2009: News reporter, columnist dies unexpectedly
April 6, 1994
HARTINGTON — The Chapter One faculty, students, and Parent Advisory Council hosted a carnival at Hartington Public on March 24. The event featured several carnival type games designed to promote family togetherness.
April 7, 1999
LAUREL—A Monday meeting here that was supposed to feature a jovial meal and discussion, was instead tinged by sadness and sorrow. District 18 Sen. Stan Schellpeper was supposed to speak at the event. Schellpeper collapsed and died of an = apparent heart attack Sunday while celebrating Easter with his family.
April 7, 2004
HARTINGTON—It was Gene Burbach Night at the Monday’s Hartington Chamber of Commerce meeting. Burbach plans to hand over the clippers to Lance Heine, who is fresh out of barber college.
April 7, 2004
HARTINGTON—Ross McGregor and Staci Burbach have been chosen to represent Cedar Catholic at the girls and boys state. For the Hartington Public School, Beau Fleming and Ashley Grube have been announced.
Spencer Lee and Jessica Schwader are going for Wynot Public School.
April 1, 2009
LINCOLN — It may be a little more difficult for Northeast Nebraska residents to understand the bills and new laws coming out of the Legislature from now on.
Long-time Cedar County News legislative reporter and columnist Barb Burbach died Friday in Lincoln.
Burbach, 46, covered the Legislature for the Cedar County News since 1997. She worked for the News right up to her death. Her final article appears elsewhere on this page.
Her efforts were appreciated by both local residents and state lawmakers.
“Barbara had a genuine interest in the legislative process and especially issues affecting agriculture and northeast Nebraska,” said former Dist. 40 Sen. Doug Cunningham. “She loved the community she worked for. She loved Wynot, agriculture, and small farms. She cared about these issues and asked questions and reported on issues that the big papers didn’t seem to care about.”
Current Dist 40 Sen.Cap Dierks said Burbach had an obvious desire to help Cedar County and its people.
“She really did have a passion for the rural part of our state. She was especially fond of Cedar County and all the people in that county,” Dierks said.
Hartington Economic Development Coordinator Carla Becker said Burbach always went out of her way to make people feel comfortable.
“She was a person you’ll never forget,” Becker said. “She had a way of touching your heart. Not only did she always greet Hartington people with warm smiles and kind words for everyone, she sincerely loved to be with us. She may have lived in Lincoln, but it was obvious she loved her home roots of Wynot and the Hartington area. Not only was she extremely knowledgeable in knowing the Unicameral and state senators, but more than that she was just one of a kind ... honest, loving, and very dedicated to her work.”
Few of the people that read Burbach’s articles understood the struggle she went through to bring this information to the public.
She suffered a near life-ending accident in 1990, when the New York City taxi cab she was riding in ran a red light.