Hastings, NE

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Oregon Trail Rodeo back for 31st year in Hastings

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Hastings College Mural Day sparks creativity, draws 38 high schools

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Hastings College esports experiencing expansion

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Hastings College esports is leveling up — in more ways than one. “We knew going into last year, even, that one room wasn’t going to be the long haul,” Hastings College Esports coach Andy Chase said. “There was that idea of, ‘OK, we need to move into a bigger room.’” And with esports’ national rise in popularity, that growth is having tangible results in Hastings. “It’s been awesome seeing the growth not only here, but just city-wide,” Chase said. “To have that support here on campus has been absolutely mind-boggling.”

Hastings College officially added esports as its 24th varsity sport and the Broncos’ roster nearly doubled from 21 to 40 players. Eight of them are on scholarship. “I think esports is a great thing for people,” Hastings College Valorant team captain Maximilian Crosbie said. “It’s a way to get out. It’s a way to meet new people.” With that growth has come changes. The Broncos are offering League of Legends as an addition to its five-game lineup, added 12 new Lenovo Legion PC setups and moved to an expanded arena. “It’s game-changing when you have nice computers, good facility,” Hastings College Rocket League team captain Zach Sodorff said. “It’s so fun just not having to worry about all those other problems.”

“Having the 22 available now has made it so much easier for us to be able to have multiple teams practicing at the same time,” Chase added. “Everyone is very excited and enjoys the time that they get to spend here,” Crosbie said. The Broncos compete in the national esports collegiate conference, which has doubled its member institutions, and Hastings College Valorant team is undefeated. “You have to focus,” Crosbie said. “It’s like a normal sport, you’ve got to do this and we want to win.” “Being able to see that growth and seeing us grow alongside the NECC, just esports in general, has been awesome,” Chase added. And they’re not expecting to slow down anytime soon. “Hastings has made a name for itself and we want to keep it that way,” Crosbie said.

eSports Joins NECC; Starts Competition In Spring

(Hastings, Nebraska) Posted: Dec 17, 2021 – After spending the fall semester building teams and outfitting an eSports arena, Hastings College eSports announced it is joining the National eSports Collegiate Conference (NECC). Hastings College eSports and the NECC agreed to partner for the Spring 2022 Split, with the regular season starting in early February. Hastings is the 163rd member throughout North America in the NECC. As a member of the NECC, each team for the Broncos will compete once a week for nine weeks, with the goal of competing in the NECC postseason tournaments in April.

The Broncos host four of the five NECC-sponsored games offered —Valorant, Rocket League, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and Overwatch. Along with these four titles that are played on rotating weekdays, the Broncos will offer two weekend tournament titles in Hearthstone and Super Smash Ultimate. The Hastings College eSports program currently has 21 students involved and competing, split into teams across the different games.

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Clean water doesn’t come cheap: Nebraska towns are shelling out millions to treat nitrate-laced drinking water.

Marty Stange was grasping for solutions to keep 25,000 residents safe – and a city’s budget from breaking. It was 2015. Multiple wells providing water to the central Nebraska city were testing high for nitrate. Hastings, like all cities, is required by law to keep the nitrate level under 10 parts per million – the level the Environmental Protection Agency has long deemed safe for human consumption. But back in 2011, one Hastings well had tested at a nitrate level of 19.5 ppm, nearly double the legal limit. Stange, the city’s longtime environmental director and water manager, had already shut off some wells when they passed that threshold. More were nearing it. “I did a forecast of how much nitrates were going to be in the wells, “Stange said. “And I said by the year 2016, we would not have enough (water) to meet our peak hourly demand.” Nebraska’s groundwater is becoming increasingly laced with nitrate, the invisible contaminant that causes blue baby syndrome and is linked to various cancers. And small towns, cities and rural Nebraskans are increasingly getting stuck paying the tab – forced to choose from a series of costly fixes that can easily run into the millions of dollars while also not necessarily solving the problem for good. Some 59 of Nebraska’s 598 community water systems – roughly 10% – have tested nitrate levels higher than the EPA standard at least once since 2010. Towns have invested in multi-million clean water projects that many experts fear are patches that might stop working before the projects are even paid off.

Public water systems exceeded EPA limits
Dozens of community water systems have tested at nitrate levels above the limit allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency since 2010, a Flatwater Free Press analysis of records from the Nebraska Department of Energy and Environment found. The size of the dots indicate the highest nitrate level recorded during that time. Click a dot for more details.

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Bigfoot museum offers walks ‘on the weird side’ in Hastings



HASTINGS, Neb. (KOLN) - When Harriett McFeely was eight years old, a large, snowy footprint changed the trajectory of her life. “I saw that on TV, and that was when Sir Edmund Hillary was climbing Mount Everest,” said McFeely. “He was the first man in the world to do that. That got me on the journey.” Since 1953, McFeely followed the lore surrounding the potential owner of that footprint - bigfoot. Her extensive digging and collections have dubbed her as “the Bigfoot Lady.” To document the search for bigfoot, McFeely and her husband opened the Bigfoot Crossroads of America Museum and Research Center about six and a half years ago.

