Taken from the news columns of area newspapers.

Cozad man wins new truck from NE Lottery

COZAD—Cozad’s Gonzalo Olvera received keys for a 2011 Ford F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCrew Flex Fuel truck from scratching off a Nebraska Lottery “Trucks and Buck” ticket. Olvera was presented with his bright and shiny red pickup on Sept. 7 at the Cozad Pump and Pantry where he purchased the winning ticket. This was the 16th edition of the Nebraska Lottery’s Trucks and Bucks scratch game with overall odds of winning a truck at approximately 1-in-200,000.-—reported in the Tri-City Trib.

Third time’s a charm for school bond election

BROKEN BOW—More than 45 percent of registered voters in the Broken Bow school district went to the polls recently to cast their vote on whether or not to approve a $5.8 million bond for an addition and renovation to North Park School. The unofficial results of that election were: Yes-960; No-697. This was the third attempt at a school bond for the district, and is less than half the cost of the previous bond requests. The project includes eight additional classrooms, a media center/computer lab, multipurpose room, new mechanical systems and numerous other renovations and improvements.—reported in the Custer County Chief.

Judge sentences Cleveland 30 to 60 years

OGALLALA—Nearly 11 months after kidnapping and sexually assaulting an Ogallala girl, Jade Cleveland, 21, of Keystone was sentenced to a term of not less than 30 or more than 60 years in the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services for what District Judge Donald E. Rowlands claimed was an inexcusable, extremely violent crime. Cleveland abducted a girl at knifepiont from her bed in her family’s Ogallala home, bound her in his vehicle, drove her into the country and repeatedly assaulted her. Judge Rowlands sentenced him 15 to 30 years in prison on each count, kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault, and was ordered to be served consecutively.—reported in the Keith County News.

Red cedar chips to fuel new biomass boiler

CURTIS—A huge 19,000 pound boiler was recently delivered to the NCTA campus to be installed in the biomass heating plant. The boiler will be used to heat the NCTA campus building using red cedar chips as fuel. The red cedars will be harvested from the surrounding rangeland, and in turn, will help increase the cattle stocking rate. The new biomass boiler should save approximately $51,000 a year in natural gas cost and will burn 1,500 tons of wood chips a year.—reported in the Frontier County Enterprise.

Baptist Church becomes dance conservatory

ARNOLD—With the recent opening of the Elite Dance Conservatory in the old Baptist church on Sept. 6, students from Arnold and surrounding communities are strengthening their minds and bodies and learning to express themselves through the art of dance. Director Eileeen Moser, originally from New York, is teaching classes in creative movement/dance foundations, ballet, lyrical, jazz, tap and Baila.—reported in the Arnold Sentinel.

Safe and smooth road joins coop schools

CALLAWAY—Custer County road crew members were adding finishing touches recently when they rolled out the last few miles of asphalt overlay on the Arnold River Road giving a full 18 miles of smooth driving for the first time in decades. The project was put on the priority list, in part, because Callaway and Arnold schools started a cooperative sports program putting buses on the road going back and forth with more frequency for games and practices.—reported in the Callaway Courier.