Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 726 - 746 of 746
Two Antelope County residents have submitted applications to fill the seats of recently recalled county commissioners Allan Bentley and Tom Borer. As of press time Tuesday afternoon, Antelope County Clerk Lisa Payne had received two applications, one for each involved district. Applications may still be submitted for the positions. Candidates must be registered voters in, and residents of, their respective commissioner districts, either District 3 or District 5. District 3 includes the north half of Neligh Township, all of Blaine and Ellsworth...
The Nebraska auditor of public accounts released results Holt County's annual audit last week. The report covers July 2018 to June 2019, and includes numerous areas of concern for internal control that were listed in a letter sent to the county board of supervisors Sept. 10. The report is a matter of public record and is posted on the APA's website. Deann Haeffner, APA assistant deputy auditor, noted in the letter that the report is "critical in nature" as it addresses areas noted for...
Attendees at the Sept. 10 Antelope County Commissioners' meeting at Neligh's courthouse found new accommodations for hearing county business. A new sound system, including microphones in front of each commissioner, County Clerk Lisa Payne and at the witness table, had been installed. Commissioner Dean Smith acknowledged Invenergy officials for the donation. "I think it is much needed, I have always felt that it was. I appreciated you doing that for the county," he said. "I think it will be a...
The Honorable Donna Taylor sentenced several individuals when she presided over Antelope County Court on Monday, Sept. 9. Tegan O. McLean, 19, of Creighton was sentenced to 30 days in the Antelope County Jail for a conviction of false reporting, a Class 1 misdemeanor committed in Neligh on March 6. In addition, he was fined $500 for a count of possession of marijuana, one ounce to one pound, a Class 3 misdemeanor. He was given credit for three days previously served and assessed $62 costs. A count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor w...
County leaders spent about an hour mulling six “options” for managing Antelope County’s finances in the coming year, when they met last week at the courthouse in Neligh. Lisa Payne, county clerk, presented the commissioners with six scenarios for the annual budget, ranging from what she called the “golden egg” with its seven-cent levy increase, to one that called for no change in the county’s slice of a taxpayer’s pie. She cautioned that the figures were “very preliminary,” intended to give the commissioners a picture to work from. The high en...
The Orchard Public School Advisory Board of Education faced a short agenda when they met last Wednesday at the high school. Board members heard from Principal Cathy Cooper that enrollment numbers used for football classification, as of last Wednesday, sat at 47, the maximum allowed for eight-man participation, in order to qualify for state playoffs. An increase in the number of boys enrolled in grades nine, 10 and 11 in any of the three schools, would push the future Bobcats to 11-man. Enrollment on Oct. 1 will determine classification....
A felony count of manslaughter of an unborn child was dismissed, without prejudice, Monday against Joey W. Crooker, 37, currently incarcerated at the Antelope County Jail. Crooker still faces a Class 2A felony count of first-degree sexual assault, alleged June 29 at a Grove Lake campground, with a preliminary hearing on the Antelope County Court docket at 11 a.m. Sept. 26. Crooker appeared with public defender, Charles Balsinger of Norfolk, on a motion to amend bond after the Class 2 felony was dropped. Prosecutor Joe Abler objected to...
Douglas D. Carpenter, 43, of Neligh faced the Honorable Michael Long in the Antelope County courtroom Tuesday, Sept. 3, for a bond hearing. He was arrested early Sept. 1 by Neligh Police Chief Michael Wright, on counts alleged Aug. 31. Charges include stalking and resisting arrest, both Class 1 misdemeanors, and disturbing the peace, a Class 3 misdemeanor. Long signed a probable cause for detention order Monday, Sept. 2, and ordered Carpenter appear in open court for the bond hearing, “because the defendant is currently on probation and b...
Two defendants, who appeared for hearings in the Antelope County District courtroom at Neligh last Wednesday, had bond revoked and were remanded to the custody of the county sheriff by the Honorable James Kube. Pre-court urinalysis showed the presence of methamphetamine in both defendants. Patrick Carney of Norfolk, public defender, represented both men. It was a repeat performance for Jeff J. Wilson, 42, of McCook, who was scheduled for sentencing on assault and disturbing the peace offenses, along with arraignment on a charge stemming from a...
The atmosphere in the supervisors’ room at the Antelope County courthouse in Neligh became a bit explosive for a while last Thursday morning. A special Aug. 22 meeting of the county commissioners had been set, exclusively, for budget discussion. However, an item for setting the date of a special recall election was added to the agenda by Lisa Payne, county clerk. As the meeting began, Tom Borer, commission chairman, asked for a motion to remove the item from the agenda. Dean Smith complied, offering the motion. “I think we should wait for the c...
