National Signing Day is Feb. 1 and the Husker football team has 14 commitments coming into the day with the potential of four of five more. Bo Pelini is holding a press conference at 2:30 today where he’ll talk about the 2012 signing class. Here is a schedule of when other potential top recruits will make their announcement. Check back here for the latest or follow us on Twitter at Nebraskasports. (All times listed are central time)
Six Nebraskans flew with legendary WWII unit featured in new film
January 19, 2012 By
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.
Damage estimate for Missouri River levees now over $630-million
December 28, 2011 By
A regional commander of the U-S Army Corps of Engineers says we’re in a “very dangerous time,” with weakened levees and dams after the summer-long flood of the Missouri River.
Brigadier General John McMahon, commander of the Corps’ Northwest Division, says floodwalls all along the river in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska were significantly damaged by the many months of rising, rushing water.
“The big concern now is the winter weather and also how much runoff we’re going to have as the construction season unfolds that might interfere with that,” General McMahon says. “There’s lots of unknowns. We’re very vulnerable with respect to the condition of the levees now.”
Critics say there was a serious lack of communication between key governmental agencies and community leaders in threatened areas prior to the start of flooding this spring, and McMahon says he does not want to see a repeat.
McMahon says, “We’re going to have to work very closely together and communicate well and keep everybody informed as we go through this very dangerous period of time.”
The Corps estimated in September that it would cost more than $500-million to repair the many miles of levees, earthen berms and other structures that were damaged in the prolonged flooding. That dollar figure is continuing to grow.
“We currently know of $630-million in repairs, mainly focused on the levees and some on the dams,” General McMahon says. “We’re still assessing the dams and I expect a report from our Omaha district by the end of this month. There’s also additional assessments to the navigation channel.”
While work is underway on levee repairs, he says little more can be done until next year and possibly, not before the spring flood season starts up again.
“Guardians of Freedom” air show wins national award (AUDIO)
December 21, 2011 By
Nebraska Air National Guard’s air show that commemorated the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington has won a national award.
The International Council of Air Shows has awarded the 155th Air Refueling Wing the Dick Schram Memorial Community Relations Award. Air Refueling Wing Commander, Col. Richard Evans III, gives credit to the wing’s partners: the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and the Lincoln Airport Authority.
“By working together in all aspects of planning and executing this event, it is clear that we have set a new standard for air shows in our community,” Evans says. “Even more than that, the Scram award recognizes that the standard we set here in Nebraska is one the rest of the nation will be shooting for in their future airshows.”
The “Guardians of Freedom” air show featured the US Navy’s Blue Angels. The event drew more than 200,000 residents to Lincoln over the weekend of September 10th and 11th, pumping an estimated $4-to-5 million into the Lincoln area economy.
A panel of United States and Canadian military representatives gives the Schram award to the military base that sets a new standard of excellence for air shows.
AUDIO: News conference announcing award for Guardians of Freedom air show [4 min mp3]
Study finds no end to sediment problems at Lewis & Clark Lake
December 2, 2011 By
A multi-year study of problems with sediment at Lewis & Clark Lake shows, essentially, there are no easy answers.
The U-S Army Corps of Engineers held a public meeting this week to present its findings on the lake, which sits between northeast Nebraska and southeast South Dakota.
John Remus, chief of the Corps’ hydrologic engineering office in Omaha, says it was a complete evaluation on the lake.
The study was launched five years ago and the Corps promised it would let the public know what was found, Remus says.
The proposal was looking at the feasibility of removing sediment out of the delta near the Niobrara area, pushing it through the dam and downstream.
While the study indicates that some sediment, mostly fine particles, could be moved out of the lake, Remus says it would be very difficult to move any heavier material.
He says there’s no engineering feasibility for getting sand-sized sediment through the dam without extreme modifications.
Scenarios include lowering the lake eight-to-ten feet, while water release rates would range up to 176,000 cubic feet per second for anywhere from eight to 25 days.
Remus says no further action appears to be the best option. Corps officials estimate the lake has an effective life span of 175 years.
Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton
