Super sized McCafe cups will be placed throughout the U.P.

McDonald’s is getting ready for a super size promotion across Upper Michigan on Friday.

Three-foot tall drink cups have been touring around Marquette County, heading out to Blueberry Ridge, playing on a playground, and at several other locations in preparation for a big scavenger hunt.

The fast-food restaurant will be placing them throughout the Upper Peninsula as a way to launch the new blueberry pomegranate smoothie.

On Friday, the super-sized McCafe cups will be placed near McDonald’s restaurants, for customers to use as a ticket to free smoothies for a year.  The cups may be at area tourist attractions, on a park bench, or even on a street corner.

If you spot one, all you need to take it to the nearest McDonald’s restaurant.

About two dozen McDonald’s cups will be scattered throughout the U.P.

It was the culmination of a double elimination tournament that took weeks to complete. The stands at William Hart Stadium were packed to the brim with almost the entire student body participating in the event.

Conditions weren’t ideal for frisbee, with winds howling at 20 plus miles per hour and the needle dipping to 40 degrees. But, you couldn’t tell based on their attire.

The competition pitted advisory classes against one another. The final two teams remaining were Mr. Cole’s Gobblers and Madame Maki’s La Corbeille Blanche (White Trash).

“We lost against Maki’s team about six games back, and now we just got them back in the Championship now. So it feels really good,” explained Matt Anderson, a Junior at Marquette Senior High School.

The Gobblers had to beat Madame Maki’s squad twice in order to take down the crown. They were able to do so after a sudden death heave by Matt Anderson into the corner of the endzone.

“I think our team played amazing. Maki’s team was pretty stacked and everybody thought we were pretty much the underdogs. But we brought home the championship,” Anderson added.

Marquette has been knighted a Frisbee sanctuary and the annual, team-building event aims to exemplify that honor.

Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive brain disorder. It damages, and eventually destroys, brain cells, leading to memory loss and changes in thinking and other brain functions.  Ultimately, Alzheimer’s is fatal. There is currently no cure.

“There’s a lot of research going on,” says Roman Politi, M.D., a neurologist at Marquette General Hospital. “We know that it’s a degeneration of the brain that happens very slowly over many years. And very often the presumption is that this has been going on for quite sometime, even before people start showing symptoms.”

The Live Wise program was designed with that in mind. LiveWise is a small-group program for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s…and their families. It’s a 16-week program that combines 45 minutes of a personalized exercise program with 45 minutes of education.

“Those individuals are working out with everyone else and no one knows they have early stage Alzheimer’s,” YMCA Senior Health Innovations leader Jenna Zdunek said.”They feel comfortable and confident to be out there. The first week, they would’ve never felt comfortable to go out in the wellness center without that coach right next to them. But now they are out there without their life style coach. They remember what to do, they have confidence, they remember how to use the equipment, and how much weight they should use. It’s amazing.”

Live wise is 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.

Ruth A. Almén, LMSW, is the Regional Director of the Alzheimer’s Association in Upper Michigan.  She says, “We know that, generally speaking, they are folks who don’t seek out a lot of medical treatment right away. A lot of people don’t get diagnosed early – let alone those who do get diagnosed aren’t necessarily connected to services, or it’s really hard to share with people that they have been diagnosed. A lot of them, their family and friends may not even know at this point.”

The program focuses on a variety of issues facing families of Alzheimer’s patients, ranging from nutrition to stress and fatigue to handling grief.

The building on the west end of Shelden Avenue that used to house Backroom Multi–Entertainment has been returned to the city of Houghton.

The building’s previous owner, 46-year-old Michael Jestila, was sentenced to one year in jail earlier this week on drug-related charges.

As part of Jestila’s plea agreement, the building was forfeited to the city.

Houghton City Manager Scott MacInnes said there are liens on the building from both the bank and the state of Michigan.

The building will be put up for auction in about six to nine months, but MacInnes said it would be unlikely that the city would make any money on the property after the bank and the state have collected what they are owed.

MacInnes asked for $2,000 from the city to pay to have the front of the building repainted and the windows cleaned so the building would look presentable in time for FinnFest.

Jestila has approximately 40 days to arrange to have the contents of the building removed.

After that period, the city will have to decide what to do with the remaining materials.

That news comes from the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

In the U.P., the unemployment rate last month was 9.8%.

