— A string of rumors on social media has sparked concerns among parents and students at Belding High School the post claimed that administrators improperly searched students including asking girls to “shake out” their bras and following them into the bathroom The accusations arose after an incident last Thursday when administrators called for a police officer to come to campus to be on standby after finding “vapes.” an anonymously made Facebook post in the Belding Informed group had gathered more than 600 comments and 24 shares Some parents expressed support for the alleged concerns while others defended the district's actions Belding Schools Superintendent Brent Noskey sent FOX 17 a statement categorically denying the allegations made against staff "I think kids are getting really nervous about going to school for the invasion of privacy," said one mother Her daughter and an exchange student with their family attend Belding High School Some of the rumors she heard: that female students were asked to “shake out” their bras in front of administrators and that male staff members were following female students into the restroom a father of three students in Belding schools tells FOX 17 that one of his kids has been unfairly targeted He echoed hearing the rumor about female students and their bras Belding Police Chief Dion Sower said that his department did have an officer on campus Thursday after being called by the district “He went because they found vapes and requested police presence,” Chief Sower said Monday District Superintendent Brent Noskey called the social media claims "unfounded “While it is normally our practice to ignore social media banter The letter states that “at no time has a male staff member entered a female restroom or vice versa,” that they “do not and will not inspect or touch a student's clothing or person during a search.” Read the full letter sent home to parents below: Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Elementary school field trips to the Belding Wildlife Management Area resumed in September after COVID-19 restrictions had put these trips on hold for a year and a half Fourth-graders from all five elementary schools in Vernon came out for full days of learning Master Wildlife Conservationists Bernie Noonan and Master Naturalist Lynn Kochiss taught the students about the wildlife and habitats of Belding WMA students arrived in the morning and spent the day visiting four different habitats – field students learned about the process of forest succession and how different stages of succession are important to different species of wildlife They were treated to the sights and sounds of chickadees Fourth-graders get excited about the birds they see in the forest at Belding WMA they learned about the habitat requirements of wild trout including gravelly stream bottoms where their eggs can "breathe" is surrounded by lots of trees and other vegetation which helps prevent sediment from eroding into the stream and suffocating the trout eggs the students constructed miniature rivers and watched what happened when water flowed through The miniature rivers that had more “vegetation” along the edges had cleaner water the students got to see tiny pond critters They also played a game that demonstrates the process of bioaccumulation which occurs when contaminants get into the water and make their way up the food chain Some of the groups were lucky enough to see a solitary sandpiper hunting for invertebrates at the edge of the pond Fourth-graders get a close-up look at pond invertebrates and caught and sketched crickets and grasshoppers “Insects are the little things that run the world.” The students saw pollination in action at the pollinator garden and peered through microscopes to get a close-up look at the components of soil As part of the Connecticut Science Standards students must learn that animals depend on their habitats to survive Field trip participants at Belding WMA learn that different animals live in different types of habitats and that all animals need enough space to find all of the food and shelter they need to survive and reproduce that help animals survive in their environments the students are able to identify animals that use each of the habitats they visited and are well aware of what happens to an animal when its habitat disappears Students match animals with their habitats Educating young people about wildlife and conservation was one of the main goals set forth by Max Belding when he donated the property to the DEEP This cooperative program with the Vernon school system is a big step in fulfilling his vision and amphibians depend on shrublands and young forest Populations of 50 of these species are declining These declines are due to the loss of shrubland and young forest habitat Work began last fall to create young forest habitat at Belding WMA.  