Below is the first quarter of the Daily Press’ “Year in Review” for 2025.

JANUARY

2 — The first baby born at OSF St. Francis Hospital in Escanaba in the new year was Sterling Marshall Zelenak to parents Kerry Droska and Marshall Zelenak.

6 — A house fire on Escanaba’s North 22nd Street started in a basement and was extinguished with no injuries reported.

On Feb. 13, Mike Hebert of Rapid River speaks to a large crowd during a snowstorm at a gathering — the very first for Overdose Awareness of Delta County, which would go on to grow and raise funds and distribute harm reduction supplies around the county.

7 — The Delta County Board ushered in new members Patrick Johnson, who has sat on the commission previously, and Christine Williams, who was elected for the first time.

8 — FIRST LEGO League robotics teams from Gladstone and Rapid River proceeded to a state championship in Mason, Mich.

10 — The Delta County Search and Rescue team had a training exercise in icy water to hone their skills for rescues when victims fall through the ice.

11 — Budget meetings for the City of Escanaba featured concerns on the effect inflation would have on department needs and affordability.

13 — In Chippewa County, two people — one a corrections officer — were arrested in association in a potential scheme to smuggle illegal contraband into Kinross Correctional Facility.

Initially published in the Daily Press on March 6, this court photo shows footage from Jacob Cronick's interaction with law enforcement after he waited for them at his property.

14 — Holy Name Catholic School announced a fundraiser to bring back its band program, with a goal of $80,000.

15 — Michigan’s new cage-free egg law that went into effect on Dec. 31, 2024, sent ripples through the market, with local restaurants and grocers seeing changes in suppliers and prices.

16 — Ice anglers were pleased to see strong ice and a good start to the ice fishing season.

17 — Delta County Airport Manager Robert Ranstadler left the position, which he began in October 2023. Upon tendering his resignation in December, he said that concerns he expressed to the airport board about resource and staffing shortages were never addressed and continued to persist.

20 — A house on K Lane in Wells Township had major damage after a fire. Its resident escaped without injury.

23 — A severe two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Danforth Road and North Lincoln Road in Escanaba resulted in the fatalities of two 91-year-olds from Wetmore. Both individuals pronounced dead on site had been riding in the same vehicle; the four occupants of the other were taken to the hospital.

25 — The Rapid River Relic Ride was cancelled due to lack of snow, but the annual show and swap held downtown continued as usual.

27 — All mail from the Iron Mountain Veterans Affairs Medical Center was found to be rerouted to a processing and distribution center in Milwaukee — as opposed to its former processing in the nearer Green Bay — before being sent to addressees in the Upper Peninsula. U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, wrote a letter to the U.S. Postal Service demanding answers.

28 — Debris is cleared from the site of the Stonehouse restaurant, which burned down on Dec. 21, 2024.

29 — In Manistique Township, a house fire from which all occupants evacuated safely left the residence a total loss.

30 — “Marley,” a 2017 fabric lion sculpture by Rose Peltier that had been in the lobby of the Bonifas Fine Arts Center and both locations of the East Ludington Gallery, was sold to a buyer in Utah.

FEBRUARY

1 — Delta County was leading the Upper Peninsula in COVID-19-related deaths in the new year, with two deaths in the last two weeks of January. Delta also had the highest number of cases, with 35 confirmed for the week of Jan. 25. However, detectable viral DNA in the sewer was dropping.

4 — At a Delta County Board meeting, former Delta County Airport Managers Andrea Nummilien and Robert Ranstadler both sought to clear their names. Nummilien had previously filed FOIA requests that were denied, and she appealed.

5 — Krusin’ Klassics, the car club that has run the Fun Run in Escanaba for 40 years, announced that 2025 event would be the last; they are handing over management of the beloved event to the Escanaba Downtown Development Authority, who will be changing the name.

5 — The Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians had a ribbon-cutting for its new health and fitness center in Gladstone.

6 — The Escanaba City Council unanimously approved the establishment of a social district in downtown. The district allows outdoor alcohol consumption from participating businesses along Ludington Street.

6 — In Menominee, police officers shot and killed a dog that was determined to be a threat to elementary school children. The dog was one of two reportedly aggressive pit bulls on the loose.

9 — Five Kewadin casinos were targeted by a ransomware attack. Gaming operations were closed as the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians tried to restore systems.

10 — Escanaba Area Public Schools unveiled its new Student Success Center on North Lincoln Road.

