Veterans Club buillding drive nears $100,000 mark
September 30, 2008
Karen Hagemann displays one of the memorial bricks available for purchase in the Vets Club building drive.
The fund had gained $25,236 in cash and pledges since the last report on Aug. 27, 2008. The new total includes $690 raised from an ice cream social held Sunday afternoon, Sept. 28.
The new Veterans Club will include a memorial wall in honor of area veterans. Donors may purchase bricks that will be inscribed with veterans’ names and service records. These are available through the Albion Vets Clulb by calling 402-395-6544, or by contacting any member of the building committee. So far, 272 sponsor bricks have been purchased, raising $27,100 toward the new building construction cost.
Record-breaking Cattlemen’s Ball wraps up with grant awards last week
September 30, 2008
Dr. Kenneth Cowan, Delbert and Marilee Niewohner
Grants totaling $79,900 were handed out to hospitals, rescue units, fire departments, a skilled nursing center and a health education project during a reception at the Albion Country Club.
These funds represented about 10 percent of the net proceeds from the 2008 Cattlemen’s Ball held in Boone County on June 6-7, 2008. Nearly 4,000 people attended the ball, which was hosted by the Niewohner Cattle Co. in a pasture northwest of Loretto, June 6-7.
The event raised a record $796,000, with nearly 90 percent of the money going toward cancer research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Eppley Cancer Center. The remaining funds stayed in Albion and other area communities to benefit health-related organizations.
Read the Albion News Print Edition for complete details.
Close-out auction held at long-time business
September 30, 2008
Sullivan Motor Co. auction
Although there are presently several used vehicle dealers in Boone County, the General Motors dealership has been the county’s last remaining new vehicle dealer for several years. An official announcement concerning Sullivan Motor Co. is pending later this month. The Sullivan family has owned the local dealership since the 1940s, and it was moved to the highway location south of Albion in August of 1968.
More historical information about the Albion business will be published in future issues of the Albion News.
Burglars hit local business
September 30, 2008
A burglary occurred during the early morning hours last Wednesday, Sept. 24, at Kayton International Inc. near Albion.
The burglary was apparently interrupted by a company officer arriving early for work Wednesday, Sheriff Dave Spiegel said. Entry had been gained by prying open a door in the shop area.
Law enforcement agencies are now following up on leads in the case. Boone County Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to $2,000 leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Call Crimestoppers at 1-800-266-0935 or Sheriff Spiegel at 402-395-2144. Refer to case #08-0926. Callers will remain anonymous.
Enchanted Trail event set at Olson Preserve
September 30, 2008
An “Enchanted Trail” will be featured at Olson Nature Preserve, northwest of Loretto, to kick off the Albion Arts Council’s 2008-09 season.
The fourth annual event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Students, family and friends are invited to this free, fun-filled and educational evening along the banks of the Beaver Creek. Special attractions will include guided trail walks, a campfire, treats, a sing-a-long and viewing the night sky through a telescope.
The evening’s featured speaker will be WWII Native American code talker Sibby Le Beau.
This event is being sponsored by the Albion Area Arts Council, the ONP stewards, Boone Central PTO and Boy Scout Troop 155 of Albion. For more information, please contact Mitzi Fox at 402-395-2395 or Paul or Lori Hosford at 402-395-6727.
My Side of the Fencepost
September 24, 2008
It will be a bitter pill
By Jim Dickerson
I apologize in advance for the dire tone of this column, but I’m upset about the current mortgage banking crisis. The fact is that some of our top government leaders, regulators and Wall Street executives should have seen it coming and didn’t — or else they did see it coming and failed to act in a timely manner.
The more you read about the “subprime mortgage crisis,” the more difficult it becomes to pin the blame on any single entity. As usual, there is plenty of blame to go around.
Those who know the system and have given the subject some thought will usually say that a number of factors, all happening at the same time, caused this investment banking crisis.
It’s important to remind ourselves that “investment banks” like Lehman Brothers are quite different from most commercial banks operating in our local communities. Their main business involves the sale of stocks and bonds to raise capital.
Our commercial banks are well regulated and insured by FDIC to guarantee that our deposits are safe. They don’t take the same kinds of risks.
