(AP) — Cozad Superintendent John Grinde is retiring this summer after 41 years working in education.

Grinde says he doesn’t have big plans for retirement, but hopes to rehabilitate a 1903 Model A and reconnect with old friends.

Grinde has been superintendent of the Cozad district for 11 years. He spent his entire career with Cozad and two other districts in South Dakota.

Grinde says Cozad has been a nice community to live in. He was principal of the middle school for a decade before he became Cozad’s superintendent.

He also taught in Vermillion and Wessington Springs in South Dakota.

(AP) — Forecasters say powerful tornadoes and large hail are possible Monday in parts of northern Kansas and southern Nebraska.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., says the nation’s midsection could see thunderstorms, hail and isolated tornadoes on Monday afternoon and evening. Forecasters say “intense supercells” are likely to form, which raises the risk for tornadoes and damaging winds.

The Storm Prediction Center says a large section of the central U.S. could see severe weather Monday, including Kansas City, Mo.; Omaha, Neb; Wichita, Kan.; St Louis and Indianapolis.

Forecasters say the greatest risk for severe weather is in north central Kansas and south central Nebraska.

The Nebraska Public Power District is reminding farmers to watch out for overhead electrical lines and other hazards as they work in their fields.

The utility says farmers should make sure there is enough clearance between the top of their tractors and other equipment and electrical lines.

NPPD’s John Humphrey says farmers should know the location of all the electrical lines on their land, so they can avoid problems.

And farmers should remember that if they do disrupt power, it could affect their neighbors too.

(AP) — Americans plan to gather at cemeteries, memorials and monuments nationwide to honor fallen military service members on Memorial Day.

President Barack Obama is expected to lay a wreath Monday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington.

Another wreath-laying ceremony is planned at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park in New York City. The park is a tribute to President Roosevelt’s famous speech supporting freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

In one of several ceremonies honoring Americans killed in Afghanistan, the city of South Sioux City, Neb., plans to unveil a statue honoring Navy Petty Officer 1st Class John Douangdara, a dog handler for the SEALs killed in a 2011 helicopter crash.

A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time at Fort McPherson National Cemetery south of Maxwell.

Residents of central and eastern Nebraska are checking for damage after thunderstorms dropped large hail and heavy rain on parts of the state Sunday night.

The National Weather Service says a trained spotter reported a tornado in a rural area 5 miles east of Dunning in the Sandhills. And a Weather Service forecaster saw a funnel cloud north of Valley Sunday.

But neither report had been confirmed as a tornado Monday morning.

Hail as large as 3-inches in diameter was reported in Custer County.

Heavy rain fell across a large area of the state. Atkinson received 2.15 inches of rain in a one-hour period.

Several other locations also received more than 1.5 inches of rain between Sunday morning and Monday morning.

 

Nebraska Game and Parks commissioners have rejected a recommendation to create a mountain lion hunting season.

At a meeting Friday in Chadron, commissioners voted unanimously not to accept staff recommendation allowing mountain lion hunting. Commissioners directed wildlife staff to bring new recommendations to the July 26 commission meeting in Lincoln.

The Legislature approved a bill last year allowing for a mountain lion hunting season at the discretion of Game and Parks officials.

Officials say mountain lions all but vanished from Nebraska by 1890. The cats have been making a comeback in Nebraska’s northwest corner and have traveled as far east in the state as Omaha. The commission estimates the Pine Ridge area has a population of 22 animals.

(AP) — A special report by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Conservation and Survey Division shows that groundwater levels dropped last year in key spots.

The report looks at readings from five wells in regions with a high density of irrigation wells and because of their historically significant water-level changes.

All five of the selected sites saw a water-level decline from the spring of 2012 to the spring of 2013, ranging from 1.85 feet to 5.5 feet. The wells were in Perkins, Box Butte, Antelope, Fillmore and Hamilton counties.

Groundwater resource coordinator Aaron Young says the special report’s findings are consistent with historical trends, but is not intended to be a comprehensive study of the effects of the 2012 drought.

When the civil defense sirens sound during severe weather, we expect it to be followed by the buzzing sound of the Emergency Alert System on our radios and televisions announcing a Tornado Warning, followed by it’s location and other information.

However, this wasn’t the case in the city of North Platte last night.

The civil defense warning sirens, or tornado sirens as most of us refer to them, sounded last night even though the National Weather Service hadn’t issued a Tornado Warning for the city, prompting many residents to ask why.

According to the North Platte 911 Center, they were given a Severe Warning 1, which is a step above a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, and requires emergency personnel to act as if there were an imminent threat to life and property.

The National Weather Service (NWS) advised North Platte Dispatchers that they were tracking a very strong cell near the Lake Maloney area, which was showing signs of rotation on radar.  While the storm had not produced a radar indicated or confirmed tornado, storms in the area were increasing in severity rapidly prompting warning coordinators to upgrade the warning.

The civil defense sirens are not just for Tornadoes, but rather are to be used in any situation where there is an imminent or potentially imminent threat to life and property.

Fortunately, the city of North Platte was spared from tornadoes last night.  Nonetheless, many communities in our area did receive large hail up to the size of tennis balls and winds in excess of 80 miles per hour, causing significant damage to property.

Here are the warning definitions from the NWS:

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

This is issued when either a severe thunderstorm is indicated by the WSR-88D radar or a spotter reports a thunderstorm producing hail one inch or larger in diameter and/or winds equal or exceed 58 miles an hour; therefore, people in the affected area should seek safe shelter immediately. Severe thunderstorms can produce tornadoes with little or no advance warning. Lightning frequency is not a criteria for issuing a severe thunderstorm warning. They are usually issued for a duration of one hour. They can be issued without a Severe Thunderstorm Watch being already in effect.

Tornado Warning

This is issued when a tornado is indicated by the WSR-88D radar or sighted by spotters; therefore, people in the affected area should seek safe shelter immediately. They can be issued without a Tornado Watch being already in effect. They are usually issued for a duration of around 30 minutes.

In the event of severe weather, stay tuned to the North Platte Post Facebook Page and the Eagle Radio family of stations, Mix 97.1, Q Country 107.3 and ESPN Radion 1410.  We will keep you advised of all developing information.

 

(AP) — A group that opposes alcohol sales in Whiteclay is alleging that one of its beer store owners gave baseball bats and a stick to men who frequent the town, and told them to attack the protesters’ encampment on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

One of those activists was arrested Friday in Lincoln on charges that he vandalized a beer truck in the Nebraska border town. Authorities say 33-year-old Timothy R. McKenzie Jr., of Jefferson, S.D., was arrested on a warrant out of Sheridan County, Neb.

McKenzie alleges in a letter to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission that Jason Schwarting, owner of the Arrowhead Inn, told men in Whiteclay to attack the nearby encampment.

An Arrowhead Inn employee disputed the allegations, but says Schwarting was not immediately available for comment