Negley says Ienn was very well known in the circle of firefighters nationwide and served on the board of the National Council on Fireworks Safety and on several other committees. He says many knew Ienn personally and want to show their support.

Saturday would have been Ienn’s 41st birthday. He died earlier this week in what authorities are calling a suicide.

Aaron Curry — 7:45 a.m. The 6’2, 275-pound defensive tackle will choose Nebraska and Iowa.

Alonzo Moore — 9 a.m. Nebraska, Northwestern State and Louisiana Tech. 6-’2, 175-pound athlete.

Devian Shelton — 11 a.m. 6’2, 185-pound cornerback, is considering Nebraska, Washington and Oregon State.

Andrus Peat — ESPNU will carry his live announcement at 12:30 p.m. The 6’7, 305-pound offensive tackle will pick between Nebraska, Stanford and USC

Vincent Valentine — 1 p.m. The 6’4, 313-pound defensive tackle narrows choices to Nebraska, Illinois and Florida

Raymond Ford — TBD. Nebraska, Washington State, Cal, or Utah are among the 5-’10, 165-pound cornerback’s choices.

Seaman says all potential employees have to do is drive up, get a bag and review the material at a later time. He says this is especially helpful for those currently employed but looking for a different position and can’t take time off work to attend a traditional job fair.

Seaman has been asked over and over again if job fairs work and if people do get hired. He says all those participating in Wednesday’s Drive-Thru Job Fair are hiring and yes, job fairs are a success.

Seaman says there are hundreds of open full-time and part time openings. Some of the fields are for sales representatives, finance, accounting, legal services, management, marketing, IT, customer service and more.

The Drive-Thru Job Fair is Wednesday, February 1st at the Comfort Inn at 70th and Grover in Omaha from 8am to 3 pm.

Most of us have been at the supermarket and discovered there’s a product on our list that we can’t seem to find in the store — but they must have it, right?

Hy-Vee’s Ruth Comer says the new app features a product locater function.

Comer says, “If you’re shopping and you want to know where to find the toothpicks or the cake mixes, you can either speak the product into your phone or you can type it and the app will come back and tell you it’s in aisle 6 on the left side or aisle 14 on the right side, so you can go right to that section and find that product.”

Comer says, “The majority of our stores now are mapped to coincide with the app and it will pull up a map of the store and show you, right on the map, where the product’s located.”

If you arrive at that aisle and find the shelf empty, never fear.

“You can even send a Tweet to Hy-Vee and let them know if a product’s out of stock,” she says. “They’ll get that message right away and can look to see if there’s more in stock.”

You can also browse the weekly ads, search for recipes and build an online shopping list. The app is free. Find it at www.hy-vee.com.

Based in West Des Moines, Iowa, Hy-Vee has 25 stores in eight Nebraska cities: Columbus, Fremont, Grand Island, Lincoln, Norfolk, Omaha, Papillion and South Sioux City.

Mark Kelly signs books at the UNL bookstore prior to speech

Former NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly talked about combat missions as a Navy pilot and space flight, but the audience at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln came to hear about his wife’s remarkable recovery from a near-fatal gunshot wound to the head.

Kelly told about the dangers of flying 40 combat missions in Desert Storm. He talked about the dangers inherent in space shuttle flight.

“But, I didn’t ever contemplate that she would be the one who would come very close to losing her life serving her country,” Kelly stated.

She, of course, is Kelly’s wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, shot in the head during a meeting with constituents in Tucson January 8th of last year. The shooting rampage killed six and wounded 13, including Giffords.

The day of the shooting, Kelly was at his home in Houston. He received a call from Giffords’ chief of staff. Kelly arranged for a plane to take him and family members to Tucson. On the way, he watched television news reports that Giffords had died, only to be relieved later that the reports proved false.

“But, it was certainly the worst 30 minutes of my life,” Kelly told the audience.

Kelly said he and the family understood the odds, not just of recovery, but of survival. Giffords beat the odds, not only surviving the head wound, but recovering faster than any of the many specialists attending her expected. She can walk without aid. Regaining her speech has been the hardest part of recovery, according to Kelly.

Kelly said he has been amazed at the power of the human spirit embodied in his wife’s grim determination to recover.

“She reminds me every single day to deny the acceptance of failure.”

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:60]

 AUDIO: Mark Kelly’s speech at UNL [41:00]

AUDIO: Mark Kelly answers questions at UNL [16:55]

2LT Ralph P. Orduna of Omaha

The movie “Red Tails” opens tomorrow, telling the story of the historic all-black unit of World War Two fighter pilots called the Tuskegee Airmen.

A half-dozen Nebraska men flew with that remarkable unit.

Historian Michael Kates says their heroics in aerial combat were amazing, flying single-man fighters to escort and protect large bombers.

“They were noted for never losing a bomber plane and their mission was a very high-risk mission. For example, Luther Smith flew 133 combat missions, something that is unheard of, and he shot down a number of planes,” Kates says. “It’s stories like that that get lost in history and I think it’s good for us to go back and really talk about what these men did.”

The unit flew some 15,000 missions over Europe, North Africa and Sicily. They shot shot down 111 enemy planes and destroyed nearly 300 on the ground.

Kates says the men in the group were also noted for what they did -after- the war.

“A lot of these men, what you’ll find out with the Tuskegee Airmen, they went on to become community leaders, they went on to become national leaders and were really generous with their time and made sure their communities were taken care of,” Kates says. “You had some really quality men that came out of the Tuskegee Airmen.”

Of the six Nebraskans who were part of the Tuskegee Airmen, five were from Omaha: Alfonza Davis, Charles Lane, Jr., Harrison “Harry” Tull, Robert Holts and Ralph Orduna. The unit also included Paul Adams of Lincoln.

For more information on the Nebraskans who served in the unit, see: PDF Airmen

Kates is executive director of the Fort Des Moines Museum in Des Moines, Iowa, which has an exhibit featuring the men who served in the unit.

Neubauer says when the game started in 1992 the jackpot started at $2-million and grew from there. Powerball determined they needed bigger jackpots to catch people’s attention.

Along with charging $2 for each ticket there are also changes within the game. They include doubling the starting jackpot, adding a one-million dollar cash prize given to those who match the first five numbers drawn and increasing the odds of winning.

Players will still select the first five numbers out of 59 possible but the number of options in the Powerball pool will go from 39 to 35.

Already there are grumblings from some former Powerball players who say the increase has put them out of the game for good. Powerball is played in 42 states.

Photo by Alex Ebert

Nebraskans who are looking for a new hobby in the new year might consider the vital and fascinating world of raising honey bees.

Beekeeper Andy Joseph says it can become a profitable business and it doesn’t take a lot of money to get started.

“You’re looking at an initial investment for two hives plus all of the basic equipment you’ll need, it’s going to cost you a few hundred dollars, I’d estimate around $300 for an initial basic investment,” Joseph says. “That isn’t that much if you’re comparing it to other kinds of agriculture, even keeping chickens yourself.”

In addition to producing honey, bees are responsible for the pollination of many crops. Joseph has been beekeeping for about 12 years and says the remarkable insects appeal to a broad spectrum of people.

“It’s not just your older, male, rural sort of person anymore,” Joseph says. “That stereotype is pretty much blown away. We’ve got urban people, plenty of women are getting into it. Probably over half the people in these courses are women. We even have youth taking up interest, so, all types of people.”

A big tract of land isn’t a requirement for beekeeping. Joseph notes that he once kept bees when living in an apartment building.

For more information, visit: nebraskabeekeepers.org