Local residents are asked to be pro-active this weekend and help report roads that have issues but aren’t market yet.
Antelope County Road Superintendent Casey Dittrich said his crew, and countless others, have worked tirelessly repairing roads but still need the public’s help reporting issues that spring up suddenly over the weekend, especially since workers will be taking the weekend off to rest. “If someone sees something unsafe on an unbarricaded road, they need to report that to the sheriff’s office” Dittrich said. “This weekend our guys need a break. They’ve been working 80-90 hours in the last seven days, so you won’t see the trucks out. But if you see something that is unsafe and not marked, we need that reported immediately.” Dittrich said issues may appear suddenly for the next several months, so it’s important that people report everything and not wait for road workers to see them. Dittrich said Antelope County has repaired more than 100 documented damage sites with about 200 more to go. Sheriff Bob Moore warned last weekend that those driving where they were not supposed to be would receive citations. He said two people have been charged with careless driving after being involved in accidents from around barricades and traveling down roads marked impassible. Moore said the driver involved in an accident Sunday at 530th and 854th Road will be charged with careless driving, as will another individual who left a vehicle in the middle of a closed road at 840 1/2 Road and 523rd Avenue. “Those who choose to go around barricades and have no business being there and having accidents will be charged with careless driving,” Moore said. Anybody who has business there, Moore said they will understand their needing to be there. Those individuals, he said, are familiar with the road and know if they need a tractor or pickup to get down the road. But Moore said those traveling roads without reason will be cited. “If that orange barricade is up and you choose to go around it and are in an accident, you will be charged with careless driving because that’s a careless act on your part,” Moore said. “It’s been on the radio and newspapers. Everyone knows those barricades represent no travel. Those barricades are there for a reason. We do not want the general public down those roads.” The next Antelope County Extension Board meeting will be held March 28 at 4 p.m. in the basement meeting room at the Antelope County Courthouse.
Eleven students in the Nebraska Unified District #1 were inducted into the National Honor Society last week, including (front, left to right) Morgan Erhardt, Allie Kutrous, Jaqueline Olivan, Lauren Behnk, Kaci Wickersham, Rafe Grebin, (back, left to right) Max Hollmann, Anthony Marino, Avery Cheatum, Hunter Klabenes and Blake Hoke.
After agreeing to a two-year sports co-op with Clearwater and Ewing, the Orchard board wants more — a six-year commitment.
During Monday’s board meeting, Athletic Director Jim Schutt gave an update on scheduling, practices and potentially adding cross country to the list of sports offered. Schutt met with Clearwater AD Shelly Mlnarik and Ewing AD Greg Appleby recently to begin weaving the teams together as the OC Cyclones and Ewing Tigers become a Class C2 team. Schutt said Jay Bellar, director of the Nebraska Schools Activities Association, informed them that the organization “can approve the co-op and we don’t have to have a mascot and colors in stone.” Without a mascot and colors, it’s uncertain what the new OCE teams will wear for uniforms. Schutt said the ADs brainstormed during their meeting about everything from buying new uniforms to rotating home and away with current uniforms. The idea of rotating green and white uniforms with orange and black uniforms met immediate opposition from the Orchard board. Terra Williby said before spending money on new uniforms, she wants a longer agreement for the sports co-op. Board members favored a six-year co-op agreement and purchasing new uniforms immediately for the OCE teams. They said if the consolidation passes, the co-op agreement will end because they will be one school. If it fails, the sports co-op will continue. “If they believe (the consolidation) is going to happen, there shouldn’t be a problem having a longer agreement,” Williby said. During the Feb. 25 joint meeting, the boards approved a sports co-op to begin this fall for all sports except high school football, which cannot be added until 2020 due to NSAA rules. If a bond passes to build a new school, they will consolidate in June 2020. Principal Cathy Cooper said Orchard, Clearwater and Ewing would share a budget but likely have their own K-12 schools until the new facility opens. Sports schedules Schutt said the ADs are looking to “upgrade” their volleyball and basketball schedules