JOURNAL-NEWSThe Fairbury

WWW.FAIRBURYJOURNALNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2018 9 PAGES | DIGITAL VOL. 2 | NO. 44

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Photo by Trevor Gill/fairburyjournalnewsBRAN Riders Pass Thru Fairbury Thursday. Riders and assistance personnel left in the very early hours of the morning Friday morning and heading to Seward. The final last day would be Saturday in Ashland.

MetalQuest Partners with Public SchoolBy Jordan JohnsonMetalQuest Unlimited Incor-

poration, a machine manu-facturing company located in Hebron, and Sandy Creek High School have recently teamed up to prepare an edu-cational pathway for students to combat the needs of both parties. The partnership developed

on a student tour of the facil-ities of MetalQuest when, the school and company realized their equal desire to partner up and develop an instruc-tional pathway in the field of trades at Sandy Creek High School. Scott Volk, Vice Pres-ident of MetalQuest, spoke highly of this partnership in regards to the future of the trade business in Nebraska stating, manufacturing busi-nesses always need more employees and MetalQuest is looking to be involved in local communities. Volk talked positively of the

growing relationship between MetalQuest and Sandy Creek High School, stating, “It’s continuing to evolve. Every time we meet there is some-thing new.”MetalQuest is working

closely with Sandy Creek High School and helping to develop the right connections to prepare this educational pathway. “There isn’t a defined ‘stop

point’, this is an ongoing relationship,” Volk says. MetalQuest is working with the school to recommend the correct equipment such as manual lathes and manual

BRAN in Fairbury

Photo by Trevor Gill/fairburyjournalnewsScott Volk, left, talks with Montez King and Scott Harms during a tour of MetalQuest in Hebron. MetalQuest is working with Sandy Creek High School to provide a pathway for students to jump right into the manufacturing industry.

mills, for the classes Sandy Creek wants to offer, as well as set up college credit through Central Community College.In return, MetalQuest hopes

to keep trade workers in Ne-braska and the surrounding areas. Volk hopes to instill in the

youth that trades schools are an option for those who don’t see the four-year route as an option. Having more potential employees and stu-dents practiced in the area of trades will allow for and lend more opportunities for manu-facturing companies to take root in Nebraska. According to the Depart-

ment of Economic Develop-ment of Nebraska and the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of manufacturing businesses and employees has declined from 110,000 employees in 2007 to 98,635 employees in 2018. Volk explained the broad

view of their relationship with Sandy Creek, stating, “If more of this type of activ-ity happens where we can get more people interested in manufacturing and wanting to go into manufacturing as a career, then that available base of employees will grow and if that happens then companies outside of Ne-braska that are interested in locating to Nebraska because of our work ethic… and natu-ral skill set and mechanical aptitude… can establish in the state.”

Sandy Creek conducted student interviews before and after taking manufacturing classes and many students found the real-world appli-cation, of the material they learned in their other classes, beneficial. “If you can apply it [math]

to how you make a part in a manufacturing environment, now they [students] under-stand why they need that math and it becomes more interesting to them,” Volk states.MetalQuest has reached out

to other surrounding school districts and they’re starting

to build a partnership with Deshler High School in their development of their trades department. Volk hopes MetalQuest can

eventually be involved with different area schools to give students different options for the future. Volk states the most positive aspect of this interaction is “exposing stu-dents to a new career choice, giving them another option, something that they probably didn’t know existed before. I think it actually makes their learning experience in school a lot more interesting.”

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Photo by Jim Phelps/fairburyjournalnews.com

Here’s The Pitch—Fairbury Juniors pitcher Devin Wanamaker pushes off the mound as he re-leases a pitch toward the plate in action at home on Wednesday against Adams. Wanamaker earned the pitching win, as he threw four innings, allowing two runs on two base hits, while striking out two in Fairbury’s 18-4 win.

Photo by Jim Phelps/fairburyjournalnews.com

Throwing Strikes—Fairbury Seniors pitcher Marshall York winds up to fire a pitch to the plate in Wednesday’s home contest versus Adams played at Quinn Field. York drove in the winning run with an eighth inning walk-off RBI single lifting Fairbury past Adams, 2-1.

Page 2 The Fairbury Journal-News Sports Friday, June 8, 2018

By Jim PhelpsWith its offense in high gear

Wednesday evening, the Fair-bury Juniors Post 24 Legion baseball team ran rough shot over Adams, 18-4 in a four and half inning game played on Quinn Field.Fairbury wasted no time in

denting the plate scoring four runs in the bottom of the first spearheaded by hits from Brody Kroll, Carson York, Devin Wana-maker, and Joe Melcher.After Fairbury tacked on three

runs each in the bottom of the second and third innings for a 10-0 lead, Adams broke up Devin Wanamaker's no-hit bid in the top of the fourth inning scoring a pair of runs off an RBI double from Chase Dissmeyer and a RBI single by Nate Archer.Fairbury answered back in

the bottom of the fourth inning erupting for eight runs to put

the game out of reach at 18-2.In the game, Fairbury belted

out 13 hits, including four extra basehits.Producing hits for Fairbury

(9-0) were Kroll, two doubles, single with two RBIs, York, double, single, Austin Novotny, triple, single, two RBIs, Damian Vculek, single, Wanamaker, double, Melcher, single, two RBIs, Andrew Novotny, single, two RBIs, Billy Humphrey, single, two RBIs, and Peyton Firmanik singled.As a team, Fairbury stole six

bases versus Adams led by Wa-namaker with two.Wanamaker picked up the

win on the mound for Fairbury throwing four innings, allow-ing two runs and two hits, while striking out two batters.Konner Hasselbring pitched

one inning in relief out of the bullpen.

Fairbury Juniors Remain Undefeated

By Jim PhelpsMarshall York

was the right hit-ter at the right time, Wednesday evening for the Fairbury Se-niors Post 24 Legion baseball team in their home contest against Adams.With the game tied

at one in the bottom of the eighth inning, York singled on a 0-2 count driving in the game-winning run in a 2-1 victory for Fairbury.The game was a

pitching dual be-tween Adams' start-ing pitcher Michael Gronewald and Fairbury's starter Marshall York.Fairbury struck

first in the game, scoring one run in the bottom of the third inning, before Adams answered back in the top of the fourth tying the

game at one off a RBI single from Max Fortner.Neither squad

scored again until, York's RBI single de-livered the winning run for Fairbury in the bottom of the eighth.Pitching was strong

on both sides, as York, Andrew Novot-ny, and Zach Holes combined to strike out nine batters in the game for Fair-bury, while Adams pitchers, Gronewald and Jacob Gramann totaled six strike-outs.York began the

game for the Fair-bury Seniors pitch-ing three and two-thirds innings, surrendering one run on three hits, and striking out two batters.Andrew Novotny

secured the win for

Fairbury, as he al-lowed no runs with one hit in three and a third innings along with striking out five hitters.Holes pitched one

inning in relief allow-ing no runs or hits with two strikeouts.Gronewald started

the game for Adams Post 221, surrender-ing one run off three hits in four and third innings, while strik-ing out two.Gramann absorbed

the loss for Adams, as he threw three innings allowing three hits with one run, while striking out four and walking two.Collecting hits for

Fairbury (3-7) in-cluded Tanner No-votny, three singles, Holes, single, Joe Melcher, single, and York singled.

