We headed up there at the crack of dawn Sunday morning and hit the trails. They were damp, but since there is not a single flat part of the trail it had no mud pools. Just really damp dirt from the morning dew. I have ridden out there twice before and kinda forgot how brutal it is. We hit 4 of the trails I think and I did not bring enough water, or a change of clothes. Kit and I got a bit lost towards the end and were tore up and not feeling too confident in our balance from being so wore out. We finally made it out and headed to the breakfast (see I spelled it correctly Major Tom) buffet for some bacon.

Was it worth it? Well nothing like being in the lowest gear trying to climb a huge mud slicked rut and then having to slide with your brakes into a ravine fill of trees and rocks for 2 hours and only getting in 5 miles. Yeah it was worth it. Not just for the all you can eat bacon, but for having done it. I think we will head out that way next Sunday too.

Sidney family wins $40,000 over urine-tainted food

SIDNEY — A Sidney police officer and his family have won $40,000 from a restaurant that had served them food tainted by an employee’s spit and urine.

In the lawsuit filed last year in Cheyenne County District Court, officer Keith Andrew and his wife said a Taco Bell employee urinated and spit in food served to them and their children in October 2005.

The lawsuit named North Platte-based Mid Plains Food and Lodging, owner of the KFC/Taco Bell.

A call to the company seeking comment on Monday was not immediately returned.

In the lawsuit, the couple said their two sons, 4 and 7 at the time, took sick after they ate the food. The 4-year-old came “violently ill,” the lawsuit said, with gastroenteritis and dehydration. He vomited for hours and was forced to spend time in a hospital.

Managers of the restaurant were aware of the contamination at the time the Andrew family was eating but didn’t inform the family, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also suggested the family was the victim of a scheme that targeted police officers.

“Employees maintained ’special servings’ of food reserved for … officers,” the lawsuit said. “The ’special servings’ had been urinated in or spit in by KFC/Taco Bell employees. In fact, defendant’s employees maintained a particular serving pan for use in creating ’special servings’ of food plus employee urine.”

An attorney for the family, Andy Snyder of Scottsbluff, said the verdict did not specify exactly how the jury believed the restaurant was negligent.

Management knew of rumors that food was being tainted and heard employees joke about it but took no disciplinary action, Snyder said Monday.

He also said the restaurant did a poor job of vetting its employees.

“I’d advise them to get a better class of employees,” Snyder said.

Modern Monks has a link to a PDF with pics of the damage. Good thing nobody was hurt.

Dog Plucks Boy From Platte

“It was, like, over my head and I couldn’t touch,” he said.

He was only a few feet away from the shore, but the river current was strong enough that it was pulling him down and under. He said his cries for help weren’t being heard by anyone, except Jake, the 4-year-old Lab.

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Diane Bailey said Jake isn’t usually the smartest dog.

“He doesn’t listen. He doesn’t mind,” she said.

“Sometimes he can act real hyper and weird,” said Tony. “He’ll pick up rocks and think they’re balls and wants you to throw them to him.”

Thanks for protecting us from those creatures. They sound really mean. Condolences to the family of the semitrailer.

link

Even though their website was like all cool and stuff by wining awards and stuff, they were like “lets kick it up a notch yo”.

The new nebraska.gov launched yesterday.

WOW article

An Omaha man struggling to breath used a steak knife to perform an at-home tracheotomy.

Steve Wilder says he thought he was going to die when he awoke one night last week and couldn’t breath.

Wilder says he didn’t call 911 because he didn’t think help would arrive in time. So, the 55-year-old says, he got a steak knife from the kitchen and made a small hole in his throat, allowing air to gush in.

Wilder suffered from throat cancer and related breathing problems several years ago. About that time, he had an episode where he couldn’t breath because his air passages swelled shut. He says that’s what happened this time around.

Doctors don’t expect Wilder to suffer any adverse affects from the tracheotomy once it’s healed.

Omaha Teen finds tri clamp in frozen food

We used those clamps in the brewery. You can watch a video on the site.

So proud to be a Nebraskan at the moment.
We unplugged the electric chair and a true change candidate won overwhelmingly.

Man the news loves Nebraska these days

USA today article

OMAHA (AP) — Weather forecasters predict Nebraska will receive a treacherous mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow this weekend, so it’s understandable that events may get canceled.

But one of the first cancellations announced Friday afternoon came from an unexpected source: organizers of the Polar Bear Plunge.

The chilling swim in Omaha’s Zorinsky Lake raises money for the Special Olympics, but organizers decided to postpone the event because of the weather.

“We were kind of worried about the ice coming and people driving to the event,” said Wendy Jackson, with Special Olympics of Nebraska. “We don’t want anybody hurting themselves.”

So, the annual Polar Bear Plunge has been rescheduled for Dec. 8 at 11 a.m.