Columns

By Tory Duncan

Sandy Creek’s Russ Ninemire, a legend in his own, was honored this past Sunday with yet another milestone in his career, being named the head coach of the west girls basketball team, during the McDonalds All-American basketball game held in late March at the United Center in Chicago.

I remember the first time I did an in-depth interview with him, after Ninemire gained his 500th career win. One of the many things he shared about his experiences at Sandy Creek was his recollection of driving from Fremont to this little school district in the South part of Nebraska called Sandy Creek.

“I had no clue what was going to happen after taking a job here.”

By Ashley Swanson

Recently, National Geographic released an article about a type of bumblebee, the rust patched bumblebee, being put on the endangered species list.

The bee population decrease intrigues me, so following along with the consistent declines of bee populations and possible reasons for that decline is quite interesting.

The rusty patched bumblebee’s population has declined by 87 percent over the last two decades. While this may not seem significant to some, the potential demise of bumble and honeybees is a serious issue.

These bees, often viewed as pesky and dangerous, because of their stings, are actually incredibly helpful to pollination and the growing of plants.

By Ashley Swanson

With the new year here, there’s a bunch of items to be excited for in 2017.

Personally this year, I get to celebrate with my best friend as she marries the love of her life, and I get to welcome another niece or nephew into the world (sometime in July or August).

On another level, 2017 also marks Nebraska’s 150th birthday (officially on March 1) as well as the 145th Clay County Fair.

Focusing on Nebraska’s big 150, the governor and a slew of people have come up with a number of challenges and activities to partake in celebrating.

The main one being the 150 physical challenge, which has people walking, running, biking and/or paddling; really, any type of activity such as those will do. Sound a bit much? It’s actually not as much as you think, considering there are 365 days in a year.

By Tory Duncan

Evidently last week’s Bull column, regarding the building of a $70 million high school football stadium, touched a nerve with a few of you, as well.

This week, after having some “chit chats” about that stadium, like I was told by one Clay County News reader...Lighten the mood Duncan!

Okay, so this reader wasn’t that direct and it certainly was a light-hearted comment, but not just because of last week’s column, I have chosen to lighten my mood this week.

Everyone is always focused on setting New Year goals/ resolutions, which is always good...IF you can keep them, that is.

I certainly have a few personal goals (we’ll call them), the least of which is spending more time with family and friends...seems like a logical first goal for 2017, IF I keep it.

By Ashley Swanson

With Christmas over and another year just around the corner, there’s just enough time to take a breather before school begins again and events take hold of the week.

While basketball and wrestling continues in the sports section, and while meetings and town events continue in the news section, another season of events is approaching, one I’m most excited for.

Speech meets will soon claim almost every Saturday from January to March, with the first meets beginning on Jan. 7, with Harvard and Sutton traveling the 30 or so miles to Adams Central. Sandy Creek joins the mix on Jan. 14, at the Grand Island Senior High (GISH) meet.

This year is sure to feature new and old talent, with several veteran speechletes preparing their final events of their high school careers. With several meets set up for this season, there are two close to home for those who don’t want to travel too far.

By Tory Dunc

WOW!!! I ran across a story recently that about made this guy cringe....to say the least.

Evidently this has been taking place since at least August, if not sooner.

A Texas high school will reportedly be spending, or should I say IS spending... YES, at least $70 million dollars on a new football stadium, making it what is to be believed THEE most expensive athletic complex/football stadium in the United States.

Hummmmmmm.....something just hit me wrong with this...in a BIG way!!

I realize that Texas high school football is big, very big, with football budgets alone reaching into the multi-million dollar range in some school districts.