BNSF train derails just outside Exeter

A BNSF train struck a fertlizer truck at the railroad crossing on Road 20 just west of Exeter Friday morning around 10:40 a.m. No major injuries were sustained. There are no cross arms at this intersection and a 15 mph speed limit sign is posted. Road 20 was blocked off north and south of the intersection and a team of recovery and repair equipment was quickly dispatched from BNSF.  The crew removed enough damaged equipment to move the cars in good shape by Friday evening and worked through the night with lights to clear the tracks and begin the repair.  The Exeter Gun Club sits just to the north of the tracks and power was shut off to the club while the crews worked on the tracks.  

 

Throwback Thursday 02/23/2014

 

02/23/2014

 

Exeter residents will need to head to the election polls in May and will have several options when voting.  Monday, March 3^rd at 4:30 p.m. is the deadline for non-incumbents to register for the May primary.  The incumbent deadline has passed.

Exeter-Milligan School Board members Tom Sluka and Brent Moore have not refiled leaving their seats open.  Incumbent Sharon Kuska has filed along with newcomers Adam Erdkamp, Mark Bigelow and Kendra Jansky.

County Supervisor Bob Mueller has filed to run again for District #1 and Galen Kuska has filed for the Liberty Township Board.  As of Friday morning no one had filed for the opening on the Exeter Fairmont Township Board.

There is an opening on the Exeter Village Board as Margaret Petro has not refiled for her position.  Tim Wilbeck, who currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Village Board has filed for the election.

 

Caitlin Murphy placed 3^rd in the Fillmore County Spelling Bee that was held in Geneva on February 18^th.

Exeter-Milligan Eighth grader, Clarissa (Claire) Mounce placed 3^rd in the Junior High Division of the Fillmore County Spelling Bee.  Other junior high spellers competing were Josie Kresak, Colton Bossaller, and Katarina (Katie) Mounce.

 

Several members of the Exeter-Milligan 6th grade class sang the National Anthem at the February 11 basketball game. They also played with the JH/SH pep band that night. Those participating were  Jacy Schlueter, Eli Johnson, Nick Hayek, Caitlin Murphy, Kayla Geiger and Anna Sluka.

 

The Exeter-Milligan Cheerleaders held their annual Cheer Camp on Friday after school.  The clinicians taught the girls several cheers and a dance routine. They ate supper together and worked on some bracelet projects.  The girls performed during half-time at the Exeter-Milligan varsity boys game versus Dorchester.

 

The Exeter-Milligan Boy's Basketball team held their parent's night on Friday night.  All the parents were recognized while the players were introduced.

Homestead Exemption Informational Meetings

 

Homestead Exemption:

Have you ever checked into Homestead Exemption?? It is a great program that offers tax relief for homeowners in Nebraska. You must be 65 as of January 1, 2024 and be a homeowner. The amount of assistance determined is based on your income and could be any percentage from 10% all the way to 100%.

NEW this year, staff from the Assessors office will be in 4 different Fillmore County communities in the month of April and are wanting to to help you with this great program and answer any questions you may have.

Whether you have applied for homestead exemption before or are brand new, they will help you with filling out the forms OR see if you are eligible to apply. Things change from year to year, so even if you have checked into this before, it might be worth checking into again.

No appts are necessary, and it will not be a presentation, they will be offering one on one assistance for those who stop in.

Please see the dates and times of where they will be in the attached flyer.

We encourage folks throughout the County to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Please feel free to share this post and the information with those on and off Facebook! We want to reach as many people as possible.

You have until June 30th to get your application in for consideration or renewal.

Throwback Thursday 02/16/2014

 

02/16/2014

 

Let the Games Begin… Second graders at Exeter-Milligan Public Schools prepared for the Winter Olympics by creating a Mini-Math Olympics. A torch relay delivered notes about this event, inviting all kindergarten, first and second graders to participate for team U.S.A. On February 6, students paraded around the gym wearing patriotic colors and carrying U.S. flags. They watched as the final torch runner made a lap in the gym and ignited the Olympic torch. The Olympic oath and Olympic creed were read. Opening ceremonies also included watching a youtube video about the Olympics. These athletes participated in six events: cotton ball shot put, paper straw javelin throw, paper plate discus throw, marble grab, sponge squeeze and big foot. At each of these centers, students practiced estimating and measuring skills with metric units. High school students were available to assist the elementary students as they measured and recorded their results. Students learned facts about ancient and modern day Olympics, too. Patrons of the district were able to follow events via Twitter, #emwolves. A medal ceremony concluded the EM Mini- Math Winter Olympics.

 

The Exeter-Milligan junior high boys basketball team finished the 2013-14 season with a 6-4 record.  In December, E-M had a 3-2 record, finishing second at the Dorchester tournament the opening weekend of the season.  In January, the young Timberwolves went 2-1.  At the Exeter-Milligan tournament this past weekend, the boys finished in third place. 

