News

Sandy Creek’s school buses may be getting security cameras during the 2019-20 school year.

Heather Wharton, South Central Nebraska Unified School District #5’s transportation coordinator met with the Board of Education about the topic during its regular meeting on Nov. 18 at Lawrence-Nelson High School in Nelson.

“I just really believe that these cameras will help out the drivers,” she said, adding that footage can be reviewed to help discern concerns expressed by parents and students.

Route buses do have bus monitors on board Monday through Thursday when preschool is in session. However, the bus monitor cannot observe every interaction on the bus, Wharton explained, and are primarily available for the preschool students.

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Like other small communities in the county, Fairfield was notified earlier this fall that Woodward’s Disposal would no longer be providing a recycling bin to the town.

The Hastings business has since rescinded, again offering a recycling bin but at a cost to communities, according to a letter read during the Fairfield City Council’s regular monthly meeting on Nov. 11 at the city auditorium in Fairfield.

“The fee will help offset the tremendous cost of shipping material out,” read Rita Engel, council member.

A $200 fee would be required each time that the recycling bin is picked up by Woodward’s. The estimated schedule would be one pick-up every other month, reported City Clerk Miranda Ward.

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The discovery of a water leak under the Union Pacific Railroad in Sept. was good news, in a way, to Edgar. City officials had long been scouting for the source of unaccounted water use, since the community first installed its water meters.

Repairs to resolve the leak took more than a week, but the city’s monthly water loss decreased by approximately 60 percent, reported City Clerk Chris Shuck, during the Edgar City Council’s regular monthly meeting on Nov. 12 at the city hall in Edgar.

Total cost of the repair project comes to more than $72,000. The Council decided to use existing funds to pay for the repair, rather than adding the expense to the loan amount for the Edgar-Fairfield water project.

There was no news on developments in the water project. The council expressed concern that no word has been received from easements attorney John Hodges and plans to contact him for a progress report.

Walking into the hall of the United Church of Christ in Clay Center Wednesday, Nov. 13, one would see many tables full of toys, shoes, shirts, hats, and toothbrushes.

These items would eventually be put into a box that would be sent across the world, spreading some Christmas joy, good news, and God’s love.

Operation Christmas Child, under the direction of Samaritan’s Purse, delivers shoes boxes to children in more than 160 countries.

On Nov. 13 several youth assisted in filling those boxes to the brim with anything they could fit inside to be mailed.

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When Clay County Extension Office’s 4-H educator and associate, Holli Alley, applied for a possible Distinguished Service Award in March, she had no idea how far that application would go, or the fact that she would be honored Nov. 7 by the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA).

Her application first went to the state level where an awards committee for the Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association (NCEA) would look it over.

In Alley’s application, she had to include work done in the extension office such as activities done outside of 4-H—working with other 4-H’ers around the state; helping with the water jamboree; UNL student recruitment, etc.

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The Clay County Board of Supervisors heard from an activist group, advocating against the placement of a solar farm proposed in the Spring Ranch area, during its regular meeting on Nov. 12, at the courthouse in Clay Center.

Terry Madson, of Nelson, spoke on behalf of Preserve Rural Nebraska, a nonprofit organization originally organized to resist efforts by APEX Clean Energy—headquartered in Charlottesville, VA—to install a line of wind turbines across northern Nuckolls County. Based out of Deweese, Preserve Rural Nebraska boasts 300 members.

“I personally think you should not rush to meet the APEX deadline by March,” Madson said. “It takes a long time to write a smart rule.”

Harvard, Sandy Creek, and Sutton competed at their respective conference one act meets, with Harvard hosting TVC Tuesday, and Sandy Creek and Sutton heading south to Wilber for SNC.

Performing "Willy Wonka," Harvard earned third place. In Wilber, SC earned seventh place, performing "The Entire American Revolution (In 40 Minutes or Less!); Sutton, performing "10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse," earned ninth place. 

All three schools will compete at Cross County Wednesday, Dec. 4 for district competition.

*Check out the Nov. 27 edition of the Clay County News for more photos and in-depth articles about each one act, including cast, crew, and plot lines.*

FAIRMONT—On Oct. 23, the Flint Hills Resources Fairmont ethanol plant hosted representatives from the U.S. Grains Council, the Nebraska Corn Board, the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and a delegation of feed ingredients buyers from Taiwan. The Taiwanese buyers were in the United States as part of a fact-finding tour to learn about animal food products made by ethanol plants.

While ethanol plants produce dried distillers’ grains as a co-product in the production of ethanol, the Taiwanese group chose to tour Flint Hills’ Fairmont plant in part because the facility also produces NexPro®, a high-protein animal food ingredient that is especially useful in the production of poultry, fish, shrimp and pet food.

NexPro® is made through a proprietary process that separates protein from the whole stillage that remains after the production of ethanol. The Fairmont plant has been producing NexPro® since 2018.

Operation Christmas Child, under the direction of Samaritan's Purse, brings good news and great joy to children all over the world through simple gifts. Shoe boxes are packed with gifts, school supplies, toys, and hygiene items. 

The shoe boxes will be delivered to children in over 160 countries, as an expression of God's love. Now is the time to finish packing your Operation Christmas Shoe boxes. 

They can be brought to the United Church of Christ in Clay Center starting Monday, November 18. The days and hours are as follows: Monday, Nov. 18, 5-7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 5-7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 20, 5-7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 21, 5-7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22, 5-7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23, 10 a.m.-noon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 1-3 p.m., Monday, Nov. 25, 9-11 a.m. 

Information on packing a shoebox can be found at samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child, or for any information, call Sydney Brodrick at 402-984-7968.