The Nebraska State Patrol joins its law enforcement partners across the nation in an effort to save lives over the Thanksgiving holiday by participating in the “Click It or Ticket” campaign. Beginning Monday, Nov. 21 and continuing through Sunday, Nov. 27, troopers and communications specialists will put in overtime hours as a part of the seat belt enforcement effort. “The unfortunate reality is there will be crashes on our roadways,” said Colonel Brad Rice, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “But, if we make sure everyone, in every vehicle, is buckled up, and we all follow the rules of the road, not only can we reduce the number of crashes, we can prevent serious injuries and save lives.” During the “Click It or Ticket” enforcement, troopers will concentrate on reducing crash-causing behaviors such as speeding, following too closely, and impaired and distracted driving. A $21,900 grant from the Department of Roads Highway Safety Office will help fund the effort to save lives on our nation’s roadways. Travelers are also encouraged to pay special attention to weather and road conditions when preparing for holiday travel by utilizing 511, Nebraska’s Advanced Traveler Information System online at www.511.nebraska.gov. A Nebraska 511 mobile app is also available to download at no cost for smartphone users. For more information on specific enforcement activities during the “Click It or Ticket” campaign contact your nearest Nebraska State Patrol Troop Area Headquarters or view a calendar of selected NSP Enforcement Activities. Residents of Northeast Nebraska are being asked to brace for winter weather.
The National Weather Service has extended the area of their winter storm warning for Friday to now include Antelope, Boone, Cedar, Knox and Pierce counties. The warning runs from midnight to 6 p.m. on Friday. NWS forecasters say rain will turn into snow at some point Thursday evening, with the bulk of the snowfall happening overnight. Anywhere from four to six inches of snow is expected. In addition, wind gusts as high as 40 to 45 miles per hour are expected, creating white out conditions in some areas. The Weather Service has also place Madison, Platte, Stanton and Wayne counties in a winter weather advisory. Snowfall amounts are expected to be two to four inches in those counties, still with the high winds. Snow is coming soon and that means Snow days will be here too. And with the first storm, area roads departments are preparing for the winter season. Everyone there has been working the past few days to get all the trucks ready for winter. “We haven’t got any of our winter stuff out yet this year, so this is the first little storm coming in,” said maintenance supervisor Gary Park. “So we are putting the plows and the wings and the sanders, our liquid spray systems on all our trucks and testing them before the storm happens.” Even with just a little bit of snow, Park likes to stay prepared. He says testing all the equipment is a simple step to make sure the roads are nice and safe. “We do our best you know,” Park explained. “Every storm is different. There will be a storm that will happen and you will think ‘Jeeze, our roads aren’t that good.’ But we truly do try to do our best and provide the best road possible.” Working on the roads crew means watching the weather forcast to know when a storm is coming. “We got a several day heads up so you kinda know what kind of cushion you need,” Park said. “So you better get to start working on your trucks.” Park says the trucks are out on the roads at 4:30 in the morning. Every one of their workers has their own truck with their own routes to make sure roads get cleared and cleaned. Election day came and went in Boone County, with little surprises in the unofficial results.
As of press time, the national presidential race was too close to call, but in Boone County Trump won by a 79.14 percent compared to 14.25 percent for Clinton. Boone County voted to reinstate the death penalty with 33.07 percent retain and 66.63 to repeal. Although the presidential candidate won by a landslide, the race for District #2 County Commissioner is still up in the air. In May, Tom Fick won the primaries for County Commissioner by just two votes. On Election Day, it was no different. Tom Fick had 49.2 percent and the write in votes accounted for 50.8 percent. The write in candidates won't be official until the canvasing board meets on Thursday. It is still unsure if the write in votes are for one candidate, or multiple. In different cases, it isn't uncommon for a write in option to be filled in, but no name put with that option. Results will not be finalized until the canvasing board had met, and last year they met twice before the official results were released. The Boone Central School Board had three spots open. Filling those spots was Darren S. Wright with 30.51 percent, Justin Frey with 35.62 percent, and Edmond D. Knott with 32.8 percent. St. Edward School Board also had three spots open with David Roberts taking 42.42 percent, David Merrell taking 34.63, and a write in with 22.95 percent. All of the votes for the Elgin School Board two year term went to Lisa Welding. The four year term candidates were Stanley Heithoff with 21.82 percent, Steve Busteed with 32.73 percent, Michael Braband with 15.76, and Douglas Jones with 29.70 percent. Newman Grove School Board filled the three open spots with Thomas Haase at 32.2 percent, Scott Lyon at 33.05 percent, and Ryan Chilson at 33.9 percent. Marcus Johnson won the seat on the Albion City Council by a landslide 93.83 percent. The two spot on the Petersburg Village Board were filled by siblings. Mitchell Koch had 49.71 percent and Ashley Thieman had 44.22 percent. Brackets have been released for the D2-5 district volleyball tournament, hosted by Greeley.
