Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 56
It may seem cliché but one of the funniest Halloween costumes is the blind referee. If you’re a sports fan, the referee scenario undoubtedly has run through your mind. I’m not into conspiracy theories but ... At least six calls were missed during Saturday’s Nebraska-Ohio State football game, calls that could have given Nebraska a signature road win or handed Ohio State an even bigger margin of victory. Two of the most notable: the spot on Emmet Johnson’s first-down run that turned into a third...
Summerland's varsity volleyball team finished fourth in the first-ever Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference volleyball tournament. The Bobcats defeated Hartington-Newcastle in the opening round and lost to Elkhorn Valley in round two. That set the consolation match with West Holt. After dropping the first two sets, the Bobcats stormed back to win the third and fourth sets, before losing the final one....
Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company has been recognized as a 2024 Smart Rural Community Showcase Award winner. The announcement was made by The Rural Broadband Association Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield during a conference hosted by the NTCA on Sept. 30. The Smart Rural Community program is a network of more than 280 communities, supported by NTCA member providers, committed to driving growth through robust broadband service. The Showcase Awards are presented to providers in...
University of Nebraska-Lincoln students Carleigh Greene, Tilden, a 2022 high school graduate of Elkhorn Valley Schools, and Riley Martensen, a 2022 graduate of Neligh-Oakdale Public Schools, have been named winners of the Schuchardt Family Scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year. Greene, the daughter of Randy Greene of Tilden and Bobbi Jenkins of Oakdale, is a junior majoring in community health and wellness in the College of Education and Human Sciences. She is a member of the CEHS Student...
All University of Nebraska athletic venues now have full approval to sell alcohol. On Oct. 4, the Nebraska Board of Regents voted 7-1 in favor of allowing beer, wine and liquor sales at all NU athletic venues, replacing a 2022 vote that allowed alcohol sales case by case. Until today, Nebraska was the sole Big Ten school that did not sell alcohol in its football stadium. "The advantage of all 17 schools in the Big Ten doing this already is there are best practices," athletic director Troy Dannen...
At peace. That's how Jordan Larson felt back in Lincoln after her fourth, and likely final, Olympic Games this summer. Her journey to tranquility started well before Paris, before capping an unprecedented career with the U.S. national team by winning silver, even before returning to her alma mater to help coach a championship contender. "This last two years really has been a journey of pure reflection ... of healing," Larson said at an August press conference. "I'm soaking in the essence of...
Last week, I watched ESPN E60: No Place Like Nebraska. It wove several storylines into one, showing why Husker volleyball continues to be the program to emulate. The show included snippets of the program’s humble beginnings, a fair amount about the attendance record at volleyball day and a glimpse into Harper Murray’s successes on the court and downfalls outside of Devaney. It’s a lot to wrap into a 50-minute video. Maybe too much. One storyline needed more. If you’re a volleyball enthusi...
Back in the day, the Omaha World-Herald provided me with a company car and the instructions: "Drive across the state and find some stories." It was obviously a more formal command than that, something like, "If you like your job, you'll write something interesting." It was an incredible adventure in various vintages of Ford Taurus'. On the road, you realize that there are fascinating stories – sometimes tragic and sad, sometimes heart-warming and uplifting – in every corner of the state. You rec...
When the Nebraska Huskers kick off the football season, Saturday at 2:30 p.m., fans will note several changes at Memorial Stadium. The biggest change will be how to pay for concession items, programs, stadium seats and merchandise. Keep the cash stashed. "All Husker athletic venues have now moved to cashless operations," Nebraska Athletic Department personnel reported. Volleyball and women's soccer, played at the Devaney Center and Hibner Stadium, respectively, will also move to cashless...
Au revoir, Paris. See you in 2028, Los Angeles. As the Olympics draw to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the competition storylines that captured my attention during the past two weeks. Who wouldn’t be inspired by Simone Biles and her redemption tour? After withdrawing from Olympic competition four years ago, due to injury, her journey to this year’s podium was inspiring. Not only is Biles one of the most-decorated Olympic gymnasts of all time, her actions on the sidelines show why she is simply the best. Her enthusiasm for her teammates shine...
Two new paraprofessionals hires were approved Monday by the Summerland Public School Board of Education during its regular meeting. Superintendent Molly Aschoff told the board that administration had posted a job notice for a special education/Title 1 para position, with a van route to the Central Learning Center in Clearwater. During that period, a late para resignation was received. Elementary principal Cathy Cooper said four or five applications were received and three individuals were...
The countdown for the first day of the 2024-2025 school year is underway, as Summerland Public School students will return to class, Thursday, Aug. 15. A 1:30 p.m. dismissal is scheduled that day. Staff members will report to work for staff development Aug. 12 to 14. Families of students in preschool through sixth grade are invited to an open house, Wednesday, Aug. 14, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The Bobcat Booster club will host a burger bash, Wednesday, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., at the school. Preschool...
The countdown is on for the best weekend in June as rough and tumble action will take center stage at the 57th annual Clearwater's Big Rodeo. Competition begins Friday, June 28 and continues through Sunday, June 30, at the Gene Snodgrass arena, located along U.S. Highway 275. Clearwater Chamber of Commerce sponsors the annual event. Rodeo visitors will see a few new additions on the grounds. Clearwater Chamber president Curt Thiele said the rodeo committee and chamber members continue to make...
