For nearly two and half years, Denny Craycraft and other members of the Belding community have been working to bring back the Freedom Wall that was decommissioned more than 63 years ago in 1948. On Wednesday, the first evidence of several years worth of work and fundraising was on display as trucks brought in sand and a bulldozer leveled that sand to prepare for the foundation of the memorial site that will be directly adjacent to the west of the Pere Marquette Depot in downtown Belding.

After three fires in the span of one week at her residence, Belding resident Deb Souza is now wondering if she can leave her home without having to worry about a fourth fire occurring on her property. At approximately 4 a.m. Aug. 2, firefighters were called to 1308 Oakwood St. in Belding to the scene of a small fire of a mobile car port in Souza’s driveway after a neighbor spotted the fire.

For incoming Belding High School freshman Kyle Mansfield, his experience in high school will be like nothing any student before him has had the chance to experience. The 13-year-old, an avid user of technology devices such as iPods, computers and, of course, the Internet, will enter an era of education in Belding geared toward placing the capabilities that technology offers directly into his hands in a classroom setting. Come autumn, Belding Area Schools will provide iPad devices for every student in grades 6-12 for the entirety of the school year to use in the classrooms and at home.

As 149 Belding seniors congregated on Rudness Field as students of Belding High School for one final hour, it was class speaker Bethany Childs who summarized the final transition as students to adults on graduation day.

A mild winter with little snow has helped workers make up for lost time on construction of the new gymnasium and auditorium at Belding High School. “We’ve had the best possible winter weather you can ask for,” Superintendent Leslie Mount said. “The construction crews have been able to do a lot of work they didn’t anticipate.”

More than $1 million that had been slated for upgrades at the Belding Area Schools Administration Building are being redistributed to other buildings. The Administration Building (previously known as Orchard Hills Elementary School) will not see heating and ventilation upgrades that had been planned. The building will close in two years to save construction and operational costs.

To Belding High School senior Erik Doty, the phrase “blessing in disguise” has a unique meaning. On Oct. 27, 2008, Erik was riding to school in the passenger seat of his brother Kevin’s truck while his cousin, Wade, sat in the back. But the three never made it to school.

Bob Seeley watched with a sense of relief on Thursday as workers removed soil from his mother’s backyard as part of a lead contamination cleanup in Belding. “We haven’t been able to grow grass back there for more than 20 years,” Seeley said. “We hope it’s all going to be OK when they are done.” Crews are removing contaminated soil near downtown Belding. Mueller Brass, whose brass rod manufacturing plant nearby caused the contamination, is paying for the project.

If West Michigan communities could take away one sentiment from this weekend’s healing field, it would be that 10 years later, the nation is still united by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. As the monumental anniversary approached, the question “How has America changed since 9/11?” has been posed by many. While airport security [...]

BELDING — Mother Nature threw all kinds of weather at the Belding Labor Day Homecoming Celebration, but event organizers are convinced the weekend’s events came off without a hitch.