Last week, more than a month after the St. Paul Senior Center was closed to visitors and the local meal delivery program was suspended, city leaders took a small step towards restoring services.

Viewing the Middle Loup River on Thursday evening, it was beautiful, with the water level up and flowing slowly downstream. It was nice knowing it was due to the recent rains, and what a blessing they were for the crops and pastures. Looking at the river flows on Friday morning, the South Loup River was running 217 cubicfeet- per-second (cfs). The Middle Loup River was up to 973 cfs, and the North Loup River was down a bit, with 1,310 cfs.

The St. Paul Country Quilters met May 19th at the Sts.

The University of Nebraska—Lincoln conferred 3,683 degrees during commencement exercises May 3rd, 16th, and 17th. The degrees were earned by 3,593 graduates from fifty-seven countries, forty-six states, and 250-plus Nebraska communities.

Shortly before 1:00 a.m. on Monday, May 19th, storm spotters with the Elba Volunteer Fire Department reported a tornado on the ground southwest of St. Paul. Following the report, tornado sirens were sounded within the city of St. Paul to warn residents to take shelter. Dispatchers with the Howard County Communications Center reported the storm to the National Weather Service (NWS) of Hastings, while spotters with the St. Paul, Dannebrog, Boelus, Farwell, and Elba fire departments continued to monitor the situation on the ground.