The bigfoot museum is at 1205 E 42nd St. in Hastings. It’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays, but it’s open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. On Sunday, the museum is open from 1-5 p.m. McFeely encourages people to call (402)705-0000 and tell her about any ‘weird’ bigfoot experiences. “I always tell people, if you see something that’s weird, pay attention,” McFeely said with emphasis. Or people can visit with the Bigfoot Lady in person at the Nebraska Bigfoot Conference in Grand Island. The event will take place on April 26 and 27 at the the Aurora Cooperative Pavilion.

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Our Town Hastings:
Municipal Airport



HASTINGS, Neb. (KOLN) - The Hastings airport is flying high with growth, new business, and the fact that it’s been named Airport of the Year for 2023. During a tour of the airport, we talked with manager Matthew Kuhr about what’s been happening. We started at the old brick airport hangar. “This is a 1930 historic hangar,” Kuhr said. “We have been cleaning it up, and it’s now home to the Nebraska chapter of the Antique Airplane Association.” In the hangar, you will find a number of antique planes, and they are actually put on display the last Saturday of every month by the chapter. The antique plane enthusiasts also host a burger feed during those times for the public to enjoy. The Hastings Municipal Airport is busy in many ways. “We have great runways, and great facilities,” Kuhr said. “We are a general aviation airport, so we don’t have flights in and out, but we have a lot of businesses that fly in and out on a regular basis. We’ve seen a lot of growth in the last two to three years. We have a new mechanic on the field. J & S Aviation calls Hastings home now, and they do full avionics and other work. They are extremely busy. There are possibilities for learning to fly here, and our hangars are full. Aviation has had a good boom here in Hastings.”

The airport was named “Airport of the Year” in 2023, by the Nebraska Aeronautics Commission, which is a part of the Nebraska Department of Transportation. “Basically, the reason we won that is because of our growth, and because of our community involvement,” Kuhr said. “It’s also due to a lot of the things we are trying to do here with flight instruction, and the new business coming here. We were lucky enough to be recognized.” In addition to all of this, the airport is collaborating with the Hastings Public Library and Hastings Museum for a weekend of activities from June 6 through 9. The goal is to highlight the 80th anniversary of D-Day. “We want to do a D-Day remembrance event on June 8, which will include an open house,” Kuhr said. “It also will involves the re-dedication of the F-4 jet that is displayed on our terminal drive. We are refurbishing it, and we will re-dedicate that to the veterans that day. There will be a C-47 on display, a T-28, and other military vehicles as well. On top of that, there will be a fly-in. It should be a very fun day and weekend.”

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Our Town Hastings:
Downtown Development



A historic building in downtown Hastings is being transformed into a shopping destination, and it’s an example of the unique attractions this part of town has to offer.We spoke with Jacque Cranson, the co-owner of Small Town Famous. Cranson graduated law school 14 years ago, at a time when the job market wasn’t great. While in Omaha, she got the idea to make custom clothing designs. “That’s how it started, I was just going to volleyball tournaments and selling t-shirts and headbands actually,” Cranson said. “From there, it kind of evolved. I met my husband, and we ended up in Hastings.” The couple started their business at 1st and Denver. Small Town Famous is currently located on West 2nd Street, and it continues to grow. “It kind of just evolved overnight from t-shirts to one thing after another after another,” Cranson said. They not only offer screen printing and embroidery, but they also sell Nebraska-made products from popcorn to candles.

Jacque and her husband Matt are also working on the next step downtown. “We are moving next door,” Cranson said. The Cransons bought a 150-year-old former department store building, and the renovation of that building is currently underway. “It is a 30,000 square foot building, three stories high, four with the mezzanine, there’s also a basement,” said Cranson. “The first floor will be our screen printing operations, as well as shopping experiences. We will have a big section for Pacha soap, which started here in Hastings.” There will also be coffee, ice cream and a possible cafe. A candy store is also being planned, with a section for children’s books, toys and clothing. “It’s going to be a destination store that’s a huge building,” Matt Cranson said. “We say between Chicago and Denver, you probably won’t find anything like it. We’ve traveled to a few places, one in Waco, Texas and one in Oklahoma to get some inspiration.”

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Our Town Hastings:
WWII Heritage City



HASTINGS, Neb. (KOLN) - Hastings is now considered an “American World War II Heritage City”, and it’s a designation closely tied to the city’s connection to the Naval Ammunition Depot. We visited with Curtis Gosser about this designation. Gosser is the Curator of Exhibits for the Hastings Museum. “We applied for this with the National Park Service to become a National World War II Heritage City, and there’s only one city classified as such in each state, so it’s a great opportunity.”There are many reasons why the city of Hastings was designated as a heritage city.

