Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Our Message To The News Media On Reviving The Cold War

Thursday, July 27, 2017

NEWS ROUNDUP: Our Message To The News Media On Reviving The Cold War

To The National News Media -- Don't Make History Repeat Itself: For those old enough to remember the lowest points of the Cold War -- when the former Soviet Union rattled its sabers weekly -- it now seems like a distant memory. But we still recall the fear of knowing the world as we knew it could end any minute. Fortunately, America had JFK and Ronald Reagan at the helm when US-USSR relations were most testy. To remind Americans about how bad things would be if the missiles were launched, we had doomsday movies airing throughout the 1980s, one of which was titled The Day After. It aired in 1983 on ABC and shocked the country. (Many experts say it was the reaction to this movie, which was set in nearby Kansas, that helped produce to Reagan's 49-state landslide re-election in 1984, although the movie's makers likely wanted it to have the opposite effect.) Some 34 years after the airing of The Day After, it's worth noting that when the entire national news media -- along with most of the Democratic Party and some hawkish Republicans (most of whom never served in the military) -- focus on demonizing Russia on the world stage, they're forcing the ex-Soviets to align even more closely with North Korea and Iran (two emerging nuclear nations led by leaders who seem suicidal). With the news media's contrived "Russian scandals" and politicians' phony outrage, those Cold War days could return soon -- this time, more ominous than ever.

Erica Spanyers Wedding Set For Aug. 12: According to the Wilber newspaper, DHS graduate and Dorchester native Erica Spanyers will soon wed John Gross of Wilber, as the couple plans a wedding on Aug. 12 at the First United Methodist Church in Waverly. Parents of the couple are Keith Spanyers and Debbie Spanyers of Dorchester, Gary Gross of Wilber and Marge Sonder of Lincoln. The bride-to-be graduated from DHS and earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Chadron State College. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene from the UNMC’s college of dentistry. She works as a dental hygienist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lincoln.

Is Your Child Enrolled In Dorchester's New Preschool?: Mounting evidence from across the nation suggests that America’s K–12 schooling is falling short in preparing new generations for the ever-changing demands of the 21st century workplace. (Have you noticed all the 30-somethings in America still living with their parents?) One key way to improve your child's chances is through early childhood education. Studies show that starting at birth, young children are continuously and rapidly learning -- wherever they are and from whomever they’re with. As we reported a while ago, Dorchester Public Schools this coming school year will be administering its own preschool. Mrs. Alison Nickel was hired earlier this year as DPS' preschool teacher. School officials say preschool students at DPS will have a caring, friendly environment in which they are exposed to play, social skills and academic learning." Now we know the preschool's hours as announced on the DPS website. The 2017-2018 Dorchester Preschool hours are: AM Class (3 year-olds) will be 8:10 a.m. until 11:25 a.m. [Mondays-Thursdays]; and PM Class (4 year-olds) will be 12:15 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. [Mondays-Thursdays]. The first day for preschool is Monday, August 21. Questions? Call 402-946-2781.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."