Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Nebraskans decided a couple weeks ago that public funds for education should fund public education … and only public education. You can skip the “well, duh.” Without two petition drives, a solid campaign and Nebraskans doing the right thing, the question in question — Legislative Bill 1402 — may very well have started using tax dollars for private school tuition next fall. The decision to repeal LB 1402, which provided public money for private school scholarships, was fairly loud and quite cle...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Nov. 12, 2024 Neligh, Nebraska Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Approved minutes of the Nov. 4, 2024, BOC meeting. Public comment. Approved payroll claims. Approved vendor claims. General: AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ins 22,317.89; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 68.00; ANTELOPE CO TREAS ex 1,600,000.00; APPEARA ex 68.44; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 5,437.78; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 199.32; BCBS ins 75,975.12; BODY WORKS ex 5,000.00; BOMGAARS ex 117.90;...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the filing of a settlement agreement with three parties requiring the cleanup of contamination at the Iowa-Nebraska Light & Power Company Superfund Site in Norfolk. The settlement was filed in the United States District Court of the District of Nebraska and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. The public comment period ends Dec. 9. Under the terms of the settlement, the parties – Brightspeed Kansas Holdings LLC, Nebraska Public Power District, and Black H...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska Oct. 8, 2024 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Approved minutes of the Oct. 1, 2024, BOC meeting with correction. Approved payroll. Approved vendor claims. General: AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ins 20,540.26; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 157.00; APPEARA ex 34.01; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 5,219.08; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 127.54; BCBS ins 75,975.12; BOMGAARS ex 38.97; BUTCHS BODY SHOP ex 254.00; CARNEY LAW PC ex 19,016.00; CASEYS ex...
The final outage in a series of planned outages is scheduled for electric customers in Boyd County, as well as parts of Holt and Knox County, Sunday, Sept. 19 from 1 to 6 p.m. to finish work on a transformer replacement at the substation serving the area. The outage will impact Nebraska Public Power District customers in the communities of Butte, Bristow and Lynch, as well as the village of Spencer and Niobrara Valley Electric Membership Corporation customers in rural Boyd County, northwestern Knox County and northern Holt County. These...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska Sept. 10, 2024 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Tabled minutes of the 9-3-2024 BOC meeting. Called for public comment. Approved Payroll. Approved Vendor Claims. General: AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ins 22,116.80; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 151.00; ANTELOPE CO SHRF ex 26.96; APPEARA ex 37.12; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 5,080.33; BEAR GRAPHICS ex 312.94; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 87.45; BCBS ins 75,975.12; BOMGAARS ex 35.95; CASEYS ex...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska Aug. 13, 2024 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Approved minutes of the 8-6-2024 BOC Meeting. Called for public comment. Approved payroll. Approved vendor claims. General: AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ins 21,931.04; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 222.00; APPEARA ex 33.08; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 5,435.28; BARTAK GLASS ex 205.00; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 512.51; BLACKBURN MFG ex 290.00; BCBS ins 76,076.58; OLTJENBRUNS INC-BODY WORKS ex...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska July 9, 2024 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Approved minutes of the 7-2-2024 BOC Meeting. Called for public comment. Approved Payroll. Approved vendor claims. General: AMERITAS LIFE INS ins 20,472.96; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 50.00; ANTELOPE CO SHERIFF ex 371.65; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 5,161.80; AXON ENT ex 760.61; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 57.27; BCBS ins 76,579.37; BOMGAARS ex 382.87; BROGAN & STAFFORD ex 1,692.68;...
Ask Ally Sedlacek what is Holt County's biggest asset and she'll quickly share her point of view. "It's the people," she said. "Without the people, this wouldn't be such a great place to live." An O'Neill native, Sedlacek has first-hand experience with the supportive and welcoming nature of area residents. This summer, she is highlighting locals who "have made a positive impact" and sharing why they love life in rural Nebraska. The end product: The People of Holt County, a compilation of video...
GENERAL ELECTION NOTICE & OFFICES TO BE FILLED BY ELECTION AND FILING DEADLINES I, Lisa Payne, Antelope County Clerk/Election Commissioner, hereby give notice of the offices to be filled by election that will appear on the 2024 General Election Ballot to be held Nov. 5, 2024, in Antelope County, Nebraska, as per State Statute 32-601. Notice is also given that the filing deadline for such offices are: July 15, 2024, for incumbents and Aug. 1, 2024, for non-incumbents. An incumbent is anyone serving in an elective office, even if they are filing...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska June 11, 2024 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Cancelled action on radio replacement. Approved minutes of the 6-4-2024 BOC meeting. Called for public comment. Approved payroll. Approved vendor claims. General: A RIFKIN CO ex 89.88; AMAZON CAPITAL SVCS ex 110.98; AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ex 21,513.58; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 34.00; ANTELOPE CO SHERIFF ex 18.70; APPEARA ex 35.31; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 5,060.85; BLACK...
Two planned outages will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for customers in Boyd County as well as parts of Holt and Knox Counties on May 28 and 29, to repair an emergent issue on a Western Area Power Association transmission line. This second outage is updated from the original date of May 31 due to a WAPA schedule change. The outage will impact Nebraska Public Power District customers in the communities of Butte, Bristow, and Lynch, as well as the Village of Spencer and Niobrara Valley Electric Membership Corporation customers in rural Boyd...
