County officials sworn in at Courthouse ceremony
Year in Review
Jan. 2, 2019
HARTINGTON — A Cedar County man serving time in prison for the murder of a Coleridge woman could be eligible for parole this year.
James Forsberg, 84, was sentenced in January 1995, to 50 years in prison for Second Degree Murder in the death of Ellen Gray.
The Good Time law makes him eligible for parole as of Jan. 23, 2019. He is currently serving his sentence in the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
Forsberg was convicted of intentionally running down Ellen Gray with his pickup truck Jan. 20, 1994, in downtown Coleridge.
Dept. of Parole spokesman Rhonda Medley said a Parole Review for Forsberg has been scheduled for Jan. 18.
Medley said this is a closed hearing in which Parole Board members meet to discuss Forsberg, the programming he has been taking and if he would be a good candidate for parole.
Layne Gissler, vice chairman of the Parole Board, said state statute calls for the review of offenders up to three years prior to their expected parole eligibility date.
Forsberg had such a closed-door hearing in 2017, but it was determined at that time, that he should remain incarcerated.
Gissler said if it is decided at this month’s hearing that Forsberg would make a good candidate for parole, then a public parole hearing would be set. That hearing could be scheduled for as early as February in Tecumseh, he said.
Besides the offender’s prison history, the nature of the crime and a decision as to whether that individual would be a threat to society are also taken into consideration during the closed-door hearing, Gissler said
“If we think that he is a candidate for parole, and that is a big, big if, then a parole hearing is scheduled for at least 30 days later,” he said.
A 30-day notice is required before parole hearings so the Parole Board has time to get public notices about such a hearing in area newspapers, Gissler said.
Jan. 2, 2019
HARTINGTON — An 82-year-old Hartington woman was killed in a Christmas evening crash on Highway 81.
Cedar County Sheriff Larry Koranda said Marjorie Novak was killed when the southbound GMC Sonoma she was driving collided head on about 6 p.m., Tuesday, with a northbound Chevy Equinox driven by an unidentified man from Yankton.
A northbound Nissan Rogue driven by Brenda Saltzman, 52, Sioux Falls, S.D., then collided with the rear end of the Equinox.
Jan. 9, 2019
HARTINGTON — Hartington-Newcastle Public Schools did not fare well in the state’s new rating system.
The school was one of just 28 districts in the state to receive a “needs improvement” rating.
While HNS Supt. A.J. Johnson acknowledged some testing results do indeed need improvement, he also noted the rating system itself needs improvement.
“The formula used to establish the ratings is based heavily on trend lines using past testing history. If a school did well in the past, but did not do as well in the latest testing period, then that school is docked,” Johnson said. “The formula is based on a trend line — are your scores going up or going down — but they are only using two years of data. That can’t be accurate.”
The new ratings system — Accountability for a Quality Education System, Today and Tomorrow — measures schools on test scores as well as six additional tenets: positive partnerships, relationships and successes; transitions; educational opportunities and access; college, career and civic ready; assessment; and educator effectiveness.
Schools can earn either an Excellent, Great, Good or Needs Improvement rating.
Despite the rating, Johnson said the school is going to continue what it has been doing — focusing on helping individual students.
“We are not going to panic because we got this rating, but you’re also not going to see us waving a flag if we are listed as great next year,” he said.
Jan. 9, 2019
HARTINGTON — Nine newly elected Cedar County officials took the oath of office together in a special swearing-in ceremony at the Cedar County Courthouse Thursday.
Clerk Magistrate Diane Sudbeck led the group in reciting the oath of office.
Three of the six newly elected County officials were administered the oath of office for the first time.
Northern District County Commissioner Chris Tramp, County Attorney Ed Matney and County Surveyor Tim Gobel were all elected last November to their first terms in office.
Matney had been serving as an appointee since January 2018, when he replaced retiring County Attorney George Hirschbach.
This is the ninth time Cedar County Clerk Dave Dowling has taken the Oath of Office. Janet Wiechelman is the second most senior member of the group. She was first elected in 1990 and took the oath for the eighth time last Thursday.
The next most senior county official is Don Hoesing, who was first elected in 1994 when he ran for office as a write-in.
Jan. 16, 2019
HARTINGTON — After establishing a tradition of bringing in top name country music acts, the Cedar County Fair is going a different direction this year.
The Cedar County Ag Society announced this week that rocker Brett Michaels will headline the Cedar County Fair Friday, July 19.
Country newcomer Jordan Davis will take the stage for a Saturday night show here.
Cedar County Ag Society President Greg Heine said the Fair Board has been searching for a rock band for years, but up until now, has not been able to make it work.
“For years, one common request the Fair Board has gotten is to get a rock band. As much as we wanted to, these bands have been usually out of reach for us until now. We are mostly lucky to get Bret because of routing,” he said.
Michaels first rose to fame as the lead singer for the rock band Poison.
Since their debut in 1986, Poison has released seven studio albums, four live albums, five compilation albums, and have issued 28 singles to radio.
The group had 12 songs hit the Billboard Top 10, and one song — “Every Rose has its Thorn” hit number one on the charts.
Besides his work as the front man for Poison, Michaels has also had quite a solo career, launching his first solo album in 1998. To date, he has produced six solo albums.
Heine said Jordan Davis should be a big draw for the young crowd.
Jan. 23, 2019
KEARNEY – Addison Peitz is a rarity in Division II athletics.
The University of Nebraska at Kearney swimmer competes in a sport her high school didn’t even offer.
“It’s certainly a more difficult route than a kid coming out of Omaha and Lincoln that had a strong high school program,” said Becky O’Connell, who is in her first season as UNK’s swim coach.
Peitz, the daughter of Jim and Lori Peitz, grew up in Hartington, and started swimming competitively at age 11 through a local summer recreation program. By high school, the sport was her main focus.
There was one problem, though. Hartington doesn’t have an indoor pool, so swimming is a seasonal activity.
Peitz got past that obstacle by joining a USA Swimming club team in Yankton, S.D., when she was 14.
“That’s when I really got going,” she said..
During the school year, Peitz raced from classes so she could make the 30-minute drive to Yankton for afternoon practices.
“As soon as the bell rang, my mom was in the car waiting for me,” she said.
As a senior, she drove herself to practice and sometimes spent the night with a teammate so she could swim again in the morning before returning to Hartington for school.
“Coming from a small town, I really had to fight to stay with the sport. It was a big commitment to make that jump to swimming year-round,” said Peitz, who also participated in volleyball, track, cross country and cheerleading during high school.