Previously published Jan. 24, 2013.

As the head coach of the Huntington North High School varsity football team, Trent Fine is no stranger to giving officials grief over calls.

But once football season changes to basketball season, Fine changes from being a coach to an official, and suddenly it's him getting grief from coaches over calls.

Huntington County had a special visitor on Thursday, Jan. 17 .

Minnesota's 2012 Teacher of the Year, Katy Smith, toured the community with Indiana's 2012 Teacher of the Year, Melanie Park, before giving a presentation at Crestview Middle School titled "Parenting in the 21st Century."

Smith says her presentation was one that "any community member would find valuable."

Pathfinder Kids Kampus, a child care center based in Huntington, has operated an Early Head Start (EHS) program since April 2010.

Nearly three years later, they're still getting the word out about it.

"We continue to run into people who have never heard of us," says Natalie Brautigam, family resource coordinator at Kids Kampus.

Brautigam and her colleagues are eager for families in Huntington County to learn about the EHS program for a variety of reasons, but one stands out above the rest: If a family qualifies financially, it's free.

Originally published Jan. 14, 2013.

Mick Jarrett's machine trade vocational students aren't just busy learning the ins and outs of precision machining; they are also busy manufacturing various mechanical parts - parts that are purchased by a local industry and by Bad Dad Custom Motorcycle Finishes of Fort Wayne.

Between the two companies, 10 different parts are purchased, says Jarrett.

"Companies want to help us train students to make parts that are shipped all over the world," he says.

"It helps them understand they have to get it right."

Originally published Jan. 10, 2013.

The Parkview Huntington Family YMCA celebrates its 100th anniversary today, Thursday, Jan. 10.

When asked what the highlights of the Y's century in operation have been, Marketing Director Tim Allen and Senior Program Director Don Cozad talk less about the highlights and more about the people associated with those highlights - which, in itself, might reveal the secret to the Y's success.

Originally published Jan. 7, 2013.

Eating fruit that smelled like old gym socks. Learning that catfish caught from the Pahang River is a delicacy. Challenging 12 hour-long workdays.

That's the shortened version of Huntington resident Stan Bippus and his 10-day trip to Malaysia this past November.

Originally publislhed Jan. 3, 2013.

Cody Chesterman has always been the kind of kid who was going to make it no matter what.

"If he gets something set in his mind, he'll get it done," says his mom, Donna Chesterman.

If he finds the conventional route unworkable, he'll find an unconventional route. A set of legs that don't work the way they're supposed to, making mobility a challenge, don't slow him down.

"I've figured out a way to get through it," the 19-year-old Andrews resident says.

Originally published Dec. 31, 2012.

Margaret Hartman doesn't stay in one place for long.

The Huntington native has lived or worked in 12 different places across the globe in the past four years.

"I just couldn't take the idea of the same place forever," she says.

Her journeys began when a friend mentioned knowing someone who had recently returned from a seasonal job in Alaska.

Hartman was immediately intrigued by the idea.

She says she had just graduated from Ivy Tech with an Associate in Applied Science in medical assisting.