Good morning and welcome to your Wednesday briefing. Protests happened all throughout the evening last night and we were there.
Protests began at around 4 p.m. with a group of Seward locals in the lawn of the county courthouse. Seward County deputies and Seward Police Department officers were on the scene and Seward Street north of the courthouse was blocked off.
The Seward City Council voted Tuesday to aim for a June 15 opening for Dowding Municipal Pool. City Administrator Greg Butcher said it might open a little later, but the staff will start filling the pool tomorrow. More information about specifics will come later.
Taps may have just four notes, but trumpeter Meghan Meyer tries to convey a message every time she plays it.
“It’s so simple. I try to make it as emotional as possible,” she said. “I think about all those who died.”
Meyer, a 2020 graduate of Seward High School, was among those playing Taps on Memorial Day. She performed at the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward where her father serves as historian.
“Every time I play I feel a presence of those who passed away,” she said. “It’s the least I can do.”
She found, though, that singing was more up her alley. She was invited to sing on the Fourth of July and Veterans Day, in addition to the USO shows put on through the museum.
Starting as a high school freshman, she has sung on every Fourth of July in Seward. For more of the story, check out this week's SCI.
Concordia University will implement an adjusted fall schedule with in-person classes starting two weeks early and concluding before Thanksgiving due to coronavirus concerns, the school announced on May 27.
Undergraduate classes will begin Aug. 10 and conclude Nov. 24. There will be no fall break or Labor Day holiday, and finals will take place before Thanksgiving.
Graduate and online classes will maintain a start date of Aug. 31 and will conclude Oct. 25. The second round of graduate and online courses will start Oct. 26 and finish Dec. 20.
Seth Meranda, communications specialist for Concordia’s Reopening Task Force, said the decision to accelerate the semester was made in hopes of reducing the spread of the coronavirus around the holiday season by minimizing students’ travel, while still giving students the academic experience they hoped for. For more, check this week's Independent or online at sewardindependent.com.
That's it for today - stay cool out there!
