Despite the things holding her back and putting doubt into her mind whether or not it was achievable, she wanted to become a pilot. Little did she know how feasible her dream would turn out to be.

After attending to 2026 Latino Professionals in Aerospace (LPA) Conference in the middle of Sept., Lucas was in tears as she was awarded a scholarship of $10,000 to continue furthering her education in professional flight aviation.

“I never thought I would be able to win a scholarship in that amount,” Lucas said.

Receiving such a significant amount of money to pursue her dream brought her back to when she first came to Madison, NE from Guatemala. She didn’t know if it would even be possible for her to pursue a career in aviation - let alone that there was an entire organization supporting Latino professionals in aviation.

She graduated from Madison Public Schools and went on to Peru State College to complete her bachelor’s in business administration. But something was missing.

“I wasn’t happy with what I was doing already, even though I wasn’t doing bad,” Lucas said. “I had a great job and everything. I just felt like there was something that I wanted to do at the beginning and it wasn’t done.”

In Guatemala, becoming a pilot as a woman wasn’t talked about. Financials played a small role in keeping her from pursuing that dream but mostly it was the culture. What she always thought would be impossible changed when she stepped foot into another country.

“After coming to the United States, it was totally different,” she said. “You see a lot of women doing the jobs that the guys can do.” A year after graduating from Peru State College, Lucas was back in school at the University of Omaha pursuing a degree in professional flight aviation. She’s now has her pilot’s license and is on track to graduate in 2028.

Lucas has been attending the LPA conferences for three years and it’s been an important piece in her story. Every year they have a conference and expo with airlines that come in with booths, providing a great networking opportunity. The airline companies are often looking for people to interview and hire while there. LPA’s mission is to inspire, mentor and develop more knowledge, information and experience for Latino’s in the aviation industry. Meeting other professionals like her has been a wonderful experience for Lucas.

“There are people that come from a different country with almost the same dream as I carry with me,” she said. “They work hard for them and they never give up.”

LPA has chapters all over the country, which meet more often and with smaller groups. At the beginning of 2024, right after she started attending LPA, Lucas met some of the other chapter directors and soon became a chapter leader herself.

She founded a chapter at UNO and ran as their president for a year before continuing to be an active member. They host a variety of events fostering community and connection, whether that be coffee socials, game nights, or occasional tours of aviation facilities. It’s a great opportunity for students to connect with one another and shared their dreams of working in the aviation industry after graduation.

LPA has and will continue to be a special organization to Lucas. Her parents and everyone she’s met along the way through LPA and college has played a big role in supporting her in her dreams.

What’s really kept her going is to just keep trying.

“If I don’t try, I would never know,” she said.

What seemed like an impossible dream once is now so close to becoming her reality. And Lucas gives so much credit to LPA for helping her realize this.

“It will always be a very special organization to me,” she said.

Head coach Dean Mortland has paid close attention to individual and overall improvements throughout the season — and he said he’s not the only one who’s noticed them in his team.

“About 95% of the time, the ref will say, ‘Hey, they are hustling. They’re getting so much better,’ ” Mortland said.

After a couple of tough losses, like the two matches during the Plainview triangular against Twin River and Plainview, those comments mean a lot to the coach.

“Some of the things we do in practice don’t always necessarily translate into a game, but when you look at where we started to where we are, there’s a huge improvement.”

With a few more matches to go, Mortland said the biggest improvement he’s noticed in the girls is their hustle. He continues to instill in them a ‘We’re going to get after it’ mentality and focus more on effort and less on the losses.

“Give me effort, that’s all I ask,” he said. “We don’t need to win every game. It’s more about bettering the kids.”

Mortland’s focus throughout the season has remained the same: rebuilding from the ground up. This doesn’t just happen overnight, and even with only three regular-season matches left on the schedule, Mortland doesn’t plan on letting the little things slide.

Game by game, practice by practice, he wants to continue to see them improve.

“They truly are trying very hard, and it shows everywhere we go,” he said.

The Dragons travel to Newman Grove/St. Edward on Oct. 5.

Madison 10 17 Plainview 25 25 Madison 17 11 Twin River 25 25

AI is technology that enables computers and machines to perform tasks we associate with human intelligence, such as learning and problem solving. While ChatGPT or Claude usually come to mind first, AI is also used to make farming more productive, solve mathematical equations faster, and make manufacturing processes more efficient.

But what is a data center? Data centers are facilities that host computers and servers that store, process, and share digital information. They power nearly everything we access online, including livestreams, online banking, and Facebook. These facilities also run massive AI models, which require large amounts of electricity to power the computers.

The possibilities enabled by AI are positive. We can analyze X-rays, measure distances on a battlefield, and calculate projections with greater speed than ever before. But as with any technological advancement, there are other impacts that must be considered.

Because AI uses significant energy, many Americans living near data centers are understandably concerned about their energy bills increasing. Nebraska families, farmers, and Main Street businesses shouldn’t see their utility rates go up because a data center needs millions of dollars in new electrical infrastructure.

