Congressman Dan Benishek (R-Crystal Falls) was in Marquette Friday to listen to concerns of Upper Peninsula veterans as part of Memorial Day weekend.

He held a public meeting at the Jacobetti Home for Veterans.

Benishek explained what he is doing in Congress to help veterans, and listened to concerns veterans have.  He said that two issues that always come up at meetings like this are VA Claims backlog and closer access to healthcare for veterans.

One of the things Benishek said he working on is called the Veterans Accountability Act.

“If the Inspector Generals have found that the VA hasn’t done something properly and the VA doesn’t address it, the VA will be required to name the manager who’s job it is to do that,” Benishek said.  “And if they (the manager) don’t produce within thirty days to stop their bonuses, stop their promotions, and put in their performance review the fact that they haven’t completed their job.”

Benishek is also introducing new legislation on sexual assault crimes in the military.

“This legislation will take the reporting of sexual assault out of the chain of command, and have those victims report to a professional prosecutor within the military, and not have their job on the line, and not have to report this kind of incident to their boss,” Benishek said.  “This is a bipartisan issue; this is something we need to solve now, and I’m happy to be working toward that end.”

Benishek also visited with high school students in Negaunee and at North Star Academy in Marquette as part of the Veterans History Project.  Students interview veterans, and the interviews are then sent to the Library of Congress.

He will also attend a ribbon cutting ceremony and dedication at the Oscar Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain Saturday morning.  The Medical Center is renaming the circle drive in front of the facility after Army National Guard Sergeant First Class James Prestap.

The ceremony takes place at 9 a.m. CST.

The Ishpeming Fire Department says the fire happened around 6:45 p.m. at the Pioneer Bluff Apartments, located at 111 Bluff Street.  When firefighters arrived on scene, they found a fourth floor apartment filled with smoke.

They say a plastic bowl has ignited in the microwave, causing considerable smoke to the apartment.  The fire was out when firefighters arrived, and damage was contained to the microwave.

Bell Memorial Hospital EMS transported an 82-year-old woman, who was in the apartment, to the hospital for minor smoke inhalation.

The fire department was on scene for around 40 minutes.

Residents of the apartment complex were evacuated from the building and were allowed to return to their apartments around 7:30 p.m.

Thirteen firefighters with two fire trucks responded to the scene, and no other injuries were reported.

For people suffering with chronic pain, there are few options on how to diminish that pain.

A new workshop is being held in Marquette to help people learn alternate ways to alleviate pain.

Superior Alliance for Independent Living (SAIL) is giving a Chronic Pain Self–Management Workshop starting May 28.

It’s a six week program for people living with chronic pain and those caring for people with chronic pain.

“It’s not a cure, but it’s just ways to get people to learn to self manage and learn different ways and ideas and solutions, not only from the program itself, but the peers within the class,” Jessica Mainer said, who is running the Chronic Pain Self–Management Workshop.

The program teaches people ways to deal with their chronic pain other than taking medications, which don’t always work.

“Not always do we see that pills and different things work, so it gives them another opportunity to brainstorm and see what else it out there to help self manage their chronic pain, and think outside the box and maybe some new ideas,” Mainer said.

There are still limited spaces available for the workshop, but you must be able to attend all sessions.  The workshops runs from 1- 3 p.m. Tuesdays from May 28 through July 2, and are free to attend.

To RSVP call SAIL at (906) 228–5744, or visit their website, www.upsail.com.

A Cedarville man has pleaded guilty to a drug charge.

Twenty-four-year-old Thomas Dowdell has admitted to one count of delivery or manufacture of marijuana.

He’ll be sentenced on July 18th.

The Straits Area Narcotics Team bought marijuana at Dowdell’s home in February.

Before the SANE drug team could carry out the search warrant they obtained, Dowdell was pulled over for a traffic stop in Sault Ste. Marie, and he was arrested during that stop.

SANE then obtained a second search warrant as a result of the traffic stop.

Between the two separate searches of Dowdell’s house, SANE says they found long guns, cash, morphine and other prescription drugs.

We have an update tonight about a third dog being killed by a wolf in Houghton County.

Originally, the Michigan DNR said in a statement about the incident that the yard in Atlantic Mine where the attack happened was fenced in.

A viewer contacted us today to tell us that was not the case, and when we asked a DNR wildlife biologist about it, he informed us that the viewer was correct.

The yard was not completely fenced in.

The wolf made its way through the unfenced area to get to the dog.

Regular physical exercise may lower the risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, and certain foods may also help protect the brain.

Information on both is part of the LiveWise program. It’s a partnership between the Alzheimer’s Association, the YMCA of Marquette County, Community Care at Lake Superior Hospice and the Brain and Spine Center at Marquette General Hospital.