York’s Walk-Off Lifts Fairbury Past Adams

Seniors

Marysville 13 Fair-bury 9 (Tuesday)

A late Fairbury rally that forced ex-tra innings came up short on Tuesday in a 13-9 nine-inning loss to Marysville at home. Fairbury gave up a 7-1 lead through the first five frames of the contest before finding their rythmn at the plate in the sixth and sev-enth innings.

In the sixth in-ning with two outs Fairbury’s Adam Wasserman con-nected with a pitch for a two-run home run on a 1-2 count, bringing home Zach Holes to cut the defi-cit to 9-4.

Carson York, Daw-son DeBoer, and Marshall York fol-lowed Wasserman’s dinger with three consecutive hits. The two double and single from the trio resulted in an ad-ditional two runs to put the tally at 9-6 at the end of six.

Wasserman re-turned to the plate with two outs in the seventh inning and the Fairbury start-

ing pitcher struck another ball out of the park, this time a three-run homer to end the frame with the scored tied at nine all.

Marysville scored their final four runs in the top of the ninth with a combi-nation of three hits, two walks, and an error. Fairbury had an opportunity in the bottom of the frame as the team’s first two batters made it base via error and being hit by pitch but Marys-ville’s pitcher Trey Siemens got out of the inning with a fly out, ground out, and strike out.

Fairbury 2 Adams 1 (Wednesday)

For the second day in a row the Fair-bury senior’s found themselves in an extra inning ball game, but the out-come proved to be different.

With one out and one on in the eighth inning Marshall York hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the frame to claim the 2-1 win over Adams at home. Tanner No-votny hit a single to

start the inning and after Keyten Pfing-sten grounded out, York secured his game-winning hit on a 0-2 count.

Each team had six hits in the contest and Fairbury was paced by Novotny’s three hits, 3-for-4 day at the plate.

Andrew Novotny claimed his first win of the season on the mound for Fairbury with five strikeouts and only one allowed hit in the final 3 1/3 innings of Wednes-day’s game.

Seward 14 Fair-bury 5 (Thursday)

Adam Wasser-man’s two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning was one of the lone bright spots for the Fairbury senior’s during the team’s 14-5 home loss to Seward.

Seward started out slow, giving Fairbury 4-1 lead after three innings, but a nine-run sixth inning broke a 5-5 tie and left the final tally at 14-5. Seward gar-nered the nine runs due to 10 walks and

Legion Round Up

see LEGION, page 3

Photos by Nathan Heuer/fairburyjournalnews.com

Above: Fairbury junior’s Damien Vculek, right, makes contact with a pitch during Thursday’s contest at Fairbury City Park against Seward. Vculek was 0-for-3 in the contest and is now 2-for-15 at the plate this season.Below: Riley Stewart throws a pitch in the sixth inning of the Fairbury junior’s 13-5 loss on Thursday against Seward. Stewart allowed two hits and two walks in his lone inning pitched.

Page 3 The Fairbury Journal-News Sports Friday, June 8, 2018

Caleb Mohnike and Max Peery led Seward at the plate with one home run apiece and a com-bined five RBIs.The loss puts the

Fairbury senior’s record at 3-8 this season.

Wilber 10 Pleasant Dale 2 (Wednesday)

After starting the season 1-3, the Wilber senior’s have found their stride 11 games into the season. Wilber claimed a 10-2 vic-tory over Pleasant Dale on their home field Wednesday, securing their sixth win in their last seven outings.Grant Boysen’s

two-run home run in the fourth inning and Josh Kalk-warf’s two-hit, three RBI day capped Wilber’s dominance at the plate.Wilber pitcher’s

Preston Lee and Tyler Hooper com-bined to strand seven Pleasant Dale base runners. Lee got the start and earned the win with

one strikeout, one walk, no runs, and four hits allowed in 3 2/3 innings.

Juniors

Seward 13 Fair-bury 5 (Thursday)

The Fairbury junior’s suffered the first loss of the season on Thursday at home against Seward in an error filled contest.Fairbury recorded

a total of 12 errors and Fairbury pitch-ers gave up 11 hits in the 13-5 loss. Six of Seward’s hits were doubles and Colton Meyer led the away team with two doubles.Devin Wanamaker

scratched out all of Fairbury’s four hits. He was 4-for-4 at the plate with one RBI.Joe Melcher got

the start for Fair-bury on the mound, striking out seven, giving up seven hits and six runs in five innings. Riley Stewart and Aus-tin Novotny each pitched an inning to finish the game. They combined to give up five hits and three walks.

Wymore 5 Hebron 3

Hebron outhit Wymore five to four, but a total of eight Hebron errors com-pared to Wymore’s two proved to be the difference in a 5-3 for Wymore.Connor Klecan

had two RBIs on one hit for Wymore and leadoff hitter William McLaughlin had a team-high two hitsWymore utilized

four pitchers to get the victory. Paxton Mohr started the game and threw two innings, giving up one hit an striking out three before his evening was done. Will Stanosheck then recorded two innings on the mound, which was followed by Klecan pitching an addi-tional two frame. They combined for six strike outs and three hits allowed.McLaughlin threw

the final inning, giv-ing up one hit, two walks, and striking out one. Klecan got the win for his work in the fifth and sixth innings.

The Wymore junior’s are now

3-7 this season.

LEGIONFrom Page 2

Just In Time For SummerNew Jeffs mesh hats

available at FJN offices, 510 C Street, Fairbury

402-729-6141

$12 Each

Photo by Nathan Heuer/fairburyjournalnews.com

Fairbury junior’s Billy Humphrey right, tosses a pitch against Marysville’s Gabe Oller in the second inning of Fairbury’s 7-3 victory over Marysville on Tuesday at Fairbury City Park. Humphrey started the game for Fairbury and threw three innings before his day was done. He earned his second win of the season in the outing.

Photo by Nathan Heuer/fairburyjournalnews.com

Fairbury junior’s Carson York takes a cut at a Marysville pitch during Tuesday’s contest at Fairbury City Park. York made it to base once in the contest via error and accounted for one of Fairbury’s seven runs.Photo by Nathan Heuer/fairburyjournalnews.com

Fairbury second baseman Devin Wanamaker attempts to turn a double play for the Fairbury junior’s on Thursday against Seward at Fairbury City Park.

Photo by Nathan Heuer/fairburyjournalnews.comFairbury starting pitcher Billy Humphrey pitched in his fourth game of the season on Tuesday at Fairbury City Park against Marysville. Humphrey now has a 2-0 record with eight innings pitched and a strike out total of 12 this season.

