Staying safe after a tornado

Erika Cada is on the board of the Washington County Long Term Recovery Team, which is hosting a Disaster Preparedness Fair at First Lutheran Church in Blair this Saturday, the anniversary date of last year's tornado.

Preparedness Fair planned on tornado’s anniversary date

Sandwiches were assembled and delivered to workers in tornado-affected areas by volunteers from Blair's First Lutheran tornado recovery center.

Erika Cada, First Lutheran shift the emergency relief paradigm

As Director of Activities and Transportation, BHS Assistant Principal Tyler Siecke put the district's emergency plans in motion on the day of the April 26th tornado.

Remembering the April 26th tornado

Preparing for a tornado

Local News

BOE hires principal, assistant principal for Blair Middle School

A new principal and assistant principal for Otte Blair Middle School were approved during Blair Community Schools’ April 14th Board of Education meeting. Katrina Yale will assume the role …

Blair FBLA sees seven students qualify for National Leadership Conference

The Blair chapter of the Nebraska Future Business Leaders of America cleaned up on awards earlier this month at the 2025 state leadership conference in Kearney. A group of 17 members, along with …

Bria Lantry was awarded as the individual state champion in Veterinary Science CDE and earned a $1,000 scholarship recipient to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Blair FFA students earn honors at state convention

Students representing Blair FFA showed up strong for competition at the 97th Nebraska FFA State Convention in Lincoln earlier this month. The team of 31 high school and 16 middle school students …

Group effort

Christopher Robin (center), played by Arbor Park student Ryker Jennings, explains to Winnie the Pooh and friends the note he had left for the animals.

Blair fifth-graders perform ‘Winnie the Pooh KIDS’

Fifth-grade students from Deerfield and Arbor Park elementary schools in Blair performed two showings of Disney’s “Winnie the Pooh KIDS” earlier this month. The 30-minute …

More News

Weekly poll

What kind of teen hangout does Washington County need?

View results

This week's E-Edition

04.22.2025

View this issue

Browse other issues

See more ads

Athlete of the Week: Hayley Arp (April 16, 2025)

Athlete of the Week: Levi Lasher (April 9, 2025)

Follow Sports on Twitter

The Bears' Brynn Ray leads a break downfield against Westview on Saturday at Krantz Field.

Local sports

Athlete of the Week: Brynn Ray (April 23, 2025)

Nannen Physical Therapy Athlete of the Week Brynn Ray scored three goals last week, including two when the Blair girls soccer team played at Class B No. 1 Gretna East. The senior forward was honored …

Infielder Charlie Boumstein, right, and the Pioneers get a Raymond Central base runner in a rundown Saturday during the Nebraska Capitol Conference Tournament in Fort Calhoun.

Conference tourney tilts

Douglas County West swept its Washington County opposition Friday and Saturday, capping its Nebraska Capitol Conference (NCC) Tournament title victory in Fort Calhoun. The Falcons didn't allow a …

Arlington's Whitney Wollberg successfully clears the pole vault bar Thursday at Waverly High School.

County athletes win 11 events at Wahoo Track Invite

Washington County track and field athletes won 11 events Thursday during the Wahoo Invite. Arlington, Blair and Fort Calhoun were all in attendance at Waverly High School —which filled in as …

Blair High School seniors Brock Hamm, from left, Elizabeth Bray, Siena Smith and Tessa Nicholson celebrated signing with college athletic teams April 16.

4 more Bears sign with college programs

Brock Hamm, Elizabeth Bray, Siena Smith and Tessa Nicholson put pen to paper April 16 at Blair High School. The senior Bears did so to officially join college athletic programs at Doane University, …

Fort Calhoun's Tysen Sunderman watches his ball onto the green Thursday at Ashland Golf Club.

6 Washington County golfers break 100 strokes at Ashland

Fifteen high school golf teams played 18 holes Thursday during the Ashland-Greenwood Invitational. Multiple golfers shot under par, while six Washington County players from Arlington, Blair and Fort …

Blair juniors Lane Christensen, second from left, and Victor Hernandez, right, contend for a ball in the air Thursday against the Badgers at Bennington High School.