“They now have a little social group of individuals who are having the same experience that they are, who are going through the same things they are,” Lake Superior Hospice CEO Carol Carr said. “Care givers can lean on other caregivers and say are you seeing this, are you noticing this, are you struggling with this. It gives them that social network and it comes back to that quality of life piece. We are giving them all of these tools to say make the most with the time you’ve got.”

The LiveWise program in Marquette County was well received. Participants learned about diet, exercise, stress management and the reality of the disease.  Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of growing older, but the greatest risk factor for the disease is increasing age. After age 65, the risk of Alzheimer’s doubles every five years.  After age 85, the risk reaches nearly 50 percent.

“There are certain warning signs that we look for,” Marquette General Hospital neurologist Dr. Roman Politi said. “Certainly someone who is starting to notice trouble with their memory. Not just a one time incident, forgetting their keys or misplacing a paper. But when it becomes reoccurring, it’s been ongoing and there’s no other obvious answer. They are not stressed out; there’s nothing medically going on that would account for their impairment.”

An estimated 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s.

It’s the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

Carr said, “It was a huge leap of faith for all of us. We all thought this was a great idea.  We are really onto something here without really knowing if anyone else was going to agree with us. And we did it, and we’ve seem huge success.”

But, more research is needed to understand how the disease develops.

Clinical trials are available for those with the disease, their family members and others.

To learn more about the disease, treatments and clinical trials you might be able to participate in, we have it for you elsewhere on our website.

Ishpeming’s secret cup was hidden in plain sight in front of the Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame

McDonald’s dropped their super-sized promotion on the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame this morning.

Three-foot tall cups were scattered throughout the Upper Peninsula at various landmarks for customers to snatch up and turn in. The scavenger hunt featured two-dozen giant McCafe receptacles promoting McDonald’s newest smoothie flavor, blueberry pomegranate.

“Well they were trying to think of something cool to do for the launch of the new smoothie flavor and they decided, ‘What the heck? Let’s give them a free one a week. Sounds like a good promotion,’” explained Kyle Heikkila, a Department Manager for McDonald’s.

It didn’t take long for people to spot the massive mug. Jonathan and Joshua Hansen scooped it up and were hoping to get a free refill, but settled for the year-long prize.

“It was weird, but this is the U.P. so not entirely weird. My curiosity was sparked I had to go look at it. We read it, it said ‘Take me to McDonald’s’ so we did. Brought it here. It’s cool we get free smoothies, that’s awesome. I might give my girlfriend a smoothie or two,” said Joshua Hansen of Hansen’s Labor Services.

“You better give me one, too,” replied Joshua’s brother Jonathan.

“I’ll think about,” responded Joshua, who happened to be celebrating his birthday today.

If you find one lying around, you can bring it to your nearest McDonald’s and claim your sweet reward.

Today’s warm weather was a nice reprieve from yesterday’s surprise snowstorm and the perfect setting for some outdoor fun.

Fourth and fifth graders enjoyed lemonade and cookies courtesy of local McDonald’s and Econofoods

Lakeview Elementary School in Negaunee held a field day for their fourth and fifth grade classes to celebrate the end of the school year.

Boys and girls teamed up to compete in 12 different track and field events, ranging from the 30 meter hurdles to the long jump, with some unorthodox activities like wheelbarrow crawls mixed in.

“Our theme is exercise is fun. We’re doing a bunch of different events, working on different fitness components, making it fun, but also extending the classroom outside,” explained Lisa Bigalk, the Physical Education Teacher at Lakeview Elementary.

Students were given an event card and were awarded stickers for every skill set they completed. Kids were able to take some of the things they learned in P-E class and utilize them throughout the competition, including the dreaded rope climb.

“All it takes is a little upper body strength and encouragement. In the gym it’s scarier because it’s higher, but that’s not as bad,” noted Carter Mattson, a fourth grader at Lakeview Elementary who made it to the top in no time.

As is tradition, anyone that was able to finish all the physical challenges took home a ribbon for their efforts.

MDOT is resurfacing 7.6 miles of US-2 in Gogebic County from Great Lakes Road to Marenisco.

That project will begin next Tuesday, May 28th, and it should continue until July 26th.

Nearly 12 miles of US-2 and 41 are also being repaved in Delta County from the Menominee County line near Bark River to Escanaba.

The work there will begin next Wednesday, May 29th, and it’s expected to continue until August 2nd.

MDOT says both affected stretch of highway will have lane closures with flag control.

The Oscar Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain is honoring a fallen former employee on Saturday.

It’s renaming the circle drive in front of the facility in his memory.

The drive is being renamed after Army National Guard Sergeant First Class James Priestap of Foster City.

The renaming ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. Central time Saturday.

It will be outdoors at the medical center, and the public is invited to attend.

Sgt. Priestap was killed on duty in Iraq on Thanksgiving Day of 2006 at age 39.

He received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

Sgt. Priestap was deployed in Baghdad with the 46th Military Police Company out of Kingsford.

Before that, he worked as a VA police officer at the medical center.