Rams Claim Fourth Straight Lewis & Clark Scholar Bowl Title
NORTH SHELBY — The Schuyler County Rams Scholar Bowl team captured its fourth consecutive Lewis & Clark Conference championship Saturday, March 14, at North Shelby, capping a dominant day of competition. Schuyler entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed after going 5-1 in the regular season, tying Knox and Paris for first place. The Rams earned the top seed by averaging 363.33 points per game, narrowly edging Knox (361.67) and Paris (303.33). After a first-round bye, Schuyler opened bracket play with a 510-100 win over Westran. The Rams followed with a 410-200 victory over host North Shelby in round…
Read MoreMy Turn: Reflecting on 23 Years
Friday, March 27 marks 23 years since Sue and I took the leap and purchased The Media, The Edina Sentinel, and the LaBelle Star. Which begs the question: how exactly did we get here… and why didn’t anyone stop us? My newspaper career started back in 1986 with the Omaha World-Herald, where I managed newspaper carriers across northeast Nebraska. Back then, carriers were “little merchants.” Customers paid the carrier, the carrier paid the paper, and I made sure nobody disappeared with the money. It was part accounting, part babysitting, and part detective work. If a carrier quit, we audited their…
Read MoreApril Fools’ Day: The Jokes on You!!
By Emily Bontrager For centuries, April Fools’ Day has been celebrated across different cultures. Each year on April 1, people play pranks and practical jokes on one another, often revealing the trick with a cheerful, “April Fools!” The exact origins of the holiday remain unclear. According to the Library of Congress, one theory traces the tradition back to ancient Rome and a festival called Hilaria, celebrated around March 25. “In Roman terms, March 25 was called ‘the eighth of the Calends of April,’ which associates the festival strongly with April 1,” the Library notes, though it adds there is no…
Read MoreFrozen in Glass: Why These Images Matter
Every once in a while, something crosses your desk that reminds you why preserving local history matters. For me, lately, that has been the growing collection of historic glass negatives we’ve been sharing through our Historic Images Frozen in Glass project. I’ll be honest — when we first started scanning these fragile pieces of photographic history, I expected them to be interesting. What I didn’t expect was to be fascinated almost daily by what appeared on the screen as each image was restored. Many of these negatives are more than a century old. When you hold them in your hand,…
Read MoreDowning City Council Reviews Water System, Street Work
DOWNING — The Downing City Council met in regular session on March 2, 2026, at City Hall with Mayor Alan Garrett presiding. Aldermen Bob Garrett, Daniel Beeler, Ray Bange and Allen Middleton were present. Also attending were Water/ Wastewater Operator Tad Anderson, Contract Operator Eric Bowens and City Clerk Carol Dryden. The meeting opened with approval of the agenda, followed by approval of the minutes from the previous meeting and payment of bills. All motions carried unanimously. During the water and wastewater report, Anderson told the council that the city’s water loss rate was approximately seven percent, which he said…
Read MoreOutdoors With Kevin Fox: Early Spring Bank Fishing
I’ve been getting ready for spring for the past couple of weeks, and about the time I think it’s here, that stupid groundhog has to flex his forecast muscle and prove he was correct about six more weeks of winter. I was talking with family in South Carolina recently and told them I like the Midwest because of the change of seasons—sometimes you can see all four seasons in a single week. But spring is coming. The turkeys are already gobbling a little, and I’ve heard they are strutting as well. Besides, I had robins in my yard last week,…
Read MoreSchools Could Soon Be The Ones Being Graded
By Brandon Lorenz and Emerson Smith, Missouri News Network JEFFERSON CITY — A bill passed by the state House on Thursday would create a standardized grading system that would be used to grade the schools themselves. House Bill 2710, sponsored by Rep. Dane Diehl, R-Butler, would grade all public and charter schools and their districts on an A-F scale for their efficiency in educating students. The grading would be based on student performance, staff, finances and other categories. The proposed plan holds the the State Board of Education accountable for developing the annual report but leaves the option to have…
Read MoreRams End Season In Sectional OT Loss
The Schuyler County Rams ended their 2025-26 season with a 21-8 record, picking up the Classs 2 District 6 crown before fall to Clopton on Tuesday, March 3. The Rams were defeated 47-44 in overtime. Photos courtesy Brenda Linder.
Read MoreTax Changes To Senior Income, Car Loan Interest For 2025–28
COLUMBIA, Mo. — New federal tax changes will affect some seniors and car buyers beginning in the 2025 tax year, providing potential deductions on income for seniors and certain vehicle purchases, according to Andrew Zumwalt, director of the University of Missouri’s Personal Financial Planning program. Deduction for filers 65 and older For taxpayers age 65 or older by the end of the year, the law allows a deduction of up to $6,000 for single filers and $12,000 for married couples filing jointly, assuming both spouses are age 65 or older. “While this tax benefit is often referred to as ‘no…
Read MoreOutdoors With Kevin Fox: Ice Out Fishing for Bass and Panfish
The weatherman had said that last Wednesday, February 25, temperatures should reach sixty degrees. Either he was wrong or the forecast had changed since I last looked at it. But in order to get to sixty degrees, it had to reach fifty first. I was busy most of the day, but I had made a promise to myself that when I got home — before dark — I would make perhaps thirty casts into the pond in the backyard. While I still had time, I went to the garage where my rods and reels hang and grabbed the smallest combo…
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