People

Son pays tribute to father at POW/MIA Recogition Day program

ESCANABA – Veteran groups and community leaders gathered Thursday afternoon for a POW/MIA Recognition Day program at the Delta County Veteran’s Memorial in Ludington Park. It included a special recognition from a son to his father, an ex-POW.
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Former sports writer reaches goal of playing golf in all 50 states

ESCANABA – Former sports editor Denny Grall has completed a goal to golf in all 50 states. He completed the 50th state last week on a trip to Hawaii.
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U.P. Scout finds beauty along Lake Superior, affects of fire on North Country Trail

GRAND MARAIS – Matt Knudsen, 16, of Escanaba started out from Taquamonen Falls on August 7 and backpacked to Grand Marais along the North Country Trail in five days. The more than 50 mile backpacking trip with his Boy Scout Troop took him through the burned area of the Duck Lake Fire along Lake Superior.
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Irving named Michigan’s Senior Volunteer of the Year

DETROIT – Harold “Bud” Irving of Escanaba was named Senior Volunteer of the Year at the 2014 Governor’s Service Awards Monday night in Detroit. The award honors a senior citizen who has taken action to make her or his community a better place to live.
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Parks hopes media attention for getting ‘Yooper’ in the dictionary benefits U.P.

ESCANABA – After it was announced that the word “Yooper” was going into the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Steve Parks started receiving media calls from all over the country. Parks lobbied for 12 years to have the word added to the dictionary after losing a challenge on the word in a game of Scrabble.
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A game of Scrabble sparks quest to include ‘Yooper’ in dictionary

ESCANABA – Holy Wah! It’s official. We are all Yoopers. We know this because we can now look up the word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Hard to believe but the word “Yooper” had not been in the dictionary but apparently officials felt it was considered too regional. And it is no easy task to get a word in the dictionary. It took 12 years to persuade Merriam-Webster. Delta County Prosecutor Steve Parks made it his mission after trying to use the word in a game of Scrabble. “I was playing an old friend of mine in a game of Scrabble.
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U.P. man holds out hope that ‘unknowns’ from USS Oklahoma can be identified

ESCANABA – Bob Valley is concerned that he is running out of options to help identify the remains of 21 sailors that died on the battleship USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941. That may end his hopes of finding his brother who is possibly buried with the remaining “unknowns.”
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Olympic luge medal could spark interest in the sport, former U.P. luge athlete says

ESCANABA – A former National Luge Champion from the Upper Peninsula says Arin Hamlin’s bronze medal in the luge competition in Sochi will increase interest in the sport in the U.S. Hamlin was the first American to ever medal in the singles event.
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