AI is becoming the backbone of innovation, competitiveness, and job growth. At the same time, AI and data centers that power it should be a net positive for communities where they are built.

That is why I cosponsored and voted for the Ratepayer Protection Act. Unfortunately, it failed to pass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold; not enough Democrats joined us in supporting this pragmatic policy. This is particularly perplexing given that the same bill passed the House overwhelmingly with the support of 206 Democrats. I am frustrated because this commonsense legislation would have established federal standards for states to consider as data centers expand.

These standards include requiring large data centers to cover the cost of any new infrastructure or electrical generation they need to power its systems. They also include instituting financial protections for customers if a data center no longer needs the infrastructure it built to serve its needs.

Communities know their needs best. Local utility providers understand exactly how their grids operate and their capacity needs. This legislation provides a framework for states when a large data center requires new power generation and infrastructure. These standards can be used to ensure households aren’t forced to foot the bill for higher electricity costs imposed by data centers.

Americans have always been fueled by bold ideas and ambitious citizens. Over the past 250 years, we’ve led the world in entrepreneurship, creativity, and new possibilities. I have faith that we will continue to do so.

I wanted to save it. This week is National Newspaper Week, a time set aside each year to recognize newspapers and the role they play in their communities. I can’t think about that without thinking about how close Madison came to losing its own.

Wanting to save the Star-Mail and knowing I could actually do it were two different things.

I had a lot of questions. I spent a lot of time looking at numbers, thinking through not having additional staff and production and trying to figure out whether I could actually swing adding another newspaper.

But there was one question I kept coming back to.

What happened to Madison if no one stepped in?

What if the final issue really was the final issue?

Because everything else would have kept happening.

The City Council would still meet. The school board would still make decisions. Kids would still play ballgames and earn spots on the honor roll. Businesses would open and close. People would celebrate anniversaries, retire and pass away. Madison would continue making history every single week.

There simply might not have been anyone here to record it.

That’s what gets lost when a community loses its newspaper.

I’ve spent years trying to keep that from happening in communities across Nebraska. I’ve bought newspapers when their futures were uncertain and taken chances that didn’t always make a lot of sense financially because I believe rural communities deserve local journalism.

Not because newspapers need to be preserved out of nostalgia.

Because communities need them. They need someone at the City Council meetings, looking at budgets and asking how tax dollars are being spent. But they also need someone recording the things that don’t seem historic when they’re happening.

The honor roll. The county fair. The first varsity touchdown. The 60th wedding anniversary. The new business. The retirement. The obituary that tells the story of someone’s life.

Those things might not seem like history this week.

Give them 30 years. They are important history.

Thousands of newspapers have disappeared across the country during the past two decades, and rural communities have been hit especially hard.

People didn’t suddenly stop needing local news.

The business model supporting it changed.

A business can still have a storefront in Madison while its advertising decisions are made hundreds of miles away. More local advertising dollars are also going to Facebook, Google and other enormous digital companies.

They can sell clicks, but they aren’t going to support the baseball program or the music boosters.

They aren’t going to cover your meeting, photograph your daughter’s volleyball game or put your son’s name in the newspaper when he makes the honor roll.

We are.

Madison needed a response following a 19-second opening drive from visiting Bloomfield. The best retort was drawn out over the next 11 minutes and 46 seconds of game play, opening the second quarter and ending the lengthy first Dragon drive of the game with a rushing touchdown by Angel Villalobos.

The junior shook Bloomfield tacklers off his back and cut back to the near side for the conversion, and coach Landonn Mackey pumped his right fist in the air in full Madison pride.

“They score right away, and we drain the whole first quarter and the first seconds of the second quarter,” he said. “The magical thing about that to me is that we are actually doing things that we are repping in practice over the last six weeks.”

The drive ended as the sole scoring drive for the Dragons, who dropped to 0-6 after a 52-8 loss to the Bees. Yet the drive had every bit of the grit and determination Mackey wanted against a historically tough-as-nails program like Bloomfield. And the Dragons had to do it nursing wounds that have made short numbers even shorter.

“We had guys that were moving around into spots they haven’t practiced this week, and we have guys taking on roles they are not comfortable in,” Mackey said.

“They just did it because that’s who they are.”

The positioning nearly translated into more points. Kelier Arrazcaeta Duray beat near-triple coverage and almost reeled in a Villalobos fourthdown pass that was destined for six more points. A turnover on downs forced by the defense put the ball back in Bloomfield territory, but a couple of potentially big plays fell just short.

It’s the continued makings of a solid attack that Mackey is excited to see develop from successful spurts into long-term power on the turf.

“We just keep trying to build those bricks,” he said. “We keep trying to be consistent. We talked in our breakdown about flipping pancakes. We’ve got to keep doing it over and over and over again.”

Madison travels to Niobrara/ Verdigre on Friday.

Friday, Oct. 2

Bloomfield 8 16 14 14 — 52 Madison 0800 —8

Jonny Hinkel took 45 seconds off his time on the course from a year earlier, and Cesar Ramirez continued a much-improved sophomore campaign, shaving nearly three minutes off his UNK time from a year ago.

Madison was represented in the girls race by Jocelin Franco, who came within a minute of her personal best with a strong finish.

Fuhs said with all of these big meets, the focus on the upcoming postseason meets has not been lost.

“It’s been fun to check,” he said. “We’ve been going to all these huge meets, and we’re beating a few East Husker teams at each one.”

There are two or three teams, Fuhs said, that will be clear contenders for the top. Yet Madison is expected to compete for one of the top spots in the middle tier on the boys side of the conference.

The excitement extends to the individual side, where Carnes is a possible top-15 runner.

“Anything can change on the day of, but he’s got a good chance to medal,” Fuhs said.

Madison’s conference meet will be held at the Cuming County Fairgrounds in West Point.

Monday, Sept. 28

UNK High School Invitational Girls Team Scores: 1. Nebraska Christian 23; 2. Centennial 41; 3. Hastings St. Cecilia 58; 4. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 62; 5. Ord 66; 6. Perkins County 73; 7. Tri County 81; 8. Amherst 86; 9. Gordon-Rushville 107; 10. Freeman 126; 11. Hemingford 129; 12. South Loup 153; 13. Ponca 178; 14. Arapahoe 179; 15. Hi-Line 180; 16. Kenesaw 190; 17. Oakland-Craig 191; 18. Brady 192; 19. Homer 200; 20. Cambridge 204; 21. Axtell 214; 22. Doniphan-Trumbull 214; 23. Winside 230; 24. Maywood-Hayes Center 236; 25. Alma 258; 26. Thayer Central 259; 27. Pleasanton 260; 28. Hershey 277; 29. Elmwood-Murdock 286; 30. Valentine 291; 31. Maxwell 328; 32. Wallace 332; 33. Ravenna 357; 34. North Platte St. Patrick’s 361; 35. Cedar Bluffs 364; 36. Shelton 382; 37. Wood River 387; 38. Fillmore Central 388; 39. Overton 419 Madison: 195. Jocelin Franco 29:30.7. Boys

Team Scores: 1. Doniphan-Trumbull 22; 2. Tri County 30; 3. Hemingford 56; 4. Homer 69; 5. Ponca 84; 6. Freeman 85; 7. Elmwood-Murdock 109; 8. Gordon-Rushville 133; 9. Ord 134; 10. Grand Island Lutheran 150; 11. Oakland-Craig 151; 12. Amherst 168; 13. Nebraska Christian 178; 14. Fillmore Central 200; 15. Wallace 204; 16. Arcadia-Loup City 206; 17. Axtell 208; 18. Alma 233; 19. Centennial 242; 20. Hershey 254; 21. Weeping Water 259; 22. Valentine 261; 23. Perkins County 275; 24. Shelton 281; 25. Pleasanton 288; 26. Kenesaw 288; 27. Elm Creek 298; 28. North Platte St. Patrick’s 313; 29. Archangels Catholic 316; 30. Wood River 321; 31. Thayer Central 325; 32. Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer 327; 33. Arapahoe 346; 34. Hastings St. Cecilia 357; 35. Ravenna 362; 36. Humphrey 365; 37. South Loup 368; 38. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 373; 39. Centura 389; 40. Hitchcock County 403; 41. Madison 406; 42. Cambridge 431; 43. Wilcox-Hildreth 435; 44. Blue Hill 439; 45. Neligh-Oakdale 447; 46. North Central 454; 47. Sutherland 474; 48. Deshler 500; 49. Creek Valley 507; 50. Maxwell 519; 51. Medicine Valley 542; 52. Maywood-Hayes Center 545 Madison: 72. Alex Carnes 19:44; 171. Fransisco Juan Lucas 21:40.4; 221. Jonny Hinkel 22:49.9; 268. Cesar Ramirez 24:10.7; 301. Dylan Sprague 25:38; 313. Esel Poe 26:45.4; 318. Aquiles Rojas 27:13.8; 319. Ralph Casarrubias

Woodall, originally from a small town in Missouri, is used to the small town feeling he’s already gotten from being in Madison for a short amount of time.

“Everybody knows everybody,” Woodall said. “Everybody’s willing to help and that’s a good quality for a community - to help your neighbor out.”

Him and his wife live in Norfolk with their two daughters, as his wife is the school counselor for Lutheran High Northeast in Norfolk. With his wife’s family close by, and a third baby coming this November, they’re hoping to find a more permanent home in between Madison and Norfolk to settle in.

“We always had a dream of a little acreage out in the country,” he said.

Woodall’s father-in-law is the pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison, where his family attends church every Sunday.

“Tht’s really what brought us into the northeast Nebraska area,” he remarked.

After teaching high school math in Winside for four years, Woodall was interested in getting into the administration side of things. He had completed his Masters degree in May of 2025, and was waiting for an open position when this one opened up unexpectedly.

“I’m excited to really work behind the scenes and understand the more nitty-gritty details of what it takes to run a school,” Woodall said.