Let's face it, Nebraska has high property taxes, the seventh highest in the country according to the Tax Foundation, which tracks such things. "Lots of land, not a lot of people," has always been the catchphrase, which translates into a higher burden of property taxes. But I almost fell out of my chair when Gov. Jim Pillen proposed, initially, to raise the state's sales taxes by two cents to achieve property tax relief. Never did I imagine that a conservative Republican governor would propose a...
One of the great, unsolved mysteries in the state has been why the beloved Trev Alberts left his alma mater to become athletic director at Texas A&M. Alberts was an All-American football player at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, then eventually became athletic director at the school after a successful stint at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Seemed like a match made in heaven, and a job Alberts would hold for many years. But then, suddenly, it was over, and Alberts was trading Husker...
Northeast Community College will once again host the 2024 Northeast Nebraska All-Star Volleyball Game. The contest will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 8 at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk. Summerland grad Adyson Mlnarik will join her cousin, Mya Hedstrom, of St. Mary’s on the dark team. Members of the light team, with the high school where they played, include: Jaya Wachholtz, Pierce; Chloe Hanel, Clarkson; Daveigh Munter-McAfee, Wakefield; Allison Wieseler, Wynot; Teya Boyer, Plainview; Jayden Ehrisman, Guardian Angels Central C...
Scholarship Recipients CHRISTIAN BEHNK UNL Husker Power Scholarship UNL O & G Kammerer Scholarship Paul D. Cooper Scholarship KELTON BRUHN Northeast Community College Livestock Judging Scholarship ALANNA DOLL Creighton University Award Scholarship Menard Family Business Scholarship Father John Labaj Scholarship The John Greer Memorial Scholarship Timothy J. Thramer Memorial Scholarship AISLYNN KESTER NECC Scholastic Contest Waiver Clearwater Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Scott L. Reynolds...
Summerland Advocate-Messenger personnel brought home 23 awards from the 2023 Better Newspaper Contest for the Nebraska Press Association. Awards were presented Saturday evening, at the awards banquet held at the Cornhusker Marriot Hotel in Lincoln. SAM finished second in Class A, which includes weekly newspapers with a circulation up to 699 subscriptions. The Stanton Register won the division. In advertising categories, publisher LuAnn Schindler won seven awards. An ad featuring financial services at Brunswick State Bank, promoting FFA Week,...
Either it’s irony or a divine sign that SPS English instructor Katie Schneider shared a blog post on social media last week about the teacher shortage. I’ve been gathering data on the topic for nearly a month, hoping to pull a story together. I’m sharing Schneider’s post with her permission, on this page, under the op-ed label. Schneider addresses parents in her open letter, talking about respect or the lack thereof, about technology and its effects on a child’s brain and behavior, about letting...
Do you want to know why there’s a teacher shortage? Why, this year, in Nebraska alone, there are approximately 1,000 open positions in education, why the number of post-secondary education majors is plummeting? I think any teacher, para, bus driver, administrator, lunch lady or secretary would give you the same answer: A lack of parenting. We have so many students in our school systems who come from broken homes, from absentee parents, from hostile environments, from neglect, and on the opposite side of that coin, from coddling, from ...
Three of the four kids in my family were born on the same day in December over a span of 14 years. The "other" one was born on March 1. To appease her, my older sister and brother and I told the March-born she was special because she shared a birthday with the State of Nebraska! (I'm pretty sure it didn't work.) So, happy belated 157th birthday Nebraska. And happy 82nd to my late sister. Too much cake and party hats? Where are we now? Let's take a look. A is for agriculture. Still more counties...
One of my favorite movie lines I've been known utter to my children and grandkids originates from the movie "A League of Their Own," when Tom Hanks' character, Jimmy Dugan, tells a woman's league player, "There's no crying in baseball." Wait a minute. There is crying in baseball. Softball, too. Even football and boxing and basketball and volleyball can cause tears to flow down athletes' faces. Emotions, when it comes to sports, often run high. For the past couple of weeks, crying in sports has...
Volleyball is set to start a new chapter in Nebraska and at the helm is a woman who quietly helped establish the game's stronghold in the state. Few own the imprint on Nebraska volleyball that Diane Mendenhall does. The Ogallala native has held just about every role – player, coach, analyst, administrator. When she was named president of the new Nebraska pro volleyball franchise, it gave the brand-new Omaha Supernovas instant credibility, said former Husker volleyball coach Terry Pettit. "She's...
By the time the Bobcats shook off any nervousness during the opening round of the 2023 Nebraska School Activities Association Class C2 State Volleyball Championships, Lincoln Lutheran jumped to a two-set advantage. The Warriors went on to sweep Summerland, winning 25-11, 25-13 and 25-18, in the first round, played Nov. 2 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. "I thought the girls played hard," said Coach Danielle Birch. "We were matched up with a really good team, but the girls did not let that...
The Summerland Bobcat volleyball team will meet Lincoln Lutheran in the opening round of the 2023 Class C2 Nebraska School Activities Association State Volleyball Championships. The first serve will be at 5 p.m., Thursday, at Pinnacle Bank Arena's north court. The semifinal match will take place at 1 p.m., Friday, on the south court at PBA. Saturday's championship is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Devaney Center. The consolation match is slated for 3 p.m. at Lincoln Northeast, at 2635 North...
