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 161
North Central District Health Department reported June 24, an Antelope County resident, in his 70s, was determined to be the first COVID-related death in the region. The individual was reported to have underlying health conditions. On June 29, NCDHD reported it is receiving an increase in trends for cases and direct contacts over the last week. With the July 4 holiday approaching and guidance loosening in the state, NCDHD reminds district residents to stay healthy and safe by being mindful of the importance of social distancing, only making...
North Central District Health Department has been made aware of two additional positive COVID-19 cases in Knox County. The first case, through contact investigations, has been deemed to be from community spread. Close contacts have been identified and asked to quarantine. The second case is currently under investigation. Contacts in this case have been identified and asked to quarantine. Residents of Knox County should assume the illness is in their community, as community spread is present in the county. NCDHD reminds residents that Test...
Charlie Henery, chairman of the Antelope County board of commissioners, told his peers, when they met at the courthouse last Tuesday, June 2, that the condition of a road north of Clearwater embarrassed him. Discussion on 854 Road began as commissioner Eli Jacob asked the road superintendent his timeline for grinding a two mile stretch of 516 Avenue, from Clearwater north to the cemetery. Road boss Aaron Boggs said he first needed to know "where we're going with it." "Well, we either have to...
West Nile virus season has arrived. The North Central District Health Department is once again providing surveillance throughout the nine-county district that includes Antelope, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Holt, Keya Paha, Knox, Pierce and Rock counties. Mosquito trapping has started in Cherry, Holt and Knox counties. If any West Nile virus-positive mosquito pools are trapped, NCDHD will report them to the public. The health department will not be collecting corvid birds for West Nile Virus testing...
New COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the North Central District Health Department region. Monday, NCDHD was made aware of another positive case in Pierce County. On Friday, the health department was made aware of an additional positive case in Pierce County. The individual contracted the illness through direct contact with a confirmed case. Boyd County reported its first positive case on Monday. The individual is in isolation at home and through investigations, is deemed to have contracted the illness through community spread. All close con...
North Central District Health Department, on Friday, was made aware of an additional positive case in Pierce County. The individual contracted the illness through direct contact with a confirmed case. This brings the number of cases in Pierce County to five and 26 total cases in the NCDHD region. Additional testing for Test Nebraska will take place in the area this week. One of the first testing events will be Tuesday, June 2, in Valentine. On Friday, June 5, testing will take place in O'Neill. To sign up for the Test Nebraska event, visit the...
The Antelope County commissioners are considering a bond to finance extensive road repairs. “I think a big topic at this meeting will be what we will do with our oil roads, after our discussion last week,” commissioner Dean Smith said during the commissioners’ May 11 meeting at the courthouse in Neligh. He had contacted Tobin Buchanan with First National Capital Markets, who had previously worked with the county, to inquire about bond terms to finance potential major repair costs, “to look at options on how we are going to go forward with th...
The purchase of a refrigerated semi-trailer and the county fund it was paid from were among matters of contention at the Antelope County commissioners' meeting last week. All five commissioners, several other county officials and others were present in the courthouse meeting room May 5 and the meeting was shared electronically via Zoom. Some of those present were asked to step into the hall at one point, when more than 10 were observed in the room. Jared Reimers addressed the commissioners...
North Central District Health Department was made aware Friday of a positive case in Antelope County. The case was due to direct contact with a positive COVID-19 case. All close contacts have been identified and asked to quarantine. Yesterday, NCDHD announced two additional positive COVID-19 cases in Knox County. Through investigations, it has been determined the cases are due to community spread. This means the source of the person's exposure could not be identified through the case investigation process. Case counts for each county in the...
North Central District Health Department said Sunday, it had been made aware of a positive COVID-19 case in Antelope County. NCDHD is in the process of contacting the individual using various means. At this time, the risk of exposure to the public is unknown. On Saturday, NCDHD was made aware of a positive case in Knox County. The resident contracted the illness through direct contact with a positive individual. The individual is in quarantine and all close contacts have been identified and are...
North Central District Health Department announced Thursday, May 7, it was made aware of two psotive COVID-19 cases. One individual resides in Antelope County and contracted the illness due to direct exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case. The individual is currently hospitalized in isolation. Investigation determined the risk to Antelope County communities, from this individual, is low. In Knox County, the individual is in isolation in the hospital. All direct exposures are being contacted, according to NCDHD, and are asked to quarantine. An...