Anyway, back to my take on the mortgage crisis in layman’s terms. Most analysts aren’t blaming a lack of regulation, but many are blaming federal policies that created a more risky lending environment for investment banks, sometimes creating pressure on them to make loans to borrowers who may not have been stellar credit risks.
At the same time, the housing boom was underway in the U.S. Interest rates were low and home prices were escalating. There was fierce competition between lenders to make loans in a market where values seemed to be going nowhere but up.
New tools called Adjustable Rate Mortgages and even Subprime Mortgages were created. Apparently, in many cases, these tools allowed borrowers to buy more house than they could afford.
In the case of Subprime Mortgages, when credit tightened and interest rates increased, a relatively large group of homeowners found they could no longer make their payments. They couldn’t refinance to a fixed rate loan, and housing demand declined with tighter credit. Falling home prices meant that many could not sell their homes for enough to repay their mortgages. That caused an increase in foreclosures.
Investment banks with large holdings of packaged loans were then in a tough spot. Their asset base was declining with the real estate market, and they had a big liquidity crisis.
Many other factors were thrown into the mix — not the least of which was a new “fair value accounting” method that valued assets at their price in the current market instead of their true economic value.
To shorten a long story, the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and a short time later announced the largest government bail-out in U.S. history to (hopefully) keep the investment banking industry solvent.
What will this multi-billion dollar bail-out mean to us in rural Nebraska?
That’s an interesting question. No one knows the full magnitude at this point, but it will have an impact. Anyone who has retirement savings in mutual funds likely already owns a piece of the investment banking pie and therefore will feel the effects.
The one thing I am fairly certain of is this: The simple fact that the federal government is dedicating hundreds of billions of dollars to the bail-out (and thereby to the already huge federal deficit) will devalue our currency. Our dollar will be worth less in future years because of this debacle.
It doesn’t take an advanced degree in economics to realize that a devalued dollar is inflationary. It will take more even more dollars to buy the goods and services we require in the future.
President Bush and Congress have had to choose the lesser of two evils and proceed with the bail-out, because this crisis likely could have triggered even worse consequences without it.
Either way, this is a very bitter pill to swallow while some of the aforementioned Wall Street executives enjoy their multi-million dollar bonuses dating back to those “good years.”
Molly’s Musings
September 24, 2008
Chicken Soup does soothe the soul
by Molly Young
Chicken noodle soup for the soul. It’s a bit cliché. But, I discovered, completely true.
My friend was sick last Wednesday. He was miserable: he could hardly talk or breathe during our short conversation that day.
I told my roommate, who quickly quipped, “Let’s make him some chicken noodle soup.”
Homemade chicken noodle soup, we hoped, cured any sickness.
Four hours and $14 worth of groceries later - we redeemed a coupon for a free rotisserie chicken - we gathered the ingredients. Noodles, carrots, onions, celery, broth, chicken and spices covered the countertops.
We used my grandma’s recipe: a list that called for a pinch of this and a stalk of that. Three carrots. One medium onion. A bay leaf. Heat the broth. Simmer the vegetables. Cook the noodles. And add the chicken.
Soon, the warm, spicy aroma of chicken noodle soup filled our duplex and lingered in the air. For the safety of our friend, or perhaps because the temptation was too strong, we each had a bowlful of steaming soup. The chicken, the vegetables, the noodles - the ingredients combined to fill our stomachs and our hearts. The soup was safe to eat.
We poured the remaining soup into a plastic container, grabbed a baggie of fresh-baked cookies, and drove across Lincoln to our friend’s house.
Our hope was confirmed: the soup - which I thought would surely last a few meals - was gone 15 minutes after walking in the door. A “thank you” came with each bite.
He wasn’t healed instantly; in fact, he didn’t feel fully well until a few days later. The coughs and sneezes were still there. But the misery was gone, dissolved with the last drop of soup.
Chicken noodle soup for the soul. His wasn’t the only spirit lifted that night, either. After a long day of classes, the healing power of carrots, celery and pre-cooked chicken was hard to deny.
Chicken noodle soup soothes the soul, even if it is a cliché.
Progress noted at Vets Club
September 24, 2008
Veterans Club construction
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