Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 156
The Antelope County commissioners were faced with issues arising from two recent road decisions when they met last Tuesday, Feb. 11, at the courthouse in Neligh. Working through the agenda, commissioners examined and approved payroll and vendor claims, all with an eye on the clock, completing their work before noon. A quorum for the afternoon was at risk, due to two commissioners indicating afternoon obligations elsewhere and commissioner Regina Krebs' absence. Casey Dittrich, who has served as Antelope County road boss for the last four...
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...
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...
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...
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....
David Willats, 91, of rural Orchard, died Thursday, Jan. 23. Services were held Monday, Jan. 27, at Cornerstone Bible Church in Orchard. Ashburn Funeral Home in Orchard was in charge of arrangements. ~~~ David Lloyd George Willats was born to Robert and Florence (Moore) Willats on May 9, 1928, in Orchard. He graduated from Orchard High School in 1945. He was a veteran of the Korean war. David married Dixie Lea Stevens on Nov. 17, 1956. To this union were born two daughters and two sons. David was a rancher/farmer all his life. He was active in...
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...
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...
Two defendants waived their rights to preliminary hearings and were bound over to Antelope County district court when they faced the Honorable Donna Taylor in county court Monday, Jan. 13. Robert E. Wagle, 35, of Summerville, South Carolina, appeared on three charges, Count I, theft by unlawful taking, more than $5,000, a Class 2A felony; Count II, first-degree false imprisonment, a Class 3A felony; and Count III, operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, a Class 4 felony, all alleged Dec. 5. Antelope County attorney Joe Abler dismissed Count...
Ronald E. Frazier, 47, of Neligh faced the Honorable Donna Taylor on Monday. Dec. 30, for arraignment on two counts committed Dec. 15 in Neligh, Count I, driving under the influence of alcohol, and Count II, refusal to submit to chemical test, both Class W misdemeanors. Frazier pleaded no contest and was judged guilty by Taylor. She ordered $500 fines on each count, six months revocation of his driver's license on each count, concurrent to each other, along with 10 days in the county jail on...
Robert E. Wagle, 35, of Summerville, South Carolina, faced the Honorable Donna Taylor on Monday, Dec. 30, on three felony counts, theft by unlawful taking, more than $5,000, a Class 2A felony; first-degree false imprisonment, a Class 3A felony; and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, a Class 4 felony, all alleged Dec. 5. Taylor set bond at $200,000, 10% cash, and set a preliminary hearing for Jan. 13. Antelope County public defender Patrick Carney of Norfolk was appointed Dec. 11 to...
The Honorable James Kube presided over Antelope County district court last week in the final 2019 session. The Honorable Mark Johnson will serve Antelope County in 2020. Kube arraigned two individuals on felony charges. Matthew C. Waters, 34, a South Dakota man currently held in the Antelope County Jail, faced the judge on two counts related to a multi-county pursuit that ended near Royal in November. He is charge with two Class 4 felonies, attempted assault on a law enforcement officer with a...
Antelope County Commissioners adopted a new snow removal policy when they met last Tuesday at the courthouse in Neligh. Casey Dittrich, road superintendent, presented the policy that he and road foreman Aaron Boggs have been drafting over the past few weeks, with input from Tim Baxter from the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency, the county’s liability-insurance carrier. Input also came from road crew members and, according to Dittrich, has the “blessing” of county attorney Joe Abler. The policy establishes protocol for the order...
The Honorable Donna Taylor cleared a dozen cases from the Antelope County court docket during a busy morning last Wednesday, Dec. 4. Alexander E. Huffman, 33, of Neligh appeared without counsel for arraignment on a count of disturbing the peace, a Class 3 misdemeanor committed Dec. 2, in Neligh. Huffman waived his right to counsel and pleaded guilty. Huffman told Taylor he “got way too drunk and wanted to go to Valley Hope,” and although he couldn’t afford it, he was determined to drive there, which “would have been a very bad idea,” he said....
A 34-year-old Colton, South Dakota man, who led multiple law enforcement agencies on a pursuit across northeast Nebraska last Monday, made his first appearance in the Antelope County courtroom on Wednesday. Matthew D. Waters faced the Honorable Donna Taylor briefly on two Class 4 felony counts, attempted assault on an officer with a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest. Waters requested court-appointed counsel. Taylor held an indigency hearing, appointed public defender...
With a full board seated at the table, the Antelope County commissioners addressed dust issues on a county road for the second week in a row. Commissioners Carolyn Pedersen and Regina Krebs, who were appointed to fill vacancies the week prior, were sworn into office by Linda Mitchell, Antelope County court magistrate, prior to the nearly six-hour meeting at the courthouse in Neligh last Tuesday, Nov. 12. Tension appeared as issues arose regarding timing of agenda disbursement to commissioners,...
Dean Smith of Brunswick presided over his first meeting as chairman of the Antelope County commissioners last Tuesday, moving to the position from vice chairman after the former chair was removed from office. Two new commissioners had not yet been appointed, leaving Smith, Charlie Henery and Eli Jacob as seated board members to take care of business. The board addressed issues related to a road included in the Thunderhead wind farm road-use agreement. Listed on the agenda under the road...
The Honorable James Kube gave his stamp of approval on two plea agreements in the Antelope County district courtroom in Neligh last Wednesday, Oct. 31. Karen R. Stewart, 46, of Osmond, accompanied by public defender Martin Klein of Neligh, appeared on charges in four cases, two new cases and two dating back to 2018. In the first case, she faced a charge of possession of methamphetamine, alleged June 30, 2018, in eastern Antelope County, near Plainview. The second case involved another...
Jesse J. White, 27, of Creighton faced the Honorable Donna Taylor last Wednesday, Oct. 16. Originally charged with a felony count of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, White was scheduled for a preliminary hearing. However, after a review of the charge revealed the statute cited had been removed from state law, Antelope County Attorney Joe Abler amended the complaint, charging White with two misdemeanor counts, false reporting, a Class 1 misdemeanor; and leaving the scene of a property-damage accident, a Class 2 misdemeanor....
A 27-year-old Creighton man was arrested on a felony charge after a Sept. 29 one-vehicle accident in Orchard. The Antelope County Sheriff’s Department was called to the scene, near 4th and Harrison streets, where a 2006 Silverado, registered to Travis Suhr of Creighton, had hit a tree at approximately 5:30 a.m. The reporting party told authorities two people had fled on foot. An investigation, by Deputy John Shaver, led to Suhr’s residence, where Jesse J. White was located with minor injuries allegedly sustained in the accident. He denied nee...
Danial C. Hohrein, 41, of Oakdale faced the Honorable James Kube for sentencing in the Antelope County District Court at Neligh last Wednesday, on a conviction of reckless driving. Kube was informed that a pre-court urinalysis was positive for THC. When asked by the judge, Hohrein denied smoking marijuana, saying he had used a topical product containing cannabidiol oil, a product derived from marijuana blossoms, for his back. Hohrein was convicted of the Class 3 misdemeanor July 31, after he...
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...
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...
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...