since OCE will be Class C2. In volleyball, they dropped a tournament in Ansley to play at Lutheran High Northeast against teams like Blair, South Sioux City and Omaha North. OCE will play Wisner-Pilger and participate in a tournament in Ord but won’t play Osmond or Spalding/Spalding Academy. In basketball, OCE added Laurel-Concord/Coleridge but won’t play Elba or Allen. The Cyclone Holiday Tournament is also uncertain at this time with only three teams currently committed. Although North Central replaced Elkhorn Valley, the tournament is still down a team since both the Cyclones and Tigers had teams previously. Schutt said St. Mary’s and Stuart are both considering the tournament. “We’re trying to keep as many conference teams as we can,” Schutt said. “It’s important we’re in a conference and don’t forget those conference opponents.” Schutt said he was pleased with the scheduling arrangement. Games will be evenly split between the three gyms with practices rotated weekly. He said teams will take advantage of having three large gyms during the basketball season with boys, girls and junior high teams rotating between the three locations. Wrestling will continue to practice at Clearwater. As for coaching assignments, Schutt said each AD has spoken to coaches about their interest in coaching next year and has shared that information with administrators, who were to meet Tuesday to begin shuffling duties for 2019-20. “We want to expedite the coaching situation because of summer leagues and team camps,” Schutt said. Consolidation Cooper said while a date has not been set for the bond vote, administrators have been given more details on how a special election will work. She said the counties need a 50-day notice before the election and prefer a mail-in ballot rather than opening polls. Only residents in the three districts — Orchard, Clearwater and Ewing — can vote. Those who own land in the district but reside elsewhere cannot vote. Ballots would be mailed to voters 10-15 days prior to the election and returned to county election commissioners in Antelope and Holt counties by 5 p.m. the day of the election. The special election can be held during any month, but the date must be the first Tuesday following the second Monday of that month, per state statute. The three schools are forming a consolidation subcommittee to continue planning for consolidation. Orchard will be represented by Nathan Schwager and Terri Hergert while Marty Kerkman and Steven Thiele will serve for Clearwater. Ewing will meet on Thursday and select their representatives at that time. Plan B With a decision on unification between Orchard, Clearwater and Verdigre expected at next week’s Nebraska Unified board meeting, the Orchard board members wrote a statement to give to the Unified board. Williby suggested Orchard pursue unification for another three years (until 2023), so the district has a Plan B if the bond fails. “If the bond passes, consolidation trumps any unification,” she said. Elementary & Ag Cooper read a letter of resignation from sixth-grade teacher Tami Kufahl, who will be moving to Iowa, with her husband, Pastor David Kuhfal, who has accepting a calling there. She said there are have been 18 applications for the elementary position and seven for the industrial technology position, which will likely be an ag position instead. There have been three interviews for the elementary position with another interview this week. Two people have interviewed for IT/ag position with another expected. District speech meets involved a lot more “improv” than usual this year as teams struggled to make it back home as flood conditions worsened during the course of their competitions.
Neligh-Oakdale, Elkhorn Valley and OC speech teams traveled to Hartington and Elgin Public and Pope John headed to Bancroft. Only Orchard and Clearwater students made it back home that night. As the teams left early Wednesday morning for their district competitions, concerns started to arise. “I had a pretty good idea on the way there that it wasn’t good because there was a little bit of water over the road east of Osmond already,” Ron Beacom of Neligh-Oakdale said. “Guys in Nebraska Department of Roads trucks were there watching it.” Elgin Public Coach Jessie Reestman said their district meet got off to a slow start. “The morning began with a speech coach meeting and we found out a couple teams were still en route because they already had to be rerouted,” Reestman said. “At that point, the state was called and we were informed the districts must continue.” She said the delay pushed the competition’s start time back almost two hours. Beacom, who was filling in for N-O’s speech coach Celia VanFleet, said he was in touch with administrators back in Neligh soon after their arrival in Hartington and