This was a year of many firsts for graduating seniors at Belding High School. A new arena with an indoor track, auditorium, cafeteria and commons area, sports facilities — the list goes on and on. Through a year of constant transformation, where the very school they attended changed dramatically before their eyes, the 140 graduates experienced their final moment as members of the student body Thursday evening before walking out of the school one last time as official alumni.

A weeklong summer event expected to bring thousands of visitors, and with them, thousands of dollars for local businesses, will be coming to downtown Belding in 2014 after Belding City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve the proposal for the first ever Rivertown Bike Week Expo. The weeklong event, an educational expo convention for motorcycle enthusiast, hosted by the event management and production company, Rivertown Bike Week, will be held from July 22 to July 27 next year.

Two counties are coming together to develop a student-focused system called Hair on Fire. School districts in Montcalm and Ionia counties are working on the program that focuses on the needs of students.

Jake Jones just didn’t care. He didn’t care about grades, he never studied and, as he admits, he assumed he could get through high school without applying himself beyond walking through the front door of the building.

A matter of academic dishonesty involving a cell phone, answers to a test and several students at Belding High School has resulted in disciplinary action for the students involved. According to Superintendent Sara Shriver, during the week of May 6, Belding High School Principal Brett Zuver became aware of a potential academic dishonesty situation amongst the high school students.

More than 64 years ago, veterans in the Belding area celebrated Memorial Day by marching through the streets of the city and holding a ceremony at the original Freedom Wall located on the corner of Bridge and Main streets. Now, years after that wall was decommissioned, leading to holding Memorial Day ceremonies in various locations including the Veterans Memorial Bridge and Riverside Cemetery, veteran and Belding resident Denny Craycraft is proud to see that once again, Belding has a central location in Veterans Park for the community to come together and honor its veterans.

The demolition of the Belding Bros. Clock Tower, constructed in 1903 and located on the property owned by Electrolux on the corner of Bridge and Main streets in Belding, began Monday with the successful removal of the steeple. Construction workers described the process as “like clockwork” with no major complications.

Todd Wells of Stanton makes a living as a local disc jockey, playing music at numerous parties and weddings throughout the year. One might wonder then, why his favorite gig year after year is one where he blasts his music at full volume for an audience of students who can’t hear a single note or lyric. Enter Friday’s annual Deaf Pride Games at Montcalm Community College, where Wells set up his equipment and cranked the volume to levels that shook the college.

The Belding Fire Department and Ionia County Resource Recovery will be partnering to hold the annual household hazardous waste collection. The event will happen from 8 a.m. until noon Saturday, May 18, at the old Belding Hospital parking lot, located in the 1400 block of W. State Street.

Heavier than average rainfall probably won’t have too great an influence on most crops grown in the area, according to Montcalm County Extension Field Crops Educator Fred Springborn, though it is likely to be responsible for some crops getting in the ground later than they would during a warmer, drier spring.