It was 9.9% in March, but it’s higher than the 9.4% rate from a year ago.

The U.P. rates were a little higher than the state rates for all three periods.

Here’s how the numbers break down across the U.P., county by county…

Menominee County: 6.9%

Dickinson County: 7.9%

Marquette County: 8.3%

Houghton County: 9.2%

Delta County: 9.6%

Iron County: 9.9%

Gogebic County: 10.8%

Luce County: 10.9%

Chippewa County: 10.9%

Alger County: 11.8%

Schoolcraft County: 13.5%

Keweenaw County: 13.6%.

Ontonagon County: 15.2%

Mackinac County: 16.8%

Baraga County: 17.7%

Mackinac and Baraga Counties had the two highest unemployment rates in the state.

Van Riper State Park in Champion has a brand-new playground.

A volunteer group, the Friends of Van Riper and Craig Lake, has spent three years working on it.

It cost $26,000.

The Friends group collected much of that money ten cents at a time.

“We did a lot of bottle deposit, can returns, koozies, T-shirts,” Friends of Van Riper and Craig Lake vice president Julie Hosang said. “We did have some larger donators, so we’re very grateful to them, and Lindberg & Sons did our excavating for free, so it’s been a community effort.”

The playground includes new swings, three slides and two rock climbing walls.

It’s ADA-accessible, which the old playground was not.

It also includes an animal tracker panel, “which does two things for each animal that’s an animal in the area and makes the noises of the lion and the wolf and the bear,” Hosang said. “It’s really exciting for the kids to have some education, especially for visitors from out of the area.”

There will be a grand opening ceremony for the new playground this Saturday at 11 a.m. at the park, which is on US-41 in Champion.

Ishpeming had some snow flurries at about 12 noon.

Here’s what the flakes looked like on Second Street, a few blocks north of US-41.

The temperature was about 30 degrees at the time, but a strong wind made the air seem much colder.

The National Weather Service says there should be patchy frost in some areas of the U.P. tonight into Friday morning and tomorrow night into Saturday morning.

Due to the cold weather, the Marquette Fire Department will postpone opening beaches until Wednesday, May 29.

After that date, the beaches will be staffed with lifeguards seven days a week from noon until 8 p.m.  Any beach closures after May 29 will be posted on the City of Marquette’s website, and announced through news releases.

The first confirmed kill in this area was on April 28.

“Wolf attacks on dogs around residences are usually uncommon,” said DNR wildlife biologist Brian Roell. “The landowner was working to provide fencing and better boundaries but unfortunately another dog was killed on this property in a short amount of time.”

The DNR had provided both landowners in the first two incidents with a 30-day permit to kill wolves on their property. At this time, two wolves have been killed and the permits are still active.

Roell said that in addition to providing the 30-day permits, the department – in an effort to better protect the public, pets and livestock – is now also taking an active role in attempting lethal control of wolves in this area.

To learn more about Michigan’s wolf population, visit www.michigan.gov/wolves.

Joseph Baclich Jr., 31

Six people have been arrested in connection with a drug bust in Iron County.

Detectives from the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team say it happened on Tuesday at a home on 10th Avenue in Iron River.

Michael Walsh, 28

UPSET recovered more than 4 grams of heroin, illegal mushrooms, marijuana, illegal prescription drugs, evidence of drug packaging and distribution, and $1,600 in cash.

The owner of the house 31- year-old Joseph Baclich Jr. of Iron River was arrested and charged with delivery of heroin.

Cami Fittante, 19

Five other suspects were arrested in connection with the bust.

Michael Walsh, 28, of Iron River is charged with delivery of heroin.

Cami Fittante, 19, of Iron River is charged with use of heroin and possession of marijuana.

Amy Marcell, 38

Amy Marcell, 38, of Iron River is charged with delivery and possession of drugs.

Rhonda Nichols, 31, of Caspian is facing two counts of delivery of heroin.

Rhonda Nichols, 31

Elizabeth Clements, 28, of Caspian is facing a delivery of drug charge.

All six suspects were arraigned in Iron County District Court on Wednesday.

UPSET says further charges and arrests are still pending.

Elizabeth Clements, 28

The Iron County Sheriff’s Department, Michigan State Police from the Iron Mountain Post and the Michigan State Police 8th District Hometown Security Team assisted in the bust.