We were only in Cambodia for three days. Our days were all planned out with trips to Angor Wat and Kampong Phluk. Our evenings were pretty open. We were staying at a very nice resort with a pool and restaurant and bar service. Drinks could be brought to poolside. You didn’t even have to get out of the pool. After long days of walk-ing and exploring in the damp, brutal, jungle heat of Siem Reap, most of the group was happy to hang out at the re-sort, drinking fruity, touristy drinks like Mai Tais and Mojitos brought to them by stiff-backed waiters in white shirts and shiny leather shoes, all the while never taking a foot out of the cool blue-green water of the swim-ming pool.Some, however, felt

like exploring on into the night. I should point out that by ex-ploring, what I really mean is following Sakai around while he tells us where we are, since he was the only one familiar with Cambodia.So while the rest of

our travelling com-panions recuperat-ed, four of us headed out into the night. I was tired and my feet still hurt from the day of sightsee-ing. I could easily have stayed with the others, except I suffer from a bad case of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). So I tagged along.We headed to

Pub Street. This is exactly what you think it is. It is a backpacker’s para-dise, assuming said backpacker is inter-ested in tearing up the night, stagger-ing from bar to bar, nightclub to night-club, until 4 a.m.That wasn’t really

what we were look-ing for. We stopped

at a couple of qui-eter pubs hidden on side streets, just off the main thorough-fare. These catered more to expats than backpackers, so the clientele was more interested enjoying a drink with pleas-ant company and less inclined to “get their groove on” or “get jiggy with it,” or however young people today de-scribe getting loud and rowdy and then throwing up in a potted plant outside a one-star hostel. Hungry, we stopped for noodles at a hole in the wall, eating in the “din-ing area,” which was four squat, molded plastic chairs and a short table.After a bit of a

nosh, we continued our low key pub crawl. On a less traversed road paral-lel to Pub Street, we found a little cock-tail lounge that fit the bill nicely. As we passed through the doors of Miss Wong, we left 21st century Cambodia and found ourselves in 1920s Shanghai.It looked like the

set of an old movie. Bogie and Bacall would have looked right at home sip-ping gimlets among the dimly-lit red walls, Chinese paper lanterns, lacquer screens and wood bar. Peering down from her spot on an overhead railing was the painting that gave the place its name.Painted by Vladimir

Tretchikoff, “Miss Wong” is one of his most famous paint-ings, second on to “Chinese Girl.” At one time it was one of the most recog-nized paintings in the world, repro-duced and hung in wood-paneled dens and over the mantel-pieces of shag-car-peted living rooms throughout Middle

America in the 1960s and 1970s.Though sneered

at by self-important critics as low-brow kitsch, barely a step up from dogs play-ing poker or those creepy, saucer-eyed children of Walter Keane, the Cape Town-born Rus-sian painter’s work was hugely popular. His work tradition-ally featured “exotic” women from Asia and Africa with sim-plified or unfinished backgrounds and an unconventional use of color.Tretchikoff lived for

many years in China and Indonesia and Singapore, so his choice of subjects for his paintings were only natural. The actual subject of the “Miss Wong” portrait was a Port Eliza-beth-born, French/Chinese 18-year-old Tretchikoff met while she was walking her dog.Tretchikoff is one

of those artists who is periodically for-gotten, then redis-covered. The artist’s work became hip again in the 1990s and early 2000s dur-ing the 1970s nos-talgia phase. A book was writ-

ten about him and prints of his work were a must for any tiki bar.Miss Wong, the bar,

despite being one of the most famous

spots in Cambodia (guidebooks like “Lonely Planet” rave about the place), was not crowded and remarkably laid-back, which is nice. A place like this could easily turn into one of those ob-noxious, hipper-than -thou hotspots. This will never happen. Miss Wong is owned by a Kiwi named Dean, who has no intention of letting that happened.Dean makes it a

point to provide high quality spirits in his establishment. It makes a nice

counterpoint to the cheap booze and gallons of beer at other nearby spots. He provides a few Eastern variations on traditional cock-tails, like the Rose & Lemongrass Martini, Apricot & Kaffir Lime Martini or Mango Daiquiri. If you need a snack, they also have offer a food menu with Dim Sum and fried rice, among other items.

I think I ordered the Miss Wong Punch: White rum, Triple Sec, St. James Amber, cranberry, pineapple, mango and lime juices.

Don’t remember how many I drank but I assume they must have been pretty good…since I don’t remember how many I drank.

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Timothy Linscott .................................................................. Owner/Publisher - timothylinscott1@gmail.comJennifer Lewis ..............................Production Manager/Circulation/Web- jennifer@fairburyjournalnews.comTrevor Gill ...............................CFO/Sports Editor/Social Media Editor - trevor.gill@fairburyjournalnews.comChristina Weidner ..........................................................Graphic Design - design@fairburyjournalnews.comJennifer Bartels ......................................................Sales Representative - sales@fairburyjournalnews.comMinette Tomasch .................................................................... Reporter - minette@fairburyjournalnews.comNathan Heuer ........................................................................... Reporter - nathan@fairburyjournalnews.comJim Phelps ............................................................................................. Sports Writer - fjnsports@gmail.comGordon Hopkins ....................................................................... Special Contributor - gordon.fjn@gmail.com

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Cautiously Optimistic

Page 4 The Fairbury Journal-News Editorial Friday, June 8, 2018

A Strong Farm Bill Is Good for Nebraska

By Rep. Adrian SmithAs many of you know, the House of

Representatives recently considered its version of the 2018 Farm Bill, which unfortunately failed to gain enough votes for passage. While I do believe we will pass a Farm Bill this year, the current situation is troubling. Our agriculture producers face enough uncertainty with-out Washington making the situation worse.Over the past year, I have held a Farm

Bill listening tour with stops in Scotts-bluff, Aurora, Broken Bow, Beatrice, South Sioux City, and at the State Fair in cooperation with the Nebraska Farm Bureau and the rest of the Nebraska congressional delegation, through which I visited with producers to hear their concerns. I have also conducted several telephone town halls, which engaged thousands of Nebraskans. The response has been clear: a strong Farm Bill is good for Nebraska and vital for the sta-bility and continued success of our agri-culture industry.The House version of the Farm Bill is a

reasonable approach, which makes its failure to be adopted even more trou-bling. It contains modest yet meaning-ful reforms to the nutrition title coupled with improvements in the agriculture programs, several of which I relayed directly to the House Agriculture Com-mittee from Nebraska’s producers. It has become increasingly clear our current situation is the result of partisanship and other concerns not related to the agriculture debate.Our producers deserve better than par-

tisan posturing, especially given the cur-rent uncertainty in our agriculture mar-kets due to trade disputes with several of our largest trading partners. Without reliable demand and fair treatment of their products in international markets, production decisions are virtually impos-sible to make in advance.When extreme weather events and other

unforeseen factors are added to these concerns, it is easy to see why the Farm Bill is so important to provide an ad-equate safety net for our producers. We have made great steps through tax re-form and other achievements so far this year and we should build on them rather than taking a step backward.The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was

authored by the House Ways and Means Committee, maintained full property tax deductibility for agriculture producers and businesses, interest deductibility of cattle inventories for feedlots, and pro-tection against payroll taxes on rental income. Additionally, I worked to ensure Congress passed legislation to replicate Section 199 treatment of cooperatives under the previous tax code, which solved the “grain glitch.”Overall, it has also been a positive year

for agriculture in terms of reduced regu-lation. Livestock haulers received an ex-tended exemption from electronic logging device (ELD) requirements, which I hope to make permanent through a bill I plan to introduce this month. At the same time, farmers and ranchers were perma-nently exempted from misguided regula-tions on methane from animal waste, a legislative solution I strongly supported.Another major concern of our agricul-

tural producers would have changed the definition of navigable waters under the Clean Water Act to allow excessive EPA regulation. These provisions, known as the Waters of the United States (WO-TUS,) were halted by the Trump adminis-tration and legislation to make this delay permanent is included in the House Farm Bill. On a further positive note, President