Belding WMA currently has fields and mature forest young forest was created after natural disturbances Beavers cut down trees and flooded many more As shrubs and tree seedlings began to grow this created the shrubland and young forest habitat that many of Connecticut’s animals depend on wildfires are no longer allowed to burn and cutting and flooding by beavers is curtailed Most young forest habitat now occurs where timber has been harvested The first phase of this habitat project removed mature oaks to allow the oak seedlings in the understory to grow they will grow to create much needed young forest habitat and Baltimore oriole are expected to move in It will target the non-native Norway spruce Native plants provide food for the insects that birds need to survive Young native trees will replace the non-native trees that are removed Before a forest cut on land trust property where there are very few places for wildlife to hide and find food where it is teeming with more wildlife than ever!  For more information on the history of habitats in Connecticut and the importance of native plants please see the Habitat History and Native Landscaping slide shows below Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to advance the pages Habitat History Slideshow - 72 Slides (Use the "left" and "right" arrowkeys on your keyboard to navigate each PDF as a slideshow.) When the settlers first arrived in Connecticut and young forests could also be found across the landscape which a wide variety of birds and other animals depended on While development has been the major cause of this decline another reason is the process known as forest succession Find out how the Connecticut landscape has changed and how we are bringing back these special habitats Full Version - 130 Slides       Condensed Version - 50 Slides The Connecticut Native Tree and Shrub Availability List is a directory of Connecticut businesses that grow and/or sell native trees and shrubs This publication was compiled by the CT DEEP Wildlife Division and UCONN Extension Service from a survey of wholesale and retail businesses The wood anemone’s native range stretches west to Arkansas and south to Alabama This species prefers to grow in shade or partial shade in floodplains and forests with rich The stand of wood anemone shown in the accompanying photo was found along Railroad Brook in our very own Belding WMA Wood anemone plants typically take 3 to 5 years to flower they bloom in early spring before the trees grow leaves giving them the advantage of full sunlight will have 5 to 7 petal-like structures called sepals The flowers provide an early source of nectar for small native bees and bee flies Ants collect the seeds which have a fatty appendage The ants feed the elaiosomes to their larvae and then deposit the seeds in their nests thus dispersing the seeds to start new colonies all parts of a wood anemone plant are toxic to humans and many other animals Touching the sap causes skin irritation and blistering and eating any part of the plant will lead to gastrointestinal issues Look for wood anemone at Belding WMA and watch for the fuzzy bee flies which have been seen hovering around the flowers The blossoms of wood anemone won’t last long so look for them soon before they fade away the black-and-gold bumble bee had not been recorded in Connecticut for over 100 years three individuals were observed in three different parts of the state The individual pictured here was observed at Belding WMA on July 16 The black-and-gold bumble bee is native to the eastern half of the United States It is mostly found in prairies and grasslands but is now uncommon due to the re-growth of forests and loss of grassland habitat including the federally-endangered rusty-patched bumble bee and the state-threatened yellow-banded bumble bee Bumble bee declines are very concerning as the bees are important pollinators for both native plants and agricultural crops diseases spread from commercially-raised bees Bumble bees are generally active from April to October although some species will also nest in hollow trees They feed on the nectar and pollen of a great variety of flowers Certain bumble bee species prefer specific types of flowers It can be difficult to identify different bumble bees especially as they are flying from flower to flower Each species has different amounts of yellow hairs on their thorax (the second body section next to the head) and abdomen (the third body section furthest from the head) which help to tell them apart To learn more about bumble bees in Connecticut, including how to identify them, check out these guides: Bumble Bees of the Eastern US and CT Bumble Bees If you think you see an interesting bumble bee, take some photos, post them to iNaturalist DEEP is responsible for maintaining a diversity of fish and wildlife habitats at Belding WMA Several projects are currently underway at the area to benefit special habitats or unique species American chestnut and pitch pine are found on the property and projects have been implemented to help preserve these rare trees Invasive plants are in the process of being removed and riparian habitats are being restored Parking for Belding Wildlife Management Area is located at Bread and Milk Road in Vernon A project to restore native pitch pines was initiated in 2008 is found only in the northeastern United States Pitch pines depend on fire to expose the soil and release the seeds pitch pine communities have become increasingly rare but young pitch pines have not been able to grow there for more than 50 years A three-acre site where mature pitch pines are currently growing has been chosen for this regeneration project common tree species that were competing with the pitch pines have been removed The soil will be exposed to allow the pitch pine seeds to germinate.  