LISTEN WEEKDAYS 8:05 AM 12:45 PM ON YOUR

BISON SPORTS STATION

WALK-IN HOURS

7 AM - 5 PM

MONDAY - FRIDAY

8 AM-10 AM

SATURDAY

NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY

1401 EAST H STREET 344-4110

SWNPHD BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) has received sev-eral requests to share information with dispatchers, emergency responders, emergency managers, and law enforcement about positive COVID-19 pa-tients. We understand the desire to have the information they feel is neces-sary to protect their health and safety. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused stress and concern for many residents of the health district, including our-selves. “Specifically requested were addresses and/or names of patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are presumed to be positive for COVID-19. I have given these requests a great deal of consideration, have discussed them with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and other local public health departments around the state, the executive committee of our Board of Health and legal counsel, “ states Myra Stoney, Health Direc-tor. SWNPHD Board of Health met on June 11, 2020. The Board of Health had available to it the particular requests and proposals received by SWNPHD, a letter from Dr. Gary Anthone, the Chief Medical Officer for the State of Nebraska, dated April 17, 2020, Disclosure of Identifiable Health Information FAQs from the Department of Health and Human Services dated April 14, 2020, Executive Order 20-15, information about the modifications to HIPAA by the federal government. Board members requested and received input from individuals present at the meeting both in-person and virtually. Board members also expressed their questions, concerns, and thoughts, and had a quite robust discussion about the legal and policy issues. The Board of Health ultimately voted to not share the personal and identifiable health care information of individuals as has been requested, but to instead limit disclo-sures to those necessary to aid in enforcement of the directed health measures. The Health Director will respond to direct inquiries from authorized public health partners to confirm a specific individual’s COVID-19 status, after mak-ing a food faith effort to determine if there is a serious or imminent threat to public health or safety. A committee of board members, staff, and members of the community, is being formed to continue to monitor the COVID-19 situa-tion and make recommendation to the Board of Health regarding information disclosure, personal protective equipment (PPE), and other related issues.

NEBRASKA HAS LOWEST UNEMPLOYMENT RATE Nebraska has the nation’s lowest unemployment rate in May after taking a big hit from the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.2% last month. That’s down 3.5 percentage points from the rate of 8.7% in April, when unemploy-ment soared due to coronavirus-related social-distancing restrictions. The na-tional seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May was 13.3%, a de-crease of 1.4 percentage points. The second-lowest unemployment rate was in Utah, with 8.5% unemployed. Wyoming came in third, with 8.8%.

LEGAL MARIJUANA NOW PARTY The marijuana activist running as a Democrat in Nebraska’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District said he no longer wants to run as a Democrat. Instead, Mark Elworth Jr., 43, is working to form a new political party, the Legal Mari-juana Now Party, and run as its candidate. State Democratic Party officials say they are eager to get Elworth’s name off the ballot and hope to recruit a replacement to challenge U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., of Gering in Ne-braska’s most Republican-heavy district. “He emailed the party he was drop-ping out,” said Jane Kleeb, chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party. “We look forward to him completing the paperwork.” On June 5, Elworth, a frequent political candidate who said he doesn’t view himself as a Democrat, emailed state Democratic Party leaders to say he wanted to quit the Democ-ratic Party and start a new marijuana party. That process requires gathering signatures from nearly 7,000 registered Nebraska voters.

STOCKS

DOW 208.61 TO 25,871.46

NASDAQ 3.072 TO 9,946.12

MONDAY JUNE 22, 2020

Newsflash openline@highplainsradio.net 308-345-5400 www.highplainsradio.net

Coaches Coffee Club

Sponsored by Community Hospital

Edward Jones Parker Hannifin

Samway Floor Covering & Furniture

Sehnerts Bakery & Bieroc Café

State Farm Linda Maiden

TODAY

Sunny

High

86

WED

Sunny

High

91

TUES

Mostly

Sunny High

85

WEATHER

We accept

Covid Cash

PIRATE PETE

LISTEN TO KICX AND THE HAWK

FOR PIRATE PETE CLUES!

