HARTINGTON — A hotly contest and highly anticipated rematch between Cedar County Commissioner Dave McGregor and former Commissioner Dick Donner turned out to be run-away during Tuesday’s Primary Election.
Cedar County Clerk Dave Dowling said just 26 percent of Cedar County’s registered voters cast ballots in the election, which was competed in record time. All races were final by nine p.m. Tuesday.
McGregor pulled in 287 votes in Cedar County’s central commission district, while there were 196 votes for Donner.

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COLERIDGE — The Coleridge Blade website, coleridge.us, will carry complete coverage of this year’s Cedar County elections.
The web site will be updated just as soon as the elections are finalized.
Since the polling places will still be open when the Blade is printed, next week’s issue will not contain any election news. However, results from the elections will be available on May 19.

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HARTINGTON — The May 11 Primary Election is an important race for several Cedar County candidates.
Votes cast in the Primary will decide the winner in the race for Clerk of District Court and will determine who will serve as a Cedar County Commissioner in the central and north districts.
Republican Sally Kneifl is challenging incumbent Janet Wiechelman for the position of Clerk of District Court. Wiechelman is also a Republican.
Kneifl is coming into the race with experience in the court system. She is currently working for the state of Nebraska as a Children and Family Services Specialist.

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LAUREL — The wait is over — Coleridge will have a Middle School next fall.
After months of speculation, meetings, planning, research and differences of opinions, the Laurel-Concord School Board members voted 4-1 to approve moving students in grades 5-8 to a Middle School in Coleridge for the 2010-11 school year. John Wolfgram was the only Board member to vote against the plan.
Coleridge High School students will attend classes at Laurel-Concord and the two schools will be involved in a football co-op.
Coleridge is currently bussing pre-school through fourth grade students to Laurel.
Before the vote was taken, Supt. Rich Patton was asked to give his recommendation on the middle school.

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HARTINGTON — County residents will get to see the finished product when the Cedar County Courthouse hosts a grand-opening ceremony Friday.
The final touches are now being put in place for the nearly $2.9 million renovation project at the Cedar County Courthouse.
Gov. Dave Heineman will be on hand for a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the Cedar County Courthouse on Friday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. The event will also help kick off Hartington’s Candlelight Christmas celebration.
The guaranteed maximum price or GMP for the Courthouse Complex, which included a new annex and renovating the two existing buildings, was originally set at $2,609,000, according to Cedar County Clerk Dave Dowling.

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COLERIDGE — The Coleridge School hallways were full Monday.
Over 160 people showed up to gather information, ask questions and voice opinions on whether a Middle School for Laurel and Coleridge students should be located in Coleridge.
The Middle School Information Meeting included a tour of the school building, along with information on having students from Coleridge and Laurel-Concord Schools merge if a middle school is created.
Supt. Rich Patton said a middle school at Coleridge would give the students their own space and activities.
This idea is not new as Coleridge, Laurel-Concord, Newcastle and Wynot schools have a history of sharing.

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WAKEFIELD — Board members from four schools in northeast Nebraska held a strategic planning workshop at the Education Service Unit in Wakefield on Sept 30.
Close to 40 school board members, administrators and patrons from the Coleridge, Laurel-Concord, Newcastle and Wynot School districts discussed the future of the inter-local agreement for sharing that the schools have been involved in.
Burma Kroger, Director of Board Development for the Nebraska Association of School Boards chaired the workshop.
The hot topic of the evening was football and the possibility of developing a middle school for the Coleridge and Laurel-Concord Schools.

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HARTINGTON — A Coleridge man is expected to be in court today on weapons and terroristic threat charges.
Nebraska State Patrol Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and a police dog were used to apprehend Myron “Mike” Dirks, 49, who lives three miles east of Coleridge.
Dirks was arrested after a more than five-hour standoff with authorities following a domestic disturbance.
Dirks is being held in the Cedar County Jail in Hartington after being arrested for 1st degree Domestic Assault, 1st degree Assault, Terroristic Threats and use of a Fire Arm to Commit a Felony.

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HARTINGTON — The last steps of the Courthouse renovation and addition are moving ahead as scheduled.
The Courthouse building, which was constructed in 1897, has been emptied of desks, files and equipment and work has begun on up-dating the building.
The Courthouse, which is close to 115 years old, will be ready for offices to move back in before the end of the year.
“The work should be done by the end of November,” said Cedar County Clerk Dave Dowling.

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HARTINGTON —A petition filed in District Court to stop a 5,000 head feedlot from being located within one mile of the Village of Coleridge has been thrown out.
District Judge William Binkard has issued an order to dismiss a petition filed by the “Concerned Citizens of Coleridge,” which asked the Coleridge Village Board to reverse their decision on the conditional use permit for the feedlot.
After reviewing the arguments and briefs, Binkard found the “Concerned Citizens of Coleridge” did not have a legal standing to bring the action to District Court. The order also said the petition had a jurisdictional defect.

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