Woodall’s interest in administration started with wanting to get into the process and planning that goes into running a school. He said he finds the logistics of putting together plans for longterm and short-term goals interesting and helping students and staff work towards those goals. For this year, his main focus is going to be on learning the role, improving communication, and putting all the ‘principal’ pieces of the puzzle together to fully embrace his job at the school.

On a more personal level, one of his goals is getting out into the community more and building strong relationships between Madison Public Schools and others.

“Being able to meet new people and strengthen that relationship between the public school,” he said. “If we can get closer to Madison and being a part of the community and getting to know more people.”

COURTESY PHOTO

Battle Creek has enjoyed three years of a Kuchar serving in one of the toughest positions on the volleyball court, the most demanding and taxing job to both the body and the mind.

While never suiting up on varsity at the same time, the younger of the two got the chance to see through live practice and games what it was going to take to fill her shoes.

One element jumped out to her: composure in the face of every point.

“She’s a very positive person,” Ava said. “That just inspired me to do the same thing.”

That composure and positivity has put Ava into a rare club, the Bravette senior recently reaching 1,000 career assists through just two varsity seasons in the position. She was recognized at Battle Creek’s home triangular on Thursday.

“Honestly, I have never paid attention to the stats very much. So I was very surprised that I was that close,” she said.

The longtime volleyball player started as early as third grade and has been a setter ever since junior high.

That hard work earned her the starting role last season, operating as the primary setter of a 6-2. Now the full force of the work runs through her on a 5-1 rotation.

That load can be beared not only through hard work, Ava said, but through good relationships with her teammates on the court.

“It’s up to me to make the play, but I know I can trust my teammates. We’re all really close,” she said.

That building of relationships has not come just with playing with the same group of girls but getting to know the classes under her through summer camps and conditioning.

It also took understanding the players above her and mostly leaning on what she learned from her own sister.

“We would always practice together a lot,” Ava said of her and Sydney. “I learned a lot from her.”

Those lessons translated to a 566-assist junior campaign and now within 100 of that mark headed into the brunt of the October schedule.

One extra hour.

That’s all Cody Wintz is asking for students who want to join the GOLD Club at Battle Creek Public Schools. There’s no requirements, anyone can join, no credit is given out, no grades — just show up.

For the next 30 weeks, the Battle Creek activities director will continue to show up to school an hour early providing the club for any student who wants to join. The students who joined last week showed up early for one simple reason — they chose to.

In the GOLD club, Wintz and students talk about leadership, challenges for the week and remember the GOLD foundation of what it means to live with grit, ownership, leadership and discipline.

After reading and watching different leadership materials to help coaches and athletes in his program, Wintz wanted to bring something else for the students to participate in. Watching the different sports teams from the sidelines, Wintz felt like there was something missing in their programs.

“I just wanted to try to do a once a week deal just to give kids an opportunity to maybe learn a little bit more about themselves and what should make them tip to be more successful,” Wintz said.

GOLD Club will be held every Wednesday starting at 7:45 a.m. and running until 8:45, just before school starts for the day. Eventually, Wintz’s vision for the mornings looks like a classroom full of students conversing with one another about the topics for the day — not worried about saying the wrong things, but just showing up for themselves and each other.

“I want it to not feel like a classroom, and it still feels like a classroom where they’re raising their hands,” Wintz said.

Last week’s GOLD club meeting left the students’ with their first weekly challenge — do one thing that you didn’t have to do. Whether they realized it or not, those who came to the second meeting easily completed that challenge by showing up to school before the sun was up.

This week, their conversation focused on influence and purpose, with one of the main themes for the morning surrounding the idea of “If you got nothing for it, would you still do it?” Their challenge was to come up with a “Why” statement, and write it down somewhere where they’ll see it every single day.

Wintz told the students we’re guaranteed to have days where we don’t feel like doing things we know we should be doing. What’s more important is how you respond to those feelings, and knowing your “Why” gives you that easy reality check.

“It puts you in the right frame of mind to start your day, because it reminds you of your purpose,” he told the students.

He added, “Your what gives you a target, your why gives you a reason.”

As for volleyball, district seeding and wild card points are getting more and more on the mind of local volleyball players.

Case in point, everyone is on pace to give everybody its best on-the-court performance it can give. Battle Creek took that three times and dealt out a couple of wins in the process of Tuesday’s five-set thriller over Cedar Catholic and Thursday’s split of a home triangular that ended by pitting high-level EPPJ against the Bravettes.

It ended as a match that coach Tracy Kuester-Burtwistle said showed her team where to look to make themselves better in the future: back at their prematch approach.

“I think we have some areas of improvement that we really need to focus on,” she said. “We’re playing some matches that we’re just not quite ready and just learning to listen to what the gameplan is and staying true to our gameplan. That comes with just playing more games and just learning to win those games. It’s a learning opportunity for them.”

Lessons learned from a Boone Central loss in which the third set got away, Battle Creek reeled back in and scored a three-set win over Elgin Public/Pope John. The Bravettes pulled away from a 1212 tie in the third, rattling off fivepoint run to force a timeout.

The visiting Wolfpack closed to within two, but as she’d done at the earlier tie, Lainee Cook electrified the team with a timely kill to break away and complete the win.

Kuester-Burtwistle looked back to her girls’ situational play and perseverance that have become some of the best parts of her team.

“Our adversity in coming from behind, that we’re keeping ourselves calm when trying to work through some things,” she said. “Sometimes, when you lose by two points on something, it’s just how the ball fell.”

That’s what Battle Creek had to endure and learn from both with its trade off of the first two sets against Boone Central and in the first set loss to EPPJ.

The Braves were to play GACC on Tuesday.

Tuesday, Sept. 29

Battle Creek 22 25 25 15 15 Cedar Catholic 25 11 15 25 13

3.79x6 Thursday, Oct. 1

EPPJ 25 18 22 Battle Creek 23 25 25 Boone Central 23 25 25 Battle Creek 25 23 11

AI is technology that enables computers and machines to perform tasks we associate with human intelligence, such as learning and problem solving. While ChatGPT or Claude usually come to mind first, AI is also used to make farming more productive, solve mathematical equations faster, and make manufacturing processes more efficient.

But what is a data center? Data centers are facilities that host computers and servers that store, process, and share digital information. They power nearly everything we access online, including livestreams, online banking, and Facebook. These facilities also run massive AI models, which require large amounts of electricity to power the computers.

The possibilities enabled by AI are positive. We can analyze X-rays, measure distances on a battlefield, and calculate projections with greater speed than ever before. But as with any technological advancement, there are other impacts that must be considered.

Because AI uses significant energy, many Americans living near data centers are understandably concerned about their energy bills increasing. Nebraska families, farmers, and Main Street businesses shouldn’t see their utility rates go up because a data center needs millions of dollars in new electrical infrastructure.

AI is becoming the backbone of innovation, competitiveness, and job growth. At the same time, AI and data centers that power it should be a net positive for communities where they are built.

That is why I cosponsored and voted for the Ratepayer Protection Act. Unfortunately, it failed to pass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold; not enough Democrats joined us in supporting this pragmatic policy. This is particularly perplexing given that the same bill passed the House overwhelmingly with the support of 206 Democrats. I am frustrated because this commonsense legislation would have established federal standards for states to consider as data centers expand.

These standards include requiring large data centers to cover the cost of any new infrastructure or electrical generation they need to power its systems. They also include instituting financial protections for customers if a data center no longer needs the infrastructure it built to serve its needs.

Communities know their needs best. Local utility providers understand exactly how their grids operate and their capacity needs. This legislation provides a framework for states when a large data center requires new power generation and infrastructure. These standards can be used to ensure households aren’t forced to foot the bill for higher electricity costs imposed by data centers.

Americans have always been fueled by bold ideas and ambitious citizens. Over the past 250 years, we’ve led the world in entrepreneurship, creativity, and new possibilities. I have faith that we will continue to do so.

EV takes stand at County Government Day

Everyone in the courtroom rose as the judges entered.

“Please give great attention to the facts of this case,” Antelope County Court Judge Danielle Fliam told the students as the mock trial began at the courthouse last Thursday.

The courtroom proceedings were part of Antelope County’s annual County Government Day, which brought high school juniors and seniors from Summerland, Neligh-Oakdale, Pope John, Elgin Public and Elkhorn Valley to the Antelope County Courthouse in Neligh.

Sponsored by the American Legion, the annual event gives students an opportunity to learn about county government and the people who work in its offices. Students spent part of the day with county officials, toured the Antelope County jail and then gathered in the courtroom, where student volunteers took on the roles of judge, jury, clerk, bailiff, defendant, attorneys and witnesses for a mock criminal trial.

That’s when Billy the Kid found himself facing a jury of his peers.

Judge Bradley Nall of Elkhorn Valley initiated the trial, giving an overview of the case and asking the state of Nebraska to call its witnesses.

“This is a criminal trial in which the state of Nebraska has charged the defendant, Billy Richard, with minor in possession of alcohol,” Nall said. “The defendant has pleaded not guilty to these charges.”

Billy the Kid was present in the courtroom with his defense team, led by Jack Qualset.

Deputy Cameron Kallhoff was called to the stand first as one of the state’s witnesses. She told the jury what she observed when she was at Billy’s house the night of July 4.

“He smelled of alcoholic beverage,” she said. “He said he had been home all night but I also noticed that there was a slight smoky odor coming from him.”

Evan Decker, representing the state of Nebraska as county attorney, gave his closing statement to the judge and jury, reciting the evidence the state wanted the jury to consider when making its decision.

“Billy Kid was charged with MIP. We proved Bill Kid was guilty of possession of alcohol as a minor on July 4, 2026,” Decker said. “We proved the date, age, proof of alcohol and that it happened in Antelope County. We called two witnesses, a classmate, and Bill Kid’s mother.”

However, Kallhoff and the other witnesses could not prove that Billy the Kid had actually been drinking that night, even if alcohol was present. The jury found him not guilty.

