Schools Celebrate Graduation

Seniors at both Elgin Public High School and Pope John XXIII Central Catholic held commencement ceremonies this weekend.  Mykil Copeland (left) accepts his diploma from school board member Steve Heithoff. Right: Jennifer Tharnish proudly displays her diploma as one of 21 graduating seniors at PJCC.  Congratulations to all the students!  E-R photos

EPS to Host Open House for Retirees

The public is invited to attend an open house reception to honor four retiring employees at School District #18.
Teachers Elaine Meyers, Deb Jones and Doug Jones in addition to Head Custodian Allen Beckman are retiring at the end of the school year.
A reception in their honor will be held on Tuesday afternoon, May 21, beginning at 1 p.m. in the lunchroom.

PACs Biggest Donors to Sullivan Campaign

Candidates for 11 Greater Nebraska legislative districts spent more than $800,000 on their 2012 campaigns, according to reports filed with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. Tens of thousands of dollars came from banking, business, education and medical groups, among others, the campaign finance statements show.
A campaign can report spending more money than it took in if it began the campaign cycle with a pre-existing account balance. Candidates are not required to identify individual donors who contribute less than $250. Here is a brief summary of the campaign finance report highlights for legislative district #41:
District 41 — Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids received about $39,000 for the 2012 election. With extra cash already on hand, Sullivan spent about $56,000. Sullivan’s two biggest contributors were Nebraska Bankers State PAC and Nebraska State Education Association PAC, each giving $2,500 to her campaign.
Sullivan beat candidate Brook Curtiss of Plainview, winning about 82 percent of the vote, the biggest margin in any of the contested races. Curtiss received about $9,900 during the campaign and spent about $9,600. Plainview News Inc., which Curtiss owns, contributed the most money to Curtiss’ campaign, giving about $2,500.

Major HVAC Upgrades Approved for District #18 Buildings

At a special meeting last night of the District #18 Board of Education, Rasmussen Mechanical Services was hired to install a new heating system for the elementary and high school buildings as well as a new heating/cooling system for the gymnasium building. Total cost for the three buildings will be just over $666,000. Superintendent Dan Polk said money to pay for the improvements will come from the building and depreciation funds and should have no impact on the school’s levy. Work should be completed sometime this fall before cold weather arrives, according to board member Robert Hoefer who serves on the buildings & grounds committee.
Also last night, the board approved the selection of Steve Busteed to fill the vacancy on the school board created by the resignation of Kim Wells. Of note, Polk said, in 2014 five seats will be up for election on the school board.
And, the final action item of the night, the board approved the hiring of Allison Devoll as new grade 7-12 science teacher.

Wolfpack Qualifies Three for State Track Meet

Three Wolfpack track athletes have qualified for the State Track and Field Championships to be held May 17-18 at Burke Stadium in Omaha.

Competing at the district track meet at Atkinson, the following track team members qualified for state. They and the events in which they will compete in are:

Zach Polk — Discus and High Jump

Jill Schindler — 100 Meter Dash and 200 Meter Dash

Blake Schrage — 110 Meter High Hurdles and 300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles

Good luck at State!

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