 Photos courtesy Boone County Sheriff's Department The Boone County Sheriff's Department is reporting flooding from an ice jam east of Main Street in Cedar Rapids. That bridge is closed until further notice. Officials said several bridges in the county are starting to building up with ice jams. They are reminding residents to watch for rising water and to not attempt going through flood water.  Early Sunday evening, school administrators were informed that a student at Riverside Public Schools made threatening statements to one of his peers.
School district officials reacted immediately to the threat, and worked closely with law enforcement in investigating this issue. School officials took immediate steps to ensure students were safe at school, including emergency exclusion and law enforcement presence at school. School officials also informed parents that they would be permitted to keep their children at home if they were not comfortable sending their student to school, even with these safeguards in place. The criminal investigation continued, with the assistance of school staff. As additional information was learned, the school took immediate steps to respond, including additional emergency exclusion from school. The students involved in this matter are in law enforcement custody and do not pose a threat to the school or students. The criminal investigation is ongoing by the Spalding Police Department, the Nebraska State Patrol, the Nance County Sheriff’s Office, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office and the Greeley County Sheriff’s Office. According to the Nebraska State Patrol, four juveniles are in custody in connection with the report of threats made against multiple students at Riverside Public Schools. Officials with the Spalding Police Department, Nance County Sheriff’s Office, Boone County Sheriff’s Office, Greeley County Sheriff’s Office, and the Nebraska State Patrol are working together on the investigation following a report of a threat made against a student at the Riverside Public Schools campus in Spalding. The investigation began on Sunday, October 28, when threatening statements were reported by a student. The school immediately reported the incident to the Spalding Police Department, which initiated a joint investigation involving multiple agencies. The four juveniles will each be charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit first degree assault. Two of the juveniles will be charged in Greeley County and two will be charged in Nance County, based on their county of residence. The four, which range in age from 13 to 17, were taken into custody Thursday and Friday. Law enforcement has provided an additional presence at the Riverside campuses in Spalding and Cedar Rapids throughout the week. At this point there is no threat to the school or public. The investigation is ongoing. Any further information about the criminal investigation will come from those agencies. Members of the school community who have information relevant to the criminal investigation should contact one of those agencies. "The school district is deeply grateful to these agencies for their prompt response and ongoing cooperation. We want to reiterate that all Riverside Public School buildings have been safe and secure throughout this process. The school takes our obligation to keep students and staff safe very seriously. Please know that the school will continue to have increased security on campus until the investigation is complete and that we will engage in heightened vigilance in all of our buildings."   Photo courtesy of Riverside Chargers Five Riverside competitors will make the trip to Omaha next weekend after earning a spot at the state track meet.
Noah Valasek will be the lone representative of the Riverside boys. The senior locked up a spot in the long jump and triple jump. He will be joined by Becky Schmeits in the high jump and 100 hurdles, Amber Berger in the 3200 run, Alix Bloom in the 100, 200 and long jump and Maddie Walkowiak in the long jump and triple jump.   In it's attempt to reach the state finals for the first time in program history, Riverside ran into an upset-minded Mullen squad and will have to settle for the consolation game for the third-straight year. The Broncos took down the top-seeded Chargers 54-52 in a thriller. The Chargers jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead to start the game, eventually finishing the first quarter with an 18-8 lead. However, Mullen came powering back with an 18-13 second quarter to close the gap and send the game into halftime at just a five-point game. In the second half, Mullen quickly tied it up at 31. The two teams then traded 3s before Mullen took it's first lead of the game midway through the third. They held the lead until the beginning of the fourth quarter when Noah Valasek put it in to retake the lead for Riverside. However, the lead was short lived as Mullen battled back and retook the lead with five and a half minutes to go. Riverside would not lead again the rest of the game, despite tying it up twice in the final minutes. Full statistics will be added when they become available. The loss drops the Chargers to their third-straight consolation final. They will face the loser of Wynot and Mead at 3 p.m. at Lincoln East.   Riverside showed why it is the top seed in the Class D2 state tournament in the opening round, dominating both ends of the court in a 70-27 win over Garden County. The Chargers were led by Noah Valasek and Tredyn Prososki. Valasek continually made his way into the lane and consequently to the free-throw line. Prososki got the scoring started with a trey and finished the game with five triples. Full stats will be added as they become available. The Chargers will now face the winner of the Mullen/Humphrey St. Francis game. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Devaney Sports Center.  Week one of March Madness was full of plenty of thrills, excitement and surprises. Honestly, who among us thought Crofton would fall in the opening round to an eighth seed after winning five-straight state titles?
