News

Pawnee County Memorial Hospital (PCMH) in Pawnee City, Nebraska announced Monday that it recently experienced a cyber security incident involving some patients' personal health information. On November 29, 2018, PCMH discovered that a malware virus had entered its business e-mail system and may have resulted in unauthorized access to protected health information of some patients. PCMH immediately began an investigation and hired a forensic computer investigator to determine what happened.

New Senator Julie Slama said her first month on the job has been a whirlwind.

Slama was appointed by Gov. Ricketts to finish out the term of Dan Watermeier who went on to the Public Service Commission. Slama’s background information appeared in a previous issue of the Republican.

“I’ve been contacting constituents, introducing bills and researching legislation that comes to the floor. Thankfully, my staff and new colleagues have been a great resource for information and advice,” she said.

She has already introduced four bills. This is her recap of those bills: LB 232 lowers the current cap on county liability for riots and incidents at state prisons within those counties by 40 percent, saving Johnson County about $90,000 based on 2017 numbers.

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Last spring the Pawnee City Historical Society and Museum received a letter from an attorney in Lincoln that said that we were donated a pedal organ from the estate of Dwight L. Lubken. So several months later they let us know that we could come and get it. Jon Howard and wife went to Lincoln and brought it back. It is now located in the Bartram building. Later a relative in Colorado sent his hymnal, book of History of the Bible and a CD of their life. The CD is on the computer at the Beyreis building. The following is a short version of his and his wife’s life. Maybe some of you remember them. Rev. Wolfe passed away in 1954 and she in 1949. Their last years they lived on a farm close to Pawnee City.

This organ belonged to John H. Wolfe and his wife Delia. They carried it in a covered wagon as they preached in Free Will Baptist churches .

The Republican asked two local people to comment on the new bill, LB 497 that addresses property tax reform and school funding.,

The Nebraska Agriculture Leaders Working Group has announced its support for a bill introduced by Sen. Curt Friesen to fix major inequities in how Nebraska funds K-12 schools, while lowering property taxes for all Nebraskans. With numerous legislative proposals dealing with school funding and tax relief having been introduced, the agriculture leaders believe LB 497 is the best bill from which to start. Local producer Don Bloss was a member of four of the organizations that back the bill:

Enrique Mael Marquez Green, 24, of Humboldt was sent by ambulance to the Pawnee County Hospital following a bad crash at the intersection of Highway 50 and 65 Sunday afternoon. The accident happened around 1:19 p.m. He was driving a 2002 Chevy Monte Carlo and apparently ran the stop sign on Highway 65 at a high rate of speed. He left the roadway and hit a steep bank. The car then became airborne for a considerable distance and then hit the ground and rolled three times before coming to a stop at a tree. According to the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office drugs or alcohol was not suspected. The Sheriff’s report said there is no citation pending.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) wants drivers to know there now is another resource during winter events to view road conditions. Thanks to NDOT’s online Plow Tracker, drivers will be able to get a view of the roadway from plows actively working to remove snow going online at: https://plows.nebraska.gov/index.html.

This system works as a complement to the Nebraska 511 system, which informs travelers of road conditions throughout the State. Motorists will have access to additional information to help them make informed decisions prior to traveling.

Letters will be going to owners of abandoned or unlicensed vehicles in Pawnee City. That action was decided at the regular Monday night meeting of the City Council.

The Sheriff’s Office reported that there are 146 unlicensed vehicles in Pawnee City. Mayor Deb Klein wants to do something about them and asked the Council for advice.

The consensus was that the City should send letters out to say please get the vehicle you own licensed or face getting a ticket. The letters are not going out to all in the city at once, but to a section at a time. The Northeast section of the town will be the first to get the letters.

In other business, Jerry Berggen of Berggen and Associates was at the meeting, as he was at the last meeting. Berggen’s firm is the architectural firm handling the renovation of the Kobza Dental Building. He said the next step in the process is putting the bid in shape so they can do cost estimates. The total cost estimate at this point is $592,400.

All youth can benefit from a mentoring relationship. Whether in a formal relationship such as Team-Mates or an informal relationship such as a neighbor or relative, we believe everyone needs a positive role model to provide guidance and wisdom. The role of a mentor is to identify the strengths and talents of a student.

The HTRS-Pawnee City basketball games was a time to honor Kolt Byrd, a Pawnee City student who died recently. Special shirts were made for the boys and girls teams for PC. We weren’t able to get a picture of the girls team, but here are the boys. Front Row L-R: Tyler Tegtmeier, Gavin McHenry, Kylenn Koester, Kodenn Koester, Wyatt Whiffen, Sabian Adams, Kaden Lang, Keegan Vetrovsky, Erik Soehner. Kneeling Behind front row: Simon Osborne. Second Row (Standing) L-R: Theo Lilleheim, Mitch Gyhra, Tyson Crosby, Mason Lierz, TJ Mawhiney, Kyle Gyhra, Colby Robison, Brayden Nicholas. Grace Kanel, HTRS student, organized the event and said in loving memory of Kolt Byrd, the teams participated in a green out to show awareness for Muscular Dystrophy. The boys’ basketball team did a dollar for a shot during girls’ halftime to fundraise for the Muscular Dystrophy summer camp that Kolt loved to go to. They ended up raising $110.00 towards this special cause.

The ReUse Fund may again come to the rescue of the City of Pawnee City. The City is going to reapply for ReUse funds to help pay for the renovations of the former Kobza Dental Building. They have to reapply because the amount they applied for may not be enough, even though that amount was approved.

They applied for $310,000 to pay what was then thought to be the cost of the repair. Since then, the City has been consulted by Berggren Architects, the firm it has hired to oversee the project. Jerry Berggren was at the last City Council meeting and he told them the $310,254 he had estimated originally was just the bare minimum. The cost could go as high as $600,000, he said, to do extensive repair.