MARQUETTE, MI--   The Lake Superior Community Partnership in Marquette is collaborating with the Baraga County Economic Development Corporation to provide development help.

Mark Massicotte is Board Chair of the Baraga County EDC. He says the region needs to build from the ground up, and needs to work with a mentor that knows the terrain.

ISHPEMING, MI--   Ishpeming Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who tried to steal a bottle of alcohol from Jubilee Foods on Wednesday.  

The man was seen on surveillance video around 7:40 p.m. putting the bottle in the front of his pants and leaving the store without paying for it. Employees tried to stop the man, but he ran from the store, crossed US-41, and ran into the woods.

The subject is a 5’9” to 6’ white male. He has a skinny build and no teeth.

HOUGHTON, MI--   The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is hosting a town hall forum about the economy in Houghton Tuesday. 

Neel Kashkari is a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, where the Fed sets interest rates. He will give brief remarks, followed by an open-mic question-and-answer session with the audience.

MTU Provost Jackie Huntoon will moderate the town hall forum, which is free and open to the public.   

The forum begins at 5 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom at Michigan Tech. 

LANSING, MI (AP)--   The Michigan Legislature has approved funding for 114 public recreation projects, ending — for now — a dispute over senators' attempt to fund even more. 

The Senate on Thursday unanimously OK'd $47.6 million for 27 land acquisitions and 87 development projects proposed by the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. The fund consists of royalties paid by oil and gas companies for mineral rights.

It's used exclusively to buy and improve land for public recreation.

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Doctors would be required to check an electronic monitoring database before prescribing painkillers and other drugs under legislation that's aimed at preventing opioid addicts from "doctor shopping."

The bills won approval Thursday in the Michigan Senate and were sent to the House for consideration.

Michigan ranks 10th-highest in the U.S. in the per-capita prescribing rate of opioid pain relievers.

ESCANABA, MI--   The Bay College Board of Trustees has approved the next school year’s operating budget at Bay de Noc Community College.  

President Trump is set to sign a bill Friday that will make it easier for the secretary of veterans affairs to fire and discipline employees. The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 will mark Trump's 40th law signed.

Sounds like a lot.

And in recent days, Trump has boasted about all the legislation he has signed.

MARQUETTE, MI--   The unemployment rate in the Upper Peninsula fell from April to May, down 0.6 percentage points to 5.2 percent. 

The U.P. recorded a labor force reduction for the third consecutive month, which led to the lower rate.

The highest jobless rate in the state in May was 8.9 percent in Keweenaw County, while Mackinac County posted the lowest U.P. unemployment rate at 3.7 percent.

The fire that devastated a 24-story apartment building last week began by accident — and the source was a refrigerator, London police say. Investigators have also found that materials used on Grenfell Tower's exterior failed safety tests.

"We now have expert evidence that the fire was not started deliberately — the fire started in a fridge-freezer — the make and model is a Hotpoint FF175BP," Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack said Friday. She added that the refrigerator, which has a freezer on the bottom and refrigerator on top, has not been recalled.