Cedar Catholic alum will guide school next year
April 12, 2023
HARTINGTON — Work on the new Hartington Veterans Memorial is progressing quickly as contractors are now working feverishly to finish the project in time for the May 27 grand opening celebration.
Over the weekend, Bill Hochstein finished bricking up the arch column at the entrance of the memorial.
This week the granite bases for all the memorials are being placed. The donor board near the back of the memorial will also be put in place, as will two kiosks.
Early next week a crane will be in place to unload the monuments off flatbed trucks and place them on the bases. Project coordinator Dan Kathol expects this to be a three-day process.
Three flagpoles will also be installed at the memorial next week. The electrical work and installation of lights is expected to begin after that with an anticipated completion date of May 5.
April 19, 2023
LINCOLN — The Cedar County News was recognized Saturday as one of the top newspapers in Nebraska.
For the second time in the past five years, the News was named the top community newspaper in the state for its digital news coverage.
The award recognizes a newspaper’s dedication to digital journalism. Judging is based on a newspaper’s websites, video production, digital news, digital ads and the quality of its social media updates.
For earning the sweepstakes award, the News was presented with the Edgecombe Family Sweepstakes award. This traveling trophy will remain at the News office until next April when the 2024 award winner is named.
In all, the Cedar County News picked up 30 awards during Saturday night’s 2023 Better Newspaper Contest awards ceremony in downtown Lincoln. Those awards included 12 first-place plaques, eight second-place plaques and 10 thirdplace plaques.
The awards ceremony is held each year in conjunction with the Nebraska Press Association Convention.
The Hartington newspaper was also singled out for several other prestigious honors. Judges deemed three Cedar County News entries in particular were in the top three in the state.
Newspaper judges determined that Cedar County News editor Rob Dump penned one of the top two editorials in the entire state last year when he wrote about his decision to leave the Republican Party and his concerns that the party’s win-at-all costs approach to governance was harmful to American democracy.
The News was also recognized for producing one of the top three news photos and one of the top two sports photos in all of Nebraska’s weekly newspapers.
Kellyn Dump’s photography following the horrific murders of four Laurel residents was deemed as a third-place finisher in the News Photo of the Year contest. Jeremy Buss’ photo of Hartington-Newcastle pole vaulter Aiden Gratzfeld was named the runner-up in the Sports Photo of the Year category.
The News also finished in third place in its circulation category in the print sweepstakes contest. The News competes in the second largest circulation category for community newspapers.
April 19, 2023
HARTINGTON — Security Bank held a ground-breaking ceremony April 12 at the site of a planned new 6,000-square-foot facility on Highway 57.
The new facility will be located at 313 S. Robinson Ave. in Hartington, situated between Subway and Keiser Ag.
The building project is a sign of the bank’s strong commitment to the Hartington area community.
“We have had tremendous growth in Hartington over the past 20 years,” said Brandon Baller, branch president in Hartington. “We began with three employees and now have 12. Our growth is a direct result of exceptional staff who are passionate about helping our customers achieve financial success.”
Construction is now underway on the new facility, which will include a vaulted lobby, a drive-through, 10 offices, a conference room for training and meeting purposes, and space for future expansion.
The construction site, previously occupied by Ferrellgas as a propane storage facility, was later purchased and leveled by the late Gerald Konken. The site was purchased by Security Bank in 2021 to accommodate future growth. The current downtown branch located at 102 N. Broadway Ave. was opened in 2002 and was expanded in 2010 to create more office space.
April 19, 2023
HARTINGTON — Abbey Klug and Carson Noecker were crowned Saturday night at the Msgr. Werner Activity Center as the Cedar Catholic Prom Princess and Prince.
April 26, 2023
HARTINGTON — A burn ban, signed as an executive order from Gov. Jim Pillen, expired Sunday as fire departments across the state and throughout Cedar County have been kept busy battling multiple blazes.
In a six-day span from April 12 to April 18, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office fielded 11 fire calls.
Conditions were ripe with dry weather and extremely windy days fueling any kind of embers or sparks into a full-blown fire.
Previous controlled burns re-ignited and new field fires quickly spread. All volunteer fire departments were kept busy, if not battling a blaze on their home turf, then called in for mutual aid elsewhere in the county.
A brief rain shower and colder conditions late last week helped tamper firewatch conditions.
Elsewhere in the state, three wildfires — in Jefferson County in southeast Nebraska, Garfield County in the center part of the state and Cherry County near the South Dakota border — were burning last week.
Fire season used to begin in July and extend into autumn, but now is considered to be year-round, said Jodie Fawl of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.
In 2022, Fawl said, major wildfires were reported in each month of the year — a year that turned out to be the second worst for wildfires in state history.
May 3, 2023
LINCOLN – Mark Kinney has been helping keep Nebraska safe for two decades – including the person who is responsible for overseeing the operation of the state’s executive branch.
