Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Grassroots government is thriving in Nebraska. There are eight petitions circulating with hopes of making the 2024 General Election ballot, according to Secretary of State Bob Evnen. The action is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gives people the right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances.” From the old familiar legalizing medical marijuana to an exemption of grocery items from sales tax, various groups or individuals are seeking the signatures of registered voters to support their cau...
PROCEEDINGS PUBLIC HEARING Solar Energy Regulations HOLT COUNTY PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION A special public hearing of the Holt County Planning and Zoning Commission was held at 7 p.m., July 10, 2023, at the Holt County Annex. Present were commission members: Grace Coleman, Mary Kaczor, Dan Grass, John Krysl, Keith May, Kevin Dekay and Marv Fritz. Absent were commission members Frank Heying and Rod Heiss. Notice of this meeting was given in advance by posting in three publications and posted in Holt County Clerk’s office. All proceedings h...
Katie Lee, a cookbook author, cooked up the perfect essence of summer when she said, “If summer had one defining scent, it’d definitely be the smell of barbecue.” Oh, so true. Summertime takes me back to days gone by, recreating visions of Dad grilling steak or pork chops on a charcoal grill in the backyard. The waft of barbecue reminds me of burgers on the grill and neighborhood get-togethers. And, since I’m writing this three days before my favorite holiday, I’m craving a juicy, stuffed b...
Seward County routinely seizes money from motorists on Interstate 80, keeps the cash – and never convicts the drivers of a crime. The county's sheriff's department and county attorney use this practice, known as civil asset forfeiture, so often that a third of all cases of this kind in Nebraska state courts come from Seward County, population 17,962, a Flatwater Free Press analysis of court records shows. The county has hauled in $7.5 million in forfeited cash in the past five years, some of i...
Six veterans with local ties to the Clearwater community found themselves wrapped in warmth, Friday, as they received a Quilt of Valor® made by the Stars, Stripes and Stitches QoV group, based in Shelby. Eileen Krumbach, a member of the quilter's group, presented each veteran with a color blanket. Local Legion Auxiliary members Kay Klabenes and Shirley Clinton draped the quilts around the soldiers' shoulders and thanked them for their service Veterans present at the ceremony heard the story...
Clearwater native, Chris Stamp, achieved a bucket-list goal in 2022 when he opened a box and pulled out one of the copies of this first published book "Just Me ... In a Tree:" Stamp, the son of longtime Clearwater residents Jerry and Sharon Stamp and a 1986 graduate of Clearwater High School, has artwork that dates from 1987 included in his collection of fishing and hunting stories that span from about that time to 2022. In addition to personal artwork, his book includes 60 stories and some 200...
Michael F. Doty, 30, Norfolk, formerly of Page, appeared in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh for sentencing May 31, on a count of making terroristic threats, a crime committed last June in Orchard. Upon questioning by the Honorable James Kube, Doty said he had only a vague recollection of threatening his sister and brother-in-law June 28, 2022, at their Orchard home. He said he was under the influence of alcohol and methamphetamine at the time. He told Kube he is currently living in a...
The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, in Curtis, recognized 87 graduates, during spring commencement on May 4. Students from 13 states, including Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Geoergia, Tennessee, Texas, California, Vermont, Virginia, New Jersey and Minnesota comprised the class of 2023. Emma Hollenback, of Ewing, earned an Associate of Science Degree in veterinary technology systems....
HASTINGS - On a windy Saturday morning, a woman stood onstage at the Hastings City Auditorium. Her hair was a plume of fiery red, and she wore a jean jacket and pants with matching embroidery. As she moved, the dozens of silver rings on her fingers clacked against the microphone. She wore a silver belt buckle, and carved into the middle of it was a symbol that appeared thousands of times across the event hall: on t-shirts, mugs, hats, jackets, backpacks, books and more. Bigfoot. Meet Harriet McFeely, the Bigfoot Lady of Nebraska. For the last...
Funeral services for James T. Meyer, 96, of Orchard, will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, June 2, at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Orchard. Visitation will be Thursday, June 1, from 5 to 7 p.m., at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Orchard. Burial will be in the St. Peter Lutheran Cemetery. Ashburn Funeral home in Orchard is in charge of arrangements. James Theodore Meyer was born Dec. 24, 1926, three miles east and 5.5 miles north of Orchard, to Theodore and Carrie (Noring) Meyer. He went to his...
With less than two weeks left in the session, the 108th Legislature is dragging an overburdened $12.975 billion budget to the finish line. Passing the budget is the only thing lawmakers are constitutionally required to accomplish. As introduced by the Appropriations Committee, the budget proposal would result in a projected ending balance of almost $715 million above the 3% required minimum reserve. This amount would be available to fund proposals pending before the Legislature this session....
A 20-year-old Atkinson man was bound over to the Holt County district court on three Class 4 felony counts of soliciting prostitution, with the alleged person solicited being under the age of 18. Jerry D. Beall Jr. waived his right to counsel and his right to a preliminary hearing when he faced the Honorable Kale Burdick on the allegations in the Holt County courtroom in O’Neill on May 9. He is set for arraignment in the district court May 22. The complaint, filed by Holt County attorney Brent Kelly on April 19, alleges the crimes were c...
