Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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They're known as The Greatest Generation. On Friday, six Nebraskans who served in World War II were recognized at the Holt County Courthouse Annex in O'Neill. Each received a medal and certificate marking the 80th anniversary of WWII's end, part of a program introduced by Gov. Jim PIllen and the Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs. Bernard Hoffman, of Chambers, and John Schultz, of O'Neill, attended the ceremony. John Hilgert, NDVA director; Scott Menish, O'Neill mayor; and Ken Stenka,...
Chief Petty Officer Michael Harvey, a native of O'Neill, is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard Pre-Commissioning Unit John F. Kennedy, an aircraft carrier currently under construction in Newport News, Virginia. PCU is a designation used by the U.S. Navy to describe crews aboard vessels under construction prior to official commissioning. Harvey, a 2009 graduate of St. Mary's High School, joined the Navy 15 years ago. "I was originally going to go to college but shifted my choice due to all of the...
When life comes full circle, pay attention. Usually, there's a lesson worth learning. The lesson starts in Clearwater where Adam Ahlers, a "snot-nosed brat kid" spent summers mowing the yard at the Ocea Kirchner residence. Kirchner, a widow, would invite Ahlers into her "little yellow house" after he finished the job. "I had to go to the front door and get my $10," Ahlers told a crowd of approximately 275 people attending Saturday's fundraiser for the Clearwater Veteran's Park, held at the...
Longtime American Legion and Auxiliary members Ralph and Barb Tichota, of Clearwater, were recognized Saturday, for providing the inspiration and dedication to bring the veterans park to life in Clearwater. "It will have a lasting and significant impact," said Steve Stearns, veterans park committee member, during the presentation. "Your legacy will live on through this beautiful park and your work in creating a place of reflection and remembrance has touched all of our hearts." The park, located...
In October 1988, the Cold War was still simmering. World War II was just a generation ago, fresh in many veterans’ minds and in the hearts of families who lost their parents and grandparents in the conflict. More recently, many Americans had fought in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and many returned home in need of health care and in search of employment. October 1988 was the month President Ronald Reagan signed the Department of Veterans Affairs Act, which transformed the independent Veterans A...
At first glance, the mural adorning the wall in the Bunker Bar, inside the newly-remodeled Clearwater Legion, looks familiar. Artist Shannon Schumacher of Clearwater said there are slight differences to the original version he painted nearly a decade ago. "The sky is different," he said. "And the arch of the bunker." When he first met with Clearwater Sons of the American Legion officials to discuss the original design, a bunker was mentioned. Schumacher drew inspiriation for the bunker from a...
Memorial Day was born out of our nation’s most fractured and pivotal moment: the Civil War. Battered and worn after four years of internal strife, America nonetheless emerged intact in 1865, the dream of the Union preserved. The price of preserving our nation, our ideals, and our freedoms was approximately 620,000 American lives — nearly a quarter of a million more souls than our nation would give 80 years later to liberate Europe and defeat the Empire of Japan. In the aftermath of such ext...
A Kearney historian and archival records from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln libraries have revealed more about the bomb group featured in a new Apple TV+ miniseries. "Masters of the Air" is a miniseries about the 100th Bomb Group in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. Airmen in the group learned to fly B-17 aircraft and trained for aerial combat at Kearney Air Force Base. The show, produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, began airing on the streaming...
It started with an Elgin family’s bathtub, one that had been in the family for decades, and it led to a major new exhibit at the Antelope County Museum in Neligh that spotlights the important role water plays in the lives of every county resident. Jane Schuchardt of Elgin said as she contemplated getting rid of the clawfoot bathtub that had been in her husband Rick Schuchardt’s family for years, it occurred to her that it could be the basis of an exhibit focusing on the importance of water. Her...
December 7, 1941, is a "date that will live in infamy," as stated by President Theodore Roosevelt, in his famous speech after the events of the Pearl Harbor bombing. That event led to the United States involvement in World War II. President's Roosevelt's speech was a call to arms and a declaration of war against this act of aggression by a foreign nation. He never wanted us to forget what happened. Roosevelt concluded his speech by saying, "With confidence in our armed forces, with the unboundin...
There has been no formal request, but speculation runs high that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Department may ask for funds to help with the planned $450 million renovation of Memorial Stadium. Earlier this year the Legislature directed $30 million in state funds to Creighton University in Omaha, including millions to help the private school build new baseball and softball stadiums to accommodate needs for the annual College World Series. School officials said the baseball stadium...
Nebraska is home to over 100,000 of our most honorable American heroes. These heroes left home and family to follow a call. They showed grit and dedication throughout taxing training. They fought hard for their homeland and made countless sacrifices. Many of them made the ultimate sacrifice - they sacrificed their own lives to protect others. These heroes are our veterans. Earlier this year, three of our own Nebraskan World War II veterans met in Omaha to remember their service so many years...
To paraphrase Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird," sometimes, you just need to walk in someone else's shoes. Noah Coughlan knows all about shoes. He figures he's gone through at least six pairs since he started a cross-country run known as Run For Revival, a 3,500-mile trek from near Seattle en route to Tampa Bay, honoring the nation's veterans and active service members. The journey began on Memorial Day. When he trekked across the Nebraska - South Dakota border, near the Rosebud...
