UPPER PENINSULA -- The Upper Peninsula was buzzing, and finally the sentence came: four years in federal prison. That's what Marquette residents Scott Sippola and Allison Coss received for trying to extort $680,000 from actor John Stamos.
And in Marinette, Wisconsin, another more tragic incident: 15-year-old Marinette 10th grader, Samuel Hengel, held his class hostage at gunpoint for several hours. All 25 student hostages and one teacher were released unharmed, but Hengel shot himself to death after police forcefully entered the classroom.
2010 was also a deadly summer on the water. Four people drowned off Marquette’s shoreline and two more in Grand Marais. Authorities are now looking for ways to keep the water safer in 2011.
It was another year of a long, drawn out trial. Ronald Kemppainen was accused of setting a fire that killed four people in a Hancock apartment building in July of 2009. He went to trial twice in 2010; both resulted in mistrials. Another trial date is expected to be set in 2011.
And it was an interesting year for politics. Michigan will soon have a Republican governor, after eight years of Democrat Jennifer Granholm. Businessman Rick Snyder, a Republican, overwhelmed Democrat Virg Bernero 58-40 percent in the November election. Snyder says he'll make state government more accountable to the residents and show them the value of each tax dollar spent.
And in one of the most puzzling stories this year, a 150-yard crevice opened up in the woods near Birch Creek in Menominee Township. Some areas are up to five feet deep and a few feet across. It all started in October when neighbors heard a large boom. The U.S. Geological Survey, along with Michigan Tech professors, have been called to provide some answers. But for now, it remains a mystery.
And finally, a story of six heroes. Two Ishpeming men went into the woods near Silver Lake and observed a moose that had fallen through the ice. Luckily four snowmobilers arrived and the six men were able, after several hours, to pull the moose from the water.
Not a bad way to close out the year in the Upper Peninsula.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC