Herald Journal Blog

Many people in the area have heard of the local country-rock band High Noon which will perform at this year’s Good Neighbor Days, but few may know that musical stars have been born from that band, including Howard Lake’s own Bruce Hoffman.
Hoffman, a successful musician in Branson, Mo., was the original fiddle player for High Noon. Hoffman left High Noon for bigger venues in 1992, according to High Noon’s owner and one of its singers Bob Thompson.
Continue reading ‘High Noon to perform at GND’

Hannah Montana, a 15-year-old pop icon, is being attacked in the media for photos that Vanity Fair published of her taken during a photo shoot Vanity Fair conducted of the young girl. One picture, in particular, is being held over Montana’s head where she is posed in just a sheet covering the front of her. Shame on the person who told the girl to dress and pose such a way, and the photographer who took the pictures! A 15-year-old doesn’t have the maturity to decipher what will appear trashy and what will not. Montana told reporters that she thought the photo was “artsy.” I can see why she would think that, but by looking at the picture myself, I can’t see how the adult photographer could  justify taking such a photo, and how Vanity Fair could publish the image. The magazine had to have known that this was going to start a stir, which means more publicity and more copies sold. Shame on Vanity Fair.

Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted High School FFA Advisor James Weninger, “Winnie,” received a huge surprise this afternoon when he was awarded with a 2008 Top Teacher Award from Fox 9 News.

Winnie was told by the school to put together an assembly to recognize the hard work and accomplishments the FFA Chapter has achieved, and to send them off to the State Convention, which starts Sunday. A pep fest took place today in which Winnie introduced all of the FFA teams, and gave a little description of what FFAers are involved with.

At the end of Winnie’s presentation, Principal Mike Day introduced Fox 9’s anchor Marnie Hughes, who then told Winnie that he was one of nine teachers chosen as part of Fox 9’s 2008 Top Teacher Awards. Winnie was visibly shocked and fought back tears. He was nominated by Ginny Schuelke whose son had been in Winnie’s class. Schuelke also solicited letters of support from former and current students for the nomination application.

The award presentation will be aired tonight on Fox 9 News at 5,6,9, and 10 p.m. A newspaper article about the event will also be in Monday’s Herald Journal.