iminor@dailypress.net
ESCANABA The Escanaba Planning Commission was the major topic of discussion at Thursday night’s regular city council meeting, which was held virtually.
In addition to a presentation on the commission’s actions over the past year by Planning Commission Chair James Hellerman, the council introduced two potential ordinances put forward by the commission. Both ordinances will be readdressed at the March 18 city council meeting, at which time the public will be able to comment during public hearings and the council will vote whether or not to adopt the ordinances as presented.
The first ordinance offers a compromise for a long-standing dispute between the council and the commission over the role of public hearings for developments that would be permitted by right under the city’s zoning ordinance. By law, the planning commission cannot deny a use that is permitted under the zoning ordinance, but the commission has historically held public hearings as a way
iminor@dailypress.net
ESCANABA Like the rest of the world, the coronavirus pandemic dominated the local news in 2020. As 2020 draws to a close, here’s a look at some of the major local news stories of the year.
January
1 Escanaba residents Georgios Sitaras and Jami Hentz welcomed OSF St. Francis Hospital and Medical Group’s first baby of the new year at 7:32 a.m. Nicoletta Elizabeth Sitaras weighed 7 pounds, 1.9 ounces and was 19 inches long. She was the couple’s first baby together.
10 Delta County Sheriff’s Department now has two K-9 units after Deputy Chad Newton and K-9 Officer Sage completed training. Newton and Sage, a female Dutch shepherd, are a certified K-9 unit after weeks of being trained by K-9 Master Trainer Marty Munger of Superior K-9 Training, based in Marquette.
Paul Peppler Caswell
MACKINAW CITY, Mich. – Paul Peppler Caswell, passed away on Dec. 18, 2020, while reading in his chair in his family’s cottage looking out over the Straits of Mackinac in Mackinaw City, Mich., where he had gone to do some deer hunting. Paul was born in Cheboygan, Mich. on Aug. 26, 1949, the son of Merle and Catherine (Peppler) Caswell. He grew up in Mackinaw City, lived and worked in several places, and was a long-time resident of Escanaba, Mich.
Paul graduated from Mackinaw City High School in 1967, attended Central Michigan University and Ohio State University, and graduated from Central Michigan in 1971 with his political science and history degree. Paul earned his J.D. from Ohio Northern University Law School in 1974. He paid for school with summer jobs, including his favorite of captaining a Straits Transit ferry to Mackinac Island.