Kick off Neligh's 150th celebration at the Neligh Mill. On June 29, at 6:30 p.m., Dan Holtz will provide a musical performance outlining Nebraska's history. While accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica, Holtz shares original songs explaining the important people, places and events in the state's history. His songs tell stories about out-of-the-ordinary homesteaders, heroic Native Americans, World War II heroes, Nebraska's natural and scenic wonders and more. Holtz is an emeritus professor...
In a world that often moves at an unforgiving pace, it is essential to pause, reflect and express gratitude to those who have selflessly served our nation. The Quilts of Valor® Foundation, a heartfelt initiative that brings warmth and comfort to veterans, is doing just that. As the profound impact of the cherished quilts is explored, a tapestry of appreciation and compassion is uncovered, uniting soldiers, veterans and communities across the nation. Sunday, in Orchard, area residents who...
The forest green roof and pair of bronze stags frozen in combat are impossible to miss as you drive down Interstate 80. So are the two corporate buildings – 550,000 square feet of nearly empty office space, long offered for a $1 a year lease. The water tower looms overhead, painted in the same green, heralding what once was: "Cabela's World Headquarters, City of Sidney." For 54 years, Cabela's made its home here, a juggernaut that kept the town humming. But in 2017, the sporting goods store s...
When reporter Eva Mahoney arrived in Valentine in 1930 to profile America’s next great mystery novelist, she found Mignon Good Eberhart in a “pleasant little home,” struggling to visualize her next murder. Bewitched by her new surroundings, the big skies and grassy dunes, the author had contrived a remote hunting lodge in the Nebraska Sandhills as the site for her fictional crime. It had log doors, “a great, deep fireplace made of native, unfinished rock,” Eberhart wrote, and a hodgepodge of antique pewter lamps, a quirk of the cabin’s late own...
Growing up on a hill overlooking North Omaha during World War II, Mary Carpenter remembers the numerous vegetable plots, called victory gardens, that dotted her Florence neighborhood. “Everybody had one,” said Carpenter, the reporter’s mother-in-law. “We grew everything - asparagus, potatoes, tomatoes, black raspberries, pears, even grapes. That’s what fed us and supplemented our food.” Over the ensuing decades, many of those gardens disappeared as grocery stores started carrying seasonal produce year round. Yet 80 years later, everything...
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, was first listed as a medical diagnosis in 1980. However, it has been recognized and called by many different names throughout history. The first recorded description of PTSD is in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates back to 2100 B.C. In The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer wrote about Trojan War soldiers exhibiting symptoms of PTSD. Shakespeare described a character in King Henry IV who suffered from post-traumatic nightmares. During the Civil War, the terms...
A few weeks ago, I read somewhere that March is National Peanut Butter Month. "Aha!" I thought. "Perfect topic for a column sometime soon." But when I began doing research, I discovered that whoever wrote that was wrong. As far as I can tell, there is no actual National Peanut Butter Month, although November is recognized as National Peanut Butter Lovers Month. So while peanut butter doesn't get it's own month, people who love peanut butter do. They also get their own day with National Peanut...
It’s 7:30 p.m. on a wintry Friday night and the parking lot outside Johnny’s Cafe, a South Omaha landmark, is jammed. The scent of seared steak wafts out the heavy, faux-bronze doors as they swing outward, and diners walk into a glowing, ruby-hued time capsule of Nebraska food history. To the left is the massive dining room, still crowded on weekends with silver-haired men in sportcoats and women in their best blouses being served by staff who have worked here for decades. To the right is the da...
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, in accordance with a proclamation from the White House, announced that all U.S. and Nebraska flags are to be flown at half-staff to honor Senator Bob Dole, who died over the weekend. Flags will be flown at half-staff immediately, until sunset on Dec. 9. The proclamation can be found online at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/12/05/a-proclamation-on-the-death-of-robert-joseph-dole/. Earlier today, Gov. Ricketts released the...
SUBMITTED ARTICLE An Atkinson soldier missing in action since World War II will return home to his final resting place in the Holt County community. According to the U.S. Navy, American Legion and Holt County Veteran Service Office, repatriation of F1C Louis Tushla is set July 15 to July 17. On Sept. 30, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Navy Fireman First Class Louis J. Tushla, 25, of Atkinson, killed during World War II, was accounted for on March 27, 2020. On Dec. 7,...
One photo of my parents captures them in their zone. It’s their wedding anniversary and they’re waltzing. Both are looking directly at the camera, still smiling after 40 years of wedded bliss. They’re definitely in their element. They enjoyed dancing. When King’s Ballroom was still operating in Norfolk, the ‘rents were waltzing around the dance floor. Other couples stopped as Dad and Mom sashayed to the strains of big band tunes, offering an ovation to the young couple when the melody slowed to...
A memorial visitation service for Lamont Larson, 93, of Tilden, will be held Saturday, Jan. 9, from 3 to 5 p.m., at Peace United Church of Christ, in Tilden, with Pastor Melanie Miller officiating. A remembrance service is planned for 3 p.m. Private graveside services at the Oakdale Cemetery, in Oakdale, will be held at a later date. Per Lamont's requests, visitors are asked to wear red or Husker apparel to the visitation. Lamont died Thursday, Dec. 31, at Community Pride Care Center in Battle...
