Verna Ilene Taylor, age 87 of North Platte, passed away Wednesday April 12, 2017 at Great Plains Health.
Verna was born on November 22, 1929 in Greeley, CO, the 4th child of William John and Zelma G. (Plunkett) Hopping. She was raised in Grainton, NE until 2nd grade when her folks moved to North Platte where she attended Hall School; then they moved to Bignell, then to Maxwell where she graduated in 1948. She met her husband William at a dance at the Jeffers Pavilion in North Platte. They wed on January 7, 1950. Bill joined the Air Force and she followed him to many places including Illinois, California and Spain. They loved square dancing. Verna volunteered in the Blue Bank Community, assisting bereaved family members. She loved all children, and was a foster grandmother for 7 years, working with children in daycare and schools. She was also a member of RSVP. She worked at the Pawnee Hotel, Maxwell Village Clerk, Conley Detlefsen Restaurant, Gleason Truck Co. as a bookkeeper, and managed the Sands Motel. She kept the books at Twin Rivers Diesel and Duane Oelke Carburetors until 2010 when she had a stroke. Verna’s hobbies included crocheting, and playing games; she especially loved Pinochle.
Verna is survived by 2 sons, Michael A. Taylor and William Thomas Taylor (Deb Docter) both of CA; daughter Judy L. Taylor of North Platte; 4 grandsons Matthew A. Taylor, Ian Taylor, Mark Taylor, and Andrew Taylor; 1 granddaughter, Amanda Hoven; 4 great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Doris Hopping, Barb Hopping, and Mick Hopping; special daughter, Laurie Alger; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents William and Zelma Hopping; her husband Bill; son Danny Joe; and siblings Allen, James, Wayne, Ed, Clifford, Beulah Phifer and Helen Pinkston; uncle, Blaine Plunkett; and a special son, Dan Boone.
Memorials are suggested in her name and online condolences may be shared at www.adamsswanson.com. Cremation was chosen and memorial services will be held 10:00 a.m. Thursday April 20, 2017 at the Bethel Evangelical Free Church with Pastor Brett Terry officiating. Inurnment will follow at Ft. McPherson National Cemetery. Those wishing to do so may sign the register book from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Wednesday April 19, 2017 at Adams and Swanson Funeral Home which is in charge of arrangements.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha Public Schools board has decided to keep its current superintendent on the job for another year while it resets a search for a permanent replacement.
The board voted 7-2 Monday to start hammering out a new contract to temporarily keep Superintendent Mark Evans, who had previously announced he would retire in June. The decision is a move several members say will keep the district on a steady path while they pause its superintendent search and focus on the district’s other myriad issues.
Keeping Evans on the job should make sure a leader is in place for the next school year, after the search for a new superintendent stalled out last month when all three final candidates withdrew from consideration.
AINSWORTH, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a wildfire has blackened hundreds of acres of pasture in eastern Cherry County.
No injuries have been reported from the blaze. Firefighters were dispatched around 2:30 p.m. Saturday to a spot a few miles southeast of the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge.
Ainsworth Assistant Fire Chief Tony Ruhter said lightning likely started the fire, which eventually burned an abandoned building and charred around 2.3 square miles (6 square kilometers) of pasture.
Firefighters from several departments responded to calls, and Ruhter says the fire was extinguished within a couple hours.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a 17-month-old girl who was shot in the head at an apartment in northwest Omaha.
Police say a distraught man got into a private vehicle and took the bleeding toddler to a hospital around 3:40 p.m. Monday after the shooting at the Pine Tree Apartments.
On Tuesday police identified the girl as Ma’Laya Buie. Investigators haven’t released any information about how the shooting occurred.
Aaron Allison, North Platte St. Pat’s
Christopher Borden, North Platte St. Pat’s
Lane Knisley, North Platte St. Pat’s
Cade DiGiovanni, North Platte HS
Jayden Songster, North Platte HS
Dawson Graham, Gothenburg
Patrick Peterson, Gothenburg
Noah Royce, Gothenburg
Matthew Neiman, Brady
Garett Schledewitz, Maxwell
Hunter Aul, South Loup
Tyler Buck, Holdrege
Ezekiel Derr, Cozad
Brady Dawson, Southern Valley
Michael Gibbens, Twin Loup
Klint Gill, Cozad
Cameron Griffis, Cozad
Alex Helms, Holdrege
Brice Hodson, Medicine Valley
Tristan Kociembu, Broken Bow
Luis Lam, Lexington
Lucas Lans, Southern Valley
Andrew Miller, Broken Bow
Lance Moore, Mullen
Reece Peden, Cozad
Creighton Peterson, Bertrand
Brady Rohde, Ansley/Litchfield
Paul Sandoz, Twin Loup
Hunter Smith, Broken Bow
Josh Thompson, Overton
Samuel Vinton, Mullen
Ben Wetovick, Cozad
Head Coach: Ryan Jones, Maxwell
Asst Coaches: Jason Hale, Holdrege; Paul Heusinkvelt, Overton; Mike Kozeal, Twin Loup
Knights Basketball Players Diontae Champion, Mike Amius, and Jordan Mills sign letters of intent. Knights coaches Kevin O’Connor and Chase Grabau standing
North Platte – Three North Platte Community College Knights sophomore basketball players, Diontae Champion, Mike Amius, and Jordan Mills have signed letters of intent to play at four year colleges in the 2017-18 season.
