DAYS ‘TIL Snow possible 10 CHRISTMAS High: 3 | Low: -6 | Details, page 2 The Best Gift for the Holidays is a Gift Certificate from: Ironwood, MI 906-932-4400 DAILY GLOBE yourdailyglobe.com Thursday, December 15, 2016 75 cents DRUG CASE DAY 2 GRTA receives trail Ironwood man’s approval By IAN MINIELLY [email protected] trial continues BESSEMER — After more than 1,000 hours of volunteer By RICHARD JENKINS across two people having car labor, placing signs and remov- [email protected] trouble that acknowledged being ing brush across the trail sys- BESSEMER — The trial of an at the house earlier and that tems, the Gogebic Range Trail Ironwood man charged with drugs and a gun were present. Authority obtained Department multiple drug and firearm The statements from these of Natural Resources signing felonies continued in Gogebic individuals — identified as and brushing approval for the County Circuit Court Wednes- Engles and Christine Leonzal — first time since 2010. day. was used as the basis for a The field contact from the Day 2 of the trial of Donovan search warrant of the property, DNR gave blanket approval Howard Payeur, 32, continued which resulted in the discovery after inspecting the snowmobile with more prosecution witnesses of a TEC-9 handgun and drugs, trails. testifying against Payeur; who is including crystal meth. At The GRTA is experiencing a standing trial on seven counts — around the time the house was revival through the efforts of its possession of methamphetamine searched, local law enforcement board of directors, with Deb Fer- with intent to deliver, conspira- officers also conducted a nearby gus, grant coordinator, spear- cy to possess methamphetamine traffic stop of a vehicle Payeur heading efforts nearly seven with intent to deliver, felon in was driving, which subsequently days-per-week to achieve possession of a weapon, felon in resulted in the discovery of a approval from the DNR. possession of ammunition, pos- Vicodin pill, marijuana and a Structured funding hinged on session of a controlled sub- box of ammunition. the approval for seasonal start- stance-Vicodin, possession of a Kristina Payeur and Engles up money for the purchase of oil, controlled substance-marijuana were among the prosecution wit- Richard Jenkins/Daily Globe IRONWOOD PUBLIC Safety Department Director Andrew DiGiorgio, right, testifies in Gogebic County Cir- filters and supplies to keep and possession of a weapon nesses testifying Wednesday, cuit Judge Michael Pope’s courtroom Wednesday during Donovan Payeur’s trial on drug and gun grooming operations running. while committing a felony. with Reinhard listed as a possi- charges. Among those in the courtroom was IPSD Sgt. Matthew Sterbenz, foreground. Snowmoible Trail 2, from the Payeur was one of four co- ble prosecution witness as well. Montreal River in Ironwood to defendants charged in relation Testimony against their co- Ramsay crossing, is in good con- to a Sept. 24, 2015 incident at a defendants was a stipulation of promised it was a fresh start and Donovan’s as he was unable grams of meth found at the dur- dition, with grooming occurring E. Coolidge Ave., Ironwood, all three plea agreements. away from drugs. to own a firearm as a felon. She ing the search was too large to daily. From the Ramsay cross- house. Payeur — who pleaded guilty Upon arriving at the house — said she never fired it, only saw be considered for personal use. ing to Marenisco is rolled and is The other three defendants — to a possession of meth charge in two days before the police exe- it at the Highbridge house when Later Wednesday, Engles tes- considered in fair to poor condi- Payeur’s wife, Kristina Marie December 2015 and was sen- cuted the search warrant — it was purchased, never saw a tified the most meth he ever con- tion. Payeur; Ryan Frank Reinhard tenced to six months in jail and Kristina testified she found it bill of sale or paid anyone for it sumed in a day was less than Trail improvement work on and James Charles Engles — all two years probation in July — uninhabitable, with several peo- and didn’t know what happened one gram, saying those with a the Indianhead ascent from took plea agreements and have testified she and Donovan had ple she didn’t know helping to it until it was found during higher tolerance could maybe Blackjack ski hill, as well as the already been sentenced. originally lived in Mellen, Wis., Donovan clean it. the search. use 2.5 to three grams a day descent from Indianhead Moun- According to testimony pre- before she and the children “It was dirty, there was no She also testified that she had without overdosing. tain