the young stand of pitch pine will provide important cover for species that depend on this type of early successional habitat Wildlife species associated with this type of disturbance-dependent habitat include whip-poor-will a species of special concern in Connecticut in partnership with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) introduced blight-resistant American chestnut trees to the Belding Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Vernon this past May The American chestnut was once a dominant tree of the eastern forests It was an extremely valuable source of lumber as its wood is highly resistant to rot chestnuts produced edible nuts that were an important food source for wildlife spread quickly and decimated American chestnuts throughout their range Many of these persisting roots continue to grow new sprouts but the sprouts become infected by the blight and die before reaching maturity Sandy Anagnostakis of the CAES has been breeding blight-resistant American chestnuts as part of an effort to save this tree from extinction The DEEP planted 200 of these seedlings on a 2.5-acre site within Belding WMA where native chestnut sprouts are abundant The abundance of native chestnut sprouts on the site is a critical factor in the reestablishment of this valuable species as a key component of Connecticut’s forested landscape The native sprouts will be inoculated against the blight until they reach maturity and can cross-pollinate with the blight-resistant seedlings The offspring of these crosses will result in trees that are genetically similar to the trees that were native to the site but will also carry the genes that resist the blight Because American chestnut seedlings require full sunlight the overstory trees on the restoration site were cleared by a forestry contractor The Wildlife Division initiated a project in 2008 at the Belding Wildlife Management Area to remove invasive shrubs and increase grassland habitat in the fields along Valley Falls Road Two hedgerows of trees and invasive shrubs that had grown up between the fields were removed to create one larger field Larger grasslands attract a wider diversity of wildlife and young forests) have become rare due to the elimination of disturbances that historically created or maintained these types of habitats Livestock grazing is another type of disturbance that maintains grassland habitat but pastures also have been disappearing from the Connecticut landscape As these early successional habitats disappear Grasslands are home to a variety of native wildlife and field sparrow nest on the ground in grasslands Twelve species of grassland-dependent birds are on Connecticut’s List of Endangered The most endangered of these species are those that require large areas The state-endangered grasshopper sparrow prefers sites of at least 100 acres Upland sandpipers require grasslands of 150 acres or more Hayfields attract grassland ground nesters but early mowing destroys the nests before the chicks fledge The DEEP mows areas after the nesting season to maintain grassland habitat Without mowing or other type of disturbance these fields would eventually revert to forest which are mowed regularly throughout the season are not considered grasslands and provide little value for wildlife Species that inhabit the fields and field edges at Belding Wildlife Management Area include eastern bluebirds such as meadow voles and meadow jumping mice The Harmful Roester in Belding hosted its first-ever chugging competition — and you win by chugging a 24-ounce glass of their ranch It only took 10 seconds for competitor Zach Orvis to chug all 24 ounces of the ranch and take home the win When asked about how he consumed so much ranch so quickly “I’ve seen people pour about that much on their salads The Harmful Roester capped the competition at 12 people One of the competitors was 10-year-old Jordin Peterle Owner Randy Roest came prepared for the big day making sure there were buckets by every competitor "just in case." Roest even had the competitors sign a waiver “How much more Midwest can you get than guzzling ranch dressing?” Roest said “I don’t feel sick at all — it’s just ranch dressing,” Orvis said moments after winning the competition The prize sought after by all 12 contestants was a $100 gift card and a free order of all-you-can-eat wings every week until the spring of 2025 It's safe to say that these competitors were ready to take on the ranch — Orvis just slammed it better than the rest Roest tells me that he is hopeful that this year will be the first of many for this ranch-chugging competition It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Malcolm Vernon “Mac” Belding at the Saint John Regional Hospital.  Born on January 22nd he is the son of the late Vernon and Helen (Craft) Belding.  Mac worked as a Labourer at Strescon for many years.  He enjoyed baking fishing and gardening.  He cherished every moment spent with his grandchildren and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him.  Mac is survived by his children Malcolm Belding (Carla) and Marissa Belding; step-children Beverlee Sangalang Emily MacNeill and Kevin MacNeill (Rebecca Steele); brothers Daryl Belding Calvin Belding and Michael Belding; sister Brenda Gillespie; grandchildren Jakob nephews and friends.  Along with his parents Verna and Evelyn and infant siblings Gerald Arrangements are under the direction of Fundy Funeral Home 230 Westmorland Road (506-646-2424) with visitation being held on Friday January 3rd from 3 to 7 p.m.  Interment will take place at Browns Cemetery in the spring.  Donations in memory of Mac may be made to ALS Society A.L.S. Society of N.B. and N.S.1-1000 Windmill Rd., Dartmouth NS B3B 1L7Tel: 1-902-454-3636Web: http://www.alsnbns.ca FORT STOCKTON — Zachary Swick plucked a pecan from one of the 78,000 trees at a sprawling West Texas farm — a rare sight in the desert known for oil rigs and pump jacks leaving a stain on his hands that would be difficult to wash off there might not be any pecans left to peel Swick is the farm manager at Belding Farms which has been owned for decades by the Cockrell family the farm produces 5 million pounds of the iconic Texas nut The farm sits atop a reservoir of underground water used to produce the pecans since the 1960s The farm shares the water with its neighbors all property owners have the right to use the water underneath their boots One of those neighbors is Fort Stockton Holdings a company established by oil baron and one-time gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams has sought to sell its share of the water to West Texas’ growing cities The 50-year deal between the company and the cities of Midland Abilene and San Angelo would exchange water from the aquifers for $261 million Midland is the capital of the Permian Basin a 61-county region that holds the state’s vast oil reserves And more are expected as the oil industry shows no signs of slowing sustainable water supply that requires minimal treatment and can meet the city's future needs,” Midland Mayor Lori Blong said in a statement Fort Stockton Holdings did not return requests for comment Belding Farms has asked the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District the local governing body tasked with managing water rights to protect the water to ensure it isn’t swallowed up by the deal Fort Stockton Holdings will sell 28,400 acre-feet of water per year as part of the contract more than twice as much as the farm uses on an annual basis the groundwater district rejected Belding Farms’ request to put more rules and fees around the exports the decision is only one factor in a yearslong feud between the two powerful families and that's our biggest concern,” Swick said “Will that water be as consistent as it has been in the past?” It is the only nut indigenous to the state according to the Texas State Historical Association The Texas Legislature in 1919 declared pecans the official state tree The Cockrell family began planting pecan trees in the 1960s about 40 employees work year-round to tend to the farm from the orchard manager and foremen to mechanics Workers stimulate cross-pollination throughout the year The pecans mature during the summer and fall Farming the 2,200 acres requires water — and a lot of it The farm uses between 11,000 acre-feet and 12,100 acre-feet of water annually The farm employs different irrigation mechanisms to keep the farm hydrated efficiently including a technique called land leveling in which excess water pools on a terrace between the trees to prevent run-off The farm also has cement canals along the property that hold the water and stop it from seeping into the soil the farm has bolstered its efforts to conserve water it spent about $455,000 to install a sprinkler system that covers 96 acres the sprinklers shoot out a stream of water to prevent evaporation Also scattered across the farm are soil moisture probes that monitor whether the ground needs to be watered Swick said that he and the farm try to be proactive in conserving water because a dry spell could result in a crisis for the farm and the surrounding community which are not able to pump water if the aquifers are below a certain threshold the ramifications of that could be huge,” he said.” We could lose large sections of our farm if not all of it.” Texas has a long history of private property rights larger cities have turned to rural landowners to buy their water The 98 groundwater conservation districts, which are mostly in rural or sparsely populated communities, manage the water supply. Groundwater districts are the state’s “preferred method of groundwater management in order to protect property rights,” an update to an old mandate known as the rule of capture that allowed landowners to pump water as they wished The conflict between Belding Farms and Fort Stockton Holdings began in 2009 when the latter first attempted to sell roughly 50,000 acre-feet annually One acre-foot of water is about 325,851 gallons of water The groundwater district initially rejected the request, in part because the exports needed more protections attached to it. At the time, then-mayor of Fort Stockton, Ruben Falcon, said the residents felt “that the future water supply is threatened by having a large amount of water transferred out of the aquifer.” Fort Stockton