The data is from 2008, which might be a bit dated given the recession that’s deepened since then, but it’s the newest stuff we have. Central Nebraska generally doesn’t fare too well, with most of its counties shaded in some form of red, representing the lowest pay categories on the map. Garfield County, home of Burwell, has the lowest average compensation in Nebraska at $28,383, good for seventh-lowest in the United States.

A little ways south of Garfield County, Sherman County (county seat: Loup City) comes in 36th-lowest in the nation at $30,092. In between the two are two other Nebraska counties, Boyd in the far northern part of the state and McPherson in the Sandhills.

On the higher end of the area’s pay scale were Hall and Buffalo counties, home to Grand Island and Kearney, Hamilton County (Aurora) and Wheeler County, a sparsely populated county just east of Garfield County in the Sandhills. And judging by one of the lower maps on the post, many of Central Nebraska’s wages went up from 2007 to 2008, even as much of the rest of the country was dropping.

Of course, what’s not taken into account in these statistics is cost of living, and a dollar goes a lot farther in Burwell than Chicago, or even Omaha. Still, this is a not a great list to be on if you’re trying to attract new families.

So what say you? Are these statistics discouraging or meaningless? Or do they even reveal something encouraging?

Burwell
— The big news out of Burwell is that the city council is taking bids for the Community Memorial Health Center, Burwell’s city-owned nursing home and assisted-living center. (The bids were due last Thursday, but I haven’t checked yet to see what was received. I’ll do that this week.) Last week’s Burwell Tribune had a very informative article on the issue by former City Councilwoman Melissa Schere, who ended it with a barely implicit recommendation to sell the hospital to a for-profit company. On the next page, it ran a letter to the editor from another former city councilman, Ron Kerkman, opposing the city’s sale. The center is the town’s largest employer, so this is sure to continue to be heated issue as the city and the center’s board make a decision. We’ll keep an eye on it.

— In less contentious Burwell news, Augy’s Fitness Center, owned by Bob Augustyn, was scheduled to hold its grand opening last week, according to the Burwell Tribune. It’s in the Hub Building, the historic building at the center of Burwell’s downtown square. The Independent wrote about John and Melissa Schere’s efforts to restore the Hub in 2006.

Loup City
— Loup City is moving forward on Viaero Wireless’ plans to build a retail store there, two and a half years after the company agreed to do so. At its Sept. 8 meeting, the city council gave Viaero a variance to build its building on a lot that would otherwise be too small to be allowed under city code. The city planning commission has given it a preliminary OK, too. You can find details of the city’s struggles with Viaero in this story from August.

St. Paul
— According to minutes from the St. Paul City Council’s Sept. 21 meeting, its new fire truck is ready to go. The city will be borrowing $33,500 after receiving a $250,000 grant for it last year.

Gibbon
— Gibbon’s swimming pool will be getting an evaluation from Olsson Associates as part of preliminary steps toward a new pool, per the minutes from the city council’s Sept. 21 meeting.

But with this blog, I want to direct you to some of those nuggets I can’t turn into a whole story, just to help keep you abreast of developing issues in Nebraska communities you might be interested in. I’ll try to provide a little background on the issue when I can, and of course I’ll always give credit to the weekly that did the legwork and give a link when possible. For more bits and pieces of news from around the area, check out the links under “What Mark’s Reading” on the right sidebar.

So here’s the first installment of news and notes around Central Nebraska:

Central City
— There are now four government bodies on board with looking into forming a new joint action agency for a hike/bike trail running from Central City to Marquette. The latest one to sign on was the Merrick County Board of Supervisors at its meeting earlier this month. The city of Central City is taking the lead, with the village of Marquette and the Central Platte Natural Resources District also signing on. The project’s been seeking a government body to take ownership of it for three years.

— The Central City Republican-Nonpareil has some details of the latest developments in the Central City school board’s fight with its contractors over its new track. The project began in spring 2008 and wasn’t done in time for 2009 track season, forcing the school to move two home meets. After terminating its contract with Olsson Associates and Diamond Engineering of Grand Island earlier this month, the board decided to give the two companies “one last chance,” according to Superintendent Candace Conradt. The work was scheduled to restart on Monday.

Burwell
— The Burwell Tribune has news that John and Cindee Haddix, owners of the historic Burwell Butter Factory antique shop, plan on leaving town after their liquor license was denied by the Burwell City Council. The couple planned to sell some margaritas and beers to accommodate customers who stay at the store for quite a while, but the council denied the license on a 3-2 vote (with the tie broken by Mayor Chuck Cone) after Police Chief Ben Hughes recommended its denial. According to the Tribune, the couple plans to move its businesses to nearby Sargent soon.

Shelton
— From last week’s Shelton Clipper, it looks like the village of Shelton is close to finishing an agreement with Jim Fairbanks to buy land for new ballfields. A purchase agreement is being drawn up. The village has been working on this effort to get more softball fields since mid-2007, and this would be a big hurdle to clear.

I spend a lot of my time in the summer writing about these festivals, and I think they’re an underrated source of summer fun, especially for people who don’t mind their summer events off the beaten path or outside the box. I haven’t been to as many as I’d like, but here are a few aspects that make each of these festivals notable in their own way:

Free food:
Kool-Aid Days, Hastings: One of the area’s largest festivals, and certainly one of its most colorful, too. Kool-Aid Days was held last weekend, and they reported that 32,000 showed up, many of whom drank all the Kool-Aid they could drink for free (with purchase of a mug) at the World’s Largest Kool-Aid Stand. Fourteen flavors of goodness were there, with only one downside: For the first time ever, the stand ran out of Kool-Aid this year.

Popcorn Days, North Loup: Coming up next weekend, it’s all the popcorn you can eat for free. The festival in the 324-person Valley County town is also the area’s longest continuously running festival, at 108 years this year. That’s more popcorn than I can comprehend.

History:
Grover Cleveland Alexander Days, St. Paul: Named for the most famous athlete in Central Nebraska history, baseball Hall of Famer (and Elba native) Grover Cleveland “Ol’ Pete” Alexander, GCA Days is a trip through Nebraska baseball history every year. The event’s parade always has a former Nebraska major leaguer as grand marshal, and the Museum of Nebraska Major League Baseball uses the weekend each July as an opportunity to unveil its newest exhibits.

Annevar, Ravenna: The annual Annevar (I’ll save you the time–it’s Ravenna spelled backward) festival in June includes a focus on history from the Historical Society of Ravenna. I especially enjoyed this year’s feature on John Pesek, who might give Tom Rathman a run for his money as Central Nebraska’s most famous professional athlete (non-baseball division, of course).

Sheer lunacy:
Nebraska’s Big Rodeo, Burwell: The people who choose to ride those bulls and broncos may be nuts, but it’s certainly not lunacy to attend. The name isn’t lying — this event is among Nebraska’s biggest rodeos, if not its biggest, with some 15,000 people attending the last week of July. It’s the event Burwell hangs its wide-brimmed hat on.

Polar Bear Dip, Cedar Rapids: If you want to participate in lunacy yourself, head to the icy Cedar River in southwest Boone County during February for Cedar Rapids’ Polar Bear Dip, an annual tradition since 2005. Why would anyone subject themselves to this, you ask? Well, it’s free to dip, but you have to pay to watch. It’s an exercise in frugality, see — and there’s a nice, warm chili feed afterwards to warm you back up.