A Minute With the Mayor

Can you believe 2013 is almost at an end?  Where does the time go?  By the time you reading this article, I will be on track to have just about forty percent of my Christmas shopping accomplished!  I do my best work while under pressure you know!  Anyway I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are looking forward to a very blessed Christmas and holiday season.

I’ll try to recap what’s been happening with the city the last couple of months since I haven’t had an article for a while.  At the November council meeting, we just had a few things to discuss.  We changed the renewal date on the city’s health insurance plan so we could keep our old plan with a minimum rate increase for one more year.  Otherwise with a January renewal date our old plan was no longer being offered due to the new rules of the federal health care laws.  So basically we bought another year before we really have to look hard at our options.  We purchased a different snow truck in October to replace our old one that was no longer feasible to keep around.  It’s a 2003 International 4400 so it is a nice upgrade and much more reliable.  We sold the old truck through a sealed bid process for $2600.  We hired some new help for the Recycling plant.  So we are back to being fully staffed down there.  We purchased approximately 4000 gallons of fuel for the light plant emergency generators from NPPD.  We needed to keep the tanks full of fuel in case we needed to fire the generators up and since we no longer have a contract with NPPD we needed to buy the fuel that was in the tanks in order to keep reserves at appropriate levels.  We had our annual draw down at the sewer plant and had no issues this year with state compliance regulations.  We also finalized the contract for keno to be held at the Branding Iron.

December’s meeting agenda focused on some housekeeping issues for the council moving into 2014.  Steiny was again elected as city council president and each council member was appointed to oversee some aspect of the city’s operation.  Charlie was appointed as commissioner for utilities distribution and maintenance.  Roger was appointed as commissioner for sanitation, recycling, landfill and parks.  Lana was appointed commissioner of parks, pools, recreation and auditorium and Steiny was appointed commissioner of city streets.  Mike informed the council that the library has been awarded a Gold Accreditation from the Nebraska Library Commission.  We had been designated as silver accredited.  This is a fantastic honor for our little libr

Lyons Mayor Andy Fuston

ary.  The library team continues to work hard to bring the very best in library services to our community.  A big thank you to the dedicated library board and the team for exceeding expectations every day!  Here’s some more good news.  The automatic meter reading system is now completely installed through the entire town.  We started this project five years ago or so and we are excited about the outcome.  No longer do we have to pay someone to walk around town to read utility meters.  It is all read electronically and remotely now.  It is easier and much less labor consuming.

You can see the progress going on down at the pool site.  Things have slowed significantly unfortunately because of the really cold temperatures but they continue to make progress where and when they can.  It is exciting to see the new pool house going up.  We have selected the colors schemes for the new slide and other accessories.  They are bright, fun and playful.  I can’t wait to see the finished product.  I hope you can’t either.  We are moving through the design phase of the auditorium remodel.  With every remodeling job there are always roadblocks.  This project is no exception.  It has been determined that there is no foundation underneath the large garage doors there for to enclose those openings with mortar, brick and glass would be a budget buster as new footings would need to be poured.  So plan B looks to be a new garage door design that is made up of glass panes that allow light to filter in but are not see through.  The glass panes can be tinted in various patterns to give the doors a contemporary look.  The interior roll-up will also remain a roll-up door to match the other doors because the opening would have had to be significantly reduced to accommodate regular doors.  We didn’t want to impede the flow of traffic between the two spaces so this became our best option.  It isn’t how I had originally envisioned the design to be but I’m excited about the new vision that has been laid out before us.  The architect and engineer are finishing up the final designs this month and the plan is to put the project out for bid in January.  We will make an architectural rendering available to see when the final design is submitted to the council for approval.  Unfortunately we still don’t have enough resources to complete the entire renovation even with the generous contributions we have received so far.  We are however applying for another grant in the sum of $250,000 to help our efforts.  I think we are supposed to find out about that in February.  Keep your fingers crossed.  However, if you are looking for a worthwhile project to contribute to financially, please keep the auditorium project in mind.  Every little bit helps.

I think that’s all I know for now.  Remember as the snow falls that you try to avoid parking on the street so the city crew can get the streets cleaned off as quickly as possible.  In the meantime, stay warm.  Talk to you soon and Merry Christmas!

Data, Data and More Data

Rac

Rachel Wise

hel Wise, District 3, Nebraska State Board of Education (November, 2013)

Data, Data and More Data!

With a click of a button — OK, more like several clicks once in a website — you can learn a great deal about all our public schools in Nebraska. This month, I want to guide you to a wealth of information about schools and student performance that you can explore if you so desire. By the time you read this article, additional information, including high school graduation rates, school dropout rates and school district ACT scores will be posted on the Nebraska Department of Education website. I am sure that many of you, like me, may find this information very valuable. It is also an accurate and reliable source of information about our schools in Nebraska!

To start this journey, go to the NDE website, www.education.ne.gov. I do include this web address at the end of every article, because it truly is a great resource for any student, parent or community member who wants to learn more about what is happening in education in Nebraska. Once you are on the homepage of the website, there is a link in the middle of the page that is titled NEW: State of the Schools Report, which is where we are headed to learn more about Nebraska schools. Once on this page you will be provided with a great deal of information about the overall performance of Nebraska schools. There is a great deal of good news on this page.

