
Jamie Granquist saved Tom Bothwell’s life after he was hit by a car Oct. 16. The pair have forged a bond as he’s worked to recover in the hospital.
Tom Bothwell grew up in Lincoln, a few hundred yards from where he almost died 10 days ago.
He was 6 feet tall by the time he turned 12, played football and basketball at Lincoln East High School, spent all of the ’80s in New York, chasing an acting career, tended bar for 30 years, never married, took care of his widowed mom when she got old and sick, lives in his boyhood home, walks 3 miles a day, loves music and reading and golf and nature, shakes veterans’ hands and thanks them for their service, is kind and gentle, loyal and good.
Jamie Granquist didn’t know any of that on Oct. 16.
She didn’t know Bothwell at all. She just knew there was a man crossing the street who was suddenly not crossing the street, hit by a driver turning left onto Normal Boulevard at 8:30 a.m. on a Friday as she was driving downtown to work.
Cindy Lange-Kubick: Walking through downtown Lincoln on a beautiful fall day in the time of COVID-19
Which is how she came to be in Room 255 at Bryan West Campus on a snowy Monday morning at the bedside of a man she now calls family.
This is not an original story: Woman Saves Stranger.
Despite all the gloom in the world, the hate and the division, people rise up. They see someone drowning and jump in the swimming pool. They shelter strangers with their bodies when bullets rain down from hotel rooms in Las Vegas. They stand up to bullies. They stanch wounds and perform CPR.
Not everyone.
But good souls, like Granquist, who has had her CPR certification for 22 years. She needed that certification when she ran a home day care for 17 years, and she needed it for teaching mountain biking to kids for the last five.
But she never had to use it, until she saw the man motionless in the crosswalk.
She was on her way to her job as director of BikeLNK when she saw the accident.
Someone called 911 as she checked to see if he was breathing — he wasn’t — and turned him onto his back and started chest compressions. She breathed into his mouth.
Her training took over. When she tired, a man passing by the scene on a motorcycle gave her a break, and then she started again until an ambulance arrived and loaded Bothwell on a stretcher and took him away.
When a reporter called that afternoon, Granquist made a deal: I will talk to you if you find out his name and his condition.
“Knowing his name and knowing he was still fighting mattered a ton,” Granquist said last week.
In a few days, the 46-year-old mom of two would come to know a lot about the 65-year-old man in the crosswalk.
She knew he had a best friend from his East High days, Ted Larson.
She knew he had cousins in Kansas who loved him like a brother.
She’d become one of his daily visitors — short-listed by COVID-19 rules that mean only one person is allowed in a hospital room a day.
She’d visited him in the ICU. Played music for him in the days after his spinal surgery when a tube down his throat meant he couldn’t talk.
She’d decorated his new room with Halloween lights when he was transferred to a lower level of care. “To make it a little more homey.”
She was on a group text with his cousin and Larson. “They’re wonderful people. I don’t think I could say I love you more to strangers that I just met last Tuesday.”
Bothwell was an only child, adopted by Arthur and Clara when he was not quite 1.
They’d met in Kansas before World War II, and Clara waited four years for Arthur, a warrant officer in the Army’s First Infantry Division. They were married 10 years before they found the not-quite-toddler boy up for adoption in Omaha.
“He got me golfing as a kid,” said cousin Mike Goin in Alta Vista, Kansas. “We terrorized our mothers when we were together.”
Goin’s name is on that hospital visitor list, but he’s 170 miles away.
Granquist is his conduit when he can’t be here. “She sends text messages and keeps me up to date. She’s incredible.”
Bothwell can’t move his arms or legs, but he can feel them tingle. He can shrug his shoulders, but he can’t swallow food or liquid yet.
He has a broken nose and a beat-up face and a bunged-up knee. He had fractures in his neck, held together now by screws and a cervical collar. He has a long road to recovery.
He had physical therapy Monday morning.
“I stood up five times,” he said. “The first one was a little difficult.”
He’s tough, his old friend Larson said.
The burly high school fullback could have played college football if it hadn’t been for injuries from the sport. Bad knees. Two eventual shoulder replacements.
Larson lost track of Bothwell when he moved to New York in 1980, but their friendship was rekindled when he returned and began tending bar at Duggan’s Pub, where Larson’s bands often played.