into Wakefield, is straight- sented in court Tuesday, the moved to his parents’ High- refrigerator, no water,” Payeur previously used meth, never “On my best day, like I said, ened to improve safety and make Sept. 24 incident began with a bridge, Wis., house in the sum- testified, describing the with her husband, but was now (I’d use) a little over a quarter grooming less challenging. noise complaint regarding the mer of 2015 as a result of his strangers in the house as “not sober. She testified she was gram to a half gram on a daily Trail 8 was scheduled for pan- Coolidge Ave., house. While offi- drug use. my kind of people ... they were using as much as 10 to 12 grams basis for myself,” Engels testi- ning Wednesday in anticipation cers initially left the scene with- She testified she moved to the high on drugs.” in a 24-hour period — a point of of the fresh snowfall forecast. out talking to anyone about the E. Coolidge Avenue house in She also testified regarding contention in the trial has been Trail 160 remains closed noise complaint, they later came September 2015 after Donovan the TEC-9, saying it was hers whether the approximately 15 COURT — page 5 because of a bridge replacement across Mud Creek damaged by the storm in July. The GRTA is seeking to open the southern half of the trail for local trail Area schools closed for wind-chill warning; snow expected access to Trail 2. Trail 160 is expected to open IRONWOOD — The Gogebic Range The temperature at 11 a.m. Wednes- advised to wear plenty of layers of cloth- —Go slow. Posted speed limits are for in January. was included in a National Weather Ser- day in Ironwood was 2 degrees, although ing and sufficient hand and head protec- dry pavement. Trail 11N and 11S remain vice wind-chill advisory through noon the sun was shining. The wind-chill read- tion. —Leave plenty of room for stopping. closed for the season and won’t today, closing area schools. ing at that time was minus-4. The Wisconsin Department of Trans- —Leave room for maintenance vehi- reopen without additional volun- The advisory was also in effect in Min- Looking ahead, the coldest day coming portation said a winter storm may impact cles and plows. teer resources. nesota. up will be Sunday, when a high of minus- much of Wisconsin on Friday and Satur- —Don’t get overconfident in a four-by- The GRTA is seeking new The weather service warned that 2 and low of minus-13 is predicted. day, with areas seeing 6 inches or more of four vehicle. members to keep the trails open wind-chill readings could dip as low as Frostbite under such conditions can snowfall. —Don’t use cruise control in wintry and in good shape and it will 33-below, as west winds of 5 to 15 miles set in as soon as 30 minutes and can lead The WDOT advises: conditions. train new people to groom. The per hour were expected to gust up to 25 to hypothermia. —Clear snow and ice from all windows GRTA can be reached on its web- mph. Anyone venturing outside was and lights before driving. —Ralph Ansami site gogebicrangeta.org. PEER-TO-PEER WINS GRANT Interviews under way for road commission vacancy By RALPH ANSAMI since dropped out, leaving John [email protected] Matonich and Kevin Haustein to BESSEMER — It appears the be interviewed on Dec. 28 at 4 Gogebic County Board of Com- p.m. missioners may have to appoint All of the candidates are being three members to the county asked the same list of eight ques- road commission before the end tions. of January. On Wednesday, at its regular The county board on Wednes- monthly meeting, the county day interviewed two candidates board also agreed to advertise to for a vacancy on the road com- fill a six-year term on the road mission board left by the death of commission because Robert Don Bennetts, of Bessemer, ear- Drier’s position will expire at the Ian Minielly/Daily Globe lier this year. end of the year, a fact that coun- BESSEMER PEER-to-Peer students won a grant in the amount of $4,920 dollars from the Community Foundation of Upper Peninsula, parent Carl Maki and Dan Peterson ty clerk Gerry Pelissero discov- organization of the Mental Health Grant Fund Board. Velda Sclafani, trustee of the CFUP visited the school Wednesday to present the money were interviewed. to the students. Pictured from left are Cody Schwartz, educator Jaime Stiffarm, Erika Facchinello, Jessica Hegbloom, Devon Byers, Velda Originally six candidates had Sclafani, Hailey Marchello, Katie Emery, Nadia Rosemurgy, Abbey Johnson and Bethany Novoscone. applied for the seat, but two have BESSEMER — page 5 C O N T A C T U S WEATHER INSIDE INDEX TODAY GCC VOLLEYBALL Business . .14 Daily Globe Inc.