Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Voters in two Antelope County commissioner districts spoke, ousting District 3 Commissioner Allan Bentley, of Neligh, and District 5 Commissioner Tom Borer, of Elgin. Unofficial results show 307 votes to recall Bentley, with 174 votes favoring his retention. In District 5, 337 votes were cast to recall Borer, while 187 no votes were returned. The canvassing board was scheduled to meet Wednesday, Oct. 16, to verify results. Pending verification, the two officials will receive notification of the...
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...
A special mail-in election, underway in Antelope County, will close next Tuesday, Oct. 15. County Clerk Lisa Payne has hired a receiving/counting board to help process ballots that day. County voters in two of the county's five commissioner districts received ballots through the United States Postal Service last week. The ballots ask voters if elected officials, Allan Bentley and Tom Borer, should be removed from their positions as county commissioners. "When a ballot is returned, it is logged...
CW Shoenemann, 48, 307 Montana Street, Clearwater, was sentenced on a village nuisance violation by the Honorable Donna Taylor during Oct. 2 Antelope County Court proceedings in the Neligh courtroom. Taylor ordered Shonemann to pay a $200 fine and $50 costs. He will be credited $150 if proof the property has been cleaned up is submitted by Nov. 20. Shonemann pleaded not guilty June 12 and was found guilty at a bench trial held Aug. 7. Garrett A. Fleischman, 26, of Oakland faced Taylor, with his...
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...
The Honorable Donna Taylor handed down six sentences, bound two felony cases over to district court and scheduled a jury trial last Thursday morning, Sept. 26. Eli Jacob, 66, of Clearwater was scheduled for pretrial hearing on a count of theft by unlawful taking, alleged from Antelope County in January. A motion for continuance to Oct. 16 was filed by the defense Sept. 23, “for the reason that the defendant’s wife has a medical appointment.” Jacob is represented by Jason Doele of Norfolk. Joey Crooker, 37, incarcerated in the Antelope Count...
Antelope County commissioners, after hearing comments from several constituents and county officials at a pair of public hearings Sept. 17, adopted the budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The $19,155,429 budget includes asking for $6,114,213 from taxpayers next year through a county levy of .246195. In order to balance all components of the budget, the levy computed by County Clerk Lisa Payne is about one-fourth cent more than the 2.5-cent increase proposed by commissioners in early...
Antelope County's annual audit report was released by the Nebraska auditor of public accounts office in August with fewer issues of concern to auditors than found in the previous audit of county financials. The single countywide issue prompted repeated advice for segregation of duties in offices. The NPA recommended officials weigh the cost to hire additional personnel against the benefit of segregating duties. County Attorney Joe Abler responded, "As noted and discussed during the previous...
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...
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....
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...
Antelope County Attorney Joe Abler contacted local media outlets, Aug. 19, issuing the following statement about the upcoming recall election of Antelope County Commissioners Tom Borer and Allan Bentley. Abler sent the statement to the Summerland Advocate-Messenger, The Elgin Review and Antelope County News, at 2:21 p.m., asking that the statement is published in its entirety if publishers choose to print it. Dear Antelope County Residents and Registered Voters: As I am sure you have all heard...
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...
Two Antelope County Commissioners will face a recall election after petition circulators submitted notarized forms to the Antelope County clerk Tuesday morning. Bethany Miller, of Elgin, and Jack Allemang, of Clearwater, presented petitions for the recall of district five commissioner Tom Borer, of rural Clearwater, and district three commissioner Allan Bentley, of Neligh, respectively. Petition circulators needed to collect 135 signatures to recall Bentley, while 203 needed to be gathered to...
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...
Antelope County Attorney Joe Abler contacted local media outlets, Aug. 19, issuing the following statement about the upcoming recall election of Antelope County Commissioners Tom Borer and Allan Bentley. Abler sent the statement to the Summerland Advocate-Messenger, The Elgin Review and Antelope County News, at 2:21 p.m., asking that the statement is published in its entirety if publishers choose to print it. Dear Antelope County Residents and Registered Voters: As I am sure you have all heard...
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...
