DAWSON CO. ROAD SIGNS GONE FOREVER

For the past five years, Dawson County road signs marking County Road 420
have disappeared from intersections north of Cozad.

They won't disappear any more, the Dawson County Board of Commissioners
decided Tuesday. The board agreed not to put them up again. | There are
nine signs on intersections north of Cozad that mark Road 420, Dawson
County Commissioner John Knapple said. About 175 of the signs have been
stolen since they first went up in 1996, according to the Dawson County
Roads Department. It has cost the county about $12,400 to replace them.

"The county's sign man told me that sometimes they would put one up on one
day and it would be gone the next," Knapple said. The signs are part of the
enhanced 911 service that went into effect and included a dispatch center
at the Dawson County Sheriff's Office. The signs were put up to help
emergency personnel and travelers find rural destinations more easily.
Sometimes vandals take out signs at random throughout the county, but the
420 signs have been the most popular target. "It seems to be a popular
number in some circles," Knapple said. "We've decided it is not OK to keep
paying $50-55 to replace the sign, and that's just (the amount) for the
green part. Sometimes they've taken both halves; sometimes they've taken
the pole and all."

The road is on the west edge of Cozad. The Cozad City Council has not made
any request to keep the road signs, Knapple said. The 420 number is
significant to drug users, according to Dawson County Sheriff Gary Reiber.
Reiber said the numbers are a code that identifies drug users and sources.

According to the Internet site www.forreal.org., 4:20 is a common time for
marijuana users to light up and April 20 is a day that every marijuana user
burns one. April 20 is also the anniversary of the Columbine High School
massacre in Littleton, Colo., and it's the birth date of Adolph Hitler.

Dawson County's electronic 911 system, which identifies the location of
emergency phone calls, is on the blink, Reiber told the board. The system
shuts down without warning and can be off line for a few seconds or several
minutes. The system has a backup and the capacity to restart itself, he
said. Reiber said he suspects lightning may have caused the problem last
summer.

The cost of replacing the 911 electronic system is about $100,000. The
system is being analyzed, he said. If lightning is to blame, insurance
would cover the damage.