learned Neligh-Oakdale was planning an early dismissal. “About an hour later, I talked with Mr. Dempsey and he didn’t think there was going to be any way for us into town at that point, unless we we there in an hour,” he said. “We were more than an hour away and we were not even started on the second round yet, so I knew that we were probably, timewise, going to be in trouble in terms of the water.” As soon their chances of getting home “looked grim,” Elgin Public Coach Stacy Shumake-Henn said Supt. Dan Polk booked rooms for them in West Point. “He was on top of things all day,” she said. “He even sent us a text message, reminding us to keep the kids focused, do what we were there to do and things would be taken care of.” Reestman said Supt. Polk made hotel arrangements for Elgin Public and Pope John. “But we also had parents and grandparents, and all rooms were full, so using rollaway beds, we all got into rooms,” she said. Beacom said he and others in Hartington, including Elkhorn Valley speech coach Wes Prater, discussed options once they were told they wouldn’t make it past Battle Creek. “We were all non-stop visitors to 511 Nebraska,” he said. “Then we became more and more scared because it looked like everybody was going to be stuck right there in Hartington. It was starting to look like we weren’t going to be able to get out of town.” Beacom and Prater tried getting a hotel room in Norfolk, but “there were no rooms to be had,” Beacom said. They eventually ended up with rooms in Wayne. He said a couple restaurants gave them discounted meals during their stay and the Wayne Community Center allowed them to use their facility. “Most of our kids hung out in their little game room area where they have a couple pool tables, a shuffleboard table, a ping pong table, air hockey, foosball,” Beacom said. “It was a nice break, an opportunity to just get out of the hotel, to stay busy.” The one Neligh-Oakdale van and two Elkhorn Valley vans departed together and everyone arrived home on Friday morning. Elgin Public and Pope John decided to stick together in West Point. “Since the Pope John team had driven a van, we told them to join us on the bus,” Shumake-Henn said. “They remained with us throughout the ordeal.” She said West Point was “so welcoming” during their stay. “As soon as we arrived, the fire department saw our bus and immediately checked in with us to make sure we were okay,” Shumake-Henn said. “The people at Horizon Inn and Suites were very accommodating. I felt bad when we pulled into McDonalds at 10 p.m. (after the speech meet) with a busload of kids, after they’d already mopped for the night and were getting ready to close, but they were so kind about it.” The next morning, they were greeted by Shawn Koch of ASC Lockers, who brought them packages of beef sticks, Guardian Angels Central Catholic students served chili, Chris Kreikemeier from the Nielsen Community Center brought pizza and T shirts and two West Point teachers brought in board games to entertain the students. Shumake-Henn said their “Elgin connections” also took good care of them. “On Thursday, Kari (Jake) Schindler’s mother, Carol Vanseggern, called to see what we needed,” she said. “She and some friends put together and delivered a bunch of snacks, water and pop.” Pope John Coach Peggy Payne contacted Fr. Steve Emmanuel, a former Pope John teacher who is now at GACC, and he opened up the gym so “the kids could go burn off some energy,” Shumake-Henn said. On Friday morning, Reestman said they woke to fresh donuts delivered by Elgin native Tyson Dinslage, son of Brian and Kathy Dinslage. “I’m sure there are several people we are forgetting, but the kindness was just overwhelming,” Shumake-Henn said. “Every time we turned around, we had everything we needed. That helps in such an unsure situation.” The coaches said St. Edward and North Bend students were also stranded in West Point. “The kids made some friends and definitely made some memories,” Shumake-Henn said. When they were finally able to find a safe route home, they called the St. Edward team. “They gathered their kids and supplies and followed,” Reestman said. “Unfortunately, our poor North Bend friends would not be able to leave, for they had nowhere to return. It was hard to wave goodbye to them knowing we could go home and they couldn’t.” Schumake-Henn said their experience is one they will always remember. “There were so many good people in that town who stepped up when we needed them,” she said. It was amazing. Even now, there are Facebook messages everywhere from that town praising our speech teams for being such great kids during our stay in West Point, but the people of West Point are the real heroes.” Brian Hain has dedicated hours of time training as a firefighter, EMT and member of Jaws of Life.
