Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 651 - 675 of 746
The Honorable Kale Burdick presided over Holt County court last Tuesday, Feb. 11, handing down four sentences. Conrad A Lurz, 29, of Ellington, Missouri, formerly of O’Neill, faced Burdick for sentencing on two counts, second-degree false imprisonment, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and disturbing the peace, a Class 3 misdemeanor. He was sentenced to concurrent sentences of 30 days and five days in the county jail, respectively, and $60 costs of prosecution. Lurz was given credit for 10 days previously served for the May 4, 2019, offenses. Lurz changed...
The Holt County supervisors spent nearly two hours at a meeting last week, reviewing a road-haul agreement brought to the table by TC Energy representatives last October, paragraph by paragraph, despite having a new agreement drafted by Dave Domina in hand. The scrutiny came after Holt County attorney Brent Kelly presented a preliminary agreement drafted by the Omaha attorney who was hired by the county officials on a 4-2 vote Oct. 31, 2019, to negotiate a road-haul agreement with TC Energy. At Kelly’s suggestion, the supervisors held an execut...
Budd D. Sholes, 40, of Norfolk was sentenced last week in Holt County district court for December 2018 and January 2019 crimes committed in Holt County. The Honorable Mark Kozicek ordered Sholes to serve four terms in a facility under jurisdiction of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. If he loses none of his good time, Sholes must serve 15 months, less five days credited for time served in the county jail, before becoming eligible for parole, and 60 months (five years), less five days, before mandatory release. Sholes pleaded...
An Oakdale man has removed his case from the Antelope County court, at least temporarily. Garrett Hill, 23, was scheduled for sentencing on two misdemeanor traffic counts last Wednesday, Feb. 5. He filed documents to appeal his conviction to the Nebraska Supreme Court on Jan. 29, along with several other writs. The Honorable Donna Taylor denied his application to proceed informa pauperis with the appeal, ruling it is procedurally frivolous. She then informed Hill he had 30 days to come up with the $126 filing fee. Hill confirmed it was his...
Darrel Timm of Neligh and Julie Krause of Brunswick were appointed to the Antelope County Extension Board by the county commissioners, when the county leaders met last week at the Neligh courthouse. Local extension educator Brittany Spieker proposed the appointments of Timm and Krause to replace Gayle Wortman and Derek Zuhlke, who had each completed two terms on the board. The new board members were affirmed on 4-0 votes of the commissioners. Commissioner Eli Jacob was absent. Spieker also presented the annual extension office report. She...
The Honorable Kale Burdick, in Holt County court last week, sentenced Joshua A. Boettcher, 28, to serve 30 days in the Holt County Jail for a Class 2 misdemeanor count of theft, less than $500. The complaint, filed in June 2019, stated Boettcher took movable property of another between Jan. 9, 2018, and Jan. 9, 2019. Boettcher will serve a 45-day sentence at the same time on a conviction of second-degree forgery, a Class 2 misdemeanor committed Oct. 27, 2018, included in the same complaint. As part of a plea agreement entered in October 2019,...
A Neligh man was sent to jail by the Honorable Donna Taylor last Wednesday for repeatedly circumventing an ignition interlock device ordered in a Pierce County sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol. Kasey Swyear, 28, was convicted in three Antelope County cases, after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutor Joe Abler. In the first case, Swyear changed his not guilty pleas to guilty on two counts committed Aug. 24, driving a vehicle without an interlock, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and speeding, 82 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone, an...
Orchard school board members took no official action, other than consent agenda items when they met in the high school business room Wednesday, Feb. 4. Orchard principal Cathy Cooper told board members negotiations with the teachers’ association had been completed, with the 2020-2021 base salary for Summerland teachers set at $35,000. Currently Unified teacher base is $34,700 and Ewing’s is $35,000. Cooper said it would basically be a raise for everybody. “The base went up or the salary schedule percentages increased,” she said. “One item that...
