The Gillett School Board on June 19 approved funding for three projects. Spaulding Floorworks of Oconto Falls will replace the carpeting in the high school principal’s office and floor tiles on the steps near the weight room for a cost of $9,478.50. The money, taken from the 2013-2014 budget, will also cover extra carpet squares to keep on hand.

A $2.2 million project to improve safety at the intersection of U.S. Highway 141 and County Road E in the town of Abrams will begin Monday, July 7, and finish by mid-October, according to a news release from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The goal of the project is to reduce the amount and severity of crashes at the intersection. The project has four components. The curve of Highway 141 will be reconstructed.

As you may have noticed, our weather pattern is dramatically different than six months ago. The ambient (outside) temperatures have increased.

A Gillett woman accused of robbing a Shawano grocery store at knifepoint Friday made a quick change as part of her attempted getaway, but was spotted dumping her clothes into the garbage, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday. Brenda S. Webster, 56, could face a maximum 40 years in prison and $100,000 fine if found guilty of armed robbery. Webster allegedly entered the Guerrero Grocery, 520 S. Main St., Shawano, shortly before 6 p.m.

The University of Wisconsin-Extension of Marinette and Oconto counties will sponsor a tractor and machinery safety certification course for youth interested in working on their family farms or for hire on other farms. Four days of instruction gives students the mandated 24 hours of training. Classes are from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, July 23 and 30, and Friday, July 25 and Aug. 1, at the Pound Town Hall, W.

The Gillett School District is projecting a 6.3 percent reduction in its 2014-15 budget, based on preliminary estimates presented to the School Board on June 19. Last year’s budget was $7.347 million, and the proposed budget is $6.912 million, a reduction of $435,000. Superintendent Todd Carlson said the reduction is the result of a number of changes, including staffing reductions and a change in health insurance.

Two people were arrested June 25 after investigators found evidence of a methamphetamine lab at a residence in Stiles. A 49-year-old man and 25-year-old woman were booked into the Oconto County Jail. Charges are pending. It is the Times Herald’s policy not to name suspects until they have been charged. According to a news release from the attorney general’s office, a search warrant executed June 25 at 5196 St.

To the editor: Chas McKenzie, of Gillett, was thinking of his friend Rodney Gillett when he decided to write a letter to him during his time in Nashville during the Civil War.

It’s hard to go anywhere these days without seeing someone on a cell phone. They’re talking, tweeting, texting, playing games, listening to music. In the street, in the store, in the car, in the theater, even in church. And … in the bathroom. I confess that I’m a lifelong “bathroom reader.” I don’t like to waste that time, so I read.