Michael Happ • P-H Publisher As a small-town newspaper publisher, I spend a lot of time covering the youth of the communities our newspapers serve. However, as I recently realized, that coverage, for the most part, happens outside of the school building.

Nebraska’s finest high school orators will take the stage for the “2023 NSAA Speech Championships: Best of the Best” at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 30th, on Nebraska Public Media.

Vicki Keep was a brief Wednesday afternoon visitor of Miles and Riley Keep in Scotia. Dave and Barbara Tuma visited Adeline Jonak in St.

Gary and Charlotte Rasmussen attended the funeral service for Ron Hansen in Grand Island on Tuesday afternoon. Gale and Helen Lassen attended the wedding of their nephew, Jaydon Lassen, and Taylor Turek Saturday afternoon at Sts.

The April meeting of the 49 County Clovers started off with the 4-H pledge. Then, they shared the secretary’s minutes and the treasurer’s report and discussed upcoming events and deadlines. There is still time to sign up for 4H, if you are interested! As the kids were going over this information, the Easter bunny showed up and, as he was handing out treats, a t-rex showed up trying to steal his treat basket. After the Easter bunny and t-rex moved on, the group finished their 4-H t-shirts by heat–pressing their designs on them. As the kids finished their shirts, they got a lively game of hide and seek going, until everyone was finished. For more information, come join the club’s Facebook page at “49 County Clovers”! Their next meeting is April 30th at 4:00 p.m., in lieu of their May meeting, due to graduations.

Replacement of the Howard County Courthouse’s steps, which began this week with preliminary work, was the subject of multiple conversations during the Howard County Board of Commissioners’ first regular meeting of the month of April last Tuesday.

No matter if you are an avid reader, a great writer, or even a cinephile, one thing that we all learn to love are great characters. When we think of great characters, many of us will think of the likes of Jay Gatsby from the Great Gatsby, Joey Tribbiani from Friends, or Forest Gump.