Holdings and the groundwater district reached an agreement to allow the holding company to pump and sell 28,400 acre-feet of water That’s when Belding Farms sued the groundwater district which controls the permits for export agreements like the one between Fort Stockton Holding and the other cities the farm has sued five times and petitioned the groundwater district to establish controls around the exports including defining so-called unreasonable impacts Unreasonable impacts would define the points at which the aquifer is too low The farm also asked the district to impose a 20-cent export fee for every 1,000 gallons These collections would provide financial compensation to landowners affected by unreasonable impacts The groundwater district rejected both in its October session Two of the cases reached the Supreme Court of Texas The first is the settlement agreement between Fort Stockton Holdings and the groundwater district which allowed the company to sell the water The second case concerns a renewal permit for Fort Stockton Holdings which will need to continue to sell the water Groundwater District board members say they must grant companies and individuals the ability to use the groundwater as they see fit adding it has been caught in the crosshairs of a generational dispute In 2012, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in an unrelated case that groundwater districts could not severely limit landowners from pumping water the attorney for the Edwards Aquifer Authority said the ruling would “make life much more complicated for groundwater districts.” it's like you have to keep giving big chunks of that pie out because if you start telling people no you’re going to get sued,” said Robert Mace executive director at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment “That’s a case the district’s probably going to lose.” landowners who drill a water well that is within the jurisdiction of a groundwater conservation district must register it Groundwater conservation districts issue permits for commercial wells or wells that pump large volumes of water from the aquifer Groundwater districts determine their supply by monitoring the water underground. Every five years, they submit a report to the Texas Water Development Board that calculates the available water for the next 50 years. The groundwater district uses that information for regional planning and how much water can be permitted for pumping a research assistant professor at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas said the goal was to maximize the use of the available water while balancing that against protecting the supply the general manager of the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District said he sees his role less as a regulator and more as a relationship manager The groundwater conservation district must represent and protect the interests of groundwater users If a landowner disagrees with the groundwater district’s decision they can approach the board members and request changes Edwards said that is the point of a local governing agency Three pools of water flow underneath the soil in Fort Stockton a geographically unique makeup that isn’t common in Texas The Edwards Trinity aquifer is closest to the surface The Capitan Reef Complex aquifer is the deepest one The farm and holding company are not the only water rights owners in Pecos County Almost 3,000 of those belong to landowners who registered their wells One hundred wells make up the majority of the water use another pecan farm and a detention facility a combined 42,205 acre-feet of water was pumped from the Edwards-Trinity aquifer That’s more than Midland and Ector counties which pumped a combined 25,000 acre-feet of groundwater in 2021 according to the regional water plan submitted by 32 counties to the Water Development Board Fort Stockton Holdings’ deal with the cities will add 24,800 acre-feet more pumping annually Edwards said that the groundwater district evaluated pumping levels over the years and determined that the impact on the aquifer would not be a risk He said the monitoring mechanisms are protective of the aquifer Fort Stockton Holdings and the Cockrell family armed themselves with lawyers scientists and consultants who have sparred for years disputing the data they present to each other Edwards said the data Belding Farms provided helped them arrive at their decision Although it is not opposed to exports outright the Cockrell family argues this amount could drain the aquifer faster than it can recharge They said the groundwater conservation district's monitoring ability is not robust enough and can only provide estimates of the water levels Experts also pointed to excessive agricultural pumping in the 1950s who volunteered at Belding Farms in his youth He said the historical data going back decades portrays a healthy aquifer capable of withstanding the added demand “We’re not going to let their wells go dry,” Edwards said At the groundwater district’s October meeting The 11 board members sat around a conference table beneath a wide-screen TV where scientists lawyers and consultants gathered and waited their turn to speak a former commissioner for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality