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Breaking News: Side-by-side fire contained on Chestnut Street; resident heard explosion

by jchampagne | December 11, 2025 | Breaking News, News | 0 Comments

By Jennifer Champagne Managing Editor Munising Fire Department crews responded Wednesday evening to a report of a fire in the 200 block of Chestnut Street. Firefighters arrived to find a side-by-side on fire next to a garage. The vehicle was extinguished, and the...

Ringing in the season

by jchampagne | December 8, 2025 | Community, Culture & Arts, News | 0 Comments

By Brad Gischia Beacon Correspondent It’s time to start checking off your holiday list, especially now that Thanksgiving is behind us and the green and red behemoth of Christmas looms. During the hustle and bustle of shopping, meals, parties and end-of-the-year...

Fill the Fire Trucks: Departments gear up for food drive

by jchampagne | December 2, 2025 | Community, News | 0 Comments

By Nicole Gearhart Beacon Correspondent Local fire departments will again join forces on Saturday, Dec. 6, for the annual Fill the Fire Trucks food drive, held from noon to 2 p.m. within the city of Munising and in nearby communities. Chief Ryan Anderson of the...

U.P. Voice competition returns for its fifth year, kicking things off with a fresh round of finalists who are ready to light up Gallery Coffee Co.

by jchampagne | December 1, 2025 | Community, Culture & Arts, News | 0 Comments

By Jennifer Champagne Managing Editor Twenty singers. Five judges. One packed downtown coffeehouse. The fifth annual U.P. Voice Singing Competition returns to Gallery Coffee Co. on Thursday, Dec. 4, bringing one of the most energetic crowds of the holiday season — and...

Dugas inducted into VA Hall of Heroes: Honoring a life of valor

by jchampagne | November 28, 2025 | Local History, News | 0 Comments

By Melissa Wentarmini Associate Editor At the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center’s Veterans Day Hall of Heroes ceremony, the spotlight shone on a veteran whose story is woven into the fabric of Alger County. Michael Dugas of Munising — awarded two Bronze Stars for...

‘Ben-Hur’ was a big bet that paid off for MGM

by jchampagne | November 28, 2025 | Culture & Arts, News | 0 Comments

AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE: 100 YEARS ... 100 MOVIES By Brad Gischia Beacon Columnist Movies are better with a buddy — especially when that buddy is Todd Sheridan Perry, a visual effects artist whose fingerprints are on films like “Dr. Strange,” “Black Panther” and “For...

STEPS TO WELLNESS: Diabetes Awareness Month: What is diabetes?

by jchampagne | November 26, 2025 | Column, Health, News | 0 Comments

By Paula Ackerman Beacon Columnist Diabetes is a chronic health condition characterized by high levels of sugar in the bloodstream due to the body making little or no insulin. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that allows sugar to enter cells, which our bodies...

The hidden history of Native boarding schools

by jchampagne | November 18, 2025 | Local History, News | 0 Comments

By Phyllis Pokela Alger County Historical Society Your hair as you’ve always known it to be is considered unacceptable. It therefore has to be clipped and shaved. You are caught talking to a friend in your first language. You are refused your next meal as punishment....

Sheriff requests hunters’ help in search for missing Munising woman

by jchampagne | November 14, 2025 | Breaking News, News, Public Notices | 0 Comments

By Jennifer Champagne Managing Editor With firearm deer season starting this weekend, Alger County Sheriff Todd Brock is asking local hunters to stay alert for any potential clues in the ongoing search for Starla Goings, 65, who has been missing since Aug. 15. Brock...

NMU’s green and golden anniversary

by jchampagne | November 11, 2025 | News, Sports | 0 Comments

Wildcats celebrate improbable 1975 football championship By Jim LaJoie Guest Correspondent They traveled to Marquette from as far away as Arizona, Florida, Texas and California and all states in between. Nearly 50 made their way to the Upper Peninsula to celebrate an...

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Latest Stories

Singing for the Fitz

Nov 3, 2025 | Community, News

By Nicole Gearhart Beacon Correspondent The Grand Island Shanty Club will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald with a Great Lakes-themed sing-along and invites...

BREAKING: Sheila Peters named Munising’s chief of police — first woman to hold the job in Alger County

Oct 31, 2025 | Breaking News, News

By Jennifer Champagne Managing Editor Sheila Peters took over this morning as Munising’s chief of police following the retirement of longtime Chief John Nelson, whose last day on the job was...

BREAKING: Sheriff confirms search warrant executed at husband’s property in ongoing investigation into disappearance of Munising woman

Oct 30, 2025 | Breaking News, News

By Jennifer Champagne Managing Editor The investigation into the disappearance of 65-year-old Starla Goings intensified this week as Alger County Sheriff Todd Brock confirmed a search warrant was...