“People would come in and pour out their stories to him, and Tom would lend a sympathetic ear. He was so kind and caring.”
Now it’s their turn, Larson said.
He’s watching it happen. When he heard about the accident, he shared the news with friends and with his mom, who knew Bothwell, too. In turn, his mom told his sister, and it turned out his sister, Susan Larson Rodenburg, knew Granquist.
She connected them.
She helped Larson start a GoFundMe page, where old friends and golf buddies and Spartans and former bar customers could gather to help Bothwell, who spent the past seven years living with and caring for his mom.
“Tom cares deeply about his friends and loved ones,” Larson wrote. “Now he needs a hand up. He needs us.”
It’s easy to feel disconnected, especially now during the pandemic, Larson said.
It’s easy to see the dark and not the light.
“We need to be reminded how connected we are as a people.”
The friend sees those connections being made.
Bothwell is in his hospital bed, remembering the morning of the accident. Granquist is holding the phone.
“I remember the impact of the car, and I remember lying there and a woman asking me, ‘Are you all right?’”
He thinks that woman must have been Granquist.
“She didn’t know me from Adam, and it turns out she knew me without knowing me, if you know what I mean.”
He means this: They have a bond that neither of them can quite put into words.
“Tom holds a very special place in my life and always will,” Granquist said.
“I have figured out the reason this whole thing happened, was to have her in my life,” Bothwell said.
The pair sit for hours. They listen to music. She strokes his hand. He tells her he holds no ill will toward the driver whose car hit him. They talk about their families. She knows his now. His pride in his father’s service, his tender care for his mother.
He wants to meet hers.
Last week, when he was moved to Room 255, Granquist was there when the nurse came in to update his white board.
Temperature. Weight. Medication.
Are you family? the nurse asked. Are you a friend?
What was she?
What she was, what she was becoming, was hard to explain, but Bothwell answered for her: She’s my angel.
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Birds flying over a barn, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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James Bond stands by as soybeans are seen being unloaded at Farmers Cooperative, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Lincoln Southeast's Derek Branch (6) had both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the first half as the Knights rolled up a 28-0 lead against Papillion-La Vista in the first two quarters on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, at Seacrest Field.
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Kindergarten teacher Brenna Walsh works with students on reading at Campbell Elementary on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
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Mauricio Gulla Moreira rides his bull on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, during the PBR Unleash the Beast event at Pinnacle Bank Arena. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Concordia's Korrell Koehlmoos (left) catches a pass for a first down against Jamestown's Justin Six (26) in the second quarter on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, at Concordia University. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Lincoln High's Parker Vyhlidal (4) rushes for a first down against Lincoln Northeast's Dylan Gray (9) and Gage LeMay in the first half on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, at Seacrest Field. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Majesty Jackson (from left), Mason Winroth, and Cruz Rodriguez hold up white boards during a kindergarten reading class, Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, at Randolph Elementary. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Lincoln East's Kirby Le returns a shot during the singles finals against Lincoln Pius X's Joseph Plachy at the Heartland Athletic Conference tournament on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
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Norris pitcher Alexis Wiggins (2) grabs a short fly ball for an out in the first inning of a B-5 subdistrict game against Wahoo at Norris on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
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Keyshawn Whitehorse (left) executes his escape after completing the required 8 seconds on the bull on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, during the PBR Unleash the Beast event at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The event continues on Sunday at PBA. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Wahoo's Mya Larson (7) gets a kill in the third set against Waverly on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, at Wahoo High School. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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A side dump trailer gets ready to unload dirt onto the floor of Pinnacle Bank Arena ahead of the rodeo event this weekend, Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. The Professional Bull Riders Wrangler Invitational will host a first round competition Saturday evening, and a championship event Sunday afternoon. The stadium will seat up to half of its normal capacity due to coronavirus regulations. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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A man skates past trees of colorful changing leaves at Pioneers Park on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. The cool weather that came around last week will not stick around. With the week ahead forecasting highs in the upper 80s and lows in the 50s. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Gov. Pete Ricketts puts on a mask during a news conference, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, at Nebraska State Capitol. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Lincoln East's Morgan Adams (left) jumps in the air as she and the Lincoln East dugout celebrate a home run by teammate Zoie Armstrong (not pictured Lincoln Southwest during the first game of their doubleheader at the Doris Bair Softball Complex on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Samples of corn and soybeans are seen at Farmers Cooperative in Dorchester on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Jordan Clement pours corn samples into a machine to measure moister level and weight at Farmers Cooperative in Dorchester on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Mike Born unloads corn at Farmers Cooperative in Dorchester on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Austin Cutright stands on a ladder and uses a paint sprayer to add color to a Lincoln home on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, in Lincoln. Temperatures for the weekend are expected to drop to the low 60s before becoming a little warmer the following week in the high 70s. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Millard West's Will Ekborg (9) hoist the interception he caught in the second quarter during their game at Buell Stadium on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, in Omaha. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Reid Gahan, Vinny Sinda, LPD officer Chassidy Jackson-Goodwin, and Dylan Kohler (from left) dig a hole as they plant trees with community members and members of Hold Cops Accountable at the Malone Center on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Lincoln East base runner Sydney Walz is cheered in by her teammates after hitting a home run during softball district finals at Doris Bair Sports Complex on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Millard North outfielder Lynn Davis jumps to catches a pop fly before it goes over the fence during softball district finals at Doris Bair Sports Complex on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Pius X's Payton Tuttle (3) eyes the high pitch on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, during the A-6 district winners' bracket game at the Doris Bair Softball Complex. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Holding onto the top of the fence, Pius X outfielder Payton Tuttle (3) grabs a long flyball hit by Lincoln Southeast's Alexis Hubbard in the third inning on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, during the A-6 district winners' bracket game at the Doris Bair Softball Complex. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Wahoo head coach Chad Fox prays with his team before facing off against Ashland-Greenwood at Wahoo High School on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in Wahoo. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Lincoln North Star's Delaney Warner (10) reaches out for a Lincoln Northeast shot on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020, at Lincoln North Star High School. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Lincoln East's Noah Walters (13) gets the pass off against North Platte's Gavyn Brauer (34) in the first quarter on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at Seacrest Field. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Lincoln Southwest's Grant Miller (15) tries to avoid the tackle of Papillion-La Vista's Jared Jasinski (65) in the second quarter on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at Seacrest Field. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Lincoln Southwest's Collin Fritton (right) throws a complete pass with Papillion-La Vista's Will Hubert (43) putting pressure on him in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at Seacrest Field. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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A new span of bridge connecting the Rock Island Trail to the Jamaica North Trail is moved into place over train tracks using a crane on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
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A new span of bridge connecting the Rock Island Trail to the Jamaica North Trail is moved into place using a crane on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
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Pad thai (from left), fiery beef with tofu and sesame pork ribs seen at High Peak Asian Restaurant, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Shoeshine, a 12-year-old bugle, leads the way at the trail at Frank Shoemaker Marsh ahead of his owner Ed Southwick, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Poppy Massing, 11, gets vaccinated by Barb Martinez, a public health nurse at Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, during a vaccine clinic at Lefler Middle School, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Crete's Cassidy Skillett gets back to home plate to score as Wahoo's catcher Harper Hancock looks on during Game 1 of the B-8 district final in Crete on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Wahoo's Sidney Smart can't quite catch a Crete ball during Game 2 of the B-8 district final in Crete on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Crete softball players celebrate the victory against Wahoo in the B-8 district final in Crete on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Wahoo's Trent Hallowell and Gavin Pokorny celebrate a touchdown against Ashland-Greenwood at Wahoo High School on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Wahoo players warm up as the sun sets behind them before the face off against Ashland-Greenwood at Wahoo High School on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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A Lincoln police officer and Lincoln firefighter take a moment to speak to children watching them work after responding to a fire at an apartment complex at South 11th and A street on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Lincoln Southeast color guard members spin flags as the band performs during The LPS Marching Band Showcase at Seacrest Field on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Lincoln Southeast second basemen Rylan Ewoldt jumps into the arms of Karis Gifford after the final out against Lincoln North Star sending Lincoln Southeast to the state finals during softball district finals at Doris Bair Sports Complex on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Auburn's Mallory Brinckerhoff (L) braids teammate MaKenna Turner's hair during a C-1 subdistrict game in Auburn on Monday, Oct. 10, 2020. GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