erstwhile chair and board member of the Texas Water Development Board Reed once again asked the groundwater district to consider setting stricter rules and defining unreasonable impacts What he is asking is not included in the law It would be up to the groundwater district to establish Fort Stockton Holding’s attorney spoke next calling the request a fearmongering tactic He said their studies show the aquifer can sustain the added pumping Board members said they would convene the residents and discuss adding export fees at their discretion not the 20-cent amount the Cockrell family recommended Edwards sat in his office with a plate of barbecue in front of him A groundwater field technician cooked the meal He said Texas law compels them to treat groundwater users equally and that the Legislature does not give them enough teeth to take on every battle “Nobody likes the fact that water is going to leave Pecos County,” Edwards said You're not going to find anybody in the community that supports them moving water out of the county Reed said the groundwater district’s decision was shortsighted in refusing to agree to the farm’s terms Reed did not say what the farm would do next Disclosure: Edwards Aquifer Authority, Texas 2036 and Texas State Historical Association have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here Choose an amount or learn more about membership Our dear mom Myrtle Olive Belding passed peacefully at the Saint John Regional Hospital on October 15 to the late Chester and Bessie (Hunter) Brown and was the loving wife of the late Gerald Leroy Belding Mom was a woman with deep faith and was anxiously waiting for her Lord to call her home She is survived by her 6 children who loved her dearly:  Patricia (Iain) and Jerry (Natasha); cherished grammie to: Joel (Nicole) Myrtle was the last surviving member of her family of 9 siblings and infant brother John; and sisters Grace Weston and Shirley MacLean She was also predeceased by 2 sisters-in-law Jeanne Mawhinney and Doris Belding; and 2 infant granddaughters Kelly and Kate The family would like to thank the staff of Shannex Parkland (Howe Hall) for the excellent care our mom received over the past four and a half years Resting at Fundy Funeral Home, 230 Westmorland Road, Saint John, NB E2J 2G3; (506) 646-2425 with visitation on Tuesday A Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday beginning at 11:00 AM in the Fundy Funeral Home Chapel with interment directly following at Oceanview Memorial Gardens In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the charity of your choice To leave online condolences please visit https://www.fundyfuneralhome.com/ An 1880s riverside silk mill that was converted to apartments about 40 years ago has changed hands between a pair of Michigan investors Jeffrey Lamborne recently acquired Flats on the River at 101 N in Belding from East Lansing-based Krimson LLC The sale price for Belding’s largest multifamily building was $3.6 million Keep up with all things West Michigan business. Sign up for our free newsletters today 71-unit Class B market-rate apartment building which was 93% occupied at the time of sale The nearly 65,000-square-foot building sits on 2.25 acres along the Flat River about 30 miles northeast of Grand Rapids multifamily directors at NAI Wisinski Great Lakes who also is a Farm Bureau Insurance agent based in Plainfield Township The buyer and seller did not immediately respond to requests for comment O’Reilly said the Krimson team had owned the apartment building since 2011 and were looking for a well-capitalized buyer who would carry on as its caretaker The historic property has “unique maintenance considerations,” O’Reilly added “It’s the largest multifamily property in Belding and it’s a critical part of the community,” he said they had pride of ownership in the property Their commitment to that is evident in the property’s condition and the grounds part of our assignment was ensuring the next owner would be the right owner.” Silk manufacturers and brothers Hiram H. Belding and Alva N. Belding completed the Richardson Silk Mill in stages between 1886 and 1898, during the era when Belding was known as “the silk capital of the world,” according to historical information from the Alvah N Silk thread woven by the brothers’ largely female workforce in Belding was sold all over the world The Richardson mill was the first of four they established in Belding then known as Patterson’s Mills and later renamed in the Beldings’ honor they also developed three boarding houses — one of which still stands and is now the Belrockton Historical Museum — and a corporate hospital The Richardson facility operated as a silk mill under the Belding Brothers & Co A series of different manufacturers operated in the space through the early 1980s The mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 just before its conversion to the Richardson Silk Mill Apartments in 1986 National Register documents note the building is unique among 19th century mills in West Michigan for its “slow-burning” heavy timber framing bichromatic brick exterior and use of late Victorian design elements “to make the structure an ornament to the community it overlooked.” O’Reilly said the sellers carried out various