Change was a common theme for most of the top stories that made headlines in this year’s Shawano Leader.

Students at Oconto Falls Middle School walked through the doors of a new building in the fall, while the community bid its farewell to the former Washington Middle School that was later demolished.

In January, the Washington Middle School English Language Arts Department announced it was making plans for the community to say goodbye to the old school as the school district prepared to open the new Oconto Falls Middle School.

Looking at both the future and the past has resulted in a good outlook for Wittenberg during the year 2025.

Topping the list of stories was the push for a new museum in the village that resulted in a gift from the Nueske family. Across town, new apartments breaking ground filled the second slot in the Wittenberg Enterprise and Birnamwood News’s top 10 list.

Here’s a look at what made headlines in 2025:

Wolf River & Co.’s Ryan Engel heads up a four-person crew and a few subcontractors at his home remodeling projects, but if things progress they way he hopes, the company will be expanding its services into developing new construction as well.

State Rep. Jeff Mursau (R-Crivitz) and State Rep. David Steffen (R-Howard) introduced legislation requiring schools to provide sextortion prevention education beginning in sixth grade.

The victim of a fatal crash in the Town of Pensaukee was identified Dec. 22 by the Oconto County Sheriff’s Department.

Stephen Paul Carr Cummins, 34, was the driver of the sport utility vehicle involved in the Dec. 15 rollover on U.S. Highway 41 east of Moody Road. A passenger, Lauren Marcy Jiardini, 31, also of Milwaukee, was hospitalized in Green Bay in what the traffic report indicates were suspected serious injuries.