Dear Readers:

In perhaps what is the understatement of the year, last week was a wild one. In the last few days of the previous week, the National Weather Service forcasted what they called an “historic winter storm.” Predictions of as much as four feet of snow in some locations across the UP were made. In anticipation of this record-breaking event, schools, offices, churches and more began closing well in advance. On Saturday of last week, Michigan Tech made the almost unheard of decision to close offices and cancel classes for Sunday and Monday.

It was surreal to hear about classes and more cancelled while the sun was shining Saturday afternoon. FOr those of us in the Copper Country, the Big One was a near miss. Official reports indicated Houghton/Keweenaw County received INCHES of new snow … not FEET. But our neighbors to the south and east bore the brunt. There were reports of 45 inches of snow in portions of Baraga County. Our friends in the so called “Banana Belt” of Dickinson, Delta and Menominee counties are still digging out from as much as three feet of snow.

While the Keweenaw escaped the record-breaking snow dump, life was impacted in other ways … especially here are the Daily Mining Gazette. First a little background. From its’ inception, the Daily Mining Gazette was printed on site. Over the years, our presses put out other publications as well including a Weekly Shopper and the Michigan Tech student-run newspaper The Lode.

All that changed a few years ago when the four papers in the Upper Peninsula operated by Ogden Newspapers of Michigan, began printing out of the company’s facility in Powers, in Menominee County. This brought about several changes that directly impacted our subscribers. No longer was the paper delivered by carriers to your home. It is now delivered by mail. What this means is that Monday’s paper, for example, is edited Sunday afternoon, designed in Ohio, and then sent electronically to Powers on Sunday evening.

After it is printed, it is loaded onto a truck and taken to the United States Postal Service, regional facility in the Iron Mt./Kingsford area. In the early morning hours, the papers are sent to the Houghton Post Office. Copies that are sold from area stores, gas stations, etc. are picked up by our local driver and delivered to our retail outlets. The other papers are delivered by our subscribers via their postal carrier.

So while we escaped the terrific snow totals, Powers and Iron Mt. did not. For the safety of our press workers and all the drivers in the region, the decision was made to suspend printing the paper and Monday and Tuesday. It should be noted that while no paper was printed, the Daily Mining Gazette digitally published the complete paper both days.

Our subscribers were able to read and/or download the entire paper … including comics, classifieds, features like Dear Annie, puzzles and everything else you would find if you were to hold the paper in your hand

If you are a subscriber, you don’t have to wait for a snow storm to get the digital copy. Many people enjoy downloading it every day, to read on their phone, laptop, tablet etc. To read the digital edition, simply visit our website (mininggazette.com) go to the top of the page where it says “today’s edition” and log in to your subscriber account to access the latest edition.

If you have not set up your account for digital access (this service is free to subscribers) or if you experience any issues accessing your digital account or viewing the digital edition, please contact Customer Service at 989-260-5701, and a representative will be happy to assist you.

We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you.

Stay safe,

Mark Wilcox

Community Editor

Daily Mining Gazette