As you review the information on the Nebraska State of the Schools Report, improvement and growth are two very important terms that tell a different story about our schools. Improvement is looking at how one grade improved from one year to the next, by comparing the same grade. For example, the 4^th grade class of 2011 was compared to the 4^th grade class of 2012. Growth, which is my favorite measure, looks at how individual students performed from one year to the next. This measure looks at how a student in 4^th grade student performed in 5^th grade. Approximately 83 percent of the schools demonstrated improvement and growth in reading. Math, is a different story, with approximately 68 percent of the schools showing improvement and 57 percent demonstrating growth.

As you delve into the Nebraska report card, do not stop at state information. Click on the district or school tabs to learn more about the school district in your community, neighborhood, or the school that your grandchildren, nieces or nephews attend. A nice feature on the report card is the ability to click on a county and look at the data for all schools in the county. I serve District 3, which is comprised of 15 counties. This feature gives me an opportunity to look at information about all of the school districts I represent in District 3.

One more data note, then I will call it a day — or an article — if you prefer. Nebraska is involved in a longitudinal data project in partnership with Education Service Units (ESUs) and school districts. The purpose of this project is to help schools use their data to improve and personalize learning experiences. The goal is to help teachers get pertinent achievement data at their fingertips so they can better meet the needs of every student in their classrooms. The longitudinal data project involves pilot school districts and ESUs working together on the use of achievement data to improve student outcomes. Thanks to the leadership in the following area school districts and ESUs that volunteered to be a part of the pilot: Bancroft Rosalie Community Schools, Ponca Public Schools, South Sioux City Schools, ESU 1, ESU 2, ESU 7 and ESU 8.

If you would like to contact me, feel free to do so at rachel.wise@nebraska.gov.

Santa Pictures

Wanted: Pictures of children visiting Santa! Will post on my paper!

Picking Out a Christmas Tree

By John Wilson

Extension Educator

John Wilson

Putting the Thanksgiving leftovers in the refrigerator often marks the start of the Christmas tree season. Nationally, about 36 million trees will be sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Artificial tree sales increased the past decade, but those sales have leveled off and now there’s a return to having a traditional tree.

A natural Christmas tree is an environmental friendly way to celebrate the holidays. The average artificial Christmas tree has a life span of 6 years before it ends up in a landfill. A live Christmas tree, while used only one season, can become valuable mulch, a winter bird feeder, or even used as a fish habitat after the holidays.

So how do you pick out the perfect tree? The best way to obtain the freshest tree is to harvest it yourself at a local Christmas tree farm. This way you are guaranteed a fresh tree rather than one that may have been harvested several weeks earlier. A list of Nebraska Christmas tree growers is available on the Nebraska Department of Agriculture website. If cutting your own tree is not possible, here are some ways to check the freshness of a Christmas tree.

First, give the tree a light but vigorous shake. Only a few interior needles will fall out of a fresh tree. If a pile of brown needles appears on the ground, particularly from the branch tips, it is not fresh. Next, reach into a branch and gently pull the needles through your hand as you move out towards the tip. The needles should bend, but remain firmly attached, as your fingers run across them.

Regardless of whether you buy a tree from a lot or cut it yourself, once you get it home, leave it outside in a shady area while you set up the stand. The choice of a stand is probably the most critical factor in maintaining the freshness of the tree once it’s in your home. The stand should hold one-half to one gallon of water as a new Christmas tree may absorb this much water per day. A good rule-of-thumb is a tree will use one quart of water per day for every inch of trunk diameter at the base. If you have a tree with a 3-inch trunk, it may use about three quarts of water per day.

Make sure you start with a clean stand. Before setting up the tree, wash the inside of the stand with a solution of three tablespoons of bleach in a pint of water. After washing, rinse the stand with fresh water. This will reduce the growth of microorganisms that may also plug up the tree’s pores.

Just before you bring the tree in the house cut off the bottom inch or two of the trunk. This will open the sap-filled pores which transport water into the tree. The base cut should be square, not slanted. The angle makes little difference in the amount of water absorbed and it may expose part of the base to air sooner if the water level runs low. Once the tree is in the stand, add water and then never let the stand become empty. If the stand becomes empty for more than six hours, the tree’s pores plug up. Water uptake will be significantly reduced, the tree will dry out, and the needles will soon begin to fall.

If the tree stand does dry up, there is nothing that can be done other than pull the tree out of the stand and re-cut the base… not a pleasant task once the lights and ornaments are already up. Nothing needs to be added to the water in the stand to improve needle retention. Commercial “tree fresher” products do not significantly increase the life of the tree and the home remedies such as aspirin, sugar, soft drinks and vodka do not work and may be harmful to pets that may drink from the stand.

Finally, place the stand in a spot that receives only indirect sunlight and is not near a heat duct, entry door, or other drafty location. This will reduce water loss from the tree and prolong its freshness.

For more information on Christmas tree selection and care, contact you local UNL Extension office.

Keep Looking Up!