No. 1 Badgers hosts, beats Blair boys soccer

Incoming storms cut the Blair High School boys soccer match at No. 1 Bennington short by 10 minutes, 32 seconds. It was all but over before that Thursday evening, though. The Badgers led just 1-0 …

BHS baseball drops pair of games to ranked foes

The Blair High School baseball team fell to 4-13 Saturday as Class B No. 10 Hastings claimed on no-hitter. According to the Tigers' stat-keeping, the home team produced a 13-0 advantage in hits …

Obituaries

Larry E. Wulf, 85

Larry E. Wulf, age 85, of Hooper died Monday, April 14, 2025, at Nebraska Methodist Hospital in Omaha.

Randall “Randy” J. Peyton, 75

Remembering the life of Randall “Randy” J Peyton, born on the 19th of January, 1949, who passed away on the 27th of August, 2024.

Donna Lee Petersen, 88

Donna Lee Petersen, age 88, of Blair, Nebraska, entered the arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on April 12, 2025. Funeral services will be held Friday April 18, 2025, at First United Methodist Church in Blair at 11 a.m. Visitation will be held Thursday, April 17, 2025, beginning at 6 p.m. at Campbell Aman Funeral Home in Blair. A Prayer service will follow the visitation at 8 p.m.

Donald Bryan Morgan, 61

Donald Bryan Morgan of Kennard was called to Heaven by our Lord on April 13, 2025. Visitation will be held Friday, April 18, 2025, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Campbell Aman Funeral Home in Blair.

Micky Alan Lewis, 63

Micky Alan Lewis, age 63 of Fort Calhoun, passed away April 11, 2025. Visitation will be held at Campbell Aman Funeral Home Friday, April 18, 2025, from noon to 2 p.m. Private graveside services will be held in the Blair Cemetery.

Patty Lou Farrens Hancock, 93

Patty Lou Farrens Hancock was born February 15, 1931, to Henry Miller Farrens and Maxine Carol Abbott Farrens in rural Burt County. She passed away peacefully at Crowell Memorial Home in Blair on December 4, 2024, at the age of 93.

More Obits

Letters

Blair BOE responds to comments at Oct. 14 board meetimg

Letter to the Editor: The Blair Community Schools Board of Education would like to address the concerns and comments raised at the October 14th Board Meeting, including those shared by Mr. Tim …

Letter to the editor

Imagine you are a parent struggling to make ends meet, to pay for housing, clothing and food for your family. We all know, first hand, how expensive groceries are these days. Putting food on the …

Letter to the editor

My letter is not written to address politics over the war between Israel and Palestine. This letter addresses gun ownership and the dangers of government gun control and gun confiscation. Prior to …

Letter to the editor

Gov. Pillen/Sen. Linehan pushed LB 753 through this spring — it provides tax credits to wealthy donors who give to private schools. While this sounds good, what the public needs to realize is …

Letter to the editor

Thank you so much for your story on the Cook Family and their legacy of service. My maiden name is Cook, so the story caught my eye. I did a little research on Family Search.org and found that …

Read more letters

Columnists

He stills the storms

America has been rocked by an extraordinary number of devastating tornadoes and storms with hurricane-force wind gusts. This spring produced the second-most tornadoes to date since records began in …

All about peat bogs

Peat bogs are found mainly in the boreal and temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. They are especially found in Europe, Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Russia where there is a regular …

Appreciate Dad for showing up

A few years ago on the TV show "Modern Family," a stepfather did something unexpected but kind in order to save the reputation of his stepson's biological father. Cancelling his own plans, he …

The history of toilet paper

There have been at least two times in human history when toilet paper might have been a big topic of conversation at coffee gatherings. The first might have been when toilet paper first appeared …

More Columns

Editorials

- Editorial: Sad day for Blair following rejection of sales-tax increase
  
  Gateway Development Corp. tried to tie together the fate of the two ballot questions facing Blair voters in Tuesday’s statewide primary …
- Editorial: Washington County’s recovery ultimately will come down to neighbors helping neighbors
  
  In the days to come, more and more data related to last Friday’s tornado outbreak will become available. But consider these numbers for …
- Editorial: Post-prom parties alive and well in Washington County
  
  In some parts of the country, the high school rite of passage known as the post-prom party is no more. A victim of the COVID closure culture and …
- Editorial: Park supporters can’t lose focus before Blair’s crown jewel is finished
  
  The recreational opportunities soon to be available in the city of Blair took a big step forward last week when the Blair City Council …
- Editorial: Eppley Airfield project is important for Wash. Co.
  
  So Eppley Airfield is getting a $950 million renovation. That’s Omaha. Why should we care? For starters, most of us fly. And many of …

More Editorials