The line to visit Santa stretched nearly to the door of the fair building on Friday night. But the jolly ole elf was worth the wait. After all, he hadn’t made a trip to Stanton in about six years.
Thanks to the teamwork of the Downtown Business Coalition, Santa Claus was coaxed into visiting at the end of the community’s first lighted parade. “It was Pat Larson,” Andrew Hoehne said after Friday night’s festivities. “She got this all going.” While Larson came up with idea of the parade, more suggestions followed, including having Santa make an appearance at the end. Afterward Hoehne and Tim Larson admitted the evening exceeded their expectations — much like every holiday event they’ve been a part of this year from the Easter Egg hunt to the downtown trick or treating for Halloween. “It’s way better than I would have ever guessed,” Larson said. Both men are also businesses owners — multiple at that. Between Hoehne with the Greenhorn and the Window & Door Store and Larson with Teeco and Stanton Hardware, neither have extra tine on their hands. But that hasn’t stopped them from being active with the Downtown Revitalization or the Downtown Business Coalition. After all, keeping family events in Stanton keeps families in town, and families need local businesses. That support goes full circle, Hoehne and Larson said. “We want to show everyone what Stanton has to off er. We want them to be proud of it,” Larson said. “Like you keep saying, ‘This is our Stanton.’ But it wasn’t just Hoehne or the Larson family helping with the event. The Stanton Health Center was front and center helping, as were students from the school. There were also businesses with multiple entries into the parade. The Stanton County Public Power District closed the parade with one of the biggest entries of all as their truck was full of lights. “Thanks to everyone for coming out,” Hoehne said. “Thanks for all of the support. It’s fun being able to do this in our town.” A Stanton apartment caught fire Wednesday night during a crazy night of weather.
Fire Chief Kory Krutz said Stanton Fire & Rescue was called to a fire in downtown Stanton around 6:40 p.m. The apartment is owned by Louise Boyd and located at 913 Ivy. According to Krutz, apartment resident Jonie Schmeckpeper noticed the fire upon her arrival and called for assistance. She was able to escape the fire without injury and is now staying with family. Krutz said Stanton firefighters were able to extinguish the flames in about 20 minutes and spent the next 2 hours venting and checking for hot spots. Krutz said the cause of the fire is believed to be electrical. He said apartment suffered extensive damage. Stanton Fire & Rescue, The Stanton County Sheriff’s Department and Stanton County Emergency Management responded to the fire. Planning Commission Recommends Rezoning Land To Bring 'Flagship' Data Center Into Stanton County11/30/2021 A Germany-based data company is hoping to build its “flagship location of North America” in Stanton County next year. Representatives from Northern Data shared their plans for investing up to $20 million in the project during a hearing Monday night with the Stanton County Planning Commission, who approved 6-0 to recommend changing the zoning to light industry to accommodate the computing facility. It’s currently zoned transitional ag. More than 50 people attended the two-hour meeting, which heard both support for and concerns about the 110,000 to 120,000-square foot facility. It would be located on 40 acres about 5 miles outside of Stanton near the NPPD substation. Northern Data also has a facility in Georgia, although representatives repeatedly said the proposed operation in Stanton County would be “one-of-a-kind.” Northern Data describes itself as a global B2B technology company developing, using and selling solutions on vertically integrated high-performance computing infrastructure. Monte Stahl, managing director of Northern Data, North America West, explained that the company works “business to business” and is not a consumer-facing company. The facility is not for data processing or data storage. Instead, he called it cloud-based computing. Stahl said there are no examples in the United States that compares with the innovation that is being proposed in Stanton County. “There’s nothing quite like this,” he said. “This is innovative and will be our flagship here in the U.S." The first concern voiced was about the rezoning was that the land is in the Norfolk Public School district, not the Stanton school district, which means funds would go to Madison County students. Among other concerns voiced were about water runoff, power use, increased traffic and potential use for the land or building once rezoned, should the project fall through or if the building is sold later. In the motion to recommend rezoning the land, planning commissioners recommended the land be zoned backed agriculture if the project is negated. They also requested Stanton County Commissioners address traffic and road concerns, as well as potential runoff that could impact nearby landowners. For the full story, please pick up this week's Stanton Register on stands Tuesday afternoon. A second rollover in as many days involved another teen driver.
