Almost 500 schools were recognized by the National Association of Secondary School Principals recently, and only one of those was from Wisconsin.

The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School Student Senate received a National Gold Council of Excellence Award, with officials noting that the school provides the student leaders with opportunities to make a difference in the community and beyond.

With the road reconstruction for Shawano’s Main Street less than two years away, the Business Improvement District is looking at taking steps now to make sure local businesses don’t suffer when the road is closed to traffic.

From blizzards to ice storms to flooding, Shawano and surrounding counties have seen it all this spring. And the cost to deal with those severe weather situations has mounted into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for cities, towns, villages and counties.

Shawano County Sheriff George Lenzner, left, provides background on Landen Christen, who was sworn into his new role as deputy with the Shawano County’s Sheriff’s Department at the public safety meeting May 6. A graduate of Bay Port High School, the 21-year-old started as community service officer in Appleton, worked as an officer with the Black Creek Police Department and was with the Stockbridge-Munsee Police Department the past 18 months.

It’s been nearly two decades since the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department bought a new boat for patrolling county waters, search and rescue efforts, and recovery cases.

That may change soon.

Dana Ritchie, office manager, presented the case for a new boat to the public safety committee May 6. The committee agreed to forward the request to the capital improvement projects committee for consideration.

Sara Rodriguez has been Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor for the last four years, but now she’s hoping to move up.

Luke and Terri Erb’s family business, Erb’s Farm and Flower, offers more than just plants and flowers.

Together with son Ezra Erb, the couple desires to instill in youngsters the love of growing. Erb Farm is a big supporter of the Bonduel School District garden, hosting June summer-school field trips annually.

The busy morning is full of activity.

When my husband and I first married, we weren’t golfers. One day, a good buddy of his asked him if he’d like to golf a round. My husband got hooked and dragged me along with him in his quest to conquer the links.

Ending up buying our own set of clubs, we’d golf with friends and family or on our own, just for fun. With anything, practice makes perfect, but even if one practices, a golf game will seldom be perfected.

The magazines and the internet trolls make it sound so easy, but it’s a rare hunt that goes down simply and quickly.

Wild animals are never predictable, and wild turkeys never seem to do what they are supposed to do, according to those experts.

The internet is now full of “what if” hunting scenarios, and a recent one that caught my eye said, “A gobbler hangs up at 50 yards and you have tungsten shot. Do you shoot?”