Seward County Highway Superintendent Jon Regnier is ordering new signs for one stretch of north-south road between the interstate and the Butler County line – again.
Vandals repeatedly steal the signs from the 15 intersections on that stretch of 420th Road, sometimes removing or damaging the whole pole beyond repair. Materials cost about $130 for each intersection, and labor costs bring the total expense up.
The number 420 is a slang term for marijuana or its usage.
Often other signs posted at the intersections are also taken or damaged – including stop signs. That adds to the replacement costs making the 420th Road signs a considerable portion of the county’s annual budget of $20,000 for all new and replacement signs.
“It’s a constant battle throughout that stretch,” Regnier said.
He noted the safety issues when stop signs are removed, as well as the need for the road signs for emergency responders to navigate.
County officials tried putting stickers on posts instead of the signs, but those, too, disappeared, Regnier said.
Recently someone in the area reported that the debris from the vandals’ harvest of signs was dumped inside their fence, Regnier said. But for the most part, the signs are just gone.
They are not seeing the signs offered for sale or getting calls from scrap yards about people selling the posts.
The department is working with the sheriff’s department to figure out who is taking the signs.
Sheriff Mike Vance attended the July 30 meeting of the Seward County Commissioners, at which Regnier reported on the current sign issue, noting there that his department is working on ways to discourage or apprehend vandals.
In July the Seward County Sheriff Facebook account posted a request for people to help stop sign vandalism in the county, noting that it is a misdemeanor offense.
The issue is neither new nor unique to Seward County.
Some states have changed highway mile marker signs from mile 420 to mile 419.9 to thwart vandalism though Nebraska’s is an interstate exit for Greenwood.
An April 20, 2023, Associated Press report on the significance of the number 420 said it is traced back to a group of California high school students. In the early 1970s, they used the time 4:20 p.m. to reference when they would meet after school and athletic practice to smoke marijuana.
The slang reference seeped through the pot-smoking culture and was added to the esteemed English Oxford English Dictionary in 2017, which cites it as a noun for the action of smoking marijuana. The dictionary is considered the ultimate record of the English language and its history.
Along the way, April 20 (4/20) has also become an unofficial holiday in those circles. Other online dictionaries now reference 420 as a noun describing marijuana, marijuana use, or the 20th day of the fourth month
In other action July 30, the Seward County Commissioners:
• Recognized Lisa Borges, a Seward County deputy sheriff, as Veteran of the Month.
• Approved the Seward Chamber’s use of the courthouse lawn from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 31 for a Fifth Saturday event.
• Approved a contract with Vanguard for the Seward County Assessor’s office, but deferred action on a mapping product agreement between the county and the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District.
• Approved its annual agreement with Region V.
• Had budget-related conversations with representatives of the county extension office, jail, sheriff’s department and road department.
