Family, friends and other volunteers came together to help develop a handicapped-accessible park in memory of Ethan Bazata who passed away in the Fall 2009.

It's been 100 years of sweet success. Western Sugar Cooperative invited the community to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Scottsbluff Sugar Factory on Wednesday, June 23, 2010.

In June 2010, the North Platte River in Scotts Bluff County flooded. Several factors contributed to the flooding; including higher snow pack amounts in the mountains of Wyoming, increased discharges from upstream reservoirs, low demand for surface irrigation water, and numerous thunderstorms with heavy precipitation during the month of June in the region.

Heavy rains the past couple of week have saturated the ground and creating flooding conditions across the state.

Scottsbluff storms from June 7, 2010

Eight Lexington residents were arrested early Thursday morning in Lexington by several law enforcement agencies associated with the regional CODE Drug Task Force. Six of those arrests were for distribution of such drugs as cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine. Two other were held for immigration violations. Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Lynn Williams says the arrests are the result of a two-year investigation. He praised the cooperation among all the agencies who were involved in an effort to slow down the drug trade. The drug arrests included 20-year-old Miguel Astorga-Garcia, 42- Shawn Hewitt, 22- Rosendo Valenzuela, 19- Juan Figueroa, 35 Thelma Flores and 18- Cody Wilbourn. -O- Other agencies involved in the arrests were the Dawson County Sheriff's Office, Lexington and Cozad Police Departments, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. -O-

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) _ Lexington police say they've arrested a 38-year-old man suspected in an early morning shooting. Acting chief Tracy Wolf says officers were called to a possible shooting at the home around 4 a.m. Monday. Officers reached a woman and then the shooting victim, who were both moved to safety. Two other men in the house also got out without injury. The wounded man, 56-year-old Roy Gray, was taken to Tri-County Hospital with a wound to his lower belly and later transferred to Kearney's Good Samaritan Hospital. His condition was not being released. Wolf says Daryl Eskridge of Lexington surrendered at 8 a.m. after a tense, four-hour standoff with police, sheriff's deputies and a Nebraska State Patrol SWAT team. The Lexington Volunteer Fire Department also assisted at the scene. Wolf says Eskridge was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and a weapons count. Classes at nearby Pershing Elementary were canceled for the day.

Cozad Public Schools were recognized on Friday January 22, 2010 for fostering parental involvement with their students. Gov. Dave Heineman and First Lady Sally Ganem presented a plaque to Cozad Supt. John Grinde. The Governor also toured the school district while the First Lady read a book to pre-school and kindergarten students.

Longtime KRVN Radio sales representive Terry Fales of Broken Bow passed away Wednesday evening following a battle with cancer. He was 59. KRVN General Manager Eric Brown says it seemed like "everyone in the Sandhills knew him" where he traveled many miles covering his sales territory, announcing rodeos and being a disc jockey for dances. Terry joined KBRB Radio/Ainsworth in 1973 doing on air work, sales and sporting events. He began his 35 year career with KRVN/Lexington in 1974. Terry will be sorely missed, says KRVN Sales Manager Denny Waddle, "he worked hard for his customers and was dedicated to KRVN. We could always count on him to keep us entertained with stories and jokes". Services will be Tuesday, January 5th, at 10:30am at the Evangelical Free Church in Broken Bow. Visitation will be at Govier Brothers Funeral Home on Monday until 8pm. -O-

The Lexington Middle School Veteran's Day program included patriotic music, an essay and multimedia presentations by students. Speakers included veterans of World War II and the Iraqi War.

Paul Matson memorial dedicated Published Monday, November 02, 2009 at 11:04 AM Pastor John Craig (center) with members of Lex. Troop 88 Boy Scouts Troop 88 Boy Scouts took part in a flag ceremony on Saturday to dedicate a new 25-foot flag pole at Shackley Retirement Village in Lexington. The new structure was donated in memory of the late Paul Matson by his father, Pastor John Craig, a Shackley resident. Paul Matson, 62, of Johnson Lake, died October 10th. The flag pole dedication ceremony took on added significance as Matson was one of the initial adult leaders of Troop 88 when it was founded, 21 years ago. Paul's son, Aaron Matson, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1994, as a member of the Troop. He now resides in Omaha. Pastor Craig also has deep roots in scouting, having served as Scoutmaster in Noble, Oklahoma and Hannibal, Missouri. Pastor Craig also wants the flag pole to stand as a tribute to United States military veterans who reside at or will reside at Shackley Retirement Village.

