A manhunt for a fugitive wanted in multiple states continues in the West Ash Creek Road area between Chadron and Crawford, but Dawes County Sheriff Karl Dailey remains optimistic that Justin Pierce will be captured in the next several hours.

The manhunt began about 5:30 Monday evening when sheriff’s deputies tried to serve arrest warrants from Utah on Pierce, who also uses the name Justin Beck, at the West Ash Creek Road residence where he’s been living.

Instead of surrendering, Pierce bolted for his pickup and drove off. Dailey says the pickup was found abandoned on a logging trail a few miles away. Deputies, Nebraska state troopers, and two Game and Parks conservation officers then cordoned off a roughly four-square mile area where Dailey felt Pierce was holed up.

A State Patrol plane with night-search equipment flew a search grid over the area, but failed to find him while ground trackers lost Pierce’s trail when he entered an area burned in this summer’s fires.

Dailey says while Pierce is not considered dangerous, four stolen rifles were seized from his home. Dailey also says both Nevada and Utah have felony warrants out for him in major fraud and theft cases, with authorities in Washington state also interested in Pierce.

He’s described as 6-1, 160 pounds, and Dailey asks that anyone with information about Pierce contact law enforcement.

A fire donation was presented from Box Butte County to Dawes County Farm 
Bureau by Mary Crawford, Alliance; Natasha and Trisha Schumacher, Hemingford,  to Shelly and Thorpe Thompson of Whitney. 

Ag producers in Box Butte County are lending a helping hand to  neighbors in the north who were struck by wildfires earlier this fall.

At the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting in Kearney on  December 3-4, members of the Box Butte County Farm Bureau presented a $500 donation to Dawes County Farm Bureau members to go toward the Chadron Community Foundation Relief for fire recovery.

Box Butte County members specified the donation was to go toward supplies  such as feed or fencing materials, said Mary Crawford, Box Butte County Farm  Bureau president.

“As farmers and ranchers, we know the devastating effects fire leaves in replacing fence posts, corrals, shelter and forages in pastures and hay grounds,”  Crawford said. “This is a small donation to assist in the recovery.”

The Hemingford Speech Team competed at the Novice Speech Meet at Gering High School on Saturday, Dec. 8, and the following students received medals:

Brittany Thomas – 4th – Extemporaneous
Miguel Rodrigues and Robert Heule – 3rd – Duet Acting
Abbie Bright – 5th – Informative
Taeller Ansely, Rebecca Stone, Devan Hansen and Robert Heule – 2nd – Oral Interpretation of Drama.

The teamed is coached by Judy Stewart.

      A Scottsbluff woman was killed in a one-vehicle accident late Saturday night in Wyoming, about 6 miles south of Glendo.

Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Stephen Townsend says 36-year old Gabriell Palmer was northbound on I-25 about 11 pm when she lost control of her vehicle on black ice.

Townsend says the vehicle rotated clockwise, going off the right side of the roadway, down a steep embankment, and overturning when it struck a ditch at the bottom. Palmer was killed despite wearing a seatbelt.

Troopers investigating the accident attribute the accident to going too fast for the existing conditions, with very worn tires a contributing factor along with very worn tires.

When Panhandle leaders make their final pitch to the Nebraska Judicial Resources Commission Tuesday to keep the seat of  retired County Judge Charles Plantz of Rushville in the Panhandle, they’ll have the support of the Nebraska Bar Association.

The Resources Commission holds its fall meeting Tuesday morning in Lincoln, where it will consider a state Supreme Court plan to move Sheridan and Grant counties and the judgeship from the 12th Judicial District to the 8th District, then shifting an 8th District judgeship to the juvenile court system in Omaha.

The plan was supported at a commission hearing this summer by the Bar Association’s Judicial Resources Committee, but Scottsbluff Attorney Howard Olsen says the committee changed its mind during a conference call last Friday.

Olson says the committee’s recommendation carries a lot of weight with the Resources Commission because it’s made up of lawyers from across the state.

The 12th Judicial District…which includes the 11 Panhandle counties plus Grant County…has seen a number of judges shifted eastward over the past 20 years, including one district and one county judge in the past 5 years, as the legislature has continued to oppose adding more judges.

Panhandle leaders did not actively oppose the last two shifts…citing an effort to help other parts of the state….but Olsen says losing one more county judge…leaving just 4 to cover the entire Panhandle…would result in case load and travel requirements that are just too large, calling it a matter of “reasonable access to justice.”

The Judicial Resources Commission will take public testimony before making its decission. The meeting is scheduled for the Capitol at 9 a.m. MT, and can be viewed by video conference at the State Office building in Omaha and the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff.

Chadron State College will confer 140 degrees during two graduation ceremonies Friday, Dec. 14.

The ceremony for graduates receiving master’s degrees will be a 2 p.m. at Memorial Hall followed by commencement for undergraduates at 4 p.m. in Armstrong Gymnasium.

This marks the second consecutive year for two winter commencement ceremonies at CSC, a change that was prompted by the increasing popularity of the institution’s master’s degree programs. Previously, both master’s and bachelor’s degrees were awarded in one ceremony. This year’s total consists of 92 candidates for bachelor’s degrees and 48 for master’s degrees.

CSC will award its Doctor of Humane Letters degree to the speaker for the undergraduate ceremony, Dr. Ron Hull of Lincoln. Hull is a pioneer of public television who has been heavily involved in the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society since its inception. Through his involvement with the society, he was instrumental in the development of the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center on the CSC campus. A long-time program manager for the Nebraska ETV Network, Hull continues to serve as senior adviser to Nebraska Educational Telecommunications and a professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The speaker for the master’s degree ceremony is Dr. George Griffith, who is in his 37^thyear as CSC professor of language and literature, and is former chairman of the CSC Department of English and Humanities. He teaches courses in English literature, composition and ethics.

Both ceremonies are open to the public with no reservations required. They will be broadcast on the Internet at AmericaOneSports.com. Instructions for Internet viewing may be found at www.csc.edu/live.

The undergraduate ceremony will be broadcast locally in Chadron cable channel 20.

—Justin Haag, CSC Information Services