Drug officers come up against some unusual situations, but negotiating to kill yourself is something else. That was the conversation an agent had with a man as he attempted to purchase drugs and weapons. The weapons were to be used by the agent to kill a certain "pig." That pig happened to be the drug officer.
Don Niemann and Larry Ball, officers with the drug division of the Nebraska State Patrol, startled rescue squadsmen the other night by telling them of the availability of drugs in Nebraska City, mostly marijuana and white crosses.
A number of arrests have been made and the accused taken to court but still the drugs are offered and there are buyers in town. If it's any comfort, the officers said the major dealer is not in town now.
Why did two family men who had been wearing the sharp blue uniforms of the State Patrol give up the highway job for casual dress and beards as drug officers? It was an opportunity in law enforcement, they said.
Rescue squadsmen have answered a number of calls where drugs were involved. They've become calloused to conditions and go about their work. The drug officers spoke at length and displayed many different drugs to help squadsmen identify them. Doctors know how to treat drug patients and they need to know what type of drug the patient has taken.
More congrats
Congratulations to Bret, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Harpster, and Tom, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Causgrove, on their selection as delegates to the American Legion Boys' State.
Alternates are Kyle, son of Mrs. Charlotte Mabie, and Jim, son of Mrs. Mike Roddy, Jr.
Owen "Moon" Mullen has been chairman of the American Legion Post No. 8 Boys State program and it's a job he enjoys very much. The kids who attend Boys and Girls State return with "it was the greatest . . . I'd like to go again."
Gene Browning, son of Mr. and Mrs. Everett Browning, Peru, has been named a delegate for the Auburn Legion. Good fortune has been running in the Browning family this year. The couple's oldest son, Brian, received a four-year Regents scholarship and then was one of five boys selected to be an intern for Rep. Charles Thone. Gene has a growing hobby in photography and we're sure he will return from Boys State with many fine pictures taken with his Pentax Spotmatic . . . not with pictures of sea gulls like his father photographed on a trip to England a year ago. (Snicker, snicker).
Mr. and Mrs. Greg Durr plan to attend a concert Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Abraham Lincoln high school at Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Coe College concert and jazz bands will present their music in a 1975 tour.
The director is Thomas C. Slattery, who holds degrees from the University of Iowa and appears in the Dictionary of 20th Century Music. Mrs. Slattery is the former Clare Lynn Durr.
The Coe bands opened their tour at Cedar Rapids on March 19. They have appeared in four other towns and after the Bluffs performance, they will be in Omaha at the Music Hall at 1 p.m. Thursday and at the New Paxton Ballroom at 4 p.m. the same day.
The Brownville Village Theater will have a traveling company as a bicentennial project taking to the stage about 70 times in 140 days.
Henry Blanke Jr. has directed the theater for Wesleyan for several years. His booming voice carries weight with the cast and his personality charms them all. Mrs. Blanke has something to do with it, too, and together they are some team. We hope that Mr. Blanke's one year leave of absence will be just that — one year.
Max Boyd, treasurer of the Fremont county, Iowa fair board, stopped in the other day to say that the fair has been set up a day ahead this year beginning on Monday, July 21, and ending on Thursday, July 24.
The reason, Max explained, is to accommodate marketing of livestock after the annual fair sale.
Max said also that the entertainer for the night show this year will be Wes Harrison, a sound effect expert. Aldean Grundman and I can tell you all about Mr. Harrison . . . we sat on the front row at one of his performances at a hotel in Lincoln a few years ago.
Mr. Harrison tells a lot of funnies and uses large stereo speakers and some super-type of amplifying system for his sound effects. They're really something. He uses no tricks, only the microphone and speakers. The talent is in his voice and sound control. The reality of his sounds of a train clickety-clicking on rails and moving on an overpass would, startle a railroader like Charles Stastka. You'll enjoy the program.
Today's cleaning tip.
Ball point spots or smears on clothing? Use a can of hair spray then washy-washy. If that don't work take it to Don Koeppel. I've got enough on him to get free cleaning for a year.
Best wishes to the Hayhursts.
Mr. and Mrs. Neil Hayhurst were pleased with the welcome they got at the grand opening of their Ward's Catalog store the other day.
Mayor Rogers snipped the ribbon and looking on were Chamber President Dean Marshall and a host of other Chamber members in town who stopped in for a cuppa coffee and to wish the couple the best of luck.
There was another well-wisher in the crowd — F. L. Duffey.
Mr. Duffey retired a few years ago after 37 years with the Montgomery Ward company. He spearheaded the enlargement and remodeling of the retail store that he managed for 17 years and took a great deal of pride in aggressive retail business. It was a sad day for him to see the store close a few weeks ago, but a bright outlook when the Hayhursts opened their catalog store.
We'd like to join Mr. Duffey, Mayor Rogers and the Chamber in wishing the Hayhursts much success.
Jim Widhelm, the city parks and recreation director, said the other day his job includes developing recreation programs for everyone. "I'd even get marble games going if I could find enough people interested."
Well, Jim ole' buddy-buddy, you just happened to have talent right here in River City. Jerry Hall headed a Jaycee marbles tournament at Fourteenth Street School. The kids got a bang out of it and there were a few well-polished agates that came out of pockets as the tournament opened.
The most entertaining event was watching Jerry Hall (from the backside) taking a dead-eye aim at those little itty-bitty marbles.
It was all in fun and it was quite successful.
Remember when most church services started at 11 a.m.? I've just figured out why the preachers moved the time to 10:30 a.m. . . . they didn't get their sermons completed and the roasts at home in the ovens burned . . . and that upset the ladies . . . and you know what happens when the ladies get stirred.