Trump recently voiced public support for year round availability of higher ethanol blends (E15). The Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA) should move forward quickly to implement these measures, which would be beneficial for both con-sumers and agriculture producers alike. I have long supported this approach, which is why I introduced a bill last year requiring the EPA to make these chang-es. Nebraska’s Third District produces

more agricultural goods than any other district in the country. Given our eco-nomic dependence on its success, I take any new regulations, taxes, or changes to the Farm Bill which would adversely affect it very seriously. I will continue to fight burdensome regulations, support a robust Farm Bill, and work to ensure ac-cess to foreign markets for our products.

Shanghai Chic in the Red Lantern District

Friday, June 8, 2018 The Fairbury Journal-News Page 5

exclusiveFriday Sports

fjn VarsityLettersDean

SchmidtBy Jim Phelps

Fairbury Journal-News

1989

For Dean Schmidt he has always been comfortable around people.That trait has led

Dean to a potent po-sition as sales man-ager of thin brick and tile at Endicott Clay Products Com-pany.As a player on the

basketball court for the Fairbury Jeffs during his playing days in high school, Dean always had a strong ability to communicate with teammates and that helped build the foundation, as he en-tered the work force after graduation from college.“My main reason

I got into sales was I like being around people. I have an interest in people with my background, as I feel I can under-stand people through communication,” Schmidt replied.“My masters degree

in Industrial Orga-nizational Psychol-ogy I truly believe no doubt helped me get started in the sales field,” Schmidt noted.As a 1989 gradu-

ate of Fairbury Jr.-Sr. High School, Schmidt lettered three years in bas-ketball and played two years of football.The journey to

where Schmidt is now began in the town of Reynolds, Ne.As a youngster,

athletics were impor-tant to Dean, as he always had a basket-ball in his hand.“Growing up in

Reynolds I got started in organized basketball in the second grade. I was lucky enough back in the day where we would travel around and played area towns, Gilead, En-dicott, Davenport, and St. Michael’s in Fairbury. We played a 10-12 game sched-ule in my elemen-tary years, and by the time I was in the eighth grade our team pushed it to about 20 games. Be-ing a small town we didn’t have enough players to fill a team, so we played co-ed. Our team consisted of four boys and one girl. We managed to put together a pretty good record in our eighth grade year,” Dean said.As a young ath-

lete, Schmidt was inspired in basket-ball by the 1982-83 Fairbury Jeffs bas-ketball team that placed runner-up at the state basketball tournament in Class B losing to Elkhorn Mt. Michael.

“On a local level I looked up to the 1983 team which featured players, Larry Klaus, Ron Walker, Bruce Za-bel, Lee Brown, and Jared Gerber. I went to as many games I could when those guys played for I re-ally liked how those athletes played bas-ketball. Before that I can remember going to watch point guard Dave Beetley play,” Dean commented.“On a national

perspective I can re-member growing up in Reynolds we had three tv channels. I would go outside and turn the antenna so on Friday night’s I could pickup on the NBA Seattle Super-sonics basketball team with the likes of Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson playing. I also loved watching guard Mag-ic Johnson play for the Los Angeles Lak-ers who was famous for his no look pass,” Dean stated.During his playing

career for Fairbury, Dean competed in football playing of-fensive guard and linebacker for two years, while he played four years of basketball for the Jeffs, lettering dur-ing his sophomore-seniors years, as a point guard.Dean did not com-

pete in any spring sports for Fairbury, as he focused his time playing the game of basketball.As a sophomore,

Schmidt locked in on the sport of basket-ball which turned out to be his favorite of the two sports he played during his high school athletic career.“By far basketball

was my favorite. Basketball became my focal point after my sophomore year. My goal was to play college basketball and I did have of-fers from Nebraska Wesleyan University and Doane College to play basketball, but I ended up not playing. I just en-joyed the comradery of playing as a team, as I had some re-ally great classmates both in my grade and behind me. I just truly enjoyed being around those players. Plus I loved the game of basket-ball through and through,” Schmidt remarked.“I absolutely do

regret not playing basketball in college. I had an injury my senior year, as I blew out my ankle and missed my first three games. Even with my injury that I over-came I could have gone on and played basketball in college, but I decided to focus on academics and go down that path instead,” Schmidt proclaimed.As a student-athlete

in high school ath-letics was fun for Dean for he got to be around his peers.

“What I enjoyed about participat-ing in the athletics was being around my classmates. As a player you learn a lot from the game either football or basket-ball. As a team sport you win some times, and other times you come up short with a loss. That is a impor-tant learning tool for each individual, as in life you have your good days, and then you will have some tougher days. The bottom line is how you face the situa-tion head on. Sports teaches athletes that as an individual you are not going to win each time out that sometimes you will fall short and you need to focus harder with your work in practice, so you can bounce back from your setback and be better for your next game,” Schmidt com-mented.As a senior, Dean

and his other four seniors on the team, Jed Martin, Matt Mc-Cord, Greg Novotny, and Mike Nevitt carried the Jeffs to a record of 10-10 for the 1988-89 season.“The class behind

me which were ju-niors included Dar-rell Stelling, Rick Blatny, Jr., Ryan Knispel, and Mark Wiedergreen. Our team in 88-89 had some real talented players that made the team fun to be a part of,” Dean noted.“After the 1982-83

team which finished runner-up in Class B, Fairbury’s basket-ball teams had four or five years where they didn’t have a winning record. As seniors on the 88-89 basketball team our goal was to send our team out on top, as we managed to get to .500 at 10-10, so we laid a path for the upcoming seniors who had a really good record that next season,” Schmidt replied.Following his play-

ing days on the hard-wood for Fairbury, Dean is high up on several career bas-ketball lists.Dean holds the

school record for most assists in a game with 17 against Falls City in 1989. He (Dean) also has the second and third most assists in one game with 15 versus York and 14 against Schuyler, both in 1989.In the 1989 season,

