn – Gwinn Public Schools kindergarten registration and vision/hearing screening for all students entering Kindergarten in the fall of 2013 will be held on Wednesday, May 22 from 8:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in the Community Resource Center at K.I. Sawyer Elementary School.

Registration and screening will also be held on Thursday, May 23 from 8:30 a.m. noon in the library at Gilbert Elementary school.

Parents should call the school office to make an appointment at the child’s school for registration and vision/hearing screening. Call K.I. Sawyer school at 346-5567 or Gilbert school at 346-5726.

Required at the time of registration is the child’s birth certificate and current immunization records. Children must be five years of age on or before November 1, 2013 to be eligible for Kindergarten.

Marquette – The Laughing Whitefish Audubon Society will present the program “Birds and Lemurs of Madagascar” on Wednesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of the Peter White Public Library.

All are welcome. For more information, call 226-6749.

Press Releases

The Department of Natural Resources reminds everyone the annual Summer Free Fishing Weekend is scheduled for Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9. On that weekend, everyone – residents and non-residents alike – can fish without a license, though all other fishing regulations still apply.

Michigan has been celebrating the Summer Free Fishing Weekend annually since 1986 as a way to promote awareness of the state’s vast water resources. With more than 3,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, 36,000 miles of rivers and 11,000 inland lakes, fishing and Michigan go hand-in-hand.

“This summer’s Free Fishing Weekend is a great way to get outdoors and experience some of the best freshwater fishing in the world,” said DNR Director Keith Creagh. “There’s an opportunity for everyone to get involved, as it’s an inexpensive activity and readily accessible – so get out this June and try it yourself, for free!”

To encourage involvement in Free Fishing Weekends, organized activities are being scheduled in communities across the state. These activities are coordinated by a variety of individuals, organizations, constituent groups, schools, local and state parks, businesses and others.

There’s still plenty of time to plan your own local Free Fishing Weekend event, or to find an activity occurring in your community. Visit www.michigan.gov/freefishing for all things related to this weekend, including help with event planning and promotion, a registration form for official events, and a chart identifying activities in areas throughout the state.

On Wednesday, May 22, the Laughing Whitefish Audubon Society will present a program called “Birds and Lemurs of Madagascar.” The program will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of Peter White Library. For information, call 226-6749.

The Department of Natural Resources would like to remind anglers to get ready for the fishing seasons that opened this Wednesday, May 15. The Upper Peninsula seasons for walleye, northern pike and muskellunge; and the catch-and-immediate-release bass season for all Upper Peninsula waters including the Great Lakes, inland waters and St. Marys River all opened on May 15.

Anglers are reminded that a new muskellunge harvest tag is required to harvest a muskellunge or tiger muskellunge in Michigan waters. The harvest tag is available at all retail license vendors and DNR Customer Service Centers. Registration of muskellunge harvest is not a requirement, but it will help the DNR manage this important species. For more information, please visit www.michigan.gov/muskie.

New northern pike regulations are also in effect as of April 1, 2013. There are now three separate northern pike size-limit regulation categories in effect: 1) a majority of waters remain under the 24-inch minimum size limit with daily possession limit of two; 2) a new 24-inch to 34-inch Protected Slot Limit (PSL) regulation with daily possession limit of two fish has been imposed on six waters; and 3) there are more than 100 waters where up to five northern pike of any size may be taken with only one greater than 24 inches allowed in the daily possession limit of five fish. Anglers are reminded that northern pike daily possession limits are totaled in combination with largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye and flathead catfish. Therefore the daily possession limit is limited to five fish in combination with the species above per day.

The possession season for bass opens statewide on Saturday, May 25, except for Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River and the Detroit River, which open on Saturday, June 15.

The new license season began on April 1, so anglers need to be sure they have purchased a new fishing license for this fishing season. The 2013 fishing licenses are valid until March 31, 2014.

The 2013 Michigan Fishing Guide and Inland Trout and Salmon Maps are available online; visit www.michigan.gov/fishingguide for more information.

M-203 in Houghton County, about 1 mile west of Calumet, will be reduced to one lane of alternating traffic under flag control Monday, May 20, and Tuesday, May 21, for a culvert replacement project. The culvert failed during recent flooding. The roadway will be patched temporarily, and repaved before mid-June.