Freeland News

The Child Abuse and Neglect Council of Great Lakes Bay Region is collecting items and gearing up for its 19th annual Mardi Gras auction, to be held on Thursday, Feb.

Freeland High School seniors Myles Sakshaug, 18 and Kelsie Quimby, 18, prepare Saginaw Township resident Kathy Woods's taxes.

Wednesday is an important day for Saginaw County and Michigan schools. It's Student Count Day, and the winter enrollment numbers count for 10 percent of schools' funding.

Freeland's Tara Padgett, center, jumps on Abbye Wenzel, left, while Taryn Taugher, right, join in the celebration after time expired at a game at Freeland on Thursday evening.

Churchgoers worship during the new monthly "Holy Hour" at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 300 Johnson in Freeland.

Bishop Joseph Cistone prays with the congregation during the new monthly "Holy Hour" at St.

I'm also toying with "Lumps of Cole," "Diamonds from Cole," or maybe "Coles'Law" and I'm open to suggestions.

Not everyone is enjoying the warm temperatures. The slopes at Apple Mountain, 4519 N. River Road in Freeland, are closed Monday, but according to its website , should reopen at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

When Justin Bellinger first opened Antonio's in 1999, Freeland was a quiet little traffic light stop on M-47. "A big, old warehouse was here," he said, looking among the historical photos on the Italian eatery's walls for one that showed it.

The Diocese of Saginaw this week will host the first of a new monthly "Holy Hour" initiative designed in part to reach out to the diocese's 11 counties as officials begin a strategic planning process that could change parishes across the region.