(AP) — Health professionals who specialize in ear, nose and throat issues are making themselves available for questions at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center will have its health experts at a booth on Sept. 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can also register to win one of two iPad mini computers. The booth will be staffed by three physicians, a physician assistant and a nurse.

Dr. Dwight Jones, a university department chairman, says some of the most common ailments for rural residents are chronic sinus disease and late summer and fall allergies.

(AP) — Attendance dropped slightly this year at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island.

Officials say attendance was nearly 335,000 for the 11-day fair, which ended Monday. That’s a drop of 0.6 percent from the 2012 fair, which drew nearly 337,000 people.

Officials say the hot, humid weather was a possible reason for the decline.

The Nebraska State Fair has set a new single day attendance record since moving to Grand Island with a total of 71,355 fairgoers on Sunday, September 1, 2013.

“This single day attendance record surpassed our previous record of 67,929 on the same Sunday in 2011,” according to State Fair Executive Director Joseph McDermott.  “It was only 367 visitors short of the all time State Fair single day attendance record of 71,627 set in 2009—the final year the State Fair was in Lincoln.”

“The heat was certainly an issue for the first 9 days when temperatures were much higher than weeks previous to the start of the fair, McDermott said. “Happily, our total attendance came in at 334,931 which is just 2,056 visitors behind 2012.”  “The one thing we’re not able to control is the weather, but happily we rallied the final two days of the fair when even Labor Day attendance was 3,500 higher than the same day a year ago.”

Each year, the Nebraska State Fair contracts with EventCorp Services to conduct electronic surveys on the fairgrounds to learn what fairgoers are thinking day by day.

While the full electronic survey has not been tabulated, McDermott said, “We do know that 60% of our attendance came from Grand Island and Central Nebraska and 17% came from Lincoln and Omaha.  The Lincoln/Omaha numbers are up a percentage point over 2012.”

State Fair Board Chair, Jana Kruger from Arlington, Neb. said, “Given our tremendous survey results, we know we’re continuing to do the right thing year after year to keep folks coming back for more.” “93.4% of our survey respondents said they would enthusiastically recommend the Nebraska State Fair to others.  This goes to customer satisfaction, and we’re very pleased we’re able to provide a family friendly venue for all of our visitors.”

Kruger said, “We want to thank all our guests and we are hopeful that each of them will continue to visit and tell others what they may be missing, if they haven’t attended.  This is truly a family event, and we don’t spare anything to make it better each year.”

The dates for the 2014 Nebraska State Fair are August 22 through September 1.

(AP) — A western Omaha man spent his Labor Day working for free, repairing a street near his home.

Frank Basilico said the cracks, ruts and potholes in the Elkhorn neighborhood roadway posed a danger to his son, who likes to skateboard.

Basilico says his calls to the city didn’t induce any repairs, so he decided to wait no longer. He cleaned out the problem areas in the asphalt pavement, especially along the curb. He’d bought 18 bags of concrete mix, which he moistened and turned over in a wheelbarrow, and worked his way down the street.

 

(AP) — Diesel fuel has ended up in some vehicle gasoline tanks in northeast Nebraska.

Six gas stations in Norfolk, O’Neill and Columbus mistakenly received diesel in their gasoline tanks after an error at the NuStar Energy pipeline terminal.

NuStar spokeswoman Joanna Weidman says the company is removing the contaminated fuel from the gas stations and replacing it with gasoline.

NuStar also plans to cover the cost of any repairs to vehicles affected by the mix-up.

Brian Johnson of Casey’s General Store told the Norfolk Daily News that NuStar contacted Casey’s after it realized the problem, but some customers had already pumped contaminated gas into their vehicles. Two Casey’s locations in Norfolk and one in O’Neill were affected.

Weidman says NuStar is investigating what happened to prevent a recurrence.

Activity was light during two weekends of special enforcement activities held in Hall County in connection with the Nebraska State Fair.

In an effort to reduce the potential for serious injury and fatality crashes, the Nebraska State Patrol conducted high visibility patrols during the evening and early morning hours on Saturday August 24, and Saturday August 31.

“With the increased traffic volume during the State Fair the potential for crashes increases,” said Captain Chris Kolb, Commander Troop C-Grand Island. “The fact we had very few issues during this busy time can be attributed to the public’s voluntary compliance with motor vehicle laws”.

During the enforcement effort, troopers made 48 contacts with motorists. Four juveniles were cited for being minors in possession of alcohol and four open container citations were issued.  A $1,450 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS) helped to pay for the extra enforcement.

Five students from School District 145 in Waverly were transported to a Lincoln Hospital with minor injuries after the school bus they were riding in was struck from behind.

The crash occurred just after 8:00 a.m., Tuesday, September 3, at the intersection of North 176^th Street and Fletcher Avenue. A Waverly District school bus had stopped at a stop sign at the intersection and was beginning to proceed, when it was struck from behind by a 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix. The driver of the car indicated she could not see the bus due to dust from the road.

Of the 45 students on the bus, five students ranging in age from 11-14 were transported to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Lincoln with minor injuries. The driver of the car, Tiffany L. Wiley, 23, Lincoln, was not transported. She was cited for following too close and no seat belt. The driver of the school bus, Joel Armstrong, 55, Lincoln, was not injured.

The Nebraska State Patrol was assisted by Waverly Fire & Rescue, and rescue units from Eagle, Alvo and Southeast Rural. The investigation into the crash continues.

(AP) — A man who threatened officers in Cleveland is making a court-ordered public apology by standing near a police station with a sign describing himself as an idiot.

A judge had ordered 58-year-old Richard Dameron to stand outside a local police station with a sign bearing an apology. He began the vigil Monday and must stand outside for three hours each day for the rest of the week.

Dameron was convicted of threatening officers in 911 calls.

His public shaming isn’t the first of its kind in the city. The Cleveland judge who sentenced Dameron previously made a woman wear an “idiot” sign in public for driving around a school bus.

(AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is hosting a series of speakers for talks about global competition, social progress, and the United States’ influence abroad.

The university announced its schedule for the 2013-14 season of the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues. The first presentation is scheduled for Sept. 24.

This year’s theme is “U.S. & Them,” with speakers who will focus on how the United States measures up in terms of international influence, economic competitiveness and social progress. Discussions will focus on foreign policy, the national and global economy, education, American military policy and the weakening of the middle class.

The lectures will take place at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, starting at 7 p.m. A full schedule is available online.

(AP) — Four accidents in just over an hour have been reported on Interstate 80 near Gretna in eastern Nebraska.

The accidents were reported by Sarpy County authorities between 1:45 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Authorities say most of the accidents were caused by people following too close.

Crews are continuing to clean up the wrecks, but recurring accidents are slowing the process.

Dispatchers say only one accident had a personal injury. The person was taken to an Omaha hospital. It isn’t immediately clear how severe the injury is.