But he never thought he’d be called to help anyone out of a flooded house, especially in Antelope County. But the Neligh firefigher did just that Wednesday afternoon in Oakdale. “I never thought I’d see anything like this. It was something else,” Hain said. Hain was part of a rope rescue team that helped two individuals in Oakdale escape the Glenice Pollock home at 206 First Street, which was the second rope rescue in a matter of hours for the fire department. The first involved two minors from the Elkhorn River in Neligh’s Riverside Park early Wednesday afternoon. The minors were quickly found near Belmer Creek. “They could have been swept away before anyone knew what happened,” Hain said. The second rescue took more time and manpower. The Oakdale Fire Department called for the rope rescue team and help arrived from the Neligh Police Department and Antelope County’s road crew. Hain was taken into the flood water in the bucket of a county payloader driven by Road Superintendent Casey Dittrich and rescued the two individuals inside. Hain said he’d been on a grain rescue before, but last week was his first rope rescue in water. He said it felt totally different than during training. “I was just trying to get them out. I wasn’t really thinking about anything other than that,” Hain admitted. He said Dittrich had the idea to use a payloader and brought the county’s in for assistance. “That was out-of-the-box thinking,” Hain said, “so that was a great idea.” Hain said the house had about a foot of water inside when he went in. He had both victims immediately put on life jackets and took them out of the home by age before going back in for the family’s pit bull. “They seemed pretty calm and had all of their belongings by the door,” he said. “The hardest part was getting the kennel out. They didn’t have a leash for the dog, so we took the whole kennel.” Considering it was his first rescue in water, Hain said he learned a lot and would have done a couple of things differently, such as having been tied to the payloader. Hain, who humbly shrugged off everyone thanking him for his efforts, said being able to put all of his training to use locally during an emergency situation is exactly why the first responders work so hard. “It is fulfilling, I suppose,” Hain admitted. “It’s nice to be able to put that training to good use and help somebody out on a bad day.” Cots replaced meeting tables. Blankets and pillows were strewn about the fire hall. Trying to make stranded travelers feel comfortable, the Neligh Fire Department, along with local community members, stepped up to help those in need due to the historic flooding that wreaked havoc throughout Northeast Nebraska last week. After roads had become unsuitable for travel, Neligh opened up its fire hall as a make-shift shelter for those who were unable to get home or forced from their home. “I was called from fellow firefighters who work for the state that said, ‘Hey can you help us,’ and ‘Bam!’ We had,” stated Neligh Fire Chief Mike Mortensen. Volunteer firefighters quickly sprang into action preparing the fire hall for those displaced by the flood. “It’s not just our department,” Mortensen noted. “We got good guys up north and south. It’s just the volunteerism. The state is strung out and we’re trying to help our fellow people in the emergency management system.” Along with the crew getting to work, community members did all they could to lend a helping hand. “We’ve had some fantastic people step up and offer to bring food, drinks, snacks and toiletries,” commented captain Jason Krebs. “We always keep a pretty good supply on hand for occasions like this, but the added support from the community and people willing to bring up additional food and everything we may need has been great.” Neligh Fire and Rescue was also busy responding to calls, successfully making two rope saves Wednesday, answering calls for help and blocking roads. “Everyone has stepped up,” Krebs continued. “We took shifts throughout the night, mostly supporting road closures. There had to be some water rescues and everyone has lent a hand with that. Everything has gone smoothly. We’ve had great communication with the Nebraska Department of Roads. They’ve kept us up-to-date and we’ve tried to lend a hand there wherever we can. The county officials, (sheriff) Bob Moore and his crew and the dispatchers have worked their tails off.” Neligh’s volunteers also provided assistance to the National Weather Service. “The sensor on the bridge broke, so the National Weather Service has been relying on Neligh Fire to give them readings on the river every two hours,” Krebs said. “(Assistant Chief) Dave Jacobsen has been working instrumentally with the National Weather Service, giving them water reports because their gauge out here is broken.” Stranded travelers were appreciative of the volunteers and community’s efforts. “The firemen have been very nice and all of the other people helping out have been great,” Judge Ross Stoffer said on Thursday. “They’ve had all kinds of really good food and have offered to do anything we may need. They have checked in on us constantly.” Judge Stoffer, a Norfolk resident, was in Pierce for court and was unable to get home. Stoffer tried to go around through Neligh, but again was unable to get back. “My biggest fear was coming from Pierce and being told I couldn’t get in and then trying to turnaround and go back to Pierce and that would be closed and I couldn’t get any further,” Stoffer remarked. “Then I’d be in the middle of nowhere. It’s nice to get to a place like this. You realize everyone is trying to do the best they can to get things open so you can get to where you need to go, but also doing it safely. You don’t want to put them at risk by trying to do something, getting stuck and then they have to come out and rescue you. It’s frustrating, but it’s good to be in a warm place and you know you’re safe. You just have to wait it out until the weather changes. There’s not much you can do about it.” The Neligh Fire Department housed more than two dozen people Wednesday night and two people stayed the night on Thursday. Everyone had left the shelter by Friday morning. Those that were stuck, along with Stoffer, included residents from Niobrara, truckers passing through and a family from Minnesota. “We are able to watch Nebraska basketball,” Stoffer added about how they have stayed busy while waiting to leave. “People have talked to relatives to make sure they are okay and we’ve been sharing stories about what we’ve been hearing about damages. Talking to the travelers, I found out one other person in here was in college with my daughter in Lincoln. You meet people that know people you know. That was fun and it helped to pass the time getting to know people.” The only thing more powerful than the flood waters, was the outpouring of support shown by the volunteer fire department and the community. “It’s been fantastic,” Krebs concluded. “It speaks very well for our community and a lot of great people have stepped up and offered everything we could possibly need up here. It’s something everyone in our community can be proud of. Everyone has stepped up. Even though it’s something that has been pretty horrendous, everybody has stepped up and done a fantastic job.
