Last week, Gogebic Taconite spokesman Bill Seitz confirmed that the Florida-based mining company would reduce the footprint of its 4-mile long proposed Penokee Hills iron mine by a third, pulling out of Ashland County to concentrate on its holdings in adjacent Iron County. The reason: Ashland County’s metallic mining ordinance would, in Seitz’s words “make it not viable to build the mine there.” Ashland County Board Chair Pete Russo helped draft and pass the Ashland County ordinance. On September 8, Russo joined the Monday Buzz by phone from his home in Mellen, Wisconsin.