A Union Pacific coal train derailed about 4 miles west of Overton shortly after midnight Friday.

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile spent a couple of days in Lexington in August 2009. Dave Schroeder had a chance to take a peek inside.

A Memorial Service for Army Sgt. Justin Duffy was held at the Cozad High School Sunday afternoon(July 12, 2009). Sgt. Duffy died, at the age of 31, in Iraq on June 2nd when an IED exploded near the military vehicle he was riding in. Nearly 200 Patriot Guard Riders formed a flag line around the front of the Cozad High School where the service was held. They arrived from across the state on more than 120 motorcycles, which filled a driveway to the school. A burial mass was held in Moline, Illinois on June 12th. Sgt. Duffy was laid to rest at Rock Island National Cemetery in Illinois.

In 1919, the U-S Army took a convoy of military vehicles across the country on the newly-formed Lincoln Highway. 90 years later a group of military vehicle enthusiasts are making a similar trip. On Friday, the convoy of 50 military vehicles stopped in Lexington for lunch. Besides the military vehicles, there are some-20 R-V's and pick-ups with trailers that are traveling along as support vehicles. The total convoy stretches for about two miles on the roadway. -O-

A supercell thunderstorm crossed central Nebraska Wednesday night spawning funnels and a couple of touchdowns in Buffalo and Hamilton counties.

The Dawson Area Development Leadership Class organized and funded a trip for 30 World War II veterans in Dawson County. Four of them joined the Buffalo County Hero Flight. On June 4th, 2009 a send-off reception and ceremony was held at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles for the 26 veterans and escorts before they departed on the Dawson Gosper Hero Flight.

A send-off ceremony was held May 12, 2009 for Lexington area members of the 1195th Transportation Company that was being deployed to Iraq. It's mission is to provide security for convoys.

The annual Red-White Spring Game, also known as the final Spring practice for the Nebraska football team was held on April 18th. Oftentimes, you see the faces of the coaches and players from media covering the post-game press conferences. But, oftentimes you won't see the other side of the cameras so I took a few pics to give you a little insight. I also threw in one pic from last fall.

Pictures of wind turbines in Iowa and Kansas taken while on the road(but, not while driving of course).

An afternoon fire destroyed a trailer home south of Lexington. No one was home at the time.

Ice sculptures in Waukee, IA's Triangle Park. Pics taken December 7th after their Winterfest event two evenings before. Artist is Bill Gordish of Des Moines, IA.

The Smithfield Road in Gosper County reopened December 10, 2008 after being closed since late May following extensive rainfall. Highway Superintendent Mike Snyder says it caused shoulders to slough-off in some places and the pavement to sink in others. Adams Construction Company of Arapahoe was the general contractor for the road repair with assistance from BSB Construction of Curtis and Siel Construction of Franklin. The project required the removal of some 130,000 cubic yards of material along with the machines to handle it. Due to costs and limited funding, the damaged asphalt portions were replaced with gravel. The final cost was around $270,000. Snyder is urging all drivers to use caution and obey the 50 mph speed limit on the road. -O-

TierOne Bank and KRVN joined together to present the 10th annual Ag Conference on Wednesday, November 19th at the Heartland Event Center in Grand Island. A large crowd heard from headline speaker Dr. David Kohl, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech. Speakers included Jim Zimmer, CEO of Channel Bio Corporation; Craig Larson, Humorist and Motivational Speaker; Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions and Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh, Agricultural Economics Professor at Kansas State University. Door prizes were given including a Polaris 2008 Sportsman 300 ATV!

TierOne Bank and KRVN joined together to present the 10th annual Ag Conference on Wednesday, November 19th at the Heartland Event Center in Grand Island. A large crowd heard from headline speaker Dr. David Kohl, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech. Speakers included Jim Zimmer, CEO of Channel Bio Corporation; Craig Larson, Humorist and Motivational Speaker; Darren Frye, President and CEO of Water Street Solutions and Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh, Agricultural Economics Professor at Kansas State University. Door prizes were given including a Polaris 2008 Sportsman 300 ATV!

Around 3:15am on November 20, 2008 an explosion occurred at the All Points C operative elevator in Gothenburg. One man, an employee suffered some burns.

Kansas is known as The Sunflower State. Sunflowers can grow as wildflowers on the plains and it can be cultivated as a crop for uses as an oilseed, snacks, etc. Driving along Highway 36 in Mid-August somewhere in Republic County, we came across this sunflower field that was worth a stop for a few minutes.

Pictures from the station and field reporting.

Random Pictures from some of the On the Road for Agriculture events