capital expenditures to preserve the building over the past 14 years including a costly brickwork restoration process called tuckpointing The apartments have also been maintained and updated over the years with features including new flooring and paint while preserving original exposed brickwork and timber ceiling beams and four three-bedroom units ranging from 650 to 1,125 square feet apiece Rents at the time of sale ranged from $760 to $1,075 O’Reilly said the rents and the building sale price “might seem cheap” to investors in the Grand Rapids market but are considered market-rate in Belding “It’s a place that’s got certain challenges but it’s got a lot of charm,” O’Reilly said and there’s a cute downtown with an awesome grocery store (Leppink’s) down there it’s walkable and there’s some really nice parks.” Federal funding frozen for adult literacy nonprofit for immigrants Developer tacks on 20 acres for more housing at former golf course Siciliano’s reopens in expanded Walker location Staying current is easy with Crain's Grand Rapids Business news delivered straight to your inbox Click below to see everything we have to offer Frankenmuth’s Aiden Labissoniere (10) runs the ball during the football season opener at Frankenmuth High School on Thursday .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Hugh Bernreuter | hbernreu@mlive.comThe good start was everything Belding wanted Belding scored on its first possession before Frankenmuth scored 37 unanswered points to top the Black Knights in a Division 5 district championship game Friday at Frankenmuth The win gave the 11-0 Eagles their fifth consecutive district title and a home game for a quarterfinal matchup against 8-3 Gladwin to earn a district title and a chance for revenge Hunter Conrad gave 9-2 an early 6-0 lead with a 2-yard run Conrad finished with 13 carries for 46 yards while Codey Manley led the Black Knights with 101 yards on eight carries Cash Tedford returned the kick 91 yards for a 7-0 Frankenmuth lead A 39-yard TD run by Aiden Labissoniere gave the Eagles a 14-6 lead after one quarter and Hagan Wascher finished the half with a 29-yard TD run for a 27-6 halftime lead Wascher finished with 88 yards on nine carries while Labissoniere ran seven times for 52 yards gave Frankenmuth a fourth-quarter TD on a 5-yrd run and Labissoniere capped the scoring with a 41-yard field goal Logan Diener and Brady Lipka led the Frankenmuth defense with 11 tackles each Derrick Simmons had four tackles and a pass break-up If you would like your local high school sports news delivered free to your inbox daily, click here and sign up for one of our local high school sports newsletters Love reading about local sports? 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All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices 1/5Belding football 2024.st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By By Steve Vedder | Special for MLive.comBELDING MI - It’s possible the Belding football team can run themselves right into an OK Silver title Among the Black Knights’ strengths is a pounding running game which contributed to the team gaining nearly 300 total yards per game a year ago and he thinks numbers such as that can be repeated “The line is about 50/50 between younger guys and experience We have some people back who have played well and others who will have to adapt Belding will enter the season with an 11-game conference winning streak including going 16-5 in the OK Silver since 2020 said there is no doubt the team’s strength is pounding the ball downfield “That’s what we need to do if our offensive line settles in,” he said While there are holes to fill on the offensive line VanOcker and Smith played as sophomores last year heads a deep backfield which also includes T.J Conrad and Smith combined for over 1,000 rushing yards “We have two players (Donovan and Conrad) who are capable at quarterback but they’ve got to learn to be the captain of the ship,” Price said the Black Knights’ line features Joe Coles and Gaje Glavin Peasley and Conrad return to the secondary The players are like-minded that a third straight OK Silver title is a possibility Conrad said there will be help from an 8-1 junior varsity team “We’ve got a lot of returnees and some younger guys up from JV who I think will adapt to varsity quickly.” Smith said the running game heads the list of strengths “We’ll have a good running game if we do our jobs right,” he said I don’t think teams will be able to stop us Put it all together and Price and the players like the chances of a three-peat “We can win the title - I think our chances are good,” Powers said “We have a lot of returning players and the program is strong “We have some kids to replace, but we’re confident,” said Price, a 2024 inductee to the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame Follow along for more info on this year’s Belding football team 2023 review: The Black Knights were coming off a 9-2 season in 2023 and faced what many believed was an up-for-grabs OK Silver Belding finished 8-2 overall while upping its conference winning streak to 11 games Belding’s last conference loss was 38-22 to Hopkins on Oct Belding split its first two games against nonconference foes Ionia and Spring