Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Sitting down in your favorite chair next to a warm, crackling fire in the fireplace enjoying a good, intellectually stimulating book is a form of relaxation. Well, in today's world, that book is commonly replaced with a phone, tablet or other electronic device, playing a mind-numbing game of Candy Crush or an application with a similar objective. When considering this, has reading become an activity of the past? The skill of reading, which used to be a sign of knowledge and education, is...
How do we sustain rural America? The question was discussed Monday in Norfolk during a town hall meeting titled "Growing Together." The event, sponsored by the Aksarben Foundation, included speakers who addressed brain drain - students who leave the area following graduation and do not return home - and how to make the northeast region of the state a more desirable place to attract young professionals. Former state senator Mike Flood presented data regarding the ages of population in area...
Youngsters in the Page area are invited to visit the Farmers Store, Saturday, Dec. 7, for a visit with Santa Claus. The jolly old man will be available from 2 to 4 p.m. A 4x6 photo will be taken of visitors and will be available for pickup at the Farmers Store on Dec. 11....
Diners searching for old-fashioned comfort food, classic staples and decadent desserts can venture four miles off U.S. Highway 20 and discover Kountry Korner Cafe in Page. Tyson Peed assumed managerial duties Sept. 18 after attending several community meetings about the future of the business. "I didn't even think this would be a possibility," he said. At one meeting, investors told community members the cafe was slated to be shuttered Oct. 1. "I didn't know if anybody else would take over. I...
Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard school boards covered a long list of agenda items, Nov. 20, during a three and one-half hour meeting, in Ewing. Discussion focused on the new Summerland school district, which will take effect June 6, 2020. While a chunk of the meeting was spent discussing staffing and administration timeline, other topics included the new district's reorganization petition, selection of Summerland school board members, policies, curriculum and sales of assets. Steve Williams,...
The Honorable Kale Burdick handed down one sentence in the Holt County courtroom in O'Neill last Tuesday, Nov. 12 Eliza F. Sutton, 37, of Columbus faced Burdick for arraignment on four counts, Count I, willful reckless driving, a Class 3 misdemeanor; Count II, driving during revocation, a Class 2 misdemeanor; Count III, open alcohol container, an infraction; and Count IV, leave scene of accident, fail to provide information, a Class 2 misdemeanor. Pursuant to a plea agreement with county...
The final item of business handled by the Holt County supervisors last Thursday afternoon at the courthouse in O'Neill caused some disunity among the leaders. As the supervisors passed time waiting to address an agenda item regarding outside counsel to handle a road-haul agreement with TC Energy, the meeting room filled with about two dozen county residents, many who are facing eminent domain proceedings for pipeline right-of-way easements across their land. While three of those citizens, Bryan...
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Smith Mountain Investments LLC after a heat-related fatality at a jobsite in Inman. An employee became ill while performing extreme physical activity in excessive temperatures in July 2019 and later died. OSHA cited the Anson, Maine-based company for two serious safety and health violations for failing to protect workers from hazards associated with heavy physical activity in extreme heat conditions, and ensure medical care was available. The utility pole ins...
A spooky ending haunted CWCE, as Overton defeated the Renegades, 16-14, in the Oct. 31 first round of the NSAA State Football playoffs. Overton landed in the endzone first, taking a 6-0 lead. The Renegades responded with two touchdowns in the second quarter, with a 14-6 halftime advantage. Wyatt Wagner and Joshua Klabenes each added 6 points. Fran Ferran connected for both extra point kicks. Defense was the name of the game during the third quarter, and Overton pushed the Renegades back in...
When I submitted my column this past month, I presented the piece to one of my education professors to receive her input. As luck had it, the dissertation she spent three years researching and writing for her doctoral program focused on the transition from high school to college. Furthermore, her research focused on college freshman not being legitimately prepared for the academic struggles college presents. As she read through my article, she circled questions I presented in my writing that...
I am a Page resident, grandparent of students, and landowner in the Orchard district. I think there were 103 kids in the Page school when my kids started there in 1993. A few years later, families started transferring out as classes got smaller. Fourteen years later, Page had four students and five employees, and they closed. Orchard has 79 students in K-8 this year. I know that Orchard has enough money, but if the Summerland school bond doesn’t pass and families leave, which they will, I don’t think the Orchard school will even make it 10 mor...
The annual Page United Methodist Church Harvest Supper will be Thursday, Nov. 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Country fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, dinner roll, salad bar and pie will be served. The Backroom Country Store offers baked goods, homemade rugs, crafts and a white elephant sale....