In the first round, Riverside, the top seed, will take on Elba at 5 p.m. on Monday, October 31. St. Edward will take on Spalding Academy in the other first round match up at 6:15 p.m. The Boone County Philanthropy Council, a collaboration of charitable organizations from across Boone County, is pleased to announce that 23 organizations will participate in the 2016 Boone County Big Give on Friday, December 2. The 2016 Boone County Big Give is a concentrated awareness campaign underwritten by the Boone County Foundation Fund and supported by numerous sponsors. “The Boone County Big Give continues to grow, both in participating charitable organizations and number of donors,” said Kurt Kruse of the Boone County Philanthropy Council. “This event is a great example of how different groups of people can make tangible, positive differences in our communities in a very short period of time.” Entering its third year, the Boone County Big Give grows from 16 organizations in 2015 to 23 charitable groups for the 2016 event. Through this expansion, every community in Boone County has a participating charitable organization. The 23 participating organizations include (new organizations for 2016 are marked with *):
The generosity of these sponsors supports the promotion of the Boone County Big Give and creates a matching fund opportunity for participating charitable organizations. Sponsors include: Cornerstone Bank and Pillen Family Farms (gold level); Country Partners Cooperative, Scot Daniels State Farm Insurance and Valero Renewables (silver level); Boone County Bank, Great Plains State Bank, Green Line Equipment, Grosch Irrigation, John Kennedy Feedlot and Stock Realty & Auction/Rex Mahoney (bronze level); and Applied Connective. Gifts will be accepted beginning the week of November 28, at organization locations and designated Giving Stations throughout the county. Specific projects, individual event details and more information will be announced in upcoming weeks. Learn more at www.BCBigGive.org. Three Boone County runners qualified for the state cross country meet by finishing in the top 15 of their district races Thursday.
Boone Central senior Christina Soto-Stopak was the C-2 district champion with a time of 19:25, and her teammate, sophomore Katie Goodwater, followed with a 6th place finish in 20:23. In the D-4 district at Ainsworth, senior Amber Berger of Riverside earned a qualifying spot with an 11th place finish in 22:37.6 All three girls will run in the Nebraska State Cross Country Championships in Kearney on Friday. Berger will run at noon, and Soto-Stopak and Goodwater will start at 2 p.m. Click here for state information. On October 22, 2016 from 10 a.m. TO 2 P.M. the Antelope County Law Enforcement Center and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription and over the counter drugs. Bring your medications for disposal to the Antelope County Law Enforcement Center at 1102 L St, Neligh, Neb. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Last May Americans turned in 893,498 pounds - 447 tons - of drugs at nearly 5,400 sites. 5,292 pounds came from Nebraskans. This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. The majority of prescription drug abusers report in surveys that they get their drugs from friends and family. Americans understand that cleaning out old prescription drugs from medicine cabinets, kitchen drawers, and bedside tables reduces accidents, thefts, and the misuse and abuse of these medicines, including opioid painkillers that accounted for 20,808 drug overdoses - 78 a day - in 2014. Eight out of 10 new heroin users began by abusing prescription painkillers and moved to heroin when they could no longer obtain or afford those painkillers. There is also a box located in the lobby at the Antelope County Law Enforcement Center that allows anyone to drop off meds at other times as well. Again, the service is free and anonymous. Anyone with questions may call the Antelope Co Law Enforcement Center at 402-887-4148. Boone County was well represented at the West Holt Cross County Invite on Thursday with runners from Riverside, St. Edward and Boone Central on the course.
The Boone Central girls won the team championship. The Cardinal team was led by outstanding performances from its top three runners who each brought home a medal from the tough contest. Christina Stopak finished in 2nd with a time of 20:15, followed by Katie Goodwater in 6th and Emma Arndts in 12th. Amber Berger of Riverside also earned a medal with her 16th place finish in 22:57. In the boys race, Thomas Hosford of BC placed 13th in 18:43 and Pablo Fernandez of Riverside was 17th in 19:01. Boone Central's junior high runners brought home five medals as well. For the girls, Jordan Stopak was 3rd and Autumn Simons was 8th. In the boys division, Jonny Lindgren was 1st, followed by Bradley Schindel in 2nd and Gavin Ienn in 10th. Mackenzie Pollard has been found and is safe!!
Thank you for the overwhelming amount of support in finding this child! Your likes,comments, messages, and shares greatly assisted law enforcement officers in locating this missing juvenile. The Randolph Police Department and the Cedar County Sheriff's Office can't thank you enough!! |