On April 18, the Legislature completed its work for this 60-day legislative session. Although the last day is typically reserved for veto overrides and closing remarks, the Legislature also took action on 15 bills remaining on Final Reading. Notably, the governor’s proposed property tax package contained in LB388 stalled when it became clear that the bill did not have the votes to break a filibuster. LB388 was then passed over on the agenda at the request of the introducing senator, meaning t...
UPDATE: (APRIL 25, 2024) The planned outage, originally scheduled to take place April 28, for Boyd County and parts of Holt and Knox counties, is being canceled due to forecasted severe weather conditions. Crews don’t currently have plans to reschedule this planned outage due to upcoming graduation and holiday weekends and will wait until September to conduct the final planned outage. Electric customers who would’ve been impacted by the outage are being contacted and notified of the change in plans. ****** The second in a series of three pla...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska March 12, 2024 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Tabled minutes of the 4-2-2024 BOC meeting. Approved payroll. Approved vendor claims. General: AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ins 19,887.11; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 50.00; ANTELOPE CO SHERIFF ex 126.33; APPEARA ex 33.28; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 7,620.75; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 207.68; BCBS ins 67,690.28; BROCKHAUS-HARLAN FUNERAL HOME ex 2,000.00; CARNEY LAW ex 3,800.00; CASEYS ex 2...
Nebraska residents should have easier access to public records under a bill that, in effect, overrules a recent Nebraska Supreme Court decision allowing the state to charge high amounts for retrieving public records. Gov. Jim Pillen signed Legislative Bill 43, adopting the First Freedom Act and new public record provisions, on Wednesday, March 27, after it unanimously passed in the Legislature, 39-0. The bill went into immediate effect due to an emergency clause. The emergency clause was added to an amendment inspired by Lincoln Sen. Danielle...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska March 12, 2024 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Approved minutes of the 3-5-2024 BOC meeting. Approved payroll. Approved vendor claims. General: AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ins 19,047.64; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 168.00; APPEARA ex 35.31; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 4,829.82; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 2,697.68; BCBS ins 60,532.81; BOMGAARS ex 191.93; BROGAN & STAFFORD ex 616.75; CANDLEWOOD SUITES ex 319.90; CARNEY LAW ex 15,209.00;...
A planned outage is scheduled for electric customers in Boyd County, as well as parts of Holt and Knox counties, Sunday, March 17, from 1 to 5 p.m., to prepare for the replacement of a transformer at the substation that serves the area. The outage will impact Nebraska Public Power District customers in the communities of Butte, Bristow, Lynch and the village of Spencer, as well as Niobrara Valley Electric Membership Corporation customers in rural Boyd County, northwestern Knox County and northern Holt County. “Outages are not convenient for a...
An Elgin man, who had moved from Arizona last fall, has learned about icy road conditions and Nebraska law regarding vehicle and driver’s licenses. Tyler S. Zawacky, 30, of Elgin appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh on March 6 for pretrial hearing on Count I, leaving scene of property-damage accident, a Class 2 misdemeanor; Count II, no proof of financial responsibility, a Class 2 misdemeanor; and Count III, fictitious plates, a Class 3 misdemeanor. Pursuant to a plea agreement with a...
Rancher Lemoyne Dailey says he's careful about how he "makes his footprints" when he works on his land near Thedford. The rolling Sandhills are fragile, Dailey said, the grasses and sands easily torn up and tough to restore. Over the past decade, Dailey has been fielding visits from utility workers surveying his land, planning a power transmission route and asking for a signature on the dotted line. He's one of a group of Sandhills landowners steadfastly refusing to sign. "You don't know the...
Much of this week’s activity focused on broadband and the Nebraska Department of Transportation, along with some controversy relating to education policy. The Transportation and Telecommunications Committee heard three of my bills this week. LB1038 would make a small change to the membership requirement of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission, which develops and reviews our state’s information technology plans. The commission currently has nine voting members and one member from the...
This week, I presented my priority bill for this year before members of the Agriculture Committee: LB1301. This bill would adopt the Foreign-owned Real Estate National Security Act and bring our antiquated foreign land ownership statutes up to date. Our statutes were first enacted in 1889 and many sections were last updated only in 1943. The bill would modernize these statutes by restricting federally-designated foreign adversaries from owning agricultural land, empowering the attorney general...
Significant snow, wind, and brutally cold temperatures impacted Nebraska in January. Given the frequency of extreme weather events experienced across the U.S. during the past several years, preparing for emergencies is an important consideration for utilities and regulators. Extreme weather events have an outsized impact on the electric grid and show the necessity of protecting its integrity and resiliency. Between Jan. 8 and 17, large portions of Nebraska spent more than 80 consecutive hours...
Chief Justice Michael Heavican delivered his annual State of the Judiciary address this past week. As part of a longtime tradition, I was selected to be a member of the committee to escort the Chief Justice into the legislative chamber; I felt it was a great honor and privilege to be able to serve as a member of his escort committee. In his address, Heavican noted that judiciary staffing has returned to a pre-pandemic level. He also said there was a 27% increase in problem-solving court...
This past week, senators commenced floor debate on possibly amending the rules adopted by the Legislature last year. Following a public hearing, the Rules Committee considered 34 rules proposals and advanced 17 of them to the floor for deliberation. Several of the proposals are purely technical in nature and aim to improve the overall process within the body, such as changes to when bills involving judges’ salaries or transfers from the Cash Reserve Fund are scheduled. Other proposals aim to t...