Champion, a 6’ 6” small forward from Arlington, Texas, signed with the University of New Orleans.
Champion led the Knights in scoring the past two seasons, averaging 15.2 points per game his freshman and 14.8 ppg his sophomore season. During his freshman season he was selected to the All-Region IX Tournament team. He averaged 26.5 ppg in two games in the tournament. After his sophomore season, Champion was named to the All-Region IX team and was the Most Valuable Player of the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference.
Champion said, “I’ve been away from home, so it is closer to home, between my Mississippi family and my Texas family, so they can see me play and come to more games.”
In his two years at North Platte, Champion had 137 assists, 368 rebounds and 121 steals.
“Diontae was probably considered our best player the past couple of years. He transformed himself from an excellent athlete who played basketball to a guy that worked hard on his basketball skills.” Knights Head Coach Kevin O’Connor said, “Because of injuries and the death of Sampson Charles, we had to play Diontae at the power forward position. Once he gets to New Orleans, and able to play his natural wing position, they are going to see a very good player there with a good program.”
The University of New Orleans Privateers is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I program and is a member of the Southland Conference. This past season the Privateers were 20-12 overall and 13-5 in the conference. The Privateers received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for winning the Southland Conference Tournament, losing in the play-in game to Mount St. Marys.
Amius, a 6’ 7” post player from Lake Worth Fla., played two seasons for the Knights signed to play for the Western Carolina University Catamounts.
Amius led the Knights in rebounding with six rebounds per game and blocked shots at 1.1 blocks per game. Amius averaged 11.8 points per game. He had a 70.1 percent field goal percentage, which was sixth in the nation among National Junior College Athletic Association Division I players. His field goal percentage of 68.0 percent for his two-year career with the Knights broke the career field goal percentage mark set by Bill Kuhl from 1988-1990.
Amius said, “I liked the opportunity they presented compared to a lot of the other teams. They made me feel like I was home and the university is really close to my close relatives.”
The Catamounts are a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division One program and are a member of the Southern conference. They finished the 2016-2017 season with a 9-23 overall record and 4-14 in the conference.
O’Connor said, “I’m real pleased for the opportunity Western Carolina is giving Mike. Mike was raw in terms of skill and talent but very tremendous athletic ability, very good character. He is a smart basketball player and a smart student. I think Mike’s best basketball is going to be ahead of him, he is going to improve in leaps and bounds once he gets more skilled at the game to go along with his athletic ability.
Mills, a 6’ 2” guard from Alliance, Neb., signed with the Chadron State College Eagles.
Mills was forced to sit out his sophomore season because of a knee injury he suffered during his freshman season in February.
“One of the unfortunate things about sports is the injury. While we didn’t get to see the best of Jordan, hopefully Chadron will get a very good player for three years.” O’Connor said, “When he got hurt in February of last year, he was playing better than most of our guards and made improvements in leaps and bounds offensively and added pull up jump shots, and defensively. He learned to play at the pace you have to play in college basketball”
During his freshman season, Mills averaged 9.3 points per game, had 27 assists, eight steals, and 37 rebounds. Mills shot 38.4 percent from three-point range.
Mills said, “I got hurt last season and Coach Reed told me he was going to give me a chance to prove myself.”
Houston Reed, the head coach of the Eagles, previously coached for Region IX opponent Otero Junior College.
The Eagles are a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II program and is in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They finished with a 3-23 overall record and 3-19 in the conference.
The Knights finished this season at 22- 8 and the sophomores had a two-year total of 41-21 record with the Knights.
After learning this weekend that a student at Madison Middle School has been confirmed as having measles, we’ve now learned of a possible case at a North Platte elementary school.
On Monday evening, parents of students at Eisenhower Elementary received an automated message from Principal Mary Derby, stating that they have been made aware of a suspected case of measles at the school.
Derby said health officials have not confirmed this case but parents were being notified as a precaution.
In the message, Derby said any student who has not been vaccinated or who are immunocompromised are most at risk. Again, this case has not yet been confirmed by a laboratory.
Officials did not release anymore information and said more information will be released at a later time.
OTOE, Neb. (AP) — No injuries or building damage has been reported from a tornado that touched down in southeast Nebraska.
The National Weather Service says it formed near Otoe and lasted about 10 minutes Saturday afternoon. Another funnel cloud was reported Saturday night six miles west of Stella in Richardson County.
The service also says hail as big as 2½ inches in diameter was reported in eastern Nebraska.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska secretary of state’s office has put more than 24,000 business entities on notice that their annual and biennial reports and associated fees are delinquent.
Secretary of State John Gale says all 2017 reports should have been filed with his office by April 1. He says a reminder has been mailed to all nonprofits and limited liability companies and partnerships that missed the deadline. Gales says the businesses can all file reports and make payments online until June 1.
Business entities that fail to file by June 1, but wish to remain in good standing, will be required to reinstate or refile, depending on the business type. They will be assessed a reinstatement fee in addition to any payments that are past due.
West Roster
