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Aug. 7, 2024
HARTINGTON – Holy Trinity Church and school officials saw a problem and decided to solve it.
Hartington, like most rural Nebraska communities, was in need of more daycare options.
Lisa Dendinger serves as the director of the new facility, which is housed out of the basement of the First Congregational Church.
After years of dreaming and months of planning, the new Holy Trinity Early Learning Center opened its doors Monday, after receiving its state certification July 31.
Before work could even get started on the facility, the property first had to be rezoned to allow for a childcare facility. Once that was completed the work of cleaning, painting and updating the facility began, Dendinger said.
Dendinger is assisted by Monica Kathol, a long-time Hartington elementary school teacher who recently retired from her full-time teaching job.
Aug. 7, 2024
HARTINGTON — Hartington’s downtown area looks a little brighter these days.
The Hartington Creative District group placed 13 various decorative planters in the downtown district along Broadway and Main streets.
This is just one of the projects in the Hartington Creative District.
The plan is to move the community gardens into the district, said the group’s spokesman, Julie Meirose.
The “Adopt a Planter” program allows individuals, families, groups and businesses to choose a planter.
Participants can use their creativity by using seasonal decorations, plants, flowers and herbs, or whatever their imaginations come up with.
The program is free thanks to a grant meant to fill the void left by the closing of the community garden.
The garden areas do not end with the planters. Additional downtown gardening areas are planned in the near future as well as a children’s garden and outdoor classroom.
Aug. 7, 2024
HARTINGTON – Cedar County voters will get the chance to vote yes or no on a keno lottery issue on this year’s general election ballot.
The Cedar County Commissioners approved at its July 23 meeting for the issue to be put out to voters.
Backroad Barbecue near St. Helena, made the request to add keno to their business. With no municipality jurisdiction, the request elevated it to a county-wide issue.
If approved, Cedar County would become part of the Nebraska Cooperative Government which oversees lottery distributions, said Bill Kurtenbach, a Columbus attorney who represents NCG Because NCG is a collective of more than 100 entities, it’s able to offer more attractive jackpots and individual businesses aren’t paying out winnings themselves, he said.
The Nebraska constitution requires any net lottery proceeds be used for community betterment.
Aug. 14, 2024
COLERIDGE – Ken’s Hometown Market will be closing its doors Thursday, but a local investor group is discussing the possibility of re-opening it under new management.
Inventory at the grocery store has been dwindling since owners Brenda Whalen and James Roberts announced last month the store would be closing.
“A few customers bought all their groceries there but most bought groceries out of town,” Roberts said. “You have to have community buy-in.”
Whalen and Roberts had been wrestling with the decision of closing the store for nearly a year.
Employees from Ken’s will make the transfer to working at Laurel’s Hometown Market, owned by Whalen and Roberts since 2021. The Laurel store will continue to deliver groceries to customers in Coleridge.
“Unfortunately, utilities, payroll, the high cost of groceries, taxes, and maintenance on the building and equipment, have been too high to continue,” according to the business’ social media post announcing the closure.
Aug. 14, 2024
HARTINGTON — The city of Hartington has come up with a new plan to ensure Hartington has a community center.
In a Cedar County News interview this week and a Letter to the Editor inside this week’s newspaper, Hartington Mayor Mark Becker outlined the city’s plans for a private-public partnership to move and revitalize the Skylon Ballroom so it can be better utilized as a community center.
Becker said current Skylon owner, Roger Wortmann, has agreed to move the facility at his expense to a plot of land in the new industrial park.
The city will then purchase the facility over a seven-year period.
Under this plan, Becker said the city will not have to ask local residents for a property tax increase.
“We will be able to make lease and principle payments to Roger over the next seven years and all those payments will be applied to the note to eventually pay off the purchase and we won’t need a bond to do so,” he said.
Becker said he is grateful Wortmann was so willing to help.
“I commend Roger,” he said. “He didn’t want to see it torn down.”
Many people interested in donating to the project have already reached out, Becker said.
August
Aug. 21, 2024
HARTINGTON – Heather Showen has always had a passion for art.
Mix that in with a strong desire to help others and a caring nature, and it’s obvious the art teacher has developed the perfect color palate of experiences to help students bring their artistic talents to life.
Showen, a Laurel-Concord High School graduate, will teach art at Cedar Catholic Jr.-Sr. High students.
The 2011 Wayne State College graduate recently held a similar position at Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Schools.
Aug. 21, 2024
OMAHA — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a native Nebraskan, was tapped in early August to become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in her bid for the Oval Office.
He was in the Omaha metropolitan area Saturday on a campaign stop. It was his first visit to the state since Harris elevated him from near obscurity to national prominence.
The roots of the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee’s family tree reach back to Cedar County.
Walz’s grandfather, Raymond Walz, was born here in 1904 and attended Holy Trinity High School, alongside classmate Ferdie Peitz.
His grandmother, the former Myrtle Samelson, attended Hartington High.
Their son, James, was born in Hartington in 1929. After graduating from Peru State College, and then serving in the Korean War, James Walz started his teaching career at Butte.
He then moved back to Cedar County to serve as Coleridge H.S. Principal.
While in that role, he was elected as President of the Cedar County Teacher’s Association in 1958.
In 1964, his son, Tim, was born in West Point, while James was working in Dodge.
Aug. 28, 2024
HARTINGTON – South Sioux City native Elijah Strom is the new 7-12 Industrial Technology teacher at HNS. He will also be an assistant coach with boys basketball.
It’s a perfect fit for Strom, who earned an Agricultural Education degree and an endorsement in skilled and technical sciences education from UNL.
Aug. 28, 2024
HARTINGTON – Scott Becker has returned to a familiar place.
The 1999 Cedar Catholic graduate recently began teaching 5-6 grade at East-West Catholic in Bow Valley.
It marks his second stint in Bow Valley. Right after graduating from Mount Marty College with a K-8 bachelor of science degree, he took over as the 3-4 grade teacher at East Catholic.
He then worked for five years in administration at St. Rose of Lima School in Crofton.
After getting married, he moved to Elgin to teach at his wife’s alma mater, Pope John Central Catholic.
During Covid, his parents retired and moved to Hartington, which opened up an opportunity to move back to the home place. He then took a position at Wynot, where he taught and coached for four years.
Becker said it wasn’t until his sophomore year at Mount Marty that he decided to go into teaching.