According to the Stanton County Sheriff's Office, the Friday morning arrival of wintery weather led to a rollover accident after 6 a.m. on U.S. Hwy 275 about 10 miles east of Norfolk when a eastbound pickup driven by a rural Norfolk teen on his way to school left the roadway and rolled. The teen driver was wearing his seatbelts properly and this prevented serious injuries. The pickup he was driving is considered a total loss. The Sheriff’s office also assisted in several other calls of vehicles in the ditch or having slid off the roadway due to the very icy road conditions. A high school aged youth was involved in a rollover north of Stanton on Thursday morning.
According to Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger, the youth was flown to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. A one-half mile perimeter remains in place Tuesday afternoon on 846th Road on the Stanton and Wayne County line, according to Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger.
At about 11:45 a.m., assistance was requested for a hopper on fire that was carrying 14 to 15 ton of sulfur, or dry fertilizer. The Pilger Fire Department was the first to respond with mutual aid from Stanton, Winside and Wayne fire departments, along with the Hazmat team from Norfolk. Unger said it's believed that the first began due to a tire malfunction on the truck. There were no injuries, and the perimeter was set as a precaution as the fertilizer continues to smolder. About 40 minors — ranging in age from 15 to 20 and mostly identified as students of Northeast Community College — were cited for underage drinking Saturday night, according to the Stanton County Sheriff's Office.
At about 10 p.m., officers located what appeared to be a large underage alcohol drinking party at a residence on 843rd Road — about seven miles northwest of Stanton. The investigation resulted in about 40 minors being cited for Minor in Possession of Alcohol and the three party host were cited for Aiding and Abetting MIP, according to Sheriff Mike Unger. Several youth ran from the location into nearby fields and about ten vehicles were towed from the scene and impounded after their operators refused commands to return to the residence. A large quantity of alcoholic beverages were seized from the residence. The Sheriff’s office wishes to remind everyone that underage drinking is illegal and will be strictly enforced by this office. At about 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday the Stanton County Sheriff’s office stopped a vehicle on Hwy 275 about five miles East of Norfolk for a traffic violation, The driver, Shawnessy Sulley Jr., 21, of Norfolk was contacted and later asked to exit his vehicle when he suddenly put the car and sped away westbound at speeds of nearly 90 mph with other traffic present on the highway.
During this time as he was pursued by two Sheriff’s units when he threw drug contraband out the car window that was later recovered. The Sulley vehicle suddenly blew a rear tire and slowed and Sulley jumped from the car’s front passenger window as the car still was in motion and gear. He then ran northeast from the area of South Eastwood and Hwy 275 as the vehicle careened into the north tree line off Hwy 275. Sulley lost his shoes as he ran into a wooded area and a perimeter was established as soon as possible with assistance from the Norfolk Police Division, Madison County Sheriff’s office and NSP. An exhaustive search was conducted using drones and the NSP Air Wing and K-9 units. Sulley has an extensive criminal history dating back to his youth and was just released from jail, after a drug conviction in Douglas County. Sulley, a white male, was last observed wearing no shoes, a White T-Shirt and Blue Shorts, with dreds in his hair and multiple tattoos and should be considered dangerous due to his unlawful behavior. He faces felony charges of Possession of more than a Pound of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver, Operating a Motor Vehicle To Avoid Arrest, Tampering with Evidence, No Drug Tax Stamp and additional charges of Willful Reckless Driving, Resisting Arrest, Possession of Marijuana and Drug Paraphernalia. Sulley has numerous contacts in Norfolk and the Stanton area. Anyone seeing him is asked to contact your local law enforcement by calling 911. The Sheriff’s office appreciates the quick help of our law enforcement partners and the public for their help and understanding. |