News

As a rose to honor the fallen stands against the memorial, Lancaster County sheriff's deputies Nick Heitman (center) and Greg Goodwater place the colors as members of the honor guard open the Nebraska Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Monday morning at the Law Enforcement Memorial in Grand Island. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

(Independent/Barrett Stinson)

Engelman Elementary fifth-grader Kael Kingery reacts to a 2014 Kia Soul and a cardboard cutout of a hamster featured in the car's commercials that are in front of the school Friday to help kick off their One Book, One School project. The book being read by the Grand Island school,"The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney, features a hamster named Humphrey. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

A rainbow appears in the mist created by a fire hose, as Grand Island firefighters respond to a structure fire at 3143 Woodbridge Blvd. on Thursday afternoon at about 4:15 p.m. in Grand Island. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

Assessing the damage, Flora Bolin sits on the deck of what's left of her and her husband, Andy Bolin's, home Tuesday morning after a tornado struck their property eight miles west of Osceola on Monday. The Bolins, who were in the home just a few hours before the tornado struck, live in Grand Island and used this farmstead as a weekend residence. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

Breakaway roping competitor Shelby Sanford of O'Neill (left) watches another event from the grandstand as a spectator goes to his seat Friday during the Nebraska High School Rodeo finals at the Adams County Fairgrounds in Hastings. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

Three Grand Island firefighters offer helping hands to Aliana Jurgens, 3, who was a passenger in a car driven by Cassandra Perez, after being involved in a three-vehicle accident near 4954 W. Highway 30. Perez and Jurgens were both later treated and released from St. Francis Medical Center. Highway 30 was closed for over an hour Thursday morning after 11 a.m. Six people people were transported to the hospital by ambulance as a result of the accident. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

Patriot Guard Riders (from left) Bernard Goff and Terri Hoagland, both of Hastings, are reflected with their flags in the rear window of a hearse as they stand near the entrance of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Grand Island on Friday during funeral ceremonies for 1st Lt. Mark Noziska who died August 30, 2010, in Malajat, Afghanistan. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

With her gun drawn, officer Janet Mead-Lubrano directs a male suspect to lie on the ground as Grand Island police respond to a call regarding people in the garage of a home on the southeast corner of Fifth Street and Lincoln Avenue around 9 a.m. Tuesday. A male and a female suspect were apprehended inside the garage, and the male suspect was arrested for trespassing, paraphernalia and carrying a concealed weapon. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

Newell Elementary fourth-grader Maggy Bixemann (left) says “Moooo” to a dairy cow Tuesday as about 640 fourth-graders participated in Ag Day at Fonner Park in Grand Island.

Independent/Barrett Stinson Fire rolls under the roof of an equipment building at the Super Bowl Fun Center, as two Grand Island firefighters do their best to extinguish the blaze.

gn_bjsg_07happy.jpg

Having a fun summer ride, Gracia Huenefeld, 9, of Aurora rides Homer during a “Learning about the horse 1” class, which is part of the Stuhr Museum summer school program.

A Grand Island police officer yells orders while approaching a young man fitting the description of an alleged gunman reported at the Lao Buddhist Temple on Eddy Street between 12th and 13th streets on Friday afternoon. There were three people inside, and they fled and later called 911 at 1:30 p.m. Members of the GIPD, State Patrol, the Hall County SheriffÕs Department, FBI and the Tri-City Drug Task Force responded to the incident, which closed a two-block area around the temple and cause several area schools to go on lock down. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

An unidentified prisoner (right) yells to onlookers as she is escorted to a waiting bus Tuesday morning during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at the Swift & Co. plant in Grand Island.

Independent/Barrett Stinson Getting ready for “World Kite Day”, Reuel Andersen of Grand Island flies a kite Saturday at Fonner Park with his grandson Todd Jones, 4, who is visiting from Kansas City. Today, Fonner Park will be the site of the One Sky One World Kite Fly from noon until sunset. The second Sunday of October was chosen to commemorate the historic 1985 summit meeting of President Ronald Regan and Mikhail Gorbachev of the USSR. This significant move towards peace gave birth to the idea of One Sky One World, which is internationally known as “World Kite Day”.

As dawn breaks on Friday, area rural firefighters continue to battle a fire that started about 2 a.m. About an acre of railroad ties about a half-story tall behind the Edge Bar and Grill at 5074 W. Highway 30 east of Alda burned throughout the night. Along with the Alda and Grand Island Rural fire departments, units from Doniphan, Wood River, Cairo and St. Libory were called to the scene to help contain the blaze.

Independent/Barrett Stinson “It’s great watching her come alive,” said Jane Qualset, right, who holds her adopted daughter Rumbidzai “Rubi” Qualset. “It’s been a real spiritual journey for us.” The Qualset’s are believed to be the first white couple from a foreign country to be granted custody for a black child from Zimbabwe.