A pole barn and items inside, including several tractors and equipment, were destroyed Tuesday afternoon after the barn was consumed and destroyed by fire.

Graduating seniors from Tri County High School have said goodbye to a way of life they’ve come to know well over the past four years. Some will move on to college, others to careers and families; but whatever the destination, Thursday night’s commencement ceremony represented a turning point none of them will forget. The class of 162 seniors marched into the school’s packed-to-the-walls gymnasium to the traditional strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” played by the school band.

A rainy Wednesday gave way to a clear and pleasant evening, just in time to honor a longtime Montcalm County commissioner and emergency rescue advocate. Montcalm County Emergency Services employees gathered at the Stanton base for a dedication ceremony for the late Carl Paepke, along with Paepke’s two daughters, Priscilla Heimbecker and Jeanne Poulsen, both of Trufant.

Never give up. That’s the advice Tri County High School graduating senior Patrick Overzet would like to pass along to future generations of students.

Hailey Olger wants to be a doctor when she grows up. The aspirations of this 12-year-old are due in part to watching her little sister Kelly struggle with heart defects. Kelly is 5 years old and has already had three open heart surgeries.

A teenager riding an off-road vehicle was injured after his quad runner collided with a car. According to the Howard City Police Department, a 16-year-old from Pierson on a quad runner was stopped at a westbound stop sign at Lake Montcalm Road when the quad proceeded across the intersection at 6:18 p.m. Tuesday.

High school today is not what it was yesterday. As a public institution of higher learning, with teenagers shuffling from class to class on an hourly basis, the culture and world inside the doors of what many refer to as the “best four years of your life,” is an ever-changing whirlwind of new experiences found each and every day. But that culture, filled with children who are learning to become adults, is not always a favorable one, and students, faculty and administration at high schools throughout Montcalm County are ready to make a change.

This village was the location of Montcalm County’s first 24/7 unmanned recycling site starting in November 2011. The pilot program was such a success that county officials approved creating six additional sites in Carson City, Crystal, Edmore, Lakeview, Montcalm Township and Stanton last August.

Although snow did not make much of an appearance in Howard City this weekend, the fourth annual Winterfest still showcased fun events for all ages. Panhandle Chamber of Commerce Secretary Millianne Lewis said some events at Winterfest were altered, but the weekend went on and nothing was canceled.

To say the Fleet family has been through the fire over the past few years would be an understatement. Randy and Shawn Fleet of Sand Lake are the parents of six children, Jessa, 26, Erin, 23, Brittnay, 22, Dakota, 20, Randi, 16, and Storme, 14. The active family loves to play sports together and is a tight-knit clan.