Lifestyle

Sophomore Parker Santin is investigating a health hazard with historical roots and modern relevance: lead-based paint. Lead poisoning remains a serious threat, especially in older homes where the presence of lead paint is still common.

During the last day of April, the Central City High School Quiz Bowl team finished third place overall at the Nebraska ESU State Quiz Bowl meet held in Hastings, Nebraska. The competition brought numerous teams together to engage and compete in numerous quizzical quizzes, and thankfully no tests were involved.

On Thursday, May 1, Bader Park hosted a special sunset hike on their prairie trail in celebration of Go Big Give, along with an unveiling of their newly built prairie observation deck. The group gathered at the Bader Park office just before 7 p.m.

On May 1, the annual “Go Big GIVE” event came around again to raise money for the numerous nonprofit organizations in Merrick County. This year, seventeen nonprofit organizations participated in the event. These included numerous groups from across Merrick County, which included but weren’t limited to: the Central City Public Library, Merrick Foundation Inc., Clarks Public Library, and Little Storm Childcare. The event was a hit, surpassing the $10,000 goal the Merrick County Historical Museum had set, raising a total of $15,884.

The 2025 Merrick County 4-H Shotgun contest was held on Saturday, April 26th at the Sportsman’s Club. Eleven 4-Hers attended the contest. Evan Wruble, Clarks was the Grand Champion Jr shooter and Henry Majerus, Central City was the Reserve Champion. In the Sr. division, Landon Zmek, Chapman received Grand Champion and Brady Myers, Palmer received Reserve Champion. The results are as follows: 11-14 Years Old: Purple: Braxton Blauhorn, Palmer; Rex Ferris, Central City; Henry Majerus, Central City; Max Myers, Palmer; Evan Wruble, Clarks. Blue: Kyler Carlson, Polk; Berklie Nelson, Central City.

The 2025 Merrick County 4-H BB contest was held on Saturday, December 15th at the 4-H Building. Indoor BB Gun practices were held at the 4-H Building on Tuesdays in November and December.

Two local students have been selected to represent Central City at the prestigious Cornhusker Boys’ State, sponsored by American Legion Post 6. Callaway Seip (referred to as Cal) and Kaden Van Pelt will join nearly 340 other high school juniors from across Nebraska in this unique program designed to enhance their understanding of city, county, and state governments.

Junior Josiah Hagemeier is diving into industrial automation with a focus on programmable logic controllers (PLCs). These devices are the brains behind many automated processes, but when it comes to speed, there’s room for improvement.