12 — Despite a snowstorm, a large crowd gathered in Rapid River for the first event held by the group Overdose Awareness of Delta County. People shared how their lives had been affected by the loss of family members and loved ones to drug overdoses, and medical professionals and law enforcement officials laid out plans to prevent future tragedies.

14 — The Delta Conservation District board reached a settlement agreement with former manager Rory Mattson. Spurred by Mattson’s suing of the district for breach of contract, alleging that the board owed him a sum for transitioning parks to county management from that of the district, the agreement was for the Delta Conservation District to pay Mattson $90,000.

15 — Using the Delta County Sheriff’s Office’s airboat, responders rescued two men who had gone through the ice near the Ford River.

18 — Faced with terminations of U.S. Forest Service employees, a local union steward working for Hiawatha National Forest said the cuts were not only unlawful and harmful but also done without communication from Washington to the local offices.

18 — Colton Brunette and Tristan Halfaday of Wilson were arraigned on multiple felony drug and gun charges.

22 — The United States Postal Service announced it would continue operating the Iron Mountain Processing and Distribution Center, reversing a plan to shut down the facility and process area mail in Wisconsin.

22 — The Escanaba Eskymos’ figure skating team won a district title, allowing them to progress to the state finals in Midland.

25 — Doug Leisenring announced his retirement as superintendent of the Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District. The change would become effective in the summer. He departed to take a position managing a project create a student information database for the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators.

MARCH

3 — The trail for Jacob Cronick, accused of non-fatally shooting his ex-father-in-law, begins. Throughout the week, jury listened to testimony from various parties involved. Eric Parrotta had been shot in the abdomen after an altercation that broke out when he visited Cronick’s home to help collect belongings of his daughter Alexandria, despite being told he was not permitted on the property.

5 — Residents of Michigan’s First Congressional District had a mock town hall in Escanaba to address concerns to an empty chair representing U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet. The Congressman’s office decried it as a political stunt. Participants said they found it cathartic, saying Bergman never listened to them anyway.

7 — The Daily Press deduced that an Amazon shipping terminal is being constructed at 928 N. 30th St., near the corner of North 30th Street and Sixth Avenue North, by Meijer.

8 — A deadlocked jury in the Jacob Cronick case resulted in a mistrial.

10 — The Gladstone High School girls basketball team beat the undefeated Negaunee team, moving the Braves along to a regional semifinal game in Sault Ste. Marie.

10 — The former treasurer of the Ford River Township Volunteer Fire Department, Todd Holland, pled guilty to embezzling an estimated $70,000 from the department.

11 — The Delta County Board agreed to extend an employment offer for the role of airport manager — a position vacated by Robert Ranstadler on Jan. 17 — to Katelyn Biermann.

13 — Multiple agencies responded for rescue missions in three separate incidents this day that resulted in six people going through the ice on Little Bay de Noc near the red gate in Kipling. Agencies warned the public of poor ice conditions.

14 — Cougar cubs were positively identified in Ontanogan County. It was the first time in more than a century that the State of Michigan acknowledged that cougars were reproducing here, rather than just passing through as adults.

17 — Multiple buildings were destroyed when a fire broke out on Sheridan Road in north Escanaba.

23 — The BraveBots, Gladstone High School’s FIRST Robotics team, took first place in their second district event of the season. They prepared to head to the Michigan State Championship in Saginaw.

24 — Gladstone residents spoke up in opposition of the city using Public Act 33 to levy a tax to fund police and fire services at a public hearing. This was the second year of the assessment. A rate of 4.5 mills was levied, with the fiscal year beginning April 1.

25 — Owner Evan Gustafson was reunited with a beloved sock monkey he had lost at a Special Olympics basketball game three weeks earlier. After placing ads and being featured in the newspaper, Evan and his story gained enough attention to bring Onk the stuffed animal home.

26 — Local educators expressed concerns about what could happen to schools after President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

27 — Escanaba’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority reached an agreement with Kwik Trip regarding the site they would go on to develop at 501 N. Lincoln Road. The property that formerly housed Super One was deemed a brownfield site, which allowed the developer to collect tax reimbursements.

28 — The Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District unveiled a new welding facility, the Daniel J. Kobasic Memorial Welding Center, which was a $3.1 million project.

29 — The Michigan Liquor Control Commission approved the City of Escanaba’s social district, which allows outdoor public consumption of alcoholic beverages from participating businesses on and near Ludington Street.