Now moving on to week two, the boys are setting up to take the floor. While the girls tournament featured plenty of recent experience from the Local County News area, the boys tournament features a couple of teams that haven’t been to Lincoln nearly as often. Riverside - The Chargers have been just as dominant on the basketball court as the have the gridiron since their inaugural season. This year, they boast an incredible scoring attack, averaging 70.5 points a game. They are led by two scorers averaging at least 20 points a game in Noah Valasek and Tredyn Prososki. Few teams can make it rain from 3 like the Chargers as they have hit 233 treys on the year. They have finished third each of the past two seasons, but this year likely could be their year. They kick off their title hunt against Garden County at Lincoln Southeast. Tip off will be bright and early at 9 a.m. Neligh-Oakdale - The Warriors are off to their first tournament since 1991. The team lacks a true center, although 6-0 Chris Bentley rarely has a problem banging around down low with “true centers,” they more than make up for it with athleticism and strong defense. They are led offensively by three 1,000-point scorers in Grant White, Tyson Belitz and Alex Kerkman. Bentley and Austin Rice are rebounding machines and are both athletic enough to guard most big men. They kick off their first title hunt in 26 years at 3:45 p.m. against Amherst at Lincoln Southeast. O’Neill - The Eagles are on their way to a second-straight state tournament after not qualifying in almost two decades. Many of the core players from their state championship football squad took to the court this year and they continued to dominate, losing just two games all year. Tyler Regan leads O’Neill in scoring on the year with 13 points a game, but Alex Thramer and Justin Appleby are both capable of taking over games as well, each scoring in double figures on the season. The entire O’Neill squad has great length and will give team fits all tournament. They kick off the tournament against Bishop Neumann at 2 p.m. at the Devaney Center.   Like many schools in the the country, Riverside students celebrated Read Across America through many activities this week.
Since 1998, the Read Across America program has motivated students to get excited about reading. Riverside high school and elementary students celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday by reading together as well as readers’ theaters, and a family literacy night.   Riverside's girls have earned the two seed in the D2-5 subdistrict tournament in Burwell.
The Chargers will take on Twin Loup on Tuesday. Game time is set for 7:45 p.m.   Fresh off of leading the Riverside Chargers to their third-straight six-man state championship, head coach Joe Imus now gets to turn his attention to a new Northeast Nebraska tradition.
Imus was selected as an assitant coach in the Fifth Annual Red vs. White Northeast Nebraska Football Classic. Rod Brummels of Osmond High School and Chad Cattau of Hartington Cedar Catholic High School have been named head coaches for the game, according to Tom Olson, President of the Classic’s Board of Directors. The Fifth Annual game will be held on Saturday, June 10, 2017 at Veteran’s Memorial Field in Norfolk. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. Olson, who is the Head Coach at Norfolk High School, said his Board of Directors are very excited about their 2017 all-star coaching staffs. “Once again we’ve been able to select an excellent group of coaches from the White and the Red teams from all across northeast Nebraska,’’ Olson said, “the next phase of their responsibilities is to select 36 athletes to represent both teams.’’ Brummels served as an assistant for the White Team in the inaugural event in 2013 and will lead the White Team in 2017. Cattau was an assistant for the Red Team in 2015 and will be the Red Team’s coach this year. The series is tied, 2-2. Brummels said it’s an honor to represent the White Team. “I’m really excited to be working with an outstanding group of coaches,’’ he said. “This game means a lot to all of northeast Nebraska.’’ Imus joins a staff that includes Tracy Lichty of Norfolk High School, Travis Jordan of Madison, Ron Lund of Howells-Dodge and Brock Eichelberger of O’Neill High School. Imus comes to the Classic fresh off winning the past three Six-Man Football State Championships and compiling a 32-1 record since Spalding and Riverside consolidated in 2014. He initially began his coaching career eight years ago when Spalding and Spalding Academy were co-opting. He is also Riverside’s boys basketball coach.   Riverside has been to the top before and they showed Cody-Kilgore just how it was done. The Chargers took down the Cowboys 60-30 to win their third-straight Six-Man State Football Championship Friday night at Foster Field on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. They dominated from the get go, jumping out to a 54-10 lead going into the half. The Chargers accumulated 306 yards in the first half, all while holding Cody-Kilgore to just 141. Tredyn Prososki accounted for 199 of those yards on his own, scoring three touchdowns along the way. The second half was much more quiet, thanks in part to the running clock. Riverside scored just once on a Alex Berney dash in the fourth quarter while the Cowboys added 20 to the board, far too late to mount a comeback. For the night, Prososki finished with 248 total yards. Ty Martinsen added 105 yards through the air and 52 on the ground. The Chargers became just the second team in six-man history to win three straight championships, following Arthur County from 2009 through 2012. They finish undefeated, with just one loss in their three championship seasons. |
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