Schmidt had nine games with 11 as-sists each.Schmidt is second

all-time in assists in one season with 188 during the 1988-89 season, and he is second for assists in a career with 360 from 1987-1989.Tom Oswald holds

the career mark for assists in a season at 205 set in the 1977-78 season, and he dished out a total of 500 assists from 1977-79.Dean earned several

post-season honors including Central Conference honor-able mention honors in basketball as a junior and a senior.“Back in the day

when I played the Central Conference was a very tough conference with the likes of Aurora who was a state cham-pion out of our conference, Crete, Seward, and York. The Central Confer-ence had a lot of tal-ent back then,” Dean remarked.Schmidt credits two

of his Fairbury bas-ketball coaches from high school in help-ing him earn the suc-cess that has helped lead him to where he is today in the work force.“Coach Chuck

Moore and coach Don Mahlman taught us discipline as players. They taught us to do things the right way. They had us dress and look a certain way when we traveled to away games. They taught us to respect the game, respect our-selves, and respect the players that we were playing against. We were taught how to carry ourselves as players. You were a basketball player from FHS and you were representing the school and the city when you trav-eled to an opponent’s gym so it was impor-tant how you looked and acted,” Dean said.For Dean he has a

word that he feels describes him.“I feel I’m quite

dedicated to my fam-ily as a husband and father, as well as dedicated to my job. A lot of things that I do today it goes back to playing athletics. It goes back to the team by putting oth-ers first, and trying to make the people around you bet-ter. I believe that is important everyday, whether that is being a father or husband or at your job. It is not always wanting to succeed as your-self, but as a team by making everybody around you better. You want to instill a positive image,” Schmidt stated.Dean has many

memories of his days playing basketball in 1947 gymnasium nicknamed the pit.“I loved playing

basketball in the pit. It was my favorite gym to play basket-ball games in. We knew where the dead spots were on the floor so we would force an opponent to dribble over those spots and the ball wouldn’t come back up as quick so we were able to force a number of steals. That building had a great atmosphere for basketball. One of my best memories in the pit was beating state-rated Colum-bus Lakeview in a rescheduled game due to snow on a

Tuesday night late in the season. The pit was rocking from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer,” Schmidt commented.Athletics was some-

thing that Dean lived for as a student-ath-lete in high school.“I would say on a

scale of 1-10 that athletics were a 9 for me. I definitely lived to play sports. My passion was basket-ball which I enjoyed playing the whole year round. When I wasn’t playing bas-ketball during the season I would have a ball in my hand playing on my court in Reynolds. I fell in love with the sport of basketball and I keep on playing the game,” Dean ac-knowledged.Athletics according

to Schmidt taught him how to work hard.“You clocked in at

the school at 8:30 a.m. to start your classes each day and then you checked out at 6:30 p.m. af-ter you have finished practice. I learned to work hard both in the classroom as well on the field and the hardwood. You always put forth your best effort in the classroom and in athletics to be the best you could be. You did that day in and day out in the classroom, and from game to game in ath-letics,” Dean said.To be the best

you can be is what competing in sports has taught Schmidt about life itself.“To go out and

compete and look to win, but do it the right way. Don’t take shortcuts, but try your best and put your best foot for-ward and do things the right way each and every day. I tell my kids and they are probably tired of the saying, but I tell them to do things the right way each and every day,” Schmidt remarked.Working through

an internship with Anheuser-Busch helped Dean get his start in sales.“I had worked with

an internship with Anheuser-Busch through four years of college, and so when I was looking to finish my masters degree I was given

the opportunity to come back and write a training program and other stuff for Anheuser-Busch in some sales programs and I definitely took the opportunity. I enjoyed everything about the training program. The train-ing was very inten-sive from a sales side and marketing. It definitely gave me a good background. A lot of my training was done through the company hub of Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, as well as Fort Collins, Colo.. I did a lot of travel-ing for classes both in St. Louis and Fort Collins. I enjoyed get-ting into sales with Anheuser-Busch where I worked for 13 years,” Schmidt noted.Dean earned a

bachelor of science degree in Psychol-ogy from Nebraska Wesleyan University, and he completed his masters degree in Industrial Organi-zational Psychology from Emporia State University.Following his em-

ployment at An-heuser-Busch, Dean hooked up with En-dicott Clay Products Company, and has been the sales man-ager of thin brick for 10 years.“Everything at En-

dicott Clay stands for quality. Sales boils down to relationships with who you know and develop that trust and repor with them. I travel maybe 10-12 weeks out of the year in my job, but a lot of what I do is over the phone. We have distributors all over the United States and Canada, and I deal with a number of architects on the phone every-day talking about how to design a building. I’m respon-sible for all the thin brick production so I’m out in the plant to see the quality of the brick before ship-ping,” Dean replied.Dean’s wife, Tam-

mie is a paraprofes-sional at Central Elementary in Fair-bury.The couple have

four children, Syd-nie, age 22 lives in Lincoln, Regan, age 18, Brody, age 12 , and Parker, age nine.

Page 6 The Fairbury Journal-News News Friday, June 8, 2018

A walk to end Alzheimer’s. The

Alzheimer’s Asso-ciation holds walks

across the country to raise money for research to combat the disease. Usually the walks are held in large cities and are two-mile long routes.One man is taking it one step further.Lance Tittle is walking coast-to-coast

raising money for researching the disease. In January 2017, Tittle lost his wife of 54 years to the disease. Since then he has sought a way to help others and bring awareness to the disease.“I’m not an active person, I never was,”

Tittle said.He recounted that the most exercise he

would partake in was walking the local track with his wife. In preparation for his journey, Tittle did months of research. Af-ter having all the proper equipment need-ed, he walked the same track he walked with his wife with all his gear.“Anyone who walks cross-country usu-

ally go west to east,” Tittle said. “I wanted to go east to west.”In August 2017, Tittle began his initial

journey with his feet in the water at Cape May, New Jersey with the ashes of his beloved wife in his hands. He made his way back through his home state of Penn-sylvania and made it to West Virginia in October 2017.Due to the weather closing in fast, Tittle

was forced to postpone the rest of his walk until after the winter had passed. On April 13, 2018 Tittle resumed his journey right where he had left off in West Virginia.“It’s important to know your route,” Tittle

advised.Before starting out, he carefully planned

his route through the states. He avoided major cities saying that it was easier to track through rural areas versus cities: less stop lights.Tittle wanted to walk through the heart-

land of the United States. When walking through Ohio he made a point to find the very heart of the state that is known as the heart of the U.S.As Tittle made his way through the

states he has drawn the attention of local news stations and soon he had strangers opening their homes to him to stay for a night or two. When beds were not avail-able or he could not make it to a hotel, he would approach farmers and others for permission to camp in their yards.“I have been so blessed this whole time,”

he said.Tittle came into Fairbury on Tuesday

via Highway 136 from Beatrice. He spent Wednesday in Fairbury and on early Thursday morning he planned to set out again, heading for Hebron. From there he planned to make his way across the northwest corner of Kansas and get to Colorado.

He estimated that starting there he would have to do a lot more camping, especially when he gets beyond the Rocky Mountains and has to cross the desert. Up until now, Tittle guessed he may have only camped ten times.Before his wife’s diagnosis, Tittle had

promised her they would someday travel the country together.“There are seven days in the week and

‘someday’ is not one of them,” he com-mented.Since starting his walk, Tittle has re-

ceived donations of nearly $8,000. He has sent all that money back to his local Alzheimer’s research chapter.