After the verdict, Fliam explained minor in possession charges, a Class III misdemeanor, to the students.

“It’s punishable by up to 90 days in the county jail, a fine of up to $500 or some combination of the fine and imprisonment,” she said. “Jurors in Nebraska don’t get to decide what the punishment is — they only determine guilt.”

Antelope County Veterans Service Officer Tom Nelson said County Government Day traces its roots to the late Robert G. Simmons, a former Nebraska chief justice, who proposed studying ways to extend instruction about government and its operations to boys and girls across the state.

“It was his thought that this effort be established on county and community levels, and that it afford practical experience to a greater number of high school students,” Nelson said.

Each student selected a county office prior to arriving at the courthouse and spent time with the corresponding county official to learn more about the role and visit the office, whether it was inside the courthouse or at the law enforcement center.

That’s about how long it took Pitzer Digital Newspapers to go from owning no newspapers in Madison County to owning three.

I certainly didn’t plan it that way. When I found out late last year that Madison might lose its newspaper, my reaction was pretty immediate. I wanted to save it.

We purchased the Madison Star-Mail in December, and at the time, I thought that was probably the end of our newspaper acquisitions for a while.

I should know better than to think that by now.

Six months later, Pitzer Digital purchased the Battle Creek Enterprise and Tilden Citizen/ Meadow Grove News.

Those two happened quickly. The Tilden Citizen/Meadow Grove News was facing a transition when its longtime editor retired, and because the Enterprise and Citizen were owned by the same family, purchasing both made sense.

Suddenly, we owned three weekly newspapers in Madison County.

I’ve thought about that quite a bit this week because this is National Newspaper Week, a time set aside each year to recognize newspapers and the role they play in their communities.

For me, it’s also a reminder of just how quickly the future of a community newspaper can change.

One retirement. One ownership change. One decision that it’s time to step away.

Sometimes that is all it takes. And then a community is left with a pretty important question: What happens to its newspaper?

Because everything else keeps happening.

The City Council still meets. The school board still makes decisions. Kids still play ballgames and earn spots on the honor roll. Businesses open and close. People celebrate anniversaries, retire and pass away. Battle Creek continues making history every single week.

Someone needs to be here to record it. That’s what gets lost when a community loses its newspaper.

I’ve spent years trying to keep that from happening in communities across Nebraska. I’ve bought newspapers when their futures were uncertain and taken chances that didn’t always make a lot of sense financially because I believe rural communities deserve local journalism.

Not because newspapers need to be preserved out of nostalgia.

Because communities need them. They need someone at the meetings, looking at budgets and asking how tax dollars are being spent. But they also need someone recording the things that don’t seem historic when they’re happening.

The honor roll. The county fair. The first varsity touchdown. The 60th wedding anniversary. The new business. The retirement. The obituary that tells the story of someone’s life.

Those things might not seem like history this week.

Give them 30 years. They are important history.

Thousands of newspapers have disappeared across the country during the past two decades, and rural communities have been hit especially hard.

People didn’t suddenly stop needing local news.

The business model supporting it changed.

A business can still have a storefront in Battle Creek while its advertising decisions are made hundreds of miles away. More local advertising dollars are also going to Facebook, Google and other enormous digital companies.

They can sell clicks, but they aren’t going to support the baseball program or the music boosters.

They aren’t going to cover your meeting, photograph your daughter’s volleyball game or put your son’s name in the newspaper when he makes the honor roll.

We are.

The Braves continue to suit up and play the game, but the opponents facing on the other side have more often than not been among the best in their class.

That included Friday’s contest against Cedar Catholic, who after the 63-10 loss, marked the third time the Braves took on an undefeated Class C2 foe to pool in with season-opening Boone Central and Yutan two weeks prior.

It has made Battle Creek’s schedule among the toughest in the state.

“It’s probably top two,” agreed coach Andrew Carlson. “I would guess you could argue that Norfolk Catholic has a tougher schedule, but it’s right up there.”

The underclassmen-heavy roster of Battle Creek with just ten able-bodied juniors and seniors has lead to a lot of early exposure to the pacing and hard-hitting nature of high school football. While Carlson said the boys are taking their lumps along the way, hitting the gridiron with a schedule like this has made his roster more knowledgeable and skilled than before.

That included Friday’s game against a Cedar Catholic team Carlson added was likely the best team they played all year.

“They’re very dynamic in what they can do offensively,” he said. “They have size, length, athleticism. They’re kind of the total package, but the big thing for us was just coming out and competing.”

It’s been a season of leaning on the storied culture of Battle Creek football and letting games like this - even in blowout nature - mold the Braves for more confident battles later this season and into future seasons.

Carlson feels like he saw a piece of that pride in every second of the game last night, never seeing his guys give up.

“I know the score looks pretty ugly, but we fought and executed and did some really good things that showed that growth and improvement we’ve been looking for.”

That included the ability to find some traction in the passing game. With the rushing attack stalled out, quarterback Tyan Thompson with the help of Tre Higby collectively found nine different targets for 151 yards through the air. That included a late-game strike to Breylin Witzel for the Braves’ sole touchdown of the night.

“Credit to Tyan in his second year as a starter,” Carlson said. “He’s developing and growing in that position and doing good things. I thought our offensive coordinator did a good job of dialing up a lot of variations in the pass game. We treated our passing game as a bit of a running game to hit those short passes and four-five yard plays that way.”

Battle Creek takes its ability to get something going on offense and a defense eager to get the upper hand once again into Thursday’s bout at Norfolk Catholic. Carlson said the short turnaround is aided by the familiarity between the programs.

“Both teams know each other pretty well and kind of have an idea of what each other does, so it’s going to be who can go out and execute.”

Friday, October 2

Cedar Catholic 14 21 14 14 63 Battle Creek 0 3 7 0 10

PASSING: Tre Higby 2-3 12, Tyan Thompson 18-31 139 1. RUSHING: Tyan Thompson 8 7, Hunter Kruse 4 4, Marcus Schultz 4 12, Barrett Koehler 6 24. Totals: 22 47.

RECEIVING: Tre Higby 2 13, Breylin Witzel 5 52 1, Ayden Freudenburg 1 3, Kamden Showalter 3 9, Ashton Kuchar 3 4, Hunter Kruse 2 9, Barrett Koehler 2 28, Joshua Ottis 1 24, Keifer Neuhalfen 1 9. Totals: 20 151 1.

TACKLES: Tre Higby 2, Tyan Thompson 1, Kamden Showalter 4, Ashton Kuchar 7, Austyn Carstens 2, Hunter Kruse 8, Barrett Koehler 4, Josh Tannehill 3, Levi Mahlin 1, Tommie Wenhoff 2, Henry Goeden 1. Totals: 35.

Yet there was Olivia Jessen, taking the changes in stride and running beyond the distance that she got to run in years past at the Battle Creek Invitational junior high distances with the same dedication and grit.

Coach Jonah Heng watched her line up for Friday’s home meet at Evergreen Hills Golf Course south of town, not seeing just a runner but a crucial young leader to this season’s team.

“You can never count your marbles before you play, but she was one we had her eye on last year as someone that could definitely be a varsity contributor this year,” he said. “She came out and has just slowly worked up from being our number four, then number three and two and has now lead us in the last three meets.

That included the home invite in which she made the entirety of the 5K course hers to conquer, and it was a race that made her one of the fastest runners in program history. Jessen crossed the line at 20:56.4, good for a school course record and the second fastest time ever run by a Bravette. Her time surpassed Afftynn Stusse’s previous course record of 21:43 set in 2019.

It was a run that took Battle Creek, nursing some injuries and small pains accumulated in the season, to the team title by beating late entry Stanton and Norfolk Catholic with 36 points. Heng said every team is going through the usual pains of the season with just two weeks left to go, so races like this are coming down to finding the spark to keep going.

“Barely anyone is 100% right now, so find your drive,” he said. “Let’s go out and leave the excuses behind and go get it.”

Jessen’s prize of sixth place and that school course record was followed by a solid performance from Grace Herman for 11th and then Grace Smedra with a personal best finish of 22:11.8 for 16th place. Clare Schmidt placed in 18th and Gracelynn Paczosa 19th to place five runners in the top 20.

For the first time in a couple of weeks, Heng said he can group the boys into that good race category. The Braves took third in the points race behind top teams Cornerstone Christian and Norfolk Catholic in a collective performance that had their coach happy to see the results.

“We finally put together a meet where all of our top six were running strong,” Heng said. “That’s what it takes. We didn’t run amazing, didn’t win the meet, but I was happy with where our teams were heading.”

That came with a trio of personal best races in that top six. Following lead Miles Clausen’s seventh-place finish at 17:25.3, Myles Allen started that train with a ninth-place finish of 17:28.3. Eli Anderson’s best of 18:32.6 was good for 16th place, and Zayden Thramer’s best of 18:37.6 also put him into the top 20.

“Conference doesn’t really mean anything at the end of the day, but there’s a lot of pride in that. Between Class C and D, I don’t know if there’s a tougher conference than ours. Every single team going there has teams that can compete,” Heng said.

Friday, October 2 Battle Creek Invitational Girls Team Scores: 1. Battle Creek 36, 2. Stanton 41, 3. Norfolk Catholic 43, 4. Wisner- Pilger 88, 5. Ashland-Greenwood 90, 6. Homer 99, 7. Norfolk 106, 8. Winside 107, 9. York 113. Battle Creek: 6. Olivia Jessen 20:56.4, 11. Grace Herman 21:29.3, 16. Grace Smedra 22:11.8, 18. Clare Schmidt 22:27.8, 19. Gracelynn Paczosa 22:32.1, 25. Brynlee Wells 22:50, 26. Paleigh Strom 23:01.1, 32. Rachel Rudloff 23:43.6, 34. Brinkley Last 23:48.9, 48. Bailey Baber 24:57.4, 51. Jaylinn Schmidt 25:17.5, 52. Ali Schmidt 25:28.

