Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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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...
By now, all registered voters in Nebraska should have had the opportunity to fill out an application for an early (absentee) ballot. That application should be mailed to your county’s Election Commissioner, which for most folks reading this will be your county clerk. Once you have your ballot, please be sure that it is received by your county offices by May 12. I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage all of you reading to exercise your Constitutional right to vote. I won’t use this space...
Matthew C. Waters, 34, a South Dakota man currently incarcerated, was granted continuances of his pretrial hearing and jury trial by the Honorable Mark Johnson in Antelope County district court last Wednesday. Court appearances are now tentatively set May 27 and July 21, respectively, on charges related to a multi-county pursuit that ended near Royal last November. Waters is charged with two Class 4 felonies in Antelope County, attempted assault on a law enforcement officer with a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest,...
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...
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...
American playwright Arthur Miller wrote, “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” What happens when a newspaper quits talking? One community in Nebraska is discovering the effect of no longer having a local newspaper. When Coleridge residents received the Jan. 1 edition of the Coleridge Blade, a bold hammer headline stretched across the top of the page: Final edition. The paper, published for 131 years, was part of the Northeast Nebraska News Company, which owns new...
A Neligh man was sent to jail by the Honorable Donna Taylor last Wednesday for repeatedly circumventing an ignition interlock device ordered in a Pierce County sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol. Kasey Swyear, 28, was convicted in three Antelope County cases, after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutor Joe Abler. In the first case, Swyear changed his not guilty pleas to guilty on two counts committed Aug. 24, driving a vehicle without an interlock, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and speeding, 82 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone, an...
The Honorable Mark Johnson, one of two judges who serve the seventh judicial district of Nebraska, took the bench in the Antelope County courtroom last Wednesday, Jan. 29. Johnson and the Honorable James Kube alternate annually as presiding judges in the Antelope County district court. Johnson sentenced a Pierce County woman to three consecutive jail terms for felony convictions. Karen R. Stewart, 46, of Osmond will spend 120 days in the Antelope County Jail, providing she loses no good time. She was sentenced to 180 days for a conviction of...
An old problem returned to the Antelope County commissioners’ table when the leaders gathered for the first 2020 meeting at the courthouse in Neligh last week. Judy Wilcox, accompanied by her husband, Dave Wilcox, was there to discuss wind turbine “ice sling policy.” County zoning administrator Liz Doerr also addressed the leaders regarding a Christmas Day icing event. Doerr described procedures followed, after she received notice from Commission chair Dean Smith and Wilcox. She referenced a text message from Smith, indicating numerous turbi...
The Honorable James Kube presided over Antelope County district court last week in the final 2019 session. The Honorable Mark Johnson will serve Antelope County in 2020. Kube arraigned two individuals on felony charges. Matthew C. Waters, 34, a South Dakota man currently held in the Antelope County Jail, faced the judge on two counts related to a multi-county pursuit that ended near Royal in November. He is charge with two Class 4 felonies, attempted assault on a law enforcement officer with a...
The Antelope County commissioners postponed action on an agenda item requested by Andy Frey, Elm Township road closures follow-up, sending a half-dozen county residents away without resolution. The commissioners held public hearings Sept. 3 on proposals to close two segments of county road. Both closure requests, one mile of 848 Road, from one-half mile east of 529 Avenue to one-half mile east of 530; and one-half mile of 847 Road, were petitioned by Frey. Brian McDonald, county engineer,...
The Honorable Donna Taylor cleared a dozen cases from the Antelope County court docket during a busy morning last Wednesday, Dec. 4. Alexander E. Huffman, 33, of Neligh appeared without counsel for arraignment on a count of disturbing the peace, a Class 3 misdemeanor committed Dec. 2, in Neligh. Huffman waived his right to counsel and pleaded guilty. Huffman told Taylor he “got way too drunk and wanted to go to Valley Hope,” and although he couldn’t afford it, he was determined to drive there, which “would have been a very bad idea,” he said....
A 34-year-old Colton, South Dakota man, who led multiple law enforcement agencies on a pursuit across northeast Nebraska last Monday, made his first appearance in the Antelope County courtroom on Wednesday. Matthew D. Waters faced the Honorable Donna Taylor briefly on two Class 4 felony counts, attempted assault on an officer with a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest. Waters requested court-appointed counsel. Taylor held an indigency hearing, appointed public defender...
A South Dakota man is in custody following a multi-county case that ended Monday near the U.S. Highway 20 and Nebraska Highway 14 junction, between Royal and Brunswick. Matthew Waters, 34, of Colton, South Dakota, faces charges of felony assault on an officer with use of a vehicle and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest. The incident began at approximately 7:30 a.m., Nov. 18, when Cedar County Sheriff's Office fielded a phone call about an individual threatening suicide and was told it...
Dean Smith of Brunswick presided over his first meeting as chairman of the Antelope County commissioners last Tuesday, moving to the position from vice chairman after the former chair was removed from office. Two new commissioners had not yet been appointed, leaving Smith, Charlie Henery and Eli Jacob as seated board members to take care of business. The board addressed issues related to a road included in the Thunderhead wind farm road-use agreement. Listed on the agenda under the road...
A South Dakota man is in custody following a multi-county case that ended near the U.S. Highway 20 and Nebraska Highway 14 junction, between Royal and Brunswick. The incident began at approximately 7:30 a.m. Monday, when Cedar County Sheriff's Office fielded a phone call about an individual threatening suicide and were told it was possible the individual crossed state lines and was in Nebraska. "We pinged the phone to find a location," Nebraska State Patrol Troop B Captain Paul Hattan said....
The condition of an Antelope County road that connects U.S. Highway 275 and U.S. Highway 20 - a road that will see an increase in traffic if Tuesday's Summerland school bond is approved - was a discussion point during recent informational community meetings. It's a topic that has also been discussed at the school board level and during subcommittee meetings throughout the process, according to Dale Martin, superintendent of Nebraska Unified District #1. "Roads haven't been ignored. The focus...
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...
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...
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...
A health alert for harmful algal blooms, also known as toxic blue-green algae, continues for Willow Creek Reservoir in Pierce County. During water testing earlier this week, the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy detected elevated toxin levels produced by blue-green algal blooms. The alerts there will continue for at least two more weeks, because lakes that are on health alert must have two consecutive weeks of readings below the threshold before the alert is discontinued. Visitors...
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...