Holt County citizens filled the county supervisors’ meeting room in the courthouse last Friday morning as the county leaders took care of business. Bryan Steskal of Steskal read a letter penned by his wife, Diana Steskal, who was unable to attend the meeting. In the letter, Steskal wrote the Holt County zoning board members denied TransCanada’s conditional use permit until two conditions are met, including one that requires obtaining easements. Many, she said will most likely be appealed. She also cited three federal court cases filed aga...
The Honorable Mark Johnson, one of two judges who serve the seventh judicial district of Nebraska, took the bench in the Antelope County courtroom last Wednesday, Jan. 29. Johnson and the Honorable James Kube alternate annually as presiding judges in the Antelope County district court. Johnson sentenced a Pierce County woman to three consecutive jail terms for felony convictions. Karen R. Stewart, 46, of Osmond will spend 120 days in the Antelope County Jail, providing she loses no good time. She was sentenced to 180 days for a conviction of...
The O'Neill Volunteer Fire Department, its chief and two community members were recognized by Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts last week for service performed during the March 2019 floods. Ricketts made a stop in Holt County on Friday to present fire chief Terry Miles and members of the fire department with a flood hero proclamation. The award commemorates the department's rescue of a rural resident who was stranded in his home by the flood waters, as well as the volunteers' efforts in helping...
Bobbi Riser, Region 11 emergency manager, addressed the Antelope County commissioners at their Jan. 14 meeting. She said the Region 11 board had voted at their Dec. 12 meeting to cover the insurance cost for the NRIN equipment, leaving electricity to the tower being the only expense to the county. NRIN is a statewide communication system for law enforcement agencies, with cost of equipment and installation covered by the state. Riser also told the commissioners the county had been awarded a $1,000 grant through Emergency Preparedness program....
Michael Braband, 25, of Elgin faced the Honorable Kale Burdick Jan. 21, in the Holt County courtroom in O’Neill on a Class 2 misdemeanor count of issuing a bad check, less than $500. He entered a guilty plea per terms of a plea agreement reached with prosecutor Brent Kelly. Burdick sentenced Braband to pay a $50 fine, $34.01 restitution to First Stop in Atkinson and $50 costs. Braband wrote the check Sept. 4, 2019. Rowdy J. Berger, 26, of O’Neill entered an amended plea of guilty to a Class 3 misdemeanor count of driving under suspension aft...
An Antelope County commissioner, who was set to face a jury of his peers in the Antelope County courtroom this month, more than a year after the alleged theft of county property, had his trial continued when he faced the Honorable Donna Taylor last week. Eli Jacob, 66, of Clearwater, who is accused of taking a furnace from the Orchard county barn Jan. 1, 2019, appeared Jan. 15 for a pretrial hearing in the case. Madison County Attorney Joseph Smith, as special prosecutor for Antelope County, told Taylor he now anticipates a two- to four-day...
Charlie Henery was elected as chair of the Antelope County commissioners for 2020, when they met last week. Henery takes the gavel from Dean Smith, who took on the chairman duties when the former chair was removed from office. Regina Krebs, who was appointed to the board in October 2019, was elected vice chair. Henery and Krebs were each the only nominee for their positions, nominated by commissioners Eli Jacob and Carolyn Pedersen, respectively. Reorganization of the board was delayed until...
An Oakdale man was convicted of two crimes last Wednesday during a trial to the bench at the Antelope County courthouse in Neligh. Twenty-three-year-old self-litigant defendant Garrett A.H. Hill faced the Honorable Donna Taylor in the last case on the Jan. 15 docket. With other court activity wrapped up for the day, the courtroom was mostly clear, with the exception of a woman who accompanied the defendant, court staff, local media and several law enforcement officers - from the Nebraska State Patrol, Antelope County sheriff’s and Neligh p...
Several defendants were arraigned and/or sentenced by the Honorable Donna Taylor, when she presided over Antelope County court in Neligh last Wednesday, Jan. 15. Andrew C. Schumacher, 40, of Columbus faced Taylor for arraignment and a motion to suppress on a Class W misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, second offense. A plea agreement reached in the case resulted in the charge being amended to DUI, first offense, withdrawal of the motion to suppress and a joint recommend...
