The Howard County Board of Commissioners’ August 24th regular meeting opened with roads discussion and covered a number of items, with the meeting extending well into the afternoon. Currently, Howard County Roads Superintendent Janet Thomsen noted, the roads department has twelve motor graders and nine routes. With recent hires at the department, the superintendent said she was in the process of changing routes and potentially increasing the number of routes to ten.

e inability to staff and get someone in here to transition is what led me to do it now. That’s the main reason...” - Shawn Burkhardt TheofficeoftheHoward County clerk underwent a bit of a shakeup this month.

It’s back to school time at St. Paul’s Little Sprouts Preschool at 920 Jackson Street, with classes set to begin this Thursday, August 25th. The 2022–2023 academic year will mark the first full school year of operation for the preschool, which was inaugurated for a truncated 2021-2022 spring semester in March. The founding of Little Sprouts was the first largescale project undertaken by the St. Paul Early Childhood Foundation (ECF)—a nonprofit aimed at increasing the availability of preschool and daycare in St. Paul and providing childcare—and education-related financial assistance to local parents and businesses—which attained its 501(c)(3) status in February.

During their regular meeting on Monday, August 15th, members of the St. Paul City Council heard from South Central Economic Development District, Inc. (SCEDD) Executive Director Sharon Hueftle about potentially creating a Needs Assessment Survey, which she said the council could use to “arm [themselves] with current and accurate citizen feedback” when voting on “tough decisions.” The low turnout at city council meetings in general, she said, was both “good and bad” from the councilmembers’ perspectives.

Despite sustained drought conditions, the Loup River system as a whole has remained “surprisingly resilient,” according to Lower Loup Natural Resources District (LLNRD) Assistant General Manager Tylr Naprstek during an interview last week. “The whole state, pretty much, is in a state of drought; our flows are okay,” he said. While readings from the North and Middle Loup branch gauges in St. Paul are currently coming in “below where they should be as far as the normal median,” there is, noted Naprstek, “still flow.” At least speaking relative to the Platte, which reportedly went dry in July near Columbus, the Loups are “doing okay.”