Nebraska

Nebraska auctioneers battle at bid-calling, ringman contest in Kearney

Published

1 month ago

April 30, 2026

Nebraska auctioneers battle at bid-calling, ringman contest in Kearney

KEARNEY, Neb. (KOLN) – Nebraska’s auctioneers battled on stage at the 43rd annual Bid-Calling/Ringman competition in Kearney. The event, organized by the Nebraska Auctioneers Association, was held in conjunction with the 78th annual Nebraska Auctioneers Association Convention, which ran from April 23-25.

Nebraska is known in the auctioneering industry for producing many national and world champions.

Weston Hottell, 17, from Kimball, competed against other auctioneers at the contest.

“As a kid in Nebraska, there’s not much to do, so you spend enough time around sale barns and I’ve always liked to talk, figured I might as well get paid to do it,” Hottell said.

After going to school to become an auctioneer, Hottell opened his own auction company, Hottell Auctions, last September.

Brant Pavel, an auctioneer from Chambers, said Nebraska has a strong reputation in the industry.

“I believe at one point, Nebraska had the most world champion auctioneers of any state,” Pavel said.

Clay Schaardt, vice president of the Nebraska Auctioneers Association, said competitors are judged on multiple criteria.

“The auction competitors are judged on speed, rhythm, and clarity of their chant. They’re also judged on their appearance,” Schaardt said.

The competition featured five bid-calling participants and 12 ringman participants.

During the first round, the crowd bids from the seats and watches the auctioneers provide two items to sell. The association provides the third item. After the top 10 are selected, the rest are sequestered while they each answer two questions about auctioneering.

William Yokel, an auctioneer from Friend, said the interview portion is critical. One of the questions was, “In your opinion, what is the difference between a good auctioneer and a great one?”

In response, Yokel said, “integrity” makes all the difference.

“Doing the auction chant, only 5% of the job. And the other 95%, it’s, do you know what item you’re selling? Do you know who you’re working for?” Yokel said.

After the interview portion, Pavel said the ringman competition adds to the experience.

“It makes you want to bid again when somebody looks at you and say, you’re out. Peer pressure, it gets you, it gets me,” Pavel said.

Schaardt said this sense of urgency is felt more intensely during live auctions.

“There are a lot of online auctions and more and more the online auction world has really taken off. And I would say a lot of our members use online auctions,” Schaardt said.

But Schaardt said the traditional auction format still has value.

“For example, there’s a lot of emotion connected to real estate and you cannot- you really can’t get that emotion out, you know, if you’re doing it online only,” Schaardt said.

At the end of the competition, Hottell was crowned rookie of the year, Pavel won the ringman competition and Yokel won the bid-calling contest.

“The auction chant made me smile and I just said to myself one day that I’m going to make people smile just like they did to me and here we are,” Yokel said.

Kaden Schow of Schow Auction Service/Schow Realty in Paxton was named reserve champion auctioneer. Jace McKay of JW Auctions in Ericson was named runner-up auctioneer.

The top 10 finalists were Mike Harris, Westen Hottell, Jace McKay, Jacob Ogan, Clay Patton, Brant Pavel, Randall Pelster, Jim Pursell, Kaden Schow and William Yokel.

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Nebraska

Hundreds lose power across southeast Nebraska after Thursday morning storm

Published

4 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Press Room

Hundreds lose power across southeast Nebraska after Thursday morning storm

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Hundreds of people are without power in southeast Nebraska after a severe storm passed through Thursday morning.

The Lincoln Electric System outage map showed 115 customers without power across the city at 11:36 a.m.

Norris Public Power District’s outage map also shows 45 customers affected by the storm. As of 11:36 a.m., there were nine active outages.

According to the Nebraska Public Power District outage map, 657 customers were affected by the storm. Most of the affected customers were near Plattsmouth in southeast Nebraska. As of 11:37 a.m., 27 customers remain without power.

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Nebraska

Mandatory evacuation orders for area near Crawford, Fort Robinson

Published

14 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Press Room

Mandatory evacuation orders for area near Crawford, Fort Robinson

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered near Crawford, including Fort Robinson State Park, as the South Fork Fire continues to spread in western Nebraska.

According to the City of Crawford, evacuations are currently underway for an area north of Crawford that includes the area south of Dodd Road, west of Dodd Road, and FF Street.

Fort Robinson has also been evacuated.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission said Fort Robinson State Park and Peterson Wildlife Management Area have been temporarily closed due to the fire.

The fire has burned approximately 9,000 acres and is currently 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Nebraska Game and Parks said the park and the WMA will remain closed until further notice to support firefighting operations and protect public safety.

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Nebraska

Nebraska State Runner-up and Futures Finalist Matt Brailita (2026) to Swim for Johns Hopkins

Published

1 day ago

June 10, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska State Runner-up and Futures Finalist Matt Brailita (2026) to Swim for Johns Hopkins

Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.

Omaha, Nebraska native Matt Brailita is headed to Baltimore in the fall. He announced his commitment to Johns Hopkins University earlier this spring, writing on social media:

“I am very excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Johns Hopkins University ! I’m extremely grateful for everything my family, friends, and teammates have done to support me every step of the way. A special thanks to Coach Tom and Coach Andy for always pushing me beyond what I believed in. Also a huge thanks to Coach Scott and Coach Chris for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime. GO BLUE JAYS!”

Brailita swam for Omaha’s Millard North High School under coach Andy Cunningham. He wrapped up his senior season with a pair of runner-up finishes at the 2026 NSAA Championships, earning lifetime-best times in both the 200 IM (1:50.84) and 100 breast (56.01). He also notched a PB in the 50 free (20.76) while leading off Millard North’s 200 free relay in prelims. He anchored the same relay in finals, splitting 20.01. Brailita leaves Millard North High School as a 10-time State medalist and a multiple-event team record-holder. He was 2026 Metro Conference champion in the 100 fly and as a member of 2 relays, and he was nominated for Metro Omaha World Herald Swimming Athlete Scholar.

Brailita swims year-round with Greater Omaha Aquatic Leopardsharks under coach Tom Beck. In addition to IM and breast, he excels in fly and free. In March, he competed at Columbia Sectionals, where he finaled in the 50 free (15th), 100 breast (11th), 50 fly (8th), 100 fly (10th), and swam prelims in the 50 breast (8th) and 200 IM (10th). He left the meet with new PBs in the 100 free (46.30), 50 breast (26.25), 50 fly (22.51), and 100 fly (49.86).

Last summer, Brailita hit LCM lifetime bests in the 50 breast (30.81), 100 breast (1:06.84), 200 breast (2:29.93), and 200 IM (2:11.12) at Madison Futures, making finals in the IM. He opened the 2026 long-course season with a pair of PBs (24.83 in the 50 free and 27.09 in the 50 fly) at the GOAL Sprint Cup in April.

Brailita will join the Blue Jays’ class of 2030 with Alistair Guth, Finn Nelson, Lukas Funderburk, Matthew Ko, Nicolas Aldana Huelga, Samuel Zhang, and William Thurk. His best times would have scored in the ‘A’ finals of the 200 IM, 100/200 breast, and 50/200 free, and the ‘B’ finals of the 100 free and 100 fly at the 2026 Centennial Conference Championships.

Best SCY times :

200 IM – 1:50.84
100 breast – 56.01
200 breast – 2:06.83
50 free – 20.76
50 free relay split – 20.01
100 fly – 49.86
200 free – 1:41.83
100 free – 46.30

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