Three Holt County supervisors agreed, when the leaders met at the courthouse in O’Neill last Thursday, to serve on a committee to look for ways to improve efficiency within the road department. Road superintendent Gary Connot described several recent issues he attributed to lack of training, oversight and accountability. “I personally think we have got to get more oversight, more practical training and more instructions to our motorgrader operators,” he said. “We had a guy this last summer – we had the best set of roads in the county – in a per...
Sergio V, Velasquez, 31, of O’Neill was sentenced by the Honorable Kale Burdick in the Holt County court last Tuesday, Jan. 14, on three counts, Count II, no operator’s license, a Class 3 misdemeanor; Count III, refuse to submit to pretest, a Class 5 misdemeanor; and Count IV, refuse to submit to test, first offense, a Class W misdemeanor. Burdick sentenced him to fines of $75, $100 and $500, respectively; eight months’ probation, including fees totaling $210; and $50 costs of prosecution. Velasquez changed his not guilty pleas to guilty on the...
An old problem returned to the Antelope County commissioners’ table when the leaders gathered for the first 2020 meeting at the courthouse in Neligh last week. Judy Wilcox, accompanied by her husband, Dave Wilcox, was there to discuss wind turbine “ice sling policy.” County zoning administrator Liz Doerr also addressed the leaders regarding a Christmas Day icing event. Doerr described procedures followed, after she received notice from Commission chair Dean Smith and Wilcox. She referenced a text message from Smith, indicating numerous turbi...
Bill Tielke and Steve Boshart will retain their leadership positions on the Holt County Board of Supervisors. Tielke was re-elected by his peers as chairman of the supervisors, while Boshart was re-elected to chair the board of equalization. Pursuant to traditional policy, the two leaders will serve as vice chair for each other. County clerk Cathy Pavel presided over the election process until a chairman was elected, then turned the gavel over to Tielke for the balance of the annual organization meeting Jan. 9, at the Holt County Courthouse. Pa...
The Orchard advisory and original boards of education reorganized for the upcoming months, when they met in joint session last Monday, Jan. 6, at the school. Advisory board members Candace Hoke, DeAnna Clifton, Nathan Schwager and Kristi Schutt voted to retain the current officers for the remaining months, until the Summerland consolidation takes effect. Hoke will continue as president; with Schutt as vice president; Clifton, secretary; and Schwager, treasurer. Board committee members will also remain the same, including Clifton and Hoke on...
Jade T. Buss, 19, of Atkinson was fined by the Honorable Kale Burdick in the Holt County court last week, after changing his pleas to no contest on two counts amended pursuant to a plea agreement reached with Holt County prosecutor Brent Kelly. Burdick judged Buss guilty of the July 2 offenses and sentenced him to pay a $175 fine on Count I, failure to report a property damage accident, a Class 2 misdemeanor; and $175 on Count III, reckless driving, a Class 3 misdemeanor; and $60 cost of prosecution. Kelly reduced Count I from a Class 3A...
Antelope County zoning administrator Liz Doerr issued 168 permits in 2020, according a summary she presented to county commissioners Jan. 7. Permits issued generated more than $44,000 in revenue for the county, including $250 in late fees. The value of non-wind turbine permitted projects was projected at just shy of $4 million. By township, building permits issued include: Blaine, one permit, with estimated value of $150; Burnett, two permits, $305,000; Cedar, four, $100,200; Clearwater, three, $32,700; Crawford, two, $400,000; Custer, three,...
Three defendants were sentenced by the Honorable Mark Kozisek for crimes committed in 2018, on Monday, Jan. 13, in the Holt County district courtroom in O’Neill. Preston D. Janzing, 39, of Atkinson was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with credit given for one day previously served; a 24-month term of probation, including $930 fees; and a $1,000 fine. After deliberating about two and one-half hours, a jury found Janzing guilty of three of four counts Sept. 11, 2019, Count I, aiding and abetting kidnapping; Count II, strangulation; and Count IV, f...
