Nebraska
North Platte Man wins Nebraska Lottery’s Truck$ and Buck$
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – A North Platte man is the seventh winner of a 2023 Ford F-150 XLT SuperCrew Flex Fuel truck in the Nebraska Lottery’s 28th Truck$ and Buck$ Scratch game.
According to a press release from the Nebraska Lottery, Lucas Swarthout of North Platte purchased his winning ticket at Kwik Stop on South Jeffers Street in North Platte. Swarthout was presented with his new truck at Kwik Stop on Monday by lottery officials.
Back in the early fall of 2023, Swarthout bought himself a Truck$ & Buck$ ticket, put it in his glove box, and then promptly forgot about it. That’s where it stayed until February when he found it by coincidence. “I was cleaning out my glove box,” Swarthout said. “I was looking for a VIN number on my other vehicle and found the ticket in there unscratched,” said Swarthout.
The ticket had been in there for months, he said, and Truck$ & Buck$ isn’t a game he plays very often. He just had an inkling and went for it. Swarthout said he originally wasn’t too sure if he’d be keeping the new truck until he found out that the taxes and registration are taken care of by the Nebraska Lottery. “That just makes it better,” he said. “When you find out there’s no financial strings attached to it,” said Swarthout.
The 28th edition of the Nebraska Lottery’s popular $2 Truck$ & Buck$ Scratch game features the 2023 Ford F-150 XLT 4×4 SuperCrew Flex Fuel truck as its top prize. Players have the opportunity to win one of eight Ford F-150 trucks as well as cash and Ethanol-enriched fuel prizes. The truck prize is valued at $81,000, which includes $1,160 for costs associated with ownership and state and federal withholding paid by the Nebraska Lottery of $4,050 and $19,400, respectively. The odds of winning the top prize in Truck$ & Buck$ are 1 in 336,000, while the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 3.69, according to a press release from the Nebraska Lottery.
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Nebraska
The ‘Finest Family Park Between Omaha And Denver’ Is A Nebraska Beauty With Free Amenities And Water Recreation – Islands
The world can be a stressful place, and it can be difficult to escape our everyday lives. However, getting outside and spending some time in nature can be really beneficial. If you’re visiting Nebraska, there is a perfect spot to relax and enjoy the outdoors with your kids, and it’s packed with free amenities and plenty to do. Yanney Heritage Park in Kearney, Nebraska, has been called the “finest family park between Omaha and Denver” by Only In Your State, and with good reason. This gorgeous place has just about everything you could ask for in a park, including acres of gardens, water playgrounds for kids, an amphitheater for shows, fishing, boating, hiking, biking, a senior center, a walking meditation labyrinth, and even swan boats to rent to drift around the lake.
One reviewer on AllTrails said of Yanney Heritage Park, “Wonderful park! Fairly new, on edge of new development. 10 story tower to climb, labyrinth, garden, picnic areas, several playgrounds, wide paved paths circling two small lakes, fishing, swans. In season the concessions/Marina rents SUP, kayaks, canoes. Great place to stop for a break!” When visiting, the first place you should check out in the park is the John & Carmen Gottschalk Tower, a lovely observation tower that lets you get a great overview of the entire area. The gardens alone are worth the trip. You’ll find a pollinator garden, a lilac and hydrangea garden, a native Nebraska garden, one full of edible plants, a rose garden, an annual garden, and a xeriscape garden, which features drought-tolerant plants. It’s free and open all year, though blooming depends on the season.
Hiking, biking, water sports, and more at Yanney Heritage Park in Nebraska
If you want to take a stroll, run, or bike through the park, you can explore all or part of the 9.1-mile Kearney Canal Trail, an easy route that is mostly paved and passes picnic areas if you need a snack break. You can even bring your leashed pup. There are two water play areas where kids can enjoy water sprays and dumping buckets, as well as Cathi’s Playground, with slides and climbing equipment. Seniors can visit the Senior Activity Center, try out the fitness pad, or wander the meditation labyrinth.
For some water sports, you can check out Vernon’s Point and North Shore Fishing Piers, or spend time birdwatching on the lake. However, if you want to get out there, you can take a kayak down the 2.3-mile Kearny Water Trail with two whitewater features. At the lake, you’ll find the Yanney Swan Shoppe, which rents kayaks, swan boats, paddle boats, stand-up paddle boards, and more for a mere $7 for half an hour, as of this writing. It also sells drinks and snacks, like candy and ice cream, and is open from late May through early August.
Yanney Heritage Park is about 130 miles from the airport in Lincoln, and if you’re flying in, take some time to visit another free Nebraska attraction, the Sunken Garden. However, you can also choose to fly through Kearney Regional Airport, located only 8 miles away. If you do, you’ll be close to Minden, Nebraska’s “Christmas City,” full of local shops and events to enjoy during the holiday season. Finally, if you’re going to spend the day (or several) in the sun at Yanney Heritage Park, you might want to check out travel pro Samantha Brown’s great budget Supergoop! Sunscreen dupe.
