News

It was an exciting day during the Class C State Journalism competition in Norfolk Monday, as several students from Harvard and Sandy Creek came home with medals.

From Harvard, Zahna Reutzel was named the champion of Newspaper News Writing for the third year in a row; she also earned fourth in Yearbook Feature Writing.

Classmates Sheila Alvarez earned runner-up in Yearbook Sports Feature Writing, while Cohen Reutzel placed third in Headline Writing and sixth in Yearbook Sports Feature Writing.

Sandy Creek’s Kassydi Garvin and Teagan Jarosik earned first place in Newspaper Column Writing and Editorial Cartooning, respectively.

Earning fourth in Editorial Writing was Aisley Schliep; she also earned eighth in Sports News Writing.

Mason Hinrichs and Hudson Devlin placed fifth in Broadcast Public Service Announcement, while in Advertising, Hinrichs placed sixth and Devlin, seventh.

The Clay County Communications Center has implemented a new 911 platform called Prepared Live.

Prepared Live allows dispatchers to communicate with reporting parties/victims during an emergency through text messaging and/or live video.

According to a Prepared informational document, The system leverages “existing technology to strengthen emergency information flow and improve public safety.

“The platform allows 911 PSAPs to access live video, photo, GPS location, and text messaging on any mobile 911 call they receive. This information can be shared with first responders in real-time, ensuring that they arrive on-scene faster and better informed.”

It should be noted the video call function, although it will help provide GPS and access video during a 911 call, the system does not provide access to the contents or settings of a caller’s phone.

Like many businesses, Rock On began as a hobby and a passion.

Owners of the Harvard business Denise Marshall and Kris Sedersten said their talk of opening a business began one day at Sedersten’s house.

“I was at her house and we were talking about rocks while she was tumbling and we thought, ‘what could we do with them?’” Marshall said.

They saw a video on how to make necklaces with rocks and wire, and it was uphill from there.

Sedersten has been collecting and tumbling rocks for many years. She’ll take time to collect them from river and creek beds, and vacation trips to other areas, such as South Dakota.

“I’ve always liked rocks and collecting them,” Sedersten said. “And so does Denise.”

Having been friends since before kindergarten, the two chuckled as they noted how it was only inevitable for them to open a business together at some point.

The reality of life in the public school systems across the State of Nebraska and the United States is that government funding is being reduced, putting a big crunch on school district budgets, and ultimately reducing the support of extracurricular activities throughout the country.

A leadership group in Sutton has stepped up to the plate to bring to Sutton Public Schools, a secondary support system in an effort to assist the school district with a growing budget crunch that takes place annually.

The Sutton Stampede Boosters Club, has been in the works through discussions and fundraising for the better part of the past five to six months.

BOARD LEADERS

Jeremy Robinson, who serves as the president of the newly-formed club, shared, “this is all in an effort to work with the school district to enhance the culture for our students across the board.”

Sandy Creek Public Schools are feeling the effect of statewide teacher shortages.

South Central Nebraska Unified School District #5’s Board of Education met for its regular monthly meeting on April 12, at SC’s main campus near Fairfield, following meetings of Lawrence-Nelson and SC’s individual boards.

The LN School Board weighed the pros and cons of cooperating with another school in wrestling and discussed whether to allow eighth graders to earn high school credit to accommodate new state law requiring graduates to have completed a computer science class. The SC Board reviewed which banks house the district’s accounts.

Much of the unified school board’s discussion centered on how to move forward with two teachers who submitted their resignations after signing their letters of intent for the 2023-24 school year. Letters of intent were due by March 15, noted district superintendent Julie Otero.

During the 150th annual Nebraska Press Association Convention in Lincoln, April 14-15, the Clay County News staff earned 12 awards for their efforts in 2022.

Overall, the CCN earned three first places, four second places, and five third places.

First-place spots included the annual CCN Football Contest “Pigskin Picks.” The judge stated “This is an excellent way to engage your readers. It is hyper-local, simple to follow, and gives readers a reason to participate throughout the season. The concept also works with school sports all year. ”

Karla Fehr earned first in Single Retail Advertisement in Black and White for her Post 61 Club Thanksgiving Dinner ad. In the judge’s comments, they state the ad was a creative use of space and art, easily drawing in a reader’s attention.

Members of the Sutton City Council, during their April 10 monthly meeting, took a big step forward in regard to the new housing development located in southeast Sutton, just to the east of the Fox Hollow Golf Course.

Members of the board approved the master plan for the 80-acre tract of ground, doing so with one possible adjustment being made to the plan in a small area in the northwest corner.

In that area, council members want to look at reducing the size of six lots that are a part of the plan currently, and possibly gaining up to 10 lots in that same area.

Once a new optional plan is set in stone, council members, with their engineering firm JEO out of Lincoln, will move forward with discussions about infrastructure that will be needed in the plan, as well as trying to figure out what the cost of lots in the upcoming development will be.

DTR PROJECT

Dirt work for a new South Central Public Power District office and warehouse building began recentlynear the current building in southern Clay Center.

SCPPD purchased land south of the current facility to build the new one, which will take up about 22,000 square feet, according to SCPPD General Manager Craig Cox.

Additionally, a yard will be constructed to house poles, trucks, and other materials.

The current building will still be used, but most of the operation will be out of the new facility, which is expected to be complete by the end of this year.

Cox said the new facility will consolidate its three sites in Clay Center, as in addition to the current building, there is also an office building and warehouse downtown. The new building will close two of the three sites.

Emotions ran high among parents of Sandy Creek students following an April 4 lockdown of the Fairfield campus in response to an outside threat of violence, prompting SC administration to organize a community meeting to review its active threat response plan and answer questions from the public.

The community meeting was held April 5 at SC.

“For the past five years, I have promised you that we have been training,” Julie Otero, superintendent of South Central Nebraska Unified School District #5, of which SC is part, said. “We appreciate your kids, and I promise you we did the best we could yesterday.”

Earlier on April 5, Clay County Attorney Jennifer Fleischer charged Hastings resident Connor Black with felony terroristic threats, misdemeanor false reporting, and misdemeanor intimidation by phone. The maximum penalty for a conviction of terroristic threats is three years in prison.