PROCEEDINGS VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER BOARD OF TRUSTEES May 8, 2023 The Board of Trustees of the Village of Clearwater met for a regular meeting Monday, May 8, at 8 p.m., in the fire hall meeting room. Meeting opened at 8 p.m. Notice of meeting was given in advance by publication in "Summerland Advocate-Messenger," posted at US Post Office in Clearwater, Clearwater Market, and Cornerstone Bank-Clearwater and was given to board members prior to meeting. Public was informed of location of Open Meeting Act poster. Present: Kelly Kerkman, Marsha Hart,...
A Clearwater mobile home is uninhabitable following a Thursday morning fire. The mobile home, located at 207 Colorado Street, is considered a complete loss. The property is owned by Antonio Mendez, according to Antelope County Gworks data. She and three other individuals resided at the property. They all were able to exit the structure without injury. Clearwater fire chief Steve Hankla said approximately a dozen fire fighters responded to the call. "We had two tankers, two grass rigs and one...
This week saw the Legislature debate the mainline state budget. The latest projections from the Economic Forecasting Board lowered revenue projections for the current fiscal year by $80 million to $6.36 billion. The adjustment was based on anticipated decrease of $200 million in individual income, sales and use tax receipts, offset in part by projected increases of $120 million in corporate and miscellaneous tax receipts. Total projected revenue receipts for Fiscal Year 2023-24, however, were ra...
Antelope and Holt counties are two of the 55 Nebraska counties designated as primary natural disaster areas, due to a recent drought. United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack notified Gov. Jim Pillen of the designation, March 31. Based on the U.S. Drought Monitor data, counties included in the designation either suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season for eight or more consecutive weeks or fell into extreme or exceptional drought categories....
Michael Doty of 29, of Page faced the Honorable James Kube in the Antelope County district courtroom in Neligh on March 29, for pretrial hearing on two Class 3A felony counts. He was charged with making terroristic threats and a Class 3 misdemeanor, disturbing the peace. A plea agreement was announced by Doty’s attorney, Antelope County public defender Pat Carney. Antelope County attorney Joe Smith dismissed one terroristic threat count and the disturbing the peace charge and agreed to file no further charges in the case. In return, Doty p...
While speaking at a recent high school career fair, I outlined my high school plan following graduation: go to law school, move to Chicago and secure a job on Printer’s Row. At the time, I’d never been to Chicago ... I’d visited other spots in Illinois and liked them. I wouldn’t arrive in Chicago until 20 years after I graduated high school. I was a grad student at Northwestern University; living in Evanston and taking the ‘L’ into Chicago proper cemented my choice to live in the Cornhusker...
The state of the state on its 156th birthday. It's still a very red, heavily conservative and largely Republican mecca situated in one of those mostly square states out west that a lot of people couldn't find on an unmarked map. And we like it that way. Well, a lot of us seem to. Might that change? Could Nebraska be the place where high school and college graduates want to stay? Could it become a magnet for young people and innovation? Progress in that direction is slow but it could happen....
A Colorado man and an area teenager were both sentenced to jail last Wednesday, Feb. 22, by the Honorable James Kube when he presided from the Antelope County district court bench at the courthouse in Neligh. Both men requested probation sentences so they could take advantage of treatment for substance addiction. Although Kube ruled neither was a candidate for probation, he told them he would give them an opportunity for the structure and treatment options afforded by post-release supervision by the probation office. Both were given 18 months...
Mike Donahue understands pressure teenagers face. The Massachusetts native grew up "in a dysfunctional home" and internalized the pain and pressure he felt. Eventually, that led to a pattern of bullying, feeding his emotions with the devaluing of someone else. After a stint in the U.S. Air Force and as a youth pastor in Colorado, Donahue, who now lives in Omaha, visits schools across the world, sharing a message about knowing one's worth. Donahue addressed Summerland parents and patrons,...
Jake R. Short, 22, of Meadow Grove appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor in the Antelope County court in Neligh on Jan. 18, alongside Antelope County public defender Pat Carney, to be sentenced for second-degree forgery, a Class 2 misdemeanor committed nearly one year ago. Taylor fined Short $200 and assessed $50 costs. Restitution of $433.73 had been paid and a second forgery count was dismissed by deputy Antelope County attorney, Joe Smith, as agreed to by the late county attorney, Joe Abler, in an October 2022 plea agreement....
Three bills that would alter Nebraska fire-arm laws were the topic of controversy for four and half hours on Thursday, Jan. 26. Dozens of constituents gathered to testify in front of the Judiciary Committee at the Nebraska State Capitol to testify on separate bills that would, respectively, waive training requirements for concealed carry permits, require suicide awareness training for the same permits and allow off-duty police officers to carry handguns when picking up their children on school...
Watch out, Nebraska. Old man winter is about to spread a blanket of snow across the region. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for a large portion of Nebraska, including Holt, Antelope, Wheeler and Knox counties, effective 6 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 18 through 6 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 19. Heavy snow accumulations, of six to 12 inches, are predicted. Travel will be difficult. According to NWS officials, "The hazardous conditions will impact Wednesday and Thursday morning...
Summerland Public School students will go green next year - at least on one route - as an electric bus is added to the district's fleet. Board of education members approved acceptance of a $395,000 grant that will cover the purchase of a bus and a charging station to be installed at the school. The district was notified earlier this fall it was one of six Nebraska recipients of a grant to purchase an electric bus. Other districts receiving the grant include Hay Springs, Hershey, McCool...