Nebraska
Nebraska women’s basketball hangs on in 82-70 win over North Dakota State
Nebraska women’s basketball (4-0) visited Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for a neutral-site matchup against North Dakota State (2-2) on Sunday afternoon. The Huskers continued their strong start to the season with an 82-70 victory over the Bison.
North Dakota State put up a fight against Nebraska early, with multiple lead changes in the first half. But once the Huskers jumped ahead halfway through the second quarter, they never surrendered the lead from there. Nebraska finished the game 33-of-55 from the floor, 6-of-15 from three-point range, and 10-of-13 from the free throw line. North Dakota State shot 28-of-60, 3-of-16, and 11-of-16, respectively.
Amiah Hargrove delivered a perfect outing offensively off the bench to lead the Huskers. She shot 7-of-7 from the floor, 1-of-1 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line, finishing with 17 points on the day. She also hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.
Britt Prince finished right behind Hargrove with 16 points, also landing seven shots from the floor and two free throws. Jessica Petrie posted 12 points in the win, shooting 4-of-10 from the floor, 1-of-4 from three-point range, and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. She also earned a team-high four assists and two blocks. Claire Johnson also cracked double digits from the bench, scoring 10 points after going 4-of-6, 1-of-3, and 1-of-2, respectively.
Nebraska returns to Lincoln for its next game, welcoming Oral Roberts for a Wednesday night clash. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on B1G+.
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Nebraska
Former Husker Says Emmett Johnson Should Go Pro After This Season
One of the top running backs in Nebraska football history believes the current lead-back is ready for the next level.
Speaking on Hurrdat Sports Live on Friday, former Huskers Ameer Abdullah and Kenny Bell joined hosts Damon Benning and Ravi Lulla. With three-time All-Big Ten running back and 11-year NFL veteran Abdullah on the show, the conversation quickly turned to Emmett Johnson.
“The similarities I see in Emmett is just the dynamic ability to do so many things,” Abdullah said after former teammate Kenny Bell said they had someone able to do it all from the running back position during their time in Lincoln. “You see the screen that he took for 56 (yards) last week. It’s just scratching the surface of what his potential can be as a weapon.”
Abdullah believes Johnson is displaying abilities that will earn him a spot at the next level.
“When you look at the NFL landscape, I know scouts are going to be drooling about a guy like that who can make guys miss in space,” Abdullah said. “I think what is most similar in our games is his anticipatory nature. He sees it before it happens.”
Abdullah said being able to anticipate and manipulate the defenders is a sixth sense that you have to have for success.
“You can’t really coach that for a back who can do it really consistently,” Abdullah said. “I feel like that’s what I had at Nebraska, which allowed me to have my senior year, tons of long runs. You saw that jump for Emmett this year, where it went from just marginal gains to boom, big runs, because that anticipation is right on mark.”
Johnson is expected to be in the running for the Doak Walker Award, and the university has put together a Heisman Trophy campaign for him. He’s just the second Husker to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season since Abdullah, and in the UCLA game became the first Husker running back to notch rushing and receiving yards of more than 100 yards each.
“I’m proud, man, because it’s been a while since I could look at that backfield and be like, ‘That’s a guy.’ And Emmett is a guy. It took a while for a lot of people to really believe that, but he just shows up every single week,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah and Johnson have built a relationship over the past couple of years, with the current Husker seeking advice.
“He sought me out,” Abdullah said. “I didn’t go to him. He messaged me online and was like, ‘Dude, give me any game you can. Whenever you come back, let’s rap.’
“He came and volunteered at my camp two years in a row without asking for anything. He just wanted to be around me and soak up the energy and soak up the knowledge in any way that he could.”
As for that knowledge Johnson is soaking up, Abdullah is using his own experience to offer advice at a critical junction for the younger back.
“The advice I got was, ‘Go back and finish your degree,’” Abdullah said. “But if I could go back, I probably would have left early and the reason why is because I’m in my 11th year in the NFL and I play running back. It’s just a very gruesome position.”
Abdullah noted that he’s the only running back remaining from his draft class in 2015, and he’s the longest-tenured running back in the league.
“I just know from a wear-and-tear standpoint what could have been… if I had taken that one year off of my body in college,” Abdullah said. “I understand now the landscape of the NIL changes things.
“But when it comes to EJ, I definitely think that, looking at this draft class of running backs, looking at the year and the momentum that he has, I definitely think he needs to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Abdullah noted that a number of teams in the league have aging running backs and need a player who can do it all from the backfield, like Johnson has shown this season. The 2026 NFL draft is scheduled for April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.
Nebraska’s regular season continues Saturday with a night game at Penn State, before closing with a Black Friday affair at home against Iowa.
Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.
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