Lake then reeled off a seven-game winning streak The Black Knights came within a 34-28 loss to Spring Lake from a perfect regular season 2024 outlook: Belding has made the playoffs eight of the last 11 years but if there’s one thing the program would like to enjoy Belding is just 5-8 in the playoffs since 2013 with a 2017 district title marking its longest run The Black Knights have ridden their offense the last two years as well as experience on the offensive line There will also be significant help from an 8-1 junior varsity team 2024 schedule (conference games indicated by *) — The fields of robotics and artificial intelligence are rapidly evolving and Belding Public Schools is making sure their students are fully prepared for the future It's why math and robotics teacher Alex Colville has been expanding the after-school robotics program over the past four years When Colville took over the program in 2020, only three students were a part of "the Scrap Cat Robotics Team." Belding High School junior Kitri Gentry was one of the three and is now the high school team's captain in charge of more than a dozen students "It's kind of brought me to see that I can do a lot more than I thought I could," Gentry said Wednesday at Belding High School “It's brought me to be a much better person and I want to major in biomedical engineering with a minor in mechanical engineering," said Gentry "My belief is the future is going to be based off of strong engineers And I want to try to future-proof our kids," Colville said we have some wonderful companies around here my ultimate goal is to get these kids to be able to have a higher education without having to worry about With the help of assistant coach Ricardo Ramirez the middle school now also has its own robotics team It's not just engineering skills that the students are picking up learning how to do all these different items," Colville said and they're working on these skills that are still transferable into the workforce." The goal this year is to get the students to the 2025 FIRST Championship "We are finally at that point of three years of building the foundational work that I think we're going to be extremely strong and I think that we will go to Worlds this year," said Colville It's setting students like Gentry up for success and I want it based on type one diabetic technology and I don't want any other kid to have to kind of watch their dad suffer through what I've had to," Gentry said Colville said plans are in the works for Belding's elementary school to also have its own robotics club where students will get to learn with Lego so that more kids get the opportunity "I think there's so many wonderful engineers here that don't know it yet And that's one thing that our program really pushes is we don't care if you've been building Legos since you were 2 years old or you don't know the difference between a Philip and a flat-head We want you so we can teach you all these different skills and whatnot," said Colville GAYLORD — Right after Matt Belding graduated from Gaylord High School in 1992 he began doing outdoor work and knew it would become a career for him Then I started with the city (Gaylord) DPW (department of public works) part time in 1995 and have been here ever since I really enjoy outdoor work," Belding said the city council approved Belding to serve as superintendent of DPW after being the assistant superintendent who gave up the superintendent role but remains with DPW to take care of city buildings Belding and the DPW crew got a big test with the Thanksgiving weekend storm that dumped over 40 inches of snow on Gaylord "We were busy and it's a time when we need all hands on deck We don't quit until it's done," said Belding He believes everyone who works at DPW understands that concept "We have to keep the public and our residents safe because they are the ones we answer to," he said A key part of snow removal strategy is don't fall behind "Our biggest assets right now are our loaders and snow pushers which are used to move a lot of the snow from downtown," Belding said The first priorities after a storm is to take care of Main Street and South Otsego Avenue "Then we start on the secondary roads and streets," Belding said Subscribe Check out our latest offers and read the local news that matters to you One of the most unusual tasks for Belding and his crew is to feed and care for the city's elk herd We do our best to keep the herd well-fed and healthy," he said he calls in a veterinarian for consultation The DPW crew keeps the elk population stable by culling the herd "If we have 12 little ones in the spring then we take out 12 big ones in the fall We have to cull the herd to keep the animals healthy," Belding said The DPW crew feeds the elk hay and alfalfa pellets an elk viewing platform will be completed on the corner of Commerce Boulevard and Elkview Drive next to the building housing the Otsego County Commission on Aging council accepted a bid of $1.4 million from EF Wilkinson & Sons Inc of Cheboygan to build a a four-season viewing platform "Everyone will be watching and with the platform we will bring this to a new level that I think will attract a lot of people," said Belding — Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.