This week's top stories

  • Go Big Give 2025 is March 1
    Go Big Give 2025 is March 1
  • Sen. Loren Lippincott sits in his desk on the floor of the Nebraska Senate.
    Sen. Loren Lippincott sits in his desk on the floor of the Nebraska Senate.
  • Nancy Wheeler (right) has spent 75 years of her life collecting spoons from around the country and the globe. She gets help maintaining the collection from her granddaugher, Gracie Wheeler-James (left).
    Nancy Wheeler (right) has spent 75 years of her life collecting spoons from around the country and the globe. She gets help maintaining the collection from her granddaugher, Gracie Wheeler-James (left).
  • The Loading Chute in Hampton has been crowned the 2025 Tournament of Taste 'Chompion.'
    The Loading Chute in Hampton has been crowned the 2025 Tournament of Taste 'Chompion.'
  • Aurora High School has a higher percentage of students in multiple activities, such as theater, than most of the schools in Nebraska.
    Aurora High School has a higher percentage of students in multiple activities, such as theater, than most of the schools in Nebraska.
  • Sandi VanWormer was all smiles in the concession stand during this weekend’s Swingin’ for Sandi softball tournament. VanWormer was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago and said she is feeling good now.
    Sandi VanWormer was all smiles in the concession stand during this weekend’s Swingin’ for Sandi softball tournament. VanWormer was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago and said she is feeling good now.

    Nonprofit organizations across Hamilton, Hall, Howard and Merrick counties will take part in the 12th annual Go Big GIVE online campaign opening with pre-GIVE Monday, April 21, and continuing until the one-day fundraising event on May 1. Go Big GIVE, co-hosted by the Greater Grand Island Community Foundation and Heartland United Way, will be promoting 167 nonprofits throughout the four counties. Last year’s campaign topped $1.5 million, reflecting a pattern of consistent growth and support, according to Karen Rathke, president and chief professional officer with the Heartland United Way.

    While there is disagreement over who said it first, the statement is generally acknowledged to be true: “Laws are like sausages. Better not to see them being made.” To paraphrase, the process of crafting legislation is a messy (and in some ways distasteful) business. And yet that just how ANR News Editor Ron Burtz and a friend spent last Wednesday morning. A trip to the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln to watch the proceedings on the 58th day of the 2024 legislative session proved to be an educational and eye-opening experience for both, showing the sausage making analogy to be quite apt. Read the account of their journey to the Unicameral on Page B11 of this week's edition.

    More than 1,300 spoons from all over the world decorate the wall of Nancy Wheeler’s home in Aurora, the fruit of a collection process that has spanned more than seven decades. Wheeler says collecting the utensils has been rewarding hobby for over 75 years, since she was gifted her very first collector spoon. “My first spoon came from my mother, who was my Sunday school teacher when I was four or five,” Wheeler said. “That was what she gave us for Christmas one year for the girls in the Sunday school class.” The story of Wheeler's collection, which includes spoons from nearly every continent on earth, can be found on Page A5.

    Nine months into its first year in business, the Loading Chute restaurant in Hampton has beat out 99 other dining establishments in central Nebraska to be the winner of the Tournament of Taste as the 2025 “Chompion” restaurant in the region. Sponsored by the website Central Nebraska Today, the Tournament of Taste is an event modeled after the NCAA basketball tournament in which 64 of the region’s favorite restaurants compete to be crowned the top choice of the community. Read the full story of the Chute's victory and get reaction from the owners beginning on Page 1 of this week's ANR.

    One of the highlights of this week's Aurora 4R school board meeting was announcement by activities director Jay Staehr that AHS was rated high in the Nebraska State Colleges Multi-State Award. As listed on the NSAA website, Aurora ranked second in Class B with 135 of 406 students enrolled in the high school involved with multiple activities. That 33.25 percent rating was second in Class B only to Mount Michael Benedictine, which earned a rating of 36.05 percent with 62 of 172 students involved in multiple activities. Find out what else happened at the school board meeting, as well as at similar meetings in Hampton and Giltner, in this week's ANR.

    The lady behind the concession stand was the guest of honor for this weekend’s Swingin’ for Sandi softball tournament in Aurora, and the smile on her face said it all. Sandi VanWormer was diagnosed with breast cancer just over a year ago, drawing her family close together in a show of love and support. Her son, Shawn, decided to put on a girls softball tournament to show support and raise funds for not other his mother, but others fighting cancer as well. In its second year, the Swingin’ for Sandi tournament exploded in size and scope, drawing 30 teams from Omaha to Holdrege, all competing in a three-day tournament at the Aurora softball complex.

    Find these stories, plus our Spring Home Improvement section and all the latest sports scores from around the area, in the print or e-edition of this week's Aurora News-Register.