The Norfolk campus of Northeast Community College was filled with the sound of music early last week, as a number of the region's top high school musicians and vocalists had the opportunity to participate in an honors program through the institution's music department. HAWKFEST, in its second year, featured 110 students from 23 schools, including three musicians from Clearwater Public Schools. The event featured daylong rehearsals, capped off by a public performance in the college's Lifelong...
I attended the Summerland building project meeting in Orchard on Sunday night, Oct. 20. There was a lot of important information shared. There is never a good time to ask taxpayers to build a school, but there is a right time. The three communities have realized they need each other. The old rivalries have been pushed aside. I went to school through eighth grade in Page, in a building that someone else paid for. I then went to high school in Orchard, and our four children followed, in a school that someone else paid for. I cannot think of a...
Orchard’s advisory board of education faced a short agenda when they met in the high school business room last Wednesday, Oct. 9. Principal Cathy Cooper updated board members Candace Hoke, Kristi Schutt, DeAnna Clifton and Nate Schwager on recent parent-teacher conferences. She reported a 93% elementary parent turnout, with 71% participation at the high school level. “That’s a really good percentage and it probably went up, because a couple of parents and teachers got together and talked at an alternate time,” she said. “We probably were clos...
The Oct. 10 edition of the Summerland Advocate Messenger included a section of frequently asked questions regarding the proposed Summerland school building project. Questions and responses were supplied by Bobcats Unite, a group of volunteers from Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard communities who have been researching the issue, finding answers to questions and presenting information to the public. This article contains the second half of questions and responses. Summary Statements (based on...
Fire fighers and emergency medical personnel from six area fire departments participate in a two-session extrication training, Thursday, Oct. 10 and Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Ewing Fire Hall. Ewing Fire Chief Chad Napier said the first session involved classroom training, while Saturday's time was divided between classroom and hands-on training. The drill included a multi-vehicle collision, with personnel attempting to remove injured individuals from vehicles. "Vehicles are always changing, so...
It's National Newspaper Week. Normally, I would write about the week's theme and how it relates to you, the reading public, and me, as a journalist. Think F1rst - the 2019 theme - resonates with us because it forms the backbone of our democratic society. The first amendment is important, maybe now more than ever, as we the people hold governmental entities accountable. Limits to the five freedoms - religion, speech, press, assembly and right to petition - exist. Harmful speech is not protected....
Once upon a time, having a job at a newspaper meant working in one of the most imposing buildings in town, inhaling the acrid aroma of fresh ink and the dusty breath of cheap newsprint and feeling mini-earthquakes under our feet every time the presses started to roll. For those of us old enough to remember those days, National Newspaper Week 2019 could be one big, fat elegiac nostalgia trip. Today, many newspapers are ditching the imposing buildings for low-rent storefronts and have outsourced the printing. Those could be the newspapers that...
Seats in the Holt County supervisor’s chamber at the courthouse in O’Neill were all occupied and additional chairs were taken in, when the leaders met Monday. Many audience members voiced concerns, during the 10 minutes set aside for public comment, regarding TransCanada’s route across the county, as well as a new transmission line that will also cross the county. Diane Steskal of Stuart presented a letter to the supervisors, signed by herself and her husband, Byron Steskal, regarding the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route. She read the letter...
After I graduated in 2018, I worked in the Antelope County Extension office the summer before my freshman year of college. Since I just graduated high school, I figured it would be a seamless transition from going to school for eight hours a day to working for that same period of time. That thought could not have been farther from reality. I attended the same high school as my mom. Even though there is 22 years between our graduation dates, the school looks fairly similar from her graduation...
Antelope and Holt county 4-H youth exhibited projects at the 2019 Nebraska State Fair. Area individuals receiving ribbons include: Alvie Bearinger, Clearwater: blue, horticulture, red potatoes; purple, horticulture, garlic; red, horticulture, mint; white, horticulture, thyme; Kierra Bearinger, Clearwater: blue, horticulture, oregano; blue, any other herb; purple, food preservation, dried herbs; red, horticulture, slicing cucumbers; red, horticulture, basil; Daley Bearinger, Clearwater: blue, horticulture, oregano; purple, horticulture, dill;...
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...
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...
Local entities that depend on tax receipts for operation will soon make levy decisions as they consider their annual budgets. Real estate valuations certified recently by Nebraska county assessors, including Kelly Mueller in Antelope County and Tim Wallinger in Holt County, factor into those decisions. Antelope County’s total valuation for 2019 is certified at $2,483.485,076, up just over $24 million or 0.98% from 2018. Mueller attributed nearly $34 million of the total value to growth (new construction), about $10 million more than the overall...