With sleet spitting in his face, James Bolling spent 3½ hours moving icebergs from beneath the bridge — the same bridge his backhoe was sitting on as he piece-by-piece broke an ice jam on the Elkhorn River. But knowing the icebergs could lift the bridge at any time and throw him and the others into the river wasn’t the scariest part of the night for the Clearwater man. Much worse was earlier having to rescue his friend who was standing on the roof of an F-350 with the river rushing through its windows and icebergs bouncing off the side panels. “That was the probably the worst part,” Bolling said. “I knew I had to get Spud (Jason Jacob) off the top of the pickup. With ice hitting the truck and water rushing through the driver’s window, that was the most hair raising part of it all.” ![]()
27 Minutes
Jacob runs Spud Trucking from property next to the Elkhorn River between Neligh and Clearwater. Between the rain and snowmelt, the Elkhorn River rose quickly Wednesday. The Cedar Creek had flooded Oakdale earlier in the day and water was over the highway in various places throughout Antelope County. Wanting to keep his equipment safe for the night, Jacob moved his backhoe, payloader and other equipment to higher ground next to the highway and close to the bridge.He checked the river at 9 p.m. before heading home. At 9:27 his phone rang. Employee Kasey Dye called to say he needed to move the backhoe to the bridge because the river was jammed and water was flowing across the highway. “In 27 minutes, the river went from being high to an emergency,” Jacob recalled. “The water was flowing over the highway and ice was jammed under the bridge.” Jacob called Bolling, who has worked for Jacob since winter 2014, to come help as well. Dye had started moving giant chunks of ice by the time Bolling arrived. As Bolling jumped into the payloader, Jacob hopped into Bolling’s pickup and started driving toward a building with the hope of shutting down the power. But the Elkhorn River had other ideas. The water was fast, deep and full of ice. “At first I didn’t think it was that serious, but then the icebergs started banging the sides of JJ’s pickup. The force was incredible, but I thought I could make it to the shop,” Jacob said. “The pickup started floating away and water was coming through the window of the cab. I had to crawl out and get on the roof. JJ came over with the payloader, and I jumped into the bucket.” Bolling saw everything. As he was getting into the payloader to help Dye on the bridge, his red Ford kept creeping further and further into the water. “When I saw the taillights disappear, I knew he was in trouble,” Bolling said. “The water was going in one window and out the other. Everything escalated very quickly. I’m just glad I could get there and get him out of there. Rescuing him was more nerve-wracking than being on the bridge moving ice. ![]()
Saving The Bridge & Town
Neither Bolling nor Jacob had much time to grasp what had just happened — Bolling was needed in the backhoe. Not only did the bridge depend on it, but the community of Oakdale did, too. Antelope County Road Superintendent Casey Dittrich said the Elkhorn River was pushing south toward the Ag Agronomy Center, which had already moved fertilizer tanks because the Cedar Creek was out of its banks, higher than any Oakdale residents had ever seen it. If the Elkhorn would have merged with the Cedar Creek, Dittrich said Oakdale would have been helpless. “I am certain (Bolling) saved the bridge. I’m certain he saved Oakdale, certain he saved Highway 275,” Dittrich said. “He worked that backhoe with rain coming in facing the west. He was in a hoodie and no gloves, so he could use the controls. He was soaked to the bone, but he did it for 3½ hours.” While Jacob said he’s not an engineer, he imagines the ice could have lifted up the bridge much like what happened along the Niobrara River as it floated the Mormon Canal Bridge down the river. “That bridge is a lifeline for Antelope County, and we couldn’t lose that bridge,” Jacob said. Bolling spent hours throwing ice and logs out of the Elkhorn River while others pushed them into the other side of the bridge. Piece by piece, Bolling lifted chunks of ice out of the Elkhorn and onto the bridge. “It seemed like I was making no progress. It took forever to move the ice,” Bolling said. “The heater didn’t work, and it was cold. But I honestly didn’t notice until I was done. I was just running on adrenaline.” Dittrich said Bolling worked like an animal, feverishly breaking icebergs and moving chunks of ice until the water could flow through beneath the bridge. ![]()
