News

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office is collecting donations of stuffed animals and blankets for children through the Aiden’s Animals program. Malissa Walton, Sheriff’s Scott Walton’s wife, said she was looking for a Christmas project as a way to give something to the children in the area. She contacted Jennifer Brock of Aidan’s Animals to find out about this program.

Aidan’s Animals is a 501(c)(3) created in memory of Jeff Curry and Jennifer Brock’s two-year-old son Aidan who was killed in a car accident. Every year Aidan’s Animals raises money to provide comfort items to other children who face crisis and need something soft and warm to hold onto.

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The Nebraska Department of Transportation, southeast Nebraska’s county commissioners, and Senator Julie Slama will be participating in a meeting at the Johnson County Courthouse on December 16. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss jurisdiction issues on the maintenance of state highway right-of-ways.

Many older highways, including Highway 50, seem to be held to different maintenance standards for right-of-ways than highways that have been resurfaced in recent years. Senator Slama invited the Department of Transportation to participate in this meeting in Tecumseh so that they could experience, firsthand, the struggles we’re facing with highway infrastructure in District 1.

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Twelve servicemen and women from the Tecumseh and Cook area will receive Christmas care packages through Bickel Nelson American Legion Auxiliary Unit #360 of Cook.

The Bickel Nelson Unit has been sending Christmas care packages to area servicemen and women for over 30 years.

“It’s a way to thank the servicemen and women for the time they have taken in serving our country. It’s a way to give them a little piece of home away from home,” said Joyce Roesener.

Each care package is filled with toiletries such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste and mouthwash, as well as snacks, drinks, beef jerky, cookies, gum, pencils and paper, NebraskaLand magazine, a book and Christmas cards. The only items unacceptable for sending are alcohol, tobacco and chocolate.

Joe Burrow, a senior quarterback at Louisiana State University, LSU, is a forerunner among this year’s contenders for the prestigious Heisman Trophy, which is presented to “the most outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.” The Heisman Trophy winner will be announced on ESPN television network, this Saturday night, December 14 at 8 p.m. ET. The Heisman Trophy ceremony will take place in New York City.

As a quarterback for the LSU Tigers, in Baton Rouge, La., Burrow has tied the SEC record touchdown passes and he has also set a record for the number of passing yards during the 2019 season.

His 2019 statistics include: completing 342 of 439 passes for a total of 4,715 yards and 48 touchdowns. In the rushing category, Burrow has totaled 96 carries for 289 yards and three touchdowns.

Come enjoy the Living Nativity at Hopewell UMC rural Sterling Sunday afternoon, December 8 at 2:00, 2:45 and 3:30 p.m.

Live animals, warm drinks and cookies...

Our gift to the community.

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Nutt’s Closet, 322 Jefferson, Elk Creek, will be open Saturday, December 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

Nutt’s Closet is a non-profit, volunteer service that works to provide good clothing to those who want and need it without any cost. The items donated or exchanged are given away, never sold.

Donated clothing should be clean and in good to excellent condition.

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The Sterling Board of Education approved of hiring Dr. Thomas Sharp as the interim superintendent for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year effective through June 30. Dr. Sharp’s contract is for 3/5ths time, or 0.6 FTE, with a salary of $43,500.

In his introduction to the board and school staff in attendance at the November 19th meeting, Dr. Sharp said he will help calm things down concerning the school audit and plans to have it completed within the next few days.

During a public comment session, three parents shared concerns about moving forward in the right direction by holding students, staff and coaches accountable in developing a culture of excellence rather than mediocrity in academics and extracurricular activities at Sterling Public Schools, in order for the students of Sterling Public Schools to be well-rounded in their educational pursuits in the future.

For six or seven years, the family of Nancy Tilton and Judy Schulze has been preparing the Thanksgiving Dinner at the Tecumseh United Methodist Church for Tecumseh community members who may not have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving.

“It started with my mom, daughter and myself,” said Tilton.

Today, whoever wants to help is welcome. Nancy’s boys are helping now. “They don’t do to much food prep but they are good store runners if we forget or need something. I think last year we sent them to Dollar General about 10 times,” Tilton said.

Preparation starts weeks in advance. Judy gathers all the supplies necessary for the traditional dinner. Turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy and dressing.

She goes to the church early on Thanksgiving morning and puts the turkeys in the roasters, puts together the dressing and green bean casserole.

Ten years to the day from the attack on Pearl Harbor, (December 7, 1951) Louis Bentzinger of Cook was sworn into the U.S. Army at Ft. Omaha. I caught up with Louis recently at his farm and asked if he would share his story with me. He got out his records and detailed his experiences.

When he got his draft notice, Louis said his Uncle was calling, “During the Induction Ceremony, you hold up your right hand and take one step forward and tell your Uncle Sam you will go where he tells you to go and do what he tells you to do.”

The first thing Uncle Sam told Louis to do was take charge of the 40 men besides himself who were headed for Camp Crowder, Mo., which is abandoned now but was located near Neosho, Mo.

“We changed trains in Kansas City and all 41 took off in all directions,” Louis recalled. “I wondered if they all would show up [for the next train] and, thankfully, they all showed up. That was my first duty and I was still in civilian clothes.”

Tim Morrissey of M & M Supply reported that, this year, a total 420 deer were tagged in Johnson County during firearm deer hunting season. This was the most deer tagged since 2012.

“It was a good year with better than average deer being tagged,” Morrissey concluded.

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