Columns

Weight limits are going into effect on Clay County’s paved roads, beginning March 9.

The Clay County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of the action during its regular meeting on Feb. 25, at the courthouse in Clay Center. Clay County Highway Superintendent Tom Roemmich Jr. had recommended the weight limits during his report to the board.

“What’s got me worried is the way the weather’s been,” he said, “freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw. It’s going to be in the 50s this weekend, 60s next week.”

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Determination, work ethic and a deep desire. These are all words that I would use to describe Sutton’s latest state wrestling champion, Joe Hinrichs.

His drive, hard work, belief and passion led this young man to a state title Saturday, Sutton’s fifth all-time on the mats. This one, it was different. It was special, not that the other state medalists weren’t; I’ve been fortunate to have witnesses three of the five state title wins. The aura around Joe’s win Saturday, the ultimate win, it wasn’t just about Joe, it was far bigger.

You see, Joe and his family lost a dear family member on Friday, Feb. 14, to a drunk driver. It has forever left a “dent” in the Hinrichs family, but it drove Joseph, it propelled this fine young man to a gold medal like no other.

A state championship like no other. One that certainly means the world to Hinrichs, but one that wasn’t just about Joe, Sutton’s fifth state champion.

Monday night, following an evening of girls sub-district basketball, I saw a tweet from a good friend of mine that shares the same battles of community newspapering.

Willis Mahannah, the editor of the West Point News, after posting a picture of a mild accident of Facebook and Twitter accounts the West Point paper, made the following comment: “We’re a rural weekly paper in Nebraska and we get quite a few looks at our Facebook posts. So much so that it tells us newspapers are not dead. People still want the news, but many just don’t want to pay for it. If we had as many subscribers as viewers we could cover a lot more.”

That really got me to thinking. While we ALL have jobs and careers that keep us hoping, as I was getting ready to settle in for the night, I penciled out some figures on what it takes for us to cover events throughout the county.

The Clay County News is a member of the National Newspaper Association (NNA) and each month the NNA sends out a newsletter full of newspaper trends, happenings in politics related to newspapers, and features on NNA members.

February’s main feature focused on a member that will forever hold a strong place in my heart and mind—The Eagle, Chadron State College’s 100-year-old student-run newspaper.

It’s been five years since I called myself a staff member of The Eagle, but no matter where my journalism career takes me, I’ll always have been an Eagle journalist first.

And those four and half years of memories I made and the lessons I learned in the newsroom will forever hold steady in my mind.

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Surviving conference tournament week is always a plus, but it certainly leads to many more busy weeks ahead. We’ve got one down, “a few to go,” and we’ll have some tough moments, along with some hopeful big moments ahead in the coming weeks.

Sutton’s boys captured their second straight Southern Nebraska Conference tournament championship with another win over Centennial in the title game, making that two straight years the Mustangs have downed the Broncos in the title game.

Saturday’s four-game set for the two Sutton teams and Sandy Creek’s boys and girls was a workout, but nothing like what is about to hit as the end of this week begins. Girls basketball nears the end

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This past weekend I traveled quite a bit. From a speech meet in Grand Island, to a day with some of my favorite ladies (my aunt and two cousins), there was a good bit of driving done.

I take after most of the men in my family when it comes to drivers rage. Being in a family full of truckers... well, drivers rage comes easily. You grow up with it, I guess.

Anyway, I’m the kind of “rage driver” who will cuss insistently at others who are driving stupidly.

For example: Driving down the highway, going the speed limit, cruise control is set, when some I’m-in-a-hurry-get-out-of-my-way driver comes flying up behind me. Despite being able to see a vehicle coming toward us in the opposite lane the driver behind me decides to pass me because they just can’t be patient.

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Sometimes what you see is hard to believe with your own eyes, and at other times, it’s a dead center bullseye.

Monday night, while thinking of the topic of the Bull, a bullseye hit me square in the middle of the forehead, kind of like my thoughts in an opinion piece I wrote this week on page 5A.

“Shop Local...Cause Amazon won’t sponsor your kids ball team!”

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Just 15 minutes after opening, the food truck known as Mean Bone BBQ & Burgers had a line of people awaiting food—and the line kept getting longer.

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Each winter season seems to always sneak up on me, and with a blink of an eye it’s hitting the home stretch. It seems like basketball teams and wrestling teams just hit the court and mats throughout the state and all-of-the-sudden, we’re about to enter the home stretch of the winter season.

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Once per month I’m hoping to write a column focusing on one book I’ve read recently (or in the past, depending on how much time I got in to read a new book).

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