“The first reason was the Naval Ammunition Depot, because it had a huge impact on the war,” Gosser said. “Other reasons are the businesses that took part in the war effort, and also, the community’s effort to rally around the cause of the war. Here at the museum, we offer ‘World War II in Hastings’ tours. We have a driving tour that people can take on their own to see the Naval Ammunition Depot. So, we think this designation will certainly boost tourism in the area.”

The NAD was a huge part of the World War II war effort. “It was actually the second largest Naval Ammunition Depot in the country,” Gosser said. “When it was built, Hastings had a population of just under 15,000. When the NAD was built, a year later, the population ballooned to 25,000 people. The city grew by 10,000 people in just a year’s time. At the height of production, we produced 40% of the 40 millimeter ammunition used in 1944. The NAD took up 76 square miles of land, it had 200 miles of road, 270 miles of railroad track, and 54 miles of fencing that surrounded it.”

The Hastings Museum is planning some big events to honor the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. “From June 7th through June 9th, the city is having a number of events,” Gosser said. “Here at the museum, we are going to have special films, there is going to be a walking tour, so there’s going to be a lot going on.” So, you’ll want to make sure and visit Nebraska’s World War II Heritage City during this time.

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Hastings College plans to build new residence hall



HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Poised to embark on an ambitious campus revitalization journey, Hastings College plans to launch this summer the first phase of a new comprehensive plan, with a focus on upgrading its residential infrastructure, followed by a significant renovation of the student union and, upon approval, construction of a new residence hall.

This summer, half of the Bronco Village Apartments (BVA) and every other residential facility on campus will undergo enhancements, ranging from lobby and common space improvements to furniture upgrades and, in the case of BVA, kitchen renovations, new furnishings and flooring. The other half of BVA will be renovated in the summer of 2025, while more extensive renovations to all other housing facilities will take place during summers 2025 and 2026.

These improvements are funded by a grant from the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation and will provide an immediate benefit to current and future students. The investment comes after a multi-year process of the College working to balance its budget while focusing on improving the student experience.

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Our Town Hastings:
Hastings College



HASTINGS, Neb. (KOLN) - Hastings College helps to provide great opportunities for students, and part of the success stems from efforts to partner with other institutions of higher learning. We caught up with Rich Lloyd, who is the president of Hastings College, to talk about the exciting things happening at the school. “We are proud to be a liberal arts college, and what that means for our students is, they get a chance to become specialists in areas of interest,” Lloyd said. “But, we also encourage them to explore other areas that they might not initially have interest in. So, it’s really an education of breadth and depth, where students exit Hastings College, and they are prepared to do what’s next.” Hastings College has also developed a partnership with Bryan College of Health Sciences to address the need for more nurses in the state. “In this town we have three colleges that partner together,” Lloyd said. “That’s really unique. We leverage that resource for the broader community, and our students. In this case, Bryan College of Health Sciences has opened a second location of its nursing program in Hastings. The goal is to serve more than 100 students, who will be getting their degrees from Bryan. But, while they are taking classes from nursing faculty at Bryan, they also get the opportunity to live at Hastings College, take part in college activities, and take most of their non-nursing courses from Hastings College faculty. We are excited that the program is underway. Bryan just moved into its new educational facility at Mary Lanning Healthcare. That partnership with the local hospital, Hastings College, and Bryan is really exciting when you consider what healthcare education looks like in Hastings.”

“We also partner with Central Community College,” Lloyd said. “Some of those partnerships were unique when we started them. Now, other schools do it as well. Here, you can be a student at Hastings College, and have an interest in agriculture. We offer a business degree. You can combine your business administration, your accounting studies, and go out and take courses in agriculture from Central Community College, and end up with an ag business degree. We’ve expanded that to construction management and culinary arts. Another example is, we might have a student who is really interested in sculpture and design, but may want to go out and get a welding certificate from the community college. We’ve really tried to create this seamless opportunity to build those pathways of interest. We continue to have more discussions among the three institutions in town on how we can all work together to create more opportunities for students.” The future of Hastings College also looks bright. We are told upgrades are coming to the housing and dining program this summer. Over the next two years, plans are in the works to build a new residential facility, and there are also plans in the works to modernize and upgrade the student union.

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New Hastings coffee shop has unique backstory

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Hastings Museum to look back at 1879 fire during ‘History on Foot’ tour



HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - The Hastings Museum is hosting their ‘History on Foot’ walking tour beginning on Friday to look back at the downtown fire that took place in 1879. The fire stretched for two blocks between Hastings Ave. and Lincoln Ave. and from 2nd St. to just south of the railroad tracks past 1st St. The blaze destroyed 33 of the 34 buildings in town and caused millions of dollars in today’s money in damage. Director of Marketing for the Hastings Museum, Becky Tideman said the city learned a lot on how to prevent further disasters.

The ‘History on Foot’ tour about the downtown fire is happening on Friday from 7-9 p.m. and on Sunday from 2-4 p.m. Parking for the event will be on the west lot across from the Hastings Public Library and you can attend with a free will donation. The Hastings Museum will also host other walking tours during the summer to learn more about those, you can check out the Hasting Museum’s website.