The Hartington native is a trooper for the Nebraska State Patrol who has been assigned to its Lincoln-based Executive Protection Division since June 2022.
“Some of my duties are to provide physical protection to the governor to keep him safe from potential danger and to identify possible hostile situations and divert them,” Kinney said.
Since being assigned to the State Patrol’s Executive Protection Division, the 42-year-old Kinney has transitioned from helping to protect then-Gov. Pete Ricketts to current Gov. Jim Pillen.
He described what he has enjoyed about working for the State Patrol’s Executive Protection Division.
“What have I enjoyed about working for the EP Division – where do I start?” Kinney said. “I love all of it. The team element of the EP Division is extraordinary.
“Interacting with different people every day, the uniqueness of the position – no two days are the same,” he said. “Simply it’s the best job ever.”
May 10, 2023
HARTINGTON — Cedar Catholic alumn Dan Hoesing and longtime Cedar Catholic teacher and coach Chad Cattau will guide the high school next school year.
They will replace Chris Uttecht, who is leaving the school after five years to take an administrative position at O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Hoesing will become principal at the school. He will also oversee the Cedar Catholic Development Office.
“We believe that hiring someone to be chief administrator for both our school and our development program is the way to go,” Fr. Owen Korte said.
In announcing the change, Fr. Owen Korte said this transition comes at an important time for the Catholic school system.
The search committee needed to find a person with a unique set of skills in order to fit this tall order, Fr. Korte said.
“In our search for leadership, we believe that we have been given a candidate for the next year to really take seriously these challenges and create a plan that we can adopt and put into effect,” Korte said. “Our search committee and our school board have been intimately involved in this search process and rethinking of what we need.”
The Catholic church and Cedar County Catholic schools are at a crossroads, and Hoesing is the perfect person to help in this transition, Fr. Korte said.
Fr. Korte said Hoesing, an alumnus of Cedar Catholic and most recently the superintendent of Schuyler Community Schools for 10 years, has agreed to come and be that for Cedar Catholic.
“He is retiring from public school administration and will bring all that wisdom to us. His contacts, his knowledge of schools, his approach to coaching leaders and his ability to bring an idea to reality are the gifts we need at this time,” Fr. Korte said.
Cattau will serve as assistant principal to help work the internal life of the school — curriculum, discipline, teacher supervision and all of the extra-curricular activities.
May 17, 2023
HARTINGTON — It would be “wild” to compare Nancy Hochstein’s first day of teaching to her last.
As an educator for 44 years — 41 of those teaching fifth grade at Holy Trinity Elementary — so much has changed about her job. But one thing remained steadfast: Hochstein’s dedication to her students.
“My number one priority was for my students to become happy, successful and faith-filled adults,” she said.
Hochstein grew up in Hartington and attended Holy Trinity Elementary as a student herself, as well as Cedar Catholic High School. After graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she taught at East Catholic in St. Helena for three years.
Hochstein said teaching in a Catholic school was the right fit for her. “It is important to me to be able to talk about God and share my faith with my students and to be able to incorporate spirituality into every aspect of our curriculum,” she said.
Hochstein instilled in her students the importance of service, with her fifthgrade class serving meals at the Hartington Senior Center.
“Service to others is a big part of our faith and has been a wonderful experience, building relationships between our senior citizens and students,” she said.
She’s also made a habit of putting together field trips to local businesses throughout each school year.
“They learned about the contributions the businesses give to our town and what expectations they have for their employees,” Hochstein said. “I hope these business trips inspired my students to think about their future careers as well as understand what it takes to own and operate a business.”
She described the decision to retire as tough, and one that she prayed and thought about extensively.
“I’m so fortunate to have taught so many students who are now members of the community and it has been amazing to see how far they have come over the years,” she said. “I have been lucky enough to teach my students’ children, too.”
She’s looking forward to spending more time with family and plans to garden, read and golf. She also hopes to continue to help at the school when needed and substitute-teach.
May 17, 2023
HARTINGTON — A Laurel couple accused of murder both waived a formal arraignment and entered “not guilty” pleas in Cedar County District Court.
In the written pleas, Jason Jones, 43, and Carrie Jones, 44, indicated they understood the charges against them.
Jason Jones is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree arson and four counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony. Carrie Jones is charged with one count of murder, aiding and abetting a felony and tampering.
On Aug. 4, 2022, first responders were called to the home of Michele Shankles-Ebeling at 209 Elm St., Laurel, around 3 a.m. to the report of an explosion and house fire. About five hours later, local law enforcement on scene noticed smoke coming from the Gene Twiford home just a few blocks away. evidence suggests that the Twiford fire actually started first.
Shankles-Ebeling, Gene Twiford, Janet Twiford and Dana Twiford all were found to have gunshot wounds.
Jason Jones was apprehended at his home the morning after the murders.