SPORTS The 53rd Nebraska Match Play Championship kicks off tomorrow

at Hillcrest Country Club in Lincoln, and the field is stacked with

a deck full of great players. The championship begins with 36

holes of Stroke Play Qualifying on June 22 and 23, after which

the field will be cut to 32 players and seeded into a match play

bracket. Match play begins Wednesday, June 24, with the Rounds

of 32 and 16, followed by the Quarterfinals and Semifinals on

Thursday, and the 36-hole Championship Final on Friday. Cam-

bridge's Preston Carbaugh is one of the golfers in this year's

field.

Nebraska Sports Council (NSC) officials released a Cornhusker

State Games (CSG) event update Friday, including 60 CSG sports

on as scheduled. It was also announced that the Opening Cere-

monies would be held virtually. “We are doing our best, with

help and guidance from state and local health officials, to have

as many events as safely and feasibly possible,” Executive Di-

rector Dave Mlnarik said. “This includes some difficult decisions

like going virtual with the Opening Ceremonies, our largest-

crowd event in normal years.” Mlnarik said the NSC staff is still

working through facility and safety measures on nine sports

listed as “possible”. He said two sports, Adventure Race and

Triathlon, will be held virtually. Two sports, Ice Hockey and

Wrestling, are postponed indefinitely and three sports, Figure

Skating, Sport Skydiving and Taekwondo are canceled. Mlnarik

encouraged athletes to check for updates regularly, be patient

regarding changes and be respectful of health-related measures

at the events.

ACROSS 2 The other half of Jima 5 Grow older 7 Lead (abbr.) 10 Saloon 11 Coinage 13 Deft 15 Decay 16 Hazard 17 Facial soap brand 19 Extort 20 Horsepower (abbr.) 22 "three, __, shut the door" 23 Learner 25 Emergency room 26 Labels 27 Kimono sash 28 Christmas 30 Spielberg's alien 31 With ears 33 Spot 34 Blood factor 35 Pot 36 Consecrate 37 Allot (with "out") 39 Cause of sickness 40 Donned (2 wds.) 41 Gradual appearance (2 wds.) 44 European sea eagle 45 Chicago locale 46 Jigsaw 47 Also known as (abbr.)

DOWN 1 Stein (2 wds.) 2 Wading bird 3 Slog 4 Unrefined metal 5 Like 6 Doc 7 Feel sorry for 8 "To __ or not to __" 9 Plunge into sleep 12 Rough 14 Tease 17 Behind 18 Averse 19 Hot sandwich 20 Assists 21 Hunts 23 Deluge 24 Facial part 29 Otiose 32 Motor vehicle 36 False bible god 37 Fogginess 38 Gas burner 40 Legume 41 Falkan Islands (abr.) 42 Iowa (abbr.) 43 Compass point

WEDNESDAYS

10 AM-11 AM ON KBRL-AM AND

KFNF-FM CALL 855-436-0001

www.highplainsradio.net

QUOTE OF THE DAY

SUMMER When the days get longer, the stars

shin brighter, your hair gets lighter,

the water gets warmer, the music

gets louder and life gets better.

~unknown~

LAND OF THE FREE

BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE

TODAY’S PUZZLE HOME OF BISON SPORTS FOR 42 YEARS!

FOR

CARRYOUT

OR DELIVERY

CALL 345-4150

G A F F R

A F T H A L O E S E

F L A V O R R S V P

C U E S P L O Y A L

A R T A W O L B Y

A C H Y T W I S T H R

S E A S W A T H P O I

P L S H I S H M A R C

I L N I G H D E N

C O L O N A Y E C L

S T A B B I K I N I

C D T O M E N S S E

Y A C T G

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14

15 16

17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29

30 31 32 33

34 35 36

37 38 39

40 41 42 43

44 45 46

47

www.CrosswordWeaver.com