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Robin Williams shares a moment with her cat Cupcake at Oasis Inn and Suites on Friday, July 31, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Selina Nix (left) packs her room as Frank Zortman, a friend who used to stay at the hotel, takes a moment to wipe off sweat on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, at Oasis Inn and Suites. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Amanda Waldman holds up her daughter Brylee Waldman, 3, to throw the trash into the dumpster as her son Brayden Waldman, 4, and her boyfriend Travis Vesely look on at Oasis Inn and Suites on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Top Journal Star photos for OctoberLincoln North Star's Cole Coffey (13) is embraced by a teammate during Class A first-round playoff game, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, at Seacrest Field. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Papillion-La Vista head coach Todd Petersen (left) reacts as he gets dunked with the Gatorade cooler after the Monarchs won their 16th state title with a win over North Platte on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, at the Bill Smith Softball Complex. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Papillion-La Vista senior Brooke Dumont (left) holds aloft the state championship trophy for her celebrating teammates after their win over North Platte on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, at the Bill Smith Softball Complex. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Lincoln Southwest's Telo Arsiaga leaps into the end zone for a game-winning touchdown against Lincoln High during a high school football game at Seacrest Field on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Tom White has become an accomplished Great Plains bird photographer. Along his way to photography , Tom worked as an editor at the Lincoln Journal and then at Nebraskaland magazine as an editor. After retiring he and his wife Kim became very invested in bird watching and photography. Tom White poses for portrait at one of his favorite places to take photos at Consestoga Lake on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in Denton. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Lincoln Stars left defensemen Carter Schade returns the puck while chased by Omaha Lancers forward Chase Bradley at the Ice Box on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Pop-art ads encourage patrons to wear masks in downtown Lincoln on Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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A woman crosses a pedestrian bridge as a man fishes at Holmes Lake, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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The Class B Girls leaders runs through fall colors on Friday, Oct. 23 2020, during the NSAA State Cross Country championships at Kearney Country Club. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Lincoln East's Izzy Apel (25) and her teammates Jenna Muma, Peyton Svehla and Berlyn Schutz celebrate their team title in the Class A Girls final as they take in cheers from the fans in the crowd on Friday, Oct. 23 2020, during the NSAA State Cross Country championships at Kearney Country Club. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Lincoln North Star's Liem Chot (bottom) looks behind him to see where Elkhorn South's Gabriel Hinrichs is on the final apparoach to the finish line in the Class A Boys final on Friday, Oct. 23 2020, during the NSAA State Cross Country championships at Kearney Country Club. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Lincoln Southwest's Carter McElhose (right) gets a pass inference call as he defends Lincoln North Star's Jace Elliott in the final minutes of the Class A first-round playoff game, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, at Seacrest Field. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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A pair of Nebraska fans jump from their seats after a Nebraska touchdown in the first quarter shown on the cube in the Railyard on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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George Bang lifts his hands during the chorus of God Bless the USA, during a Back the Blue Rally at Eagle Raceway on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020, in Eagle. Despite the threat of snow and below freezing temperatures there was no stopping the crowd of about 100 Nebraskans who wanted to show their support for law enforcement. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Jon Michelsen of Lincoln drops off a ballot at the Lancaster County Early Vote Drop Box on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, at Gere Branch Library. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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Sen. Tom Brewer speaks with Maghie Miller-Jenkins of Lincoln (bottom) as he calls off the the news conference to promote an upcoming bill to further penalize violence during protests, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, at Nebraska State Capitol. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
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Kooser Elementary School fifth grader Lila Kildow accesses the website to vote in the LPS Student Vote on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
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Skeletons outside of a South Lincoln home encourage Lincoln residents to go vote in the upcoming election on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Lincoln East's Austin Schneider (left) loses the ball as he's hit by North Platte's Tate Janas in the first quarter on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, during a Class A second-round playoff game at Seacrest Field. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
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People walk Grave Grabbers Screametery at 6025 South 41st Street on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Lincoln. The extensive display took weeks to make, and the 11-foot-tall witch itself took over 100 hours. All the decorations are handmade and put together from PVC pipe and old animatronics. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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Lincoln Christian's Jonas Burgher celebrates his interception against Gothenburg's Jake Burge next to teammate Josh Free (54) during a high school football playoff game, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
Reach the writer at 402-473-7218 or clangekubick@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @TheRealCLK