‘Just What We Do’
Bolling said he never thought twice about climbing into the backhoe even after Jacob’s incident, and Jacob stayed beside his friend helping to save the bridge throughout the night. “It’s just what we do in Antelope County. We don’t know any other way,” Jacob said. Jacob has strong ties to the county. His father, Eli, is one of five county commissioners. Since Wednesday, Jacob and Bolling — and countless others — have dedicated themselves to helping the county from more bridge work to now road repair. Dittrich said he can’t put into words what Bolling and Jacob did that night for Antelope County. Their selflessness, he said, impacted thousands of people who likely don’t even know — until now — what transpired on the Highway 275 bridge Wednesday night. “Those guys risked their lives that night,” said Antelope County Road Superintendent Casey Dittrich. “What those guys did to save Oakdale was amazing. He saved Spud (Jacob) and then the town.” Antelope County's rural travel ban will be lifted at 6 a.m. Thursday, according to the county's emergency management team. Schools will be able to reopen on Thursday, though administrators and school will need to make phone calls for arrangements on travel.
Emergency Management Director Bob Moore said they are asking all rural travel be limited to 35 mph until further notice. Moore said County Attorney Joe Abler is asking school administrators to meet with driving teens about how to drive on these roads and to pull over to let trucks go by. Moore said it will be the school administrators' decisions on whether buses should be taken on the rural roads. He said vans shouldn't have issues on roads that are marked open. Casey Dittrich, county road superintendent, handed out maps of open roads to the officials; however, he noted that those maps are currently changing "and not always for the better" because roads that were open Monday may not be open today. Dittrich said about 250 miles of county road remains closed with snow fence across many of them. He said 45 volunteers helped map the county on Monday, which expedited the repairs the last couple of days. "We're fixing stuff faster than I can update the map," Dittrich said. "Volunteers have been outstanding. I can't say that enough." Commissioner Charlie Henery said the longterm repair of roads "will be worse this spring than any time." He asked for patience as repairs continue. "We have to exercise caution," Henery said. Moore said a concern remains about "the so many unknowns" with water in the ditches. Officials said rain is in the forecast on Saturday, so things can change. Moore also encouraged the schools to remind their students to stay off of their cell phones to alleviate distractions while driving. With the help of the state government and the Nebraska Red Cross, the Nebraska Broadcast Association will have Nebraska Strong Drive for Flood Relief on Friday. All member television and radio stations across the state will participate in urging people to donate to the fund drive.
“Obviously the devastation is beyond description in many ways,” stated President of Nebraska Broadcast Association Jim Timm. “It’s clear that funding is going to be needed to help people, businesses and everyone involved with the recovery.” Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts intends on declaring a ‘Nebraska Strong Day’ on Friday to help support the relief campaign. There are two ways to donate. On Friday, you can call the call center in Omaha at 1-844-278-8555 from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m., or you can call your local radio or TV station. You can also go to the Red Cross’ website, Redcross.org/donate, there is a disaster relief button you can click on and you can donate. “We are urging people to call and make a donation to help people get back on their feet as this tragedy continues to unfold,” Timm commented. “To kick start this drive, the Nebraska Broadcasters have donated $20,000 to the American Red Cross chapter in Omaha to help encourage people to get behind us and raise money.” |
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