Tittle has been keeping a blog updated of his progress. He has accumulated a fol-lowing and has had people send money to his cause. “I don’t need the money, I am funding my

trip all my own,” Tittle said. “Everything I have been given, I have given to the chap-ter back home.”Now a retired manufacturing business

partner, Tittle says he was blessed and continues to be blessed. He is doing this walk for his wife, finally taking her across the country and will lay her ashes to rest in Sunset Beach, California.

Walking Coast to Coast

Photo by Trevor Gill/fairburyjournalnewsBonham Theatre had a pulled pork meal for the BRAN Riders coming thru as well as open to the public.

Photo by Minette Tomasch/fairburyjournalnewsKim Oliver, Patrick Hoins, and Lori Ohlde were stationed at Cedarwood Assisted Living on Thursday from 11a.m. to 1p.m. distributing hot dogs and brats along with a com-plete sack lunch. Proceeds went to Relay for Life.

By Minette TomaschFairbury Journal-News

On Wednesday, June 6, at approximately 11:44 a.m. Gage County deputies were dis-patched along with Diller Rescue to a two vehicle accident at the intersection of 131st Road and west PWF Road.A 2001 Ford F250 pulling a

trailer, driven by Rodney Scher-ling of Beatrice, was attempting to turn northbound on 131st Road when a 1998 Toyota Ava-lon, driven by Brandon Keylon of Lincoln, improperly tried to pass the truck. The vehicles came into collision causing the pickup

to lose its front driverside wheel. The force sent the Toyota to go into the northeast ditch and roll, landing back on its wheels.Keylon was transported to the

Beatrice Community Hospital for non-life-threatening injures by Diller Rescue.It was determined by the Gage

County Sheriff that alcohol was not a factor and seatbelts were in use by all parties involved. Airbags were deployed in the Toyota Avalon and Keylon was cited for improper passing.

Two Vehicle Accident Near Diller

Photo by Trevor Gill/fairburyjournalnewsInjury accident on PWF Road at the intersection at 131 Road, resulted in one driver be-ing transported to the Beatrice Community Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Page 7 The Fairbury Journal-News Comics Friday, June 8 2018

Page 8 The Fairbury Journal-News Recipe Friday, June 8, 2018

$.98 ea. Dole PinappleWhat You Will Need:1 can (15.5 ounces) black

beans, rinsed and drained1 1/2 cups chopped pine-

apple1 jalapeno, stemmed, seed-

ed, and minced3 tablespoons finely

chopped red onion1/4 cup chopped fresh ci-

lantro1 tablespoon fresh lime juiceCoarse saltWhat to Do:In a medium bowl, combine

black beans, pineapple, jala-peno, red onion, cilantro, and lime juice. Season with salt.

$6.98 ea. Kansas City Strp Steak, 10 oz.What You’ll Need4 Kansas City Strip Steaks2 tbsp. black peppercorns2 tbsp. coffee beanssaltWhat to Do:n a coffee grinder or mortar

and pestle, grind the cof-fee and pepper together to an even coarse consistency. Rub on both sides of each Kansas City Strip Steaks and let rest for one hour. Season both sides with salt cook to medium on a hot grill, About six minutes per side, rotating a quarter turn every three

minutes to create the cross hatch grill marks. About six minutes per side, rotating a quarter turn every three minutes to create the cross hatch grill marks. The smoke gives an added depth to the coffee and pepper aromas. Alternate cooking method: In a hot pan, sear the Kan-sas City Strip Steaks about six minutes on each side, or until medium. Remove from pan and deglaze the pan with 1 cup of cold coffee. Reduce the coffee to about ¼ cup and whisk in 1 tbsp. cold butter and 1 dash Worcester-shire Sauce, serve with the steaks.

Black Pepper Coffee StripPineapple and Black Bean Salsa

Save on the Foods You Love this Summer with Help from Ray’s Apple Market

Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy

$4.99 lb. Beef Cube Steaks, Value Pack, BonelessWhat You Will Need:1/2 cup vegetable oil6 (4-ounces each) cube

steaksSalt and freshly ground

black pepper1 1/2 cups all-purpose

flour1/4 teaspoon cayenne pep-

per1/4 teaspoon paprika4 eggs, beaten1 1/2 cups whole milkChopped parsley leaves, for

garnish

What to Do:Heat a medium-high skillet

over medium-high heat. Add oil. Cook’s Note: Oil is heated when you drop a little flour in and the oil spits.

Pound out the cube steaks with a meat mallet until they are 1/4 to 1/2-inches thick. Salt and pepper both sides. Mix the flour, cayenne and paprika together in a bowl. Beat the eggs in another

bowl. Dredge the steaks through the flour, then egg mixture, then through the flour again.

Place the steak carefully in the pan as the oil will splat-ter. Cook until golden brown, about 4 to 6 minutes on each side. When finished, place on a sheet tray lined with paper towels, hold in a warm oven and repeat the proce-dure with the other pieces of steak.

When all steaks have been cooked off, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the cook-ing oil and lower heat. Add 3 tablespoons of the leftover flour mixture to the oil and whisk to create a paste. Cook until golden, about 1 min-ute. Gradually add the milk to the flour and oil mixture while whisking together. Sea-son the gravy with salt and pepper, to taste. Let cook until thickened; about 10 minutes. Pour gravy over the steak to finish and garnish with parsley.

Watermelon Ice Cream$4.99 ea. Red Seedless

WatermelonWhat You Will Need2 c. cubed watermelon2 c. whole milk2 tbsp. sugar1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

What to Do:Place all ingredients in a blend-

er and blend until smooth. Pour into a loaf pan and freeze for 3 hours.Remove mixture from loaf pan

and blend again. Pour back into loaf pan and freeze for another hour. Serve.

$1.99 ea. Whole Mini Bella MushroomsWhat You Will Need:3 tablespoons olive oil3 tablespoons butter1 pound mini bella mush-

rooms, sliced1 clove garlic, thinly sliced1 tablespoon red cooking

wine1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce,

or more to taste1/4 teaspoon garlic salt, or

to tastefreshly ground black pepper

to taste

What to Do:

Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir mush-rooms, garlic, cooking wine, teriyaki sauce, garlic salt, and black pepper in the hot oil and butter until mush-rooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer until mushrooms are tender, 5 to 8 more minutes.

TipAluminum foil helps keep

food moist, ensures it cooks evenly, keeps leftovers fresh, and makes clean-up easy

Sauteed Mushrooms

Page 9 The Fairbury Journal-News Agriculture Friday, June 8, 2018

Auction ReminderTo be held at the site at Merchant’s Bldg, Jefferson Co. Fairgrounds,

Fairbury, NE on Saturday, June 9, 2018 • 9:00 am Public viewing Friday, June 8 • 4-6 pm

Vehicles, Tractors, Equipment, Mowers, Collectibles,

Misc Items for City of FairburySteve Kettelhut, Fairbury NE - 402-300-0547 Steve Siemsen, Fairbury, NE - 402-729-7876

Scott McGee, Fairbury NE - 402-300-2659 Clerk: Kettelhut Real Estate, 515 E St., Fairbury, NE • 729-3060

As part of a 33-year effort to protect sensi-tive lands and improve water quality and wildlife habitat on private lands, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will resume accepting applica-tions for the voluntary Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Eligible farmers, ranchers, and private landowners can sign up at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) of-fice between June 4 and Aug. 17, 2018.

