Year in Review -Area Catholic churches reorganize
June 12, 2019
HARTINGTON — Kenneth Ferriera, or Ken as his friends call him, is the new Cedar County News Photojournalist intern from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln.
Ferriera is a Senior at UNL and is studying journalism and broadcasting.
He grew up in a Air Force family and had to move four times before finally settling down in Cheyenne, Wyo.During his first three years at UNL, Ferriera first gained an interest in photography after becoming involved in the student newspaper, The Daily Nebraskan.
While working there he covered a variety of stories including Husker sports.
June 19, 2019
HARTINGTON — A pair of area men are transforming a former assisted living facility into a new apartment complex.
The former Autumn Winds facility is being transformed into Hartland Flats.
“We wanted to make this feel like home, a real home,” said Mitchell Sudbeck, who is doing the project along with his uncle, Richard Newtwon.
The former Autumn Winds assisted living facility will become an apartment-style living complex for elderly residents who want to remain independent.
“The amenities we’re adding are really geared to those who want independence, but a home is too much for them,” Newton said.
June 26, 2019
HARTINGTON — Several area Catholic parishes will begin sharing pastors in July in order to make up for a shortage of priests.
Nine priests from the Omaha Archdiocese are retiring this year.
One of those planning to retire is Fr. David Liewer, who has been guiding the Coleridge, Laurel and Dixon churches for the past several years. He plans to move into the St. Michael’s parish rectory in Coleridge upon his retirement later this month.
The new groupings are the result of an ongoing pastoral planning process to address the decline in the number of priests and population decreases in rural northeast Nebraska, said Fr. Scott Hastings, vicar for clergy and judicial vicar for the archdiocese.
The goal is to adequately serve the needs of the faithful without creating excessive workloads for priests, Fr. Hastings said.
The process is moving ahead more quickly than expected, Fr. Hastings said.
“Numerous parishes took the initiative to develop their plans for working together,” he said. “It’s been a very collaborative and positive process.”
Under the realignment, seven churches across three parishes:
St. Rose of Lima in Crofton, St. John the Baptist in Fordyce, St. Boniface in Menominee, St. Joseph in Constance, St. Peter and Paul in Bow Valley, Sacred Heart in Wynot, and Immaculate Conception in St. Helena, and their parishes, St. Rose of Lima, All Saints Parish, and Holy Family Parish, will all be guided by Fr. Jim Keiter.
Father An Duy Phan, who is currently pastor of St. Wenceslaus Parish in Dodge and Sacred Heart Mission in Olean, will assist Fr. Keiter as Associate Pastor of All Saints Parish, St. Rose of Lima Parish in Crofton and Holy Family Parish.
Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Hartington will be aligned with St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Coleridge.
Those two churches were previously aligned, but that alignment was changed when the Coleridge and Laurel-Concord schools began sharing services and teachers and then merged into one school district.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Laurel, and St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Dixon, which had also been guided by Fr. Liewer, will now be aligned with St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Wayne. Fr. Jeffrey Mollner will stay as pastor of the Wayne church, but will also take on an associate pastor role at Laurel and Dixon.
June 26, 2019
HARTINGTON — Hartington- Newcastle School Board members have been crunching numbers and debating costs on a new Vo-Ag building for several months. That debate carried into Monday’s special School Board meeting.
What should have been a routine meeting to accept a bid, turned out to be 55 minutes of looking through proposals with a fine tooth comb, and searching for possible discrepancies and savings.