Boys Team Scores: 1. Cornerstone Chrstian 34, 2. Norfolk Catholic 36, 3. Battle Creek 47, 4. Homer 53, 5. Ashland-Greenwood 92, 6. York 100, 7. Plainview 141, 8. Stanton 156, 9. Wisner-Pilger 164, 10. Norfolk 183, 11. Summerland 186, 12. Pender 188. Battle Creek: 7. Miles Clausen 17:25.3, 9. Myles Allen 17:28.3, 16. Eli Anderson 18:32.6, 19. Zayden Thramer 18:37.6, 39. Cody Renner 19:59, 48. Tristan Ray 20:47, 53. Asher Ray 20:57.9, 56. Brodie Korth 21:01.8, 60. Ryan Hoehne 21:05.8, 61. Asher Carter 21:08.7, 87. Ryker Reese 22:55.6, 88. Evan Haake 23:00, 95. Wyatt Wessel 23:40.8, 102. Zavier Ray 26:48.9.

The Bravettes did more than enough to make it, edging out Boone Central by three strokes with their top golfer just losing the individual title in a playoff to repeat as team conference champions at Indian Trails Country Club in Beemer.

Lacey Kuchar ended her 18 holes dead even with Boone Central’s Ashlynn Naber at 100 strokes achieved on a muddied and slick golf course. Kuchar arrived at the playoff hole — a 452-yard par five — having been the sole golfer in the Mid-State field to par it in regular play.

Though an errant shot on her second stroke thwarted another shot at that par and ultimately winning the playoff, Kuchar’s second-place finish still led her team to win another team title in the competitive conference.

Makenna Hughes and Mckayla Hughes each turned in fairly even days of play to take fourth (103) and ninth (109) respectively. McKailey Holecek at 112 rounded out the varsity scoring, while Addy Carstens still shot a respectable 118 for 16th.

Playing through the challenging elements as well as a stiff wind that also affected play, the Bravettes have the momentum they want headed into Tuesday trip Atkinson Stuart Country Club. The goal: get to state.

They will contend against host West Host as well as solid squads from Pierce, Ainsworth and LCC for the right to go to state.

Instead, Elkhorn Valley took a broader view of last Tuesday’s four-set win over West Holt. For coach Emily Vaughn and the Falcons, it was more than another solid win. It was a chance to further establish themselves in the Greater Northeast Activities Conference.

“It was more, we’re looking at the conference teams we could play this year and really working to keep our conference record as clean as we could,” she said.

And that was for one purpose: to bring some of the conference’s best teams to Tilden.

“The girls’ goal every year is to host a conference tournament,” Vaughn said. “I think, based on the results that we’ll see after tonight, that we sealed that opportunity.”

Sure enough, the Falcons’ win clinched that goal. Their victory over the Huskies secured the No. 2 seed in the GNAC, guaranteeing them a home start to the upcoming conference tournament, set to begin next Saturday. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, the only GNAC opponent Elkhorn Valley has lost to, earned the top seed and will host the other half of the conference tournament.

It was an even bigger reward from a match in which Vaughn saw the Falcons’ confidence continue to build.

“It was tough coming off three losses from Saturday, but I told the girls those matches could have gone any way,” she said. “I think they were kind of ready to get out and just play again.”

With one match to focus on instead of four from three days earlier, the Falcons bounced back from a marathon second-set loss to beat West Holt in four.

Kinley Poulsen led the offense with a seasonhigh 14 kills while also contributing to five blocks alongside Ashley Schutt. Poulsen finished with a double-double, adding 16 digs, while Willow Taake’s team-leading 22 digs helped frustrate West Holt’s hitters throughout the match.

Cameron Rutjens recorded her second straight match with 20-plus assists, finishing with 23.

While the Falcons dropped Thursday’s match to Central City in straight sets, matches against Humphrey-Lindsay and Norfolk Catholic this week give Elkhorn Valley a chance to pick up another big win or two heading into conference play.

Tuesday, Sept. 29

West Holt — 20 29 12 22 Elkhorn Valley — 25 27 25 25 Elkhorn Valley: Willow Taake 5k, 1a, 22d; Joni Qualset 4d, 13sa; Olivia Werner 9k, 1a, 14d, 1sa; Ava Koch 6k, 2b, 8d; Cameron Rutjens 5k, 2a, 2b, 16d, 23sa; Kinley Poulsen 14k, 1a, 5b, 16d; Ashley Schutt 6k, 2a, 5b, 2d, 1sa; Gentry Poulsen 11d.

Thursday, Oct. 1

Elkhorn Valley — 13 23 17 Central City — 25 25 25 Elkhorn Valley: Willow Taake 3k, 17d; Joni Qualset 4d, 8sa; Olivia Werner 3k, 14d; Ava Koch 6k, 1a, 3b, 3d; Cameron Rutjens 1k, 2a, 1b, 8d, 12sa; Kinley Poulsen 6k, 1b, 4d; Ashley Schutt 9k, 2b, 2d, 2sa.