“The Conservation Reserve Program is an important component of the suite of voluntary con-servation programs USDA makes available to agricul-tural producers, benefiting both the land and wildlife. On the road, I often hear firsthand how popular CRP is for our recreational

sector; hunters, fisher-men, conservationists and bird watchers,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said. “CRP also is a powerful tool to encourage agricultural producers to set aside unproductive, marginal lands that should not be farmed to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, provide habitat for wildlife and boost soil health.”

FSA stopped accept-ing applications last fall for the CRP continuous signup (excluding applica-tions for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and CRP grasslands). This pause allowed USDA to review available acres and avoid exceeding the 24 million-acre CRP cap set by the 2014 Farm Bill. New limited practice avail-ability and short signup period helps ensure that landowners with the most sensitive acreage will enroll in the program and avoid unintended competition with new and beginning farmers seeking leases. CRP enrollment currently is about 22.7 million acres.

2018 Signup for CRPFor this year’s signup,

limited priority practices are available for continu-ous enrollment. They in-

clude grassed waterways, filter strips, riparian buf-fers, wetland restoration and others. View a full list of practices. FSA will use updated soil rental rates to make annual rental payments, reflecting current values. It will not offer incentive payments as part of the new signup.

USDA will not open a general signup this year, however, a one-year extension will be offered to existing CRP partici-pants with expiring CRP contracts of 14 years or less. Producers eligible for an extension will receive a letter with more informa-tion.

CRP GrasslandsAdditionally, FSA

established new ranking criteria for CRP Grass-lands. To guarantee all CRP grasslands offers are treated equally, applicants who previously applied will be asked to reapply using the new ranking criteria. Producers with pending applications will receive a letter providing the options.

About CRPIn return for enroll-

ing land in CRP, USDA, through FSA on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), pro-vides participants with annual rental payments and cost-share assis-

tance. Landowners enter into contracts that last between 10 and 15 years. CRP pays producers who remove sensitive lands from production and plant certain grasses, shrubs and trees that improve water quality, prevent soil erosion and increase wildlife habitat.

Signed into law by President Reagan in 1985, CRP is one of the largest private-lands conserva-tion programs in the United States. Thanks to voluntary participation by farmers, ranchers and private landowners, CRP has improved water qual-ity, reduced soil erosion and increased habitat for endangered and threat-ened species.

The new changes to CRP do not impact the Conser-vation Reserve Enhance-ment Program, a related program offered by CCC and state partners.

Producers wanting to apply for the CRP con-tinuous signup or CRP grasslands should con-tact their USDA service center. To locate your local FSA office, visit https://www.farmers.gov. More information on CRP can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov/crp.

Kettelhut Real EstateAuctions

Sat. June 9, 9 a.m., Sur-plus Equipment at Jefferson Co. Fairgrounds. City of Fairbury.Thurs. June 14, 4:30 p.m., Jefferson School, 9th & K St., Fairbury. Equip, Class-room Items, Assorted Items for District 8 School.Sat. June 23, 9 a.m., Per-sonal Property Sale at Jef-ferson Co. Fairgrounds for Eloyde Mueller.Sat. June 30, 9 a.m., Per-sonal Property Sale at Jef-ferson Co. Fairgrounds for June Wendlandt.

June 7: Cattle Risk Management: Protect-ing Profits in Uncertain Times, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Eastern NE R&E Center (formerly ARDC) near Mead, NE 402-624-8030)

June 14: Silage Con-ference for Beef, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Eastern NE R&E Center (formerly ARDC)

near Mead, NE June 18-22: Nebraska

Range Short Course, Chadron State, Chadron, NE

June 20: Wheat/Field Pea/Pulses/Cover Crop Field Day near Alma then Bladen, 308-352-7580,

extension-field-daysJune 20-22: GrassFed

Exchange, Rapid City, SDJune 27: South Central

Ag Lab Weed Science & Cover Crop Field Day, Clay Center, NE,

June 30: Cattle Sorting School and Competition, 9 a.m., Fonner Park, Grand Island, NE,

July 11: Glyphosate-re-sistant Palmer Amaranth Field Day, near Carleton, NE

Aug. 6-8: Nebraska Grazing Conference (NGC), Kearney,

Aug. 7: Soybean Mgmt Field Day, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Kenesaw, NE area

Aug. 23: York Co. Corn Grower Plot Tailgate, 5-7 p.m.

Aug. 29: South Central Ag Lab (SCAL) Field Day near Clay Center, NE

Sept. 11-13: Husker Harvest Days near Grand Island, NE

June 5, 2018Valid 8 a.m. EDT

(Released Thursday, Jun. 7, 2018)

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scaleconditions. Local conditions may vary. Seeaccompanying text summary for forecaststatements.

Author:Anthony ArtusaNOAA/NWS/NCEP/CPC

U.S. Drought Monitor

Nebraska

D0 Abnormally Dry

D1 Moderate Drought

D2 Severe Drought

D3 Extreme Drought

D4 Exceptional Drought

Intensity:

June 5, 2018Valid 8 a.m. EDT

(Released Thursday, Jun. 7, 2018)

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scaleconditions. Local conditions may vary. Seeaccompanying text summary for forecaststatements.

Author:Anthony ArtusaNOAA/NWS/NCEP/CPC

U.S. Drought Monitor

Nebraska

D0 Abnormally Dry

D1 Moderate Drought

D2 Severe Drought

D3 Extreme Drought

D4 Exceptional Drought

Intensity:

June 5, 2018Valid 8 a.m. EDT

(Released Thursday, Jun. 7, 2018)

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scaleconditions. Local conditions may vary. Seeaccompanying text summary for forecaststatements.

Author:Anthony ArtusaNOAA/NWS/NCEP/CPC

U.S. Drought Monitor

Nebraska

D0 Abnormally Dry

D1 Moderate Drought

D2 Severe Drought

D3 Extreme Drought

D4 Exceptional Drought

Intensity:

June 5, 2018Valid 8 a.m. EDT

(Released Thursday, Jun. 7, 2018)

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scaleconditions. Local conditions may vary. Seeaccompanying text summary for forecaststatements.

Author:Anthony ArtusaNOAA/NWS/NCEP/CPC

U.S. Drought Monitor

Nebraska

D0 Abnormally Dry

D1 Moderate Drought

D2 Severe Drought

D3 Extreme Drought

D4 Exceptional Drought

Intensity:

UPCOMING EVENTS

USDA Resumes Continuous Conservation Reserve Program Enrollment

Many cool season lawns throughout Eastern Ne-braska have begun to look brown due to Ascochyta leaf blight, a widespread disease found throughout the early part of summer this year. Mowing during the hot Memorial Day weekend seemed to have worsened the symptoms of this disease.