 

Leading the scoring for E-M this season was Patrick Murphy, with 74 points.  Colton Bossaller scored 54 points.  Eric Olsen, Derek Axline, and Seth Maxson added 35, 33, and 32 points respectively.  Spencer Pribyl put in 25 points on the season.  Joey Bartu added 6 points and Wyatt Foutch scored 4 points.

 

The JH girls basketball A team finished the season with an 8-6 record. The B team finished with an 2-1 record. The A team won the Dorchester tournament and also placed 3rd in the Giltner Slamfest.  

 

Top 5 scorers on the year:

Tara Mueller - 149 points

Kelsey Bigelow - 87 points

Hannah Beethe - 74 points

Hannah Horne - 50 points

Kathrine White - 47 points.

 

Three members of the Exeter-Milligan Speech team competed at the Meridian Mustang Speech invite. From the left, Taylor May competed in Entertainment speaking, Meredith Emshoff received 3rd place in Entertainment speaking, and Amber Pribyl placed 5th in Humorous Prose. 

 

Exeter-Milligan Football standout Taylor May signed to play football at Midland Lutheran in Fremont on Thursday, February 13^th.  May was welcomed into the Midland fold by Assistant Football Coach Brad Vonnahme.

 

Mrs. Marla Weber’s second graders at the Exeter-Milligan Public School have been writing pen pals letters to students in Grade 2 at the Friend Public School this year. To add a little twist to this exchange of letters, the EM second grade requested their pen pals participate in another activity. Students at each site drew pictures of monsters. Each student then used descriptive words to explain what his or her monster looked like. The descriptions were delivered to their pen pals. Based only on the details shared with them, students tried to recreate their pen pals’ monsters. This activity was not only fun, but allowed students practice descriptive writing. The two classes plan to compare the drawings via Skype.

Exeter-Milligan Update: Stress and the Body

 

Stress and the Body

By Lorie Sliefert, Exeter-Milligan Science Instructor

 

Biology II students use technology to study their bodies.   In our recent chapter about the respiratory system, they were able to use a spirometer to determine their lung capacity.  When we studied the cardiovascular system we were able to measure their blood pressure and heart rate and see how they responded to times of stress. 

 

Pictured is Malorie Staskal using the spirometer.

 

Exeter-Milligan Update: Second Grade Science

 

Second Grade Science

By Kelsey Horne, Exeter-Milligan 2nd Grade Teacher

 

In second grade science, students have been working on defining a problem and developing solutions. For this lesson, students identified the properties of given materials and had to identify which would be best for a pillow. Students worked together to test out different materials and ended by writing a claim stating which material was best. Most of the class agreed that soft cotton was the best material while a few preferred firmer foam. 

 

 Grayson Arbuck testing her pillow

 

 

Jade Slezak testing her pillow

 

EMF Boys Lose Heartbreaker at Cross County

With 36 seconds left on the clock the game was tied 56-56 at Cross County.  Cross County put two on the board and EMF got the ball back with 6 seconds - just enough time to put up a last minute three to win the game but the ball fell short and the clock expired. Final was 56-58 with the Cougars on top.

 

Throwback Thursday: 02/09/2014

 

02/09/2014

First Grade has a Mystery Reader every  +Thursday. Parents, grandparents, teachers are asked if they wish to participate at the beginning of the year. They are assigned a week to come. They send clues for the class. The teacher gives the clues during the day and the students try to guess who is coming. At the assigned time, the mystery reader comes in to read to the students. The students enjoy hearing a variety of people read to them during the year.

In the Exeter-Milligan Junior High Basketball tournament held in Exeter on Saturday, Feb. 8 the Friend boys and girls both brought home the first place trophies. In the championship game the Friend boys beat the Central City boys and the Friend girls beat the Bruning-Davenport-Shickley girls.  Exeter-Milligan girls took fourth losing to Meridian and the Exeter-Milligan boys beat Meridian taking third place.

 

Title Happenings by Anita Mueller, E-M Title I Coordinator

 

A strategy that I have started using with some of the Title I reading students is using polyester colored overlays.  They come in 10 colors: blue, light blue, green, blue-green, non-glare, red (pink), orange-red, smoke(gray), yellow, and reddish-yellow(amber).  The overlays are used to help those with reading difficulties which might include slow reading rate, losing their place, poor comprehension, eye strain or fatigue, headaches and vision dyslexia.  The colored overlays change the wavelength of the light hitting the retina in the eye.  The student is to try them all and see which one has the sharpest, clearest, or most stable images.  Sometimes it is helpful to use a colored overlay and then put the non-glare one over that to take the shimmer off of the overlay.  Students think that using a colored overlay is fun as well.

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

EMF Honors Seniors and easily defeats Diller-Odell

Coach Brian Arp presented all of the EMF senior boys and their parents with posters of the athletes playing basketball this season.