Like I have noted many times before, growing up, my parents seemed to have no issue raising me in a bar. The copious amounts of second-hand smoke – they sold out right before Nebraska banned smoking in public places, including bars – and the barrage of real-world lessons that I learned while hanging out in Palmer’s only tavern didn’t seem to concern my parents; in fact, I think they believed that those tradeoffs were worthwhile considering the free labor and the child care.

Last week, during the Howard County Board of Commissioners’ second regular meeting for the month of April, the commissioners discussed the potential of placing a sculpture and historical marker at the courthouse’s southwest grounds, enacted a joint resolution accepting a new employee handbook, and renewed the county’s public defender contract, among other items.

As of Sunday afternoon, the South Loup River and the Middle Loup River near St. Paul are at about the same levels as last week.

The county’s bridges had been the primary topic broached during early morning road discussions at the Howard County Board of Commissioners last Tuesday. Leading into a 9:00 a.m.