Ascochyta is a diseased that is stress-induced and often shows up in the early summer when the weather shifts from cold and wet to hot and very dry. Ascochyta is a dieback from the tip of the leaf blades of cool season turf. Red-brown spots can also appear lower down on the affected blades. Also no-ticeable is a dark brown/black band between green growth and the brown tip of the blade. After the initial disease moves through, a general brown

appearance will show up in the lawn, often follow-ing lawn mower tire pat-terns. Mowing worsened the symptoms of this disease, not by spread-ing it, but by the physical traffic of the equipment to weaken the turf. This allowed for ease of the fungus to attack the lawn.

Ascochyta affects just the turf blades of the plant, not the roots or crown of the plants. The crown is the growing point of the turf. Because it doesn’t affect the roots and crown of the plant, it is then able to grow out of the disease. Mowing the lawn will remove the infested areas of the plant which will lead to re-growth and regreening of the lawn over time.

There are a few types of fungicides labeled for use on ascochyta, how-ever, research at UNL

shows poor results with many different classes of fungicides on this disease. The best management for Ascochyta would be to reduce stress and manage the lawn properly. Provide adequate moisture for the lawn. Remember it is best to provide 1-1.5 inches of water per week to the lawn. If that isn’t provided through rainfall, irrigate two to three times per week with 1/3-1/2 an inch each time to keep the lawn healthy. Also, ensure that your lawn mower blades are sharp to avoid tatter-ing the leaves which can leave more of an opening for diseases to move into grass plants. Finally, early June is a great time for a slow-release fertilizer to help slowly feed your lawn through the sum-mer months and keep it healthy.

Brown Lawns Caused by a Leaf Blight

Applications for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Trout in the Classroom curriculum program are being ac-cepted through Aug. 24.

Certified teachers are encouraged to take part in this innovative program that brings a fish hatchery into the classroom. Stu-dents in grades 2 through

12 can learn about aquatic habitat, water quality, ecosystem interactions, food webs, and life cycles, while hatching and raising rainbow trout.

Scholarship funding is available from Trout Unlimited Chapter 710 and the Nebraska Envi-ronmental Trust to cover the cost of equipment. Participation and scholar-ship applications are due Aug. 24. Program details and application materials are available at outdoor-nebraska.org/troutinthe-classroom.

Game and Parks accepting Trout in the

Classroom applications

Have You Heard?By Randy PryorExtension EducatorSaline County

WHEAT TOUR REVEALS CHANGESThis past week we had approximately 30 wheat pro-

ducers looking at various wheat varieties near Fairbury in an evening field day hosted by certified seed producer Mark Knobel. These trials are important for producers throughout Nebraska.

In 1982 when I came to Saline County, after graduat-ing from UNL, there were 57,000 acres of wheat har-vested and long straight truck lines at area elevators in July. Last year harvested winter wheat acreage, accord-ing to NASS statistics, was 3,200 acres in Saline County. In Jefferson County 49,000 acres were harvested in 1982 and last year 5,000 acres. In Gage County the same trend has happened with 80,000 acres and today 5,500 acres. What a change in cropping practice.

Cash flowing wheat with typical yield and markets is tough and has led to many growers exiting from raising an outstanding conservation crop. Another change is today, it’s all about harvesting some straw, growing additional crops or forages after wheat harvest or doing some conservation work or applying manure on the stubble. Seeding nothing is usually lost opportunity when the rains do come.

I gave Paul Jasa, UNL Ag Engineer, at the tour, a 6 foot moisture rod to show what kind of stored soil moisture a field of no-till corn had across the road. The ball on the end of the rod stops when it hits dry soil. The rod verified the field, after 0.70 of rain, only had 3 feet of moisture. The wheat field stopped at about 8 inches. For dryland corn we are used to 6 feet of moisture or 6 inches of readily available to the crop and this field maybe had 3 inches.

Fortunately corn and soybean crop water use this time of year is very low but the concern is later this year, during reproductive stages when crop water use is at its peak. Of course, at the Rogers Memorial conservation research farm on Adams Street 9 miles east of Lincoln, Jasa said the rod goes all the way down. He infiltrated a large 5 inch rain with 5 percent organic matter on this farm last September. He attributed the rise in organic matter on the research farm to 30 years of no-till farm-ing, wheat in rotation with corn and soybeans and now utilizing cover crops the past 6 years. His APH dryland corn yield is now 186 bushels per acre.

I have a box of 6 foot soil moisture rods at the Exten-sion Office in Wilber collecting dust that are available to you on a first-come first-served basis, one per farm operation at 306 West 3rd Street in Wilber. Come pick one up. I remember ordering out of a shop in Kansas when retired Monsanto rep Gene Sedivy did this too in the early 2000’s during a dry period. We would see how deep the rod would go in fallow wheat stubble after fall rains treated with glyphosate.

With this year’s dry spring, you can compare your fields how much stored moisture you have on dryland and irrigated fields. Crop rotation schemes and tillage practices make a big difference in years like this. The soil probe rod can be your comparison. If the top two inches is dry, you have to dig past that first to use the rod or use it soon after an irrigation or rain event. They are worth probably $15 plus shipping and are available for free

Concerning winter wheat marketing, some of our winter wheat is used for making bread in the food grade market. At the plot tour, a grower near Beatrice revealed he had achieved 14.8 percent protein last year using split nitrogen application techniques going after protein incentives in the food grade market. For an example of how the food grade market works, I asked for a bid from a grain merchandiser this week who said he had winter wheat buyers in mind that typically will ship to the mill market out of their facilities by rail. He said he was at plus 45 cents a bushel over the July futures for July delivery and plus 35 cents per bushel over September futures for August-September delivery. Large discounts applied if the wheat is below 11% protein.

Additional protein premium financial incentives ap-plied above that amount.

Spring fish die-offs in Nebraska are not unusual. Reports of these fish kills – which have been due to natural causes – have come from a variety of water bodies across the state in recent weeks.

“Winter is a hard time for fish, and they can experience stress com-ing out of the winter,” said Daryl Bauer, fisher-ies outreach program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commis-sion. “Our relatively cold spring coupled with wild temperature swings and the recent warming trend

can further stress fish.”Bauer added that many

species of fish spawn in the spring and annual spawning rituals add even more stress. “Ultimately, stressed fish are more likely to succumb to some sort of infection or dis-ease,” he said. “Fish with bacterial infections have been observed on many waters in the past couple of weeks.”

These die-offs are an example of the significant natural mortality that fish populations experience every year. Natural mor-tality may be significant,

but it never eliminates those populations. In fact, anglers are still catching healthy fish even while some fish are dying.

Fish taken by angling should be safe for con-sumption if the fish are thoroughly cooked.

The public should promptly report numbers of dead or dying fish to a conservation officer, Game and Parks district office, or the 24-hour Nebraska State Patrol pol-lution complaint number at 402-471-4545.

Spring Fish Die-Offs Not Unusual in Nebraska