Weather January – some light snows, one day of very
strong winds, -4 the night of Jan 23
On Jan
30 – A heavy frost and light sleet storm that caused icy conditions with
“skidding of autos, horses and pedestrians alike…”
And then there was the
chicken thief. Snow was his downfall
A Pleasanton man had been employed husking corn and planned to farm in the
area in the spring
He
stole 40 chickens from one farmer and 8 from another. Put them in a wagon. Then he
went to Kearney, sold them, and after cashing his $62 check, headed back to
Pleasanton
Meanwhile, the theft was discovered and his wagon tracks in the snow were
followed to Kearney Police
were contacted. They followed his tracks and caught up with him before he
got back to Pleasanton.
The
thief pleaded guilty and because he could not pay the $1000 bail was in jail
awaiting sentencing. Another
farmer in the Pleasanton area said the harness on the horses the thief used
to pull the wagon were stolen
from him but no charges had been filed.
The
chicken thief admitted he had been in trouble before for stealing corn but
had not served a sentence for that.
Roads This week [the last week in January, 2020] the
County Board was struggling with the expense of purchasing 2 bottom dump
trucks and 3 motor graders as well as determining who is responsible for
county subdivision roads.
Things haven’t changed much in 100 years.
In late December
1919 there had been some heavy snow followed by periods of thawing. As a result in early
January 1920 there were “great ruts in the hillside road and it is
impossible for two vehicles to pass one another.” [that would be going north
out of Kearney up 2nd Ave from 31st St.]
Farmers got in touch with the Commercial Club
[chamber of commerce] secretary to complain. He contacted the mayor and
commissioner [street commissioner?] who immediately got a work crew out to
make temporary repairs.
Jan 17 – Jordan Starts His Work on Highways
In mid-January the Buffalo County hired a highway commissioner. This was a
first for the county. His
office would be in the courthouse so he was moving to Kearney from Odessa.
Jordon's first task was to
buy some modern machinery to repair and build roads.
He was to look after all road building matters that came before the county
board and develop a program of work
for the year [the first One Year Plan] He
would also oversee the township road workers.
(Each township was responsible for building and maintaining the county roads
and bridges within their own township. Gradually over the years the
townships contracted with the county to maintain more and more of their
roads until finally a few years ago when the townships were dissolved, only
1˝ miles in one township had not been turned over to the county.)
Speaking of townships and
their road responsibilities – Odessa Township was the first to purchase a
tractor and road maintainer
Sports
– a main source of entertainment in January
Basketball – First week in
January – Kearney High played Kearney Normal. The Normal team won 19-13. The following week – Kearney Normal opened
their regular season against Grand Island college They
won 30-26. The score at half-time was 16-2.
Kearney got overconfident and G I came back to almost win the game.
Kearney High played North Platte here. Boys lost 25-18.
There were many fouls in first half, mostly by Kearney. Half ended 3-15
There were fewer fouls in the second half but Kearney could not make up the
difference.
In the girls game Kearney won 22-21.
While
the boys played 5-member teams, the girls had 6-member teams with a rear
center position. The teams
had only 1 or 2 substitutes.
Toward the end of January – A League of Basket
Ball Teams was organized in Kearney
Promoters were representatives of Kearney normal, Kearney Military Academy,
Kearney High, and the Kearney
Athletic Association teams. Any
other Kearney group or business could organize a team as well. The
first game was between Kearney Normal and Kearney High which the Normal
School won 27-26 Wrestling –
John Pesek was wrestling in Omaha. Several
Kearneyites went to Omaha to watch.
Pesek and Mike Howard held a wrestling match here
at the Opera House. Pesek
won the first fall with a reinforced toe hold after 46 minutes and 50
seconds.
Howard conceded the 2nd fall and the match when Pesek got that same toe hold
on him after 5 minutes.