The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has been selected to receive the inaugural Energy Sovereignty Champion Award at the 2026 People of the Sun Gathering, recognizing the tribe’s leadership, perseverance and long-term commitment to building an energy future rooted in sovereignty, resilience and service to the community.

Bank of Wisconsin employee Tobi Nowinsky shares a laugh with co-workers after he was given a new bicycle as a birthday surprise July 28. Nowinsky has been with the bank in Hatley for over 20 years, and either walks to and from work or rides an old bicycle. The bike was a gift from co-workers and customers. “I was really surprised,” Nowinsky said. “I have the coolest co-workers in the world, and I am lucky to have them. Plain and simple.”

Shawano School District business operations director Bryan Kadlec has also been providing business services to the Beecher-Dunbar-Pembine School District over the past year, and the Shawano School Board has approved a deal allowing him to continue to do so.

Paige Bedroske, from Shawano, was among high school students who recently gathered in Des Moines, Iowa, for the Donna and Darnell Pettengill Civic Leadership Academy at Drake University, a three-day summer experience hosted by The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center in association with The Ron and Jane Olson Institute for Public Democracy.

The Shawano School Board was pleased to hear that an anticipated $1 million budget deficit from the recently completed 2025-26 school year would actually only be $260,000, but it raised questions about why it was necessary to make $1.77 million in cuts for the 2026-27 school year.