Private graveside services for James H. Cooper, 81, of Orchard will be at Orchard Hill Cemetery in rural Orchard. James died April 12, at his home in Orchard, surrounded by his family. Snider Memorial Funeral Home of Clearwater is in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be directed to the family at www.snidermemorialfh.com. ~~~ Jim Cooper, son of Pete and Darlene (Thompsen) Cooper, was born Oct. 13, 1938, in Antelope County. He attended country school and then Orchard Public School, where he...
The process may be a little different for the May 12 Primary Election in Nebraska, but registered voters in the state will still have the opportunity for in-person voting. During a recent press conference, Governor Pete Ricketts announced the primary election will continue as scheduled. Ricketts emphasized that fulfilling the state's duty to carry out elections is vital to the health of the democratic republic. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen confirmed polling sites will be open for...
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...
Many unprecedented events have taken place over this past week. In my March 13 newsletter, I wrote about the Legislature giving first-round approval to the budget bills. Since then, COVID-19 has completely overshadowed everything else. Terms such as community spread and social distancing have become part of our daily language. The Legislature postponed its session, beginning March 17, until it is safe and necessary to call members back into session. However, the speaker may call us back in soon...
A Chambers man was sentenced by the Honorable Mark Kozisek last week in the Holt County district courtroom. Harold A. Rockford, 61, was handed a 30-day jail sentence, with credit for six days previously served, on a count of resisting arrest. He was also taxed $147 costs of prosecution. Rockford pleaded guilty to the Class 1 misdemeanor Jan. 13, after reaching a plea agreement with Knox County prosecutor Brent Kelly. In return, Kelly dropped a Class 3A felony count of assaulting an officer and a trespassing charge in another county court case,...
Organizations and institutions across Nebraska are taking precautionary measures amidst concerns about COVID-19. While no cases have been reported in Antelope, Holt or Wheeler counties, the North Central District Health Department has identified a presumptive positive case in Knox County. NCDHD received notification a Cherry County individual tested negative for the disease. Here is a list of cancellations, as of Friday, March 13: Fish fries On Thursday, the Archdiocese of Omaha requested its...
Christofer N. Carstens, 21, of Oakdale was found guilty of felony child abuse last Wednesday when he appeared before the Honorable Mark Johnson in the Antelope County district court in Neligh. A plea agreement was reached, resulting in Carstens pleading no contest to the crime in exchange for prosecutor, Joe Abler’s agreement to file no further charges in the case and to recommend no more than 20 years imprisonment at sentencing, which is set April 29. Johnson ordered a presentence investigation report. Accused of injuring his infant d...
Benjamin Parks, 22, of O’Neill appeared in Holt County court last Tuesday, Feb. 18, for a preliminary hearing on two charges filed by chief deputy Nebraska Attorney General David Bydalek last November, Count I, tampering with a witness, a Class 4 felony committed May 6, 2019, and procuring alcohol for a minor, a Class 1 misdemeanor. A plea deal was struck with prosecutor Mariah J. Nickel, assistant attorney general, and Parks attorney, Allison Rockey Mason of Norfolk. In exchange for a no contest plea to Count II, Nickel dismissed Count I. T...
Currently, forty-nine state senators serve in the Nebraska Legislature. Under the Nebraska Constitution, this number could be increased to 50 senators, but an even number of senators could result in a vote ending in a tie, requiring the lieutenant governor to cast the deciding vote. Speaker of the Legislature, Sen. Jim Scheer, introduced LR 279, a constitutional amendment authorizing the Legislature to increase the number of state senators up to fifty-five. If LR 279 is passed by the...
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....
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...
Depending on where you live in the Summerland region, you may be in a winter storm warning, winter weather advisory or winter storm watch this weekend. Two rounds of wintry weather are expected to blanket the area, according to the National Weather Service in North Platte. Holt and Wheeler county residents are in a winter storm warning, effective from 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 27, to 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 29. At 10:45 a.m., Dec. 27, a light wintry mix was tracking across portions of southwest...
An O'Neill woman is the newest member of the Northeast Community College Board of Governors. The board voted unanimously at its monthly meeting Thursday in Norfolk to appoint Nicole Sedlacek to an open District Two seat. Sedlacek, an economic development consultant with the Nebraska Public Power District, succeeds Keith Harvey, Creighton, who resigned in September. District Two covers Boyd, Brown, Holt, Keya Paha, Knox and Rock counties in their entirety and a portion of Cedar County. Sedlacek...
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...