A 37-year old registered sex offender faced the Honorable Donna Taylor last Wednesday in Antelope County Court in Neligh, on charges of sexual assault and manslaughter of an unborn child. Formal charges of third-degree sexual assault, a Class 2 felony, and manslaughter of an unborn child, a Class 2A felony, were filed by Antelope County Attorney Joe Abler against Joey W. Crooker on Aug. 12, following an investigation by Antelope County Sheriff Bob Moore and Steven Binkard, a Holt County deputy....
Local entities that depend on tax receipts for operation will soon make levy decisions as they consider their annual budgets. Real estate valuations certified recently by Nebraska county assessors, including Kelly Mueller in Antelope County and Tim Wallinger in Holt County, factor into those decisions. Antelope County’s total valuation for 2019 is certified at $2,483.485,076, up just over $24 million or 0.98% from 2018. Mueller attributed nearly $34 million of the total value to growth (new construction), about $10 million more than the overall...
The Honorable Donna Taylor sentenced six individuals during the Aug. 21 session of Antelope County Court in Neligh. Jacob L. Boutwell, 41, of Oakdale appeared for a pretrial hearing on three charges. A plea agreement was reached with Joseph Abler, county prosecutor. In return for his guilty plea to a Class W misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol, second offense, charges of leaving the scene of an accident and driving during revocation/impound were dismissed. Taylor sentenced him to 90 days in the county jail, with credit...
A suspect is in custody on charges stemming from a bomb threat received at a Creighton school last week. Christi Johnson, 34, of Yankton turned herself in at the Knox County Jail on Saturday. She is currently charged with a misdemeanor count of false reporting. Students and staff at Creighton schools were evacuated last Wednesday, after a phone call was received at the public school at approximately 1:20 p.m., stating, "Robert said there is a bomb in the school." Staff and students were...
Two residents of the Royal community faced the Antelope County commissioners at their Aug. 13 meeting, asking the county leaders to intercede in the case of a dog running at large. Marlowe Jensen and Justin Jensen came to the meeting armed with copies of state statutes dealing with dangerous dogs, claiming the documents required the county sheriff to bring charges against the dog’s owner. “I was harassed by a dog,” Marlowe Jensen said, adding “It chased a deputy into Justin’s house.” “It’s the only dog in town that’s running loose,” his son s...
A Texas man, arrested by the Antelope County Sheriff’s Department, accused of being a fugitive from justice, appeared in Antelope County Court last week. George Tyler Livingston, 38, was wanted on three active Wichita County, Texas, warrants dating back to 2016, according to a court document filed by Antelope County Attorney Joe Abler on Tuesday, Aug. 13. The warrants listed allegations including a felony, theft of tools from his previous employer, driving under the influence and subsequent bond violations in Texas. Livingston appeared b...
The Antelope County commissioners approved preliminary levy allocation requests from political subdivisions, when they met at the courthouse in Neligh on Aug. 6. Regina Krebs addressed the commissioners regarding annual levy allocations for the subdivisions, including rural fire districts, the Antelope County Ag Society and the Antelope County Airport Authority. In past years, the board had sometimes denied the subdivision levy requests, in order to allow the county general budget to levy the...
The Orchard advisory school board approved several policies when three members and Principal Cathy Cooper met last week at the school. Board member Nathan Schwager was absent. The policies included several to align activity policies in the three schools forming the Summerland Bobcat cooperative, Orchard, Clearwater and Ewing, along with changes recommended by the state school board association. Several statewide changes deal with electronic nicotine delivery systems, alternative nicotine products, tobacco products, look-alikes and products...
The Honorable Donna Taylor handed down multiple sentences, along with hearing an array of other cases that filled the county court docket at the Antelope County Courthouse in Neligh last week. Minor in Possession Sentences Nine sentences involved Class 3 misdemeanor minor in possession charges, seven of them stemming from the recent Clearwater rodeo. Taylor cautioned defendants that subsequent alcohol-related offenses would result in higher fines and possible jail time. Katelynn E. Mullin, 18, of Danbury, Iowa, pleaded guilty and was sentenced...
Findings by a private law firm, engaged by the Antelope County commissioners to investigate one of their own, was made public recently, after the investigation itself became the focus in efforts to recall two commissioners. Woods & Aitken LLP, a firm with offices in Lincoln and Omaha, was hired to conduct an independent investigation of Eli Jacob, Antelope County commissioner and former road department worker, after he was accused of the theft of a heater and other items, according a memorandum...
Christofer N. Carstens, 21, of Oakdale pleaded not guilty to a Class 2 felony count, intentional child abuse resulting in serious bodily harm, last Wednesday, July 31, in Antelope County District Court in Neligh. The Honorable James Kube accepted the plea, setting a pretrial hearing for 9 a.m. Aug. 28. Trial is set Oct. 15. Antelope County Attorney Joe Abler said Carstens knowingly caused his minor child injury that endangered the infant’s life May 24 and May 25. A report filed by Antelope County Sheriff Robert Moore in June alleged Carstens ad...
