St. Paul High School’s homecoming will take place October 14th, with the royalty crowned following the football game. The Wildcats will take on Central City in district action at 7:00 p.m. Friday night.

A week after the St. Paul Planning and Zoning Commission voted to deny Howard County Medical Center a permit for the hospital’s planned $8 million wellness center, members of the St. Paul City Council followed suit and also voted to deny the permit. The council’s decision means that, if the medical center wants to move forward with the project as is, they will have to seek a variance from the St. Paul Board of Adjustment.

The Howard County Board of Commissioners held its second regular meeting of the month of September last Tuesday, September 27th. An update on roadside mowing from Highway Superintendent Janet Thomsen, several items pertaining to courthouse upkeep, and a meeting with the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) at the old dump on Twin Forks Lane, north of St. Paul, were among the primary agenda items tackled by the commissioners during what had been a relatively short meeting last week. During the commissioners’ roads discussion, Thomsen referenced Nebraska Revised Statute 39-1811, which states that landowners are required to mow “all weeds that can be mowed with the ordinary farm mower to the middle of all public roads and drainage ditches running along their lands at least twice each year,” once in July and once before the end of September. As of October, she said, landowners still failing to comply with the statutory law can expect to receive letters from the county asking them to do so. “I kind of was lax with [enforcing the mowing] the last month or two, hoping that some of these guys would get it mowed,” Thomsen said. “I didn’t know how many of them wanted to mow to bale this year, but they need to get it done.” Electric fence, hay bales, and farm equipment, Thomsen added, should not occupy the public rights-of-way. Should landowners remain out of compliance with the mowing requirements after the receipt of a letter, the county may mow the affected ditches at the landowners’ expense. “We had set it, I believe, at $200 dollars an hour for us to do it,” she said. “We set that, I believe, last spring or last summer… We haven’t had to [do it yet], but it has been set.”

Harvest of Harmony, coordinated each year by the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce, observed a milestone over the weekend, celebrating its eightieth anniversary with the help of ninety- four marching bands from across the state and 209 total parade entries.

Roger Welsch, one of Nebraska’s most renowned humorists and storytellers, passed away on Friday, September 30th at his home near Dannebrog. Welsch’s career as a writer can be traced back to around 1958, with writings published during his tenure as a popular professor of folklore at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln.