Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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In 2020, as the country voted in and then sweated out a razor-thin presidential election, the voters of Clay County in rural south-central Nebraska participated in numbers never seen in this century. The number of potential voters living in the county had barely budged since 2016. And yet, during the 2020 election, some 507 more voters cast ballots than had in 2016 – a 16% spike. In total, some 84% of Clay County's 4,271 registered voters cast ballots, far higher than Nebraska's statewide t...
This week, the Legislature took up the issues of property taxes and adjustments to the state budget. Much of the focus remained on the package crafted by the Revenue Committee and attached to LB34 by Senator Brewer in place of LB1 and LB9. In a long day of constant changes, LB34 was originally intended to resemble LB1 and LB9. During debate, several concerns were raised, including counties and municipalities who opposed the proposed caps, schools that were hesitant that the Legislature could...
Governor Jim Pillen wants all state government employees at their desks in their assigned departments beginning next month. He said the pandemic-era remote is over, although both empirical and anecdotal evidence nationwide show a workplace change that was pandemic caused has become the new normal. Oh, and never mind the fact that some state agencies have remote and telework policies that have been in place for 15 years. And, of course, not every department has the physical space available for...
The farmer was growing impatient. He and dozens of other central Nebraska farmers had gathered for mandatory training in Columbus a few weeks before last Christmas. In response to high nitrate levels, the Lower Loup Natural Resources District had designated a "Phase 3 area." That led to new requirements – like this training to help farmers manage their nitrogen fertilizer use. The farmer didn't like this. He told NRD leaders he had been drinking water containing nitrate at 40 parts per m...
Dialogue between Antelope County Commissioners and members of the Antelope County Patriot group became contentious, at times, during the Oct. 11 commissioners’ meeting in Neligh. Prior to the Patriots’ presentation, county attorney Joe Abler suggested the board enter executive session to review a letter from Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, regarding clarification of terms in the state’s election statutes. Following executive session, which lasted approximately 15 minutes, audie...
One day after listening to community comment about a potential purchase of Ewing School property, Village of Ewing Board of Trustees voted to offer the Summerland School District, $10,000 for all Ewing school property and contents, contingent on passage of a 1% sales tax in this November's election. The motion was made following a short executive session and passed 4-0. Trustee Dustin Jorgensen was absent. Summerland School Board of Education approved a sale of the Orchard School property at...
The Legislature gave final approval to the budget bills. During the 90-day legislative session, the biennial budget is crafted. During the 60-day session, adjustments are made. This was a much more demanding task this year due to the increased revenue projections and the influx of federal money due to the pandemic. The budget was filibustered at every stage of debate, not because of what was in it, but due to possible amendments that could have been added. The budget sets aside $175 million for...
Mike Klabenes, a Clearwater village board trustee who was elected as a write-in candidate in the November 2020 General Election, will step down from his position at the end of March. Klabenes told fellow officials, during the Jan. 10 village board meeting, he and his family will be moving to Neligh. Klabenes will also resign from the village’s planning and zoning board....
Madeleine Grant and Brooke Wrage Nebraska News Service LINCOLN--Nebraska lawmakers continue to push for marijuana legislation this session. On Feb. 19, the Nebraska Legislature Judiciary Committee heard six bills relating to the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana. Substance possession penalties State senators are considering a bill to change the penalty for controlled substance possession. LB 287, was introduced by Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha to lessen penalties for possession of unusable amounts of controlled substances under the...
Lisa Payne is relieved the 2020 general election is behind her. The Antelope County clerk and election commissioner jokingly described the stress of prepping for the election as about an 11 on a scale of one to 10. “I would say the stress is normal,” Payne said. “We are still finishing up.” She has seen many elections since she started working for the county clerk’s office in May 2005. Payne was elected as the county clerk in 2014 and took office the next year. She noted the 3,615 voters ou...
The Antelope County results are in for the 2020 general election. County clerk and election commissioner Lisa Payne noted 3,615 voters out of the 4,570 registered in the county cast ballots before and on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The people who turned out for the election voted for candidates who were running for positions at the local, county, regional, state and federal levels. "We counted 1,340 early voters, leaving 2,275 voting in person on Election Day," Payne said. "I did not hear of any problems...
The voters of Holt County have spoken by casting ballots in the 2020 general election. Important local races, combined with a battle for the White House, brought 78.6% of the county's registered voters to select their choices for leadership positions. County clerk and election commissioner, Cathy Pavel, said of the county's 7,144 registered voters, 5,615 voted. "Early voters totaled 2,163 and 3,462 individuals voted at the polls. Very busy all day with voting," Pavel said. Vote counts for local...
The village of Orchard's shop building went up in flames Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 3. Firefighters from Orchard and Royal responded to a call of a structure fire about 10 minutes before 4 p.m. The shop building is located directly behind the structure where the village office is located at 230 Windom St. Orchard Fire Chief Duane Risinger said the fire was "about two hose lengths away from the fire hall." An incident command vehicle from the Neligh Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the...
General election results, from Nov. 3, 2020, for Antelope County, include: President Tilden 1st: Trump/Pence: 87 Biden/Harris: 15 Jorgensen/Cohen: 0 Write-in: 1 Tilden Precinct: Trump/Pence: 101 Biden/Harris: 9 Jorgensen/Cohen: 1 Oakdale: Trump/Pence: 152 Biden/Harris: 18 Jorgensen/Cohen: 3 Neligh P: Trump/Pence: 154 Biden/Harris: 10 Jorgensen/Cohen: 2 Neligh 1: Trump/Pence: 234 Biden/Harris: 21 Jorgensen/Cohen: 2 Neligh 2: Trump/Pence: 163 Biden/Harris: 21 Jorgensen/Cohen: 6 Brunswick:...
Local races in the 2020 general election may pique voters' attention this year. Holt County voters have until Friday, Oct. 23, at 6 p.m., to request ballots by mail or fax a request to vote early in this year's election. Individuals may request a ballot in person by Nov. 2, at 5 p.m., at the Holt County Clerk's office in O'Neill. Holt County Clerk Cathy Pavel said 1,900 early voting requests have been received, as of Tuesday morning. All early voting ballots must be received by the county...
Antelope County residents who want to request ballots for early voting in the 2020 general election soon will run out of time to do so. The deadline for requesting ballots by mail or fax a request to vote early in this year's general election – scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3 – is 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23. County residents who want to request ballots in person to vote early, must do so by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at the county clerk's office inside the courthouse in Neligh. All ballots for early vot...
A Holt County supervisor recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference. Bill Tielke, chairman of the county supervisor board, was notified in January that he had been appointed to the association's Environment, Energy and Land Use Policy Steering Committee. The committee is responsible for matters pertaining to air, water, energy and land use – including such things as water resources/management; stormwater; pesticides; a...
UPDATED: APRIL 1, 2020 @ 8:04 P.M. North Central District Health Department, in communication with state officials, have signed the NCDHD counties, including Antelope, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Holt, Keya Paha, Knox, Pierce and Rock, into the Directed Health Measures, effective April 1, at 10 p.m., through May 11, unless the order is extended. Please read the Directed Health Measures in full carefully, they can be found on the Department of Health and Human Services website at htt...
The Nebraska Primary Election is May 12, 2020. Holt County received a lot of interest in filing for offices, but due to auto-advance rules, all local school board races, county supervisor district six, city races, airport authorities, Natural Resource Districts, Nebraska Public Power District and Northeast Community College races will not appear on the Primary Election ballot. These races will appear on the General Election ballot. Holt County voters will be voting on the president, Senate and Congress representatives. Local issues that will...
One of the bills that I introduced this session was LB 770. It authorizes a free lifetime park permit for disabled veterans. This past week, LB 770 was advanced from the Natural Resources Committee on an 8-0 vote. I designated it as my priority bill and the Legislature gave it first-round approval on a 38-0 vote. Under LB 770, a veteran would be eligible for the free permit if they are a Nebraska resident, honorably discharged, and rated 50% or more service-connected disabled or 100% disabled, n...
It's official. Thursday morning, the state committee for the reorganization of school districts approved dissolution of Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard Public School districts and the formation of the Summerland school district, effective June 6, during a 29-minute public hearing at the Nebraska Department of Education in Lincoln. The reorganization plan passed 4-0. Committee member Gerry Osborn was absent. Nebraska Unified School District #1 Superintendent Dale Martin told the committee...
Phase one: complete. With last week's successful passage of the Summerland school bond, board of education members from Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard planned to meet Wednesday, Nov. 20, in Ewing, to start phase two of the consolidation and building processes. Ewing Principal Greg Appleby said, "We have a lengthy agenda to discuss a number of items, including policy." Dale Martin, superintendent of Nebraska Unified District #1, which includes Clearwater and Orchard, said a number of items need...
Phase one: complete. With Tuesday's successful passage of the Summerland school bond, board of education members from Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard plan to meet Wednesday, Nov. 20, in Ewing, to start phase two of the consolidation and building processes. Ewing Principal Greg Appleby said, "We have a lengthy agenda to discuss a number of items, including policy." Dale Martin, superintendent of Nebraska Unified District #1, which includes Clearwater and Orchard, said a number of items need to be...
Drama unfolded once again and the county attorney was called in for advice at a meeting of the Antelope County commissioners at the Neligh courthouse last Tuesday, Oct. 1. The final item on the agenda, taxpayer concerns/general comment/Regina Krebs, was moved up. Krebs assists various county officials and subdivisions with budget preparation and, in her capacity as a certified public accountant, has conducted audits of public entities, including Antelope County in years past. She introduced...
Why are the Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard school boards calling a special bond election November 12th? For several years, the three school boards have been working to find the best solution to address needs each district faces when it comes to operational efficiency, enrollment limitations, aging facilities and limited program offerings for students and families in their communities. Following a rigorous process of identifying the urgent needs, utilizing community engagement to determine an effe...
