The Blair High School Ovation Show Choir performs at the Lela Neve Auditorium Saturday as part of the Blair Show Choir Workshop.

Blair hosts show choir workshop

Collins’ murder trial delayed

Balloons dropping precisely at noon on Dec. 31 provided an exciting finale to the Noon Year's Eve party at the Blair Library and Technology Center.

Noon Year's Eve celebration!

Jr. Sparx dancers displayed their skills at halftime of the Blair High School girls basketball team's game against Bennington.

Jr. Sparx Dancers perform at Blair High School

"When I grew up, we just shared everything," says Blair resident Betty Megrue, who will be 100 years old later this month. "Everybody was kind of in the same boat."

How to reach 100

Local News

Alleged Arlington shooter once made meth in Blair

The alleged gunman involved in a shoot-out with Washington County Sheriff’s deputies in Arlington on Monday afternoon was convicted in 2014 of making methamphetamine in a mobile home park south …

Kiley and Nate Huber stand in front of 1630 Washington Street, a building they hope to convert into a food and spirits gathering spot that could transform Blair's downtown.

The Social House

Custom homebuilders Nate and Kiley Huber are planning to build a food and spirits gathering spot on Washington Street that could help transform Blair’s downtown. The project, called The …

Arlington traffic stop ends with officer-involved shooting

A Monday afternoon traffic stop in Arlington by a Washington County’s Sheriff’s deputy resulted in an exchange of gunfire with a man in the car, who was shot and rushed to a local …

Holly Kubicek, 10, practices Dec. 24 at Moylan Iceplex in Omaha.

Learning to fall (and how to get up)

When Holly Kubicek, 10, first started ice skating, she tied her own skates when the other kids used help from there parents. “There's an art to it, right?” Angie Kubicek said Dec. 24, …

Blair might need to use eminent domain to acquire land for airport expansion

The Blair Airport Authority held a public hearing last week designed to outline the reasons it needs to acquire about 25 acres of privately owned land bordering the airport. Separately, the …

More News

Weekly poll

What's the most important issue facing you and your family in this November's election?

Economy

Abortion

Border safety/immigration policy

Providing sick leave

Allowing medical cannabis

Country's overall direction

Something else

View results

This week's E-Edition

01.14.2025 PT

View this issue

Browse other issues

See more ads

Athlete of the Week: Emme Timm (Jan. 8, 2025)

Athlete of the Week: Beckah Gossman (Jan. 2, 2025)

Follow Sports on Twitter

Blair 157-pounder Wyatt Loftis, right, picks up his Elkhorn opponent Friday at Waverly High School during the Eastern Midlands Conference Duals Tournament.

Local sports

Taking steps forward

Hudson Loges, Jaxon Logan and Blaise Baughman all went unbeaten Friday during the Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) Duals Tournament, which Blair High School wrestling coach Erich Warner called no …

Blair's Lily Warren, right, grabs her Gretna opponent's leg Saturday at Gretna East High School.

Bears sweep EMC dual matchups

The Blair High School girls wrestling team quickly swept through the Eastern Midlands Conference Duals Tournament field Saturday at Gretna East. The first-place Bears beat Bennington and Elkhorn by …

Arlington 132-pounder Cameron Hancock, top, competes Friday during tournament competition at Ashland-Greenwood Middle School.

6 Eagles earn, but drop finals matches at Ashland tourney

Six Arlington wrestlers reached their weight class finals Friday during the Jack Murray Wrestling Invite in Ashland, but they hit the wall there. All six Eagles earned second as coach Doug Hart's …

Fort Calhoun's Nathan Duros, top, competes against an Omaha Roncalli grappler Saturday at Omaha Northwest High School.

FCHS boys win Northwest's wrestling tourney

Every Fort Calhoun High School boy to compete during the Phil & Pat Pisale Wrestling Invite at Omaha Northwest earned at least one win Saturday. Each one of those Pioneers secured a top-six …

Fort Calhoun's Madi Larrick, top, earns a pin Saturday at Omaha Northwest High School.

Pioneer girls wrestle back-to-back days

Emma Ochoa-Gomez and Madi Larrick won individual titles Saturday as the Fort Calhoun girls wrestling team earned fifth during the 11-team Pat & Pisale Invite at Omaha Northwest. Ochoa-Gomez was …

Fort Calhoun junior Adam Elofson, right, handles the ball as the Raiders' Matson Beacom plays defense Thursday at Logan View.

Calhoun boys beat Logan View, Wisner back-to-back

Fort Calhoun junior Eli Tinkham was asked to explain how the Pioneers got so hot from beyond the 3-point arc Thursday at Logan View/Scribner-Snyder. “We had a good warmup,” he said. …

Fort Calhoun guard Raeann Massey passes the ball against the Raiders on Thursday at Logan View High School.

Less than full-strength Pioneers break skid

The shorthanded Class C1 No. 9 Fort Calhoun girls basketball team snapped its three-game losing streak Saturday with a 44-40 home win. Still down two starters after their roster was ravaged by …

Obituaries

Sherry Anderson, 77

Sherry Anderson, age 77 of Kennard, Nebraska, passed away on Jan. 13, 2025 at House of Hope Memory Care in Omaha.

Ruth Ann Persson, 85

Ruth Ann Persson, age 85 of Blair, passed away January 8, 2025, at the Nebraska Medical Center. Memorial services will be held Thursday, January 16, at 10:30 a.m. at First Lutheran Church in Blair. …

Javier Angel, 62

Javier Angel, age 62 of Blair, born on August 5, 1962, in San José de la Paz, Jalisco, Mexico, passed away on January 7, 2025, at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Thomas E. ‘Tommy’ Shaffer, 71

Thomas E. “Tommy” Shaffer was called home by Jesus on Saturday, December 28th, 2024. Tommy was born on January 30th, 1953, to Mr. and Mrs. Gene Shaffer of Omaha, NE.

Shirley Oliver, 86

Shirley Oliver, age 86, formerly of Ft. Calhoun, NE, entered eternal rest on January 4, 2025, at Accura HealthCare in Stanton, IA.

Robert and Monty Miller

A celebration of life for Robert and Monty Miller will be held at Campbell Aman Funeral Home on January 13, 2025, at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in the Blair Cemetery. A luncheon will be held at the American Legion in Modale, Iowa, following the burial.

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