Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Like a comet that swings by the earth every few years, there's been talk now and then about placing some huge development between Omaha and Lincoln along the Platte River. Between the state's two largest cities would be an ideal location for a new football stadium for the Cornhuskers, the reasoning goes. An airport there would attract more flights to and from our state. And wouldn't a huge lake look great along Interstate 80 in that spot? Back in the day, the idea was to dam up the Platte River...
The State of Nebraska has more than 200 boards and commissions staffed by professionals and regular citizens. They deal with a broad range of subjects, from the recently-created Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementia Advisory Council and State Child Death Review Team, to more recognizable boards, such as the Board of Parole and Board of Trustees for State Colleges. The governor gets to appoint members to many of these boards and the appointments often go to supporters of the governor and people...
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...
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn't the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester. But back in 1974, he was a 34-year-old professor at the University...
My sincere hope is that I am just one of many people in your life saying this: we need and want you here in Nebraska. Generation Z will have a massive impact in our state, especially in rural Nebraska. You have come of age in a world of constant change and technological advancement, shifting like the braids of the Platte River under a powerful current. Your formative years unfolded amid a pandemic, recessions and political unrest – but also abundance and cooperation. You have, with technology y...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska May 13, 2024 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Tabled minutes of the 5-7-2024 BOC Meeting. Approved payroll. Approved vendor claims. General: AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ins 20,729.45; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 89.00; ANTELOPE CO CLERK-REGISTER ex 46.00; APPEARA ex 35.82; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 5,611.30; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 1,129.62; BLACKBURN MFG ex 720.00; BCBS ins 66,227.56; BOMGAARS ex 202.96; BROGAN & GRAY ex 1,494.85; CARNEY LA...
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...
KEARNEY – Americans have recognized military veterans in vastly different ways over the past 247 years. They've thrown parades for some and scorned others. But the Pawnee scouts, who protected pioneers, freighters and railroad workers in Nebraska during the mid-19th century's great migration west, were largely forgotten outside the Pawnee Nation in Oklahoma. "Those scouts were the very first in our tribe to serve in the military, so we hold our veterans on a high pedestal, almost like c...
Editor’s Note: This column was written and distributed prior to an Aug. 30 press conference regarding prison location. We’ve known for some time that the state wants to build a new prison because it has the most overcrowded corrections system in the country. It’s a given that state lawmakers agreed to spend at least $350 million on such a facility. A narrative change in recent months has shifted from “additional” space to a “replacement” for the existing Nebraska State Penitentiary, which has been in southwest Lincoln since the 1860s. The un...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska June 27, 2023 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Approved minutes of the June 13, 2023, BOC Meeting. Review of Claims. Approved vendor claims. General: APPEARA ex 34.70; APPLIED CONN TECH ut 3,862.73; AXON ENTERPRISE ex 4,210.61; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 372.08; BOMGAARS ex 177.92; DEBORAH BRANSTITER ex 439.08; CASH-WA DISTRIBUTING ex 11,065.90; CHARM-TEX ex 3,359.90; CORNHUSKER STATE INDUSTRIES ex 1,300.00; DAS STATE...
PROCEEDINGS ANTELOPE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Neligh, Nebraska June 13, 2023 Chairman opened the meeting. Notice of meeting published as required by statute. Approved agenda. Approved minutes of the June 6, 2023, BOC meeting. Review of claims. Approved payroll. Approved vendor claims. General: AKRS ex 46.76; ALBIN LAW OFFICE ex 475.00; AMERITAS LIFE INS CORP ins 18,478.25; ANTELOPE CO COURT ex 89.00; APPEARA ex 36.05; APPLIED CONN TECH ex 20,530.14; MIKAYLA ARMITAGE ex 143.00; BLACK HILLS ENERGY ut 651.56; BLACKBURN MFG ex 85.08; BCBS ins...
With less than two weeks left in the session, the 108th Legislature is dragging an overburdened $12.975 billion budget to the finish line. Passing the budget is the only thing lawmakers are constitutionally required to accomplish. As introduced by the Appropriations Committee, the budget proposal would result in a projected ending balance of almost $715 million above the 3% required minimum reserve. This amount would be available to fund proposals pending before the Legislature this session....
This week saw the Legislature debate the mainline state budget. The latest projections from the Economic Forecasting Board lowered revenue projections for the current fiscal year by $80 million to $6.36 billion. The adjustment was based on anticipated decrease of $200 million in individual income, sales and use tax receipts, offset in part by projected increases of $120 million in corporate and miscellaneous tax receipts. Total projected revenue receipts for Fiscal Year 2023-24, however, were ra...
The state of the state on its 156th birthday. It's still a very red, heavily conservative and largely Republican mecca situated in one of those mostly square states out west that a lot of people couldn't find on an unmarked map. And we like it that way. Well, a lot of us seem to. Might that change? Could Nebraska be the place where high school and college graduates want to stay? Could it become a magnet for young people and innovation? Progress in that direction is slow but it could happen....
Hunters will have a chance to pursue deer at three state park areas along the lower Platte River this fall and winter. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is offering special antlerless deer hunting opportunities within Eugene T. Mahoney and Platte River state parks and Schramm Park State Recreation Area. Successful applicants will be issued special access permit that allows them to hunt antlerless deer in designated areas of a park on certain dates, using specific equipment. Successful applicants and interested alternates must attend an...
The Legislature passed nearly 100 bills during the first three days of this past week. We will now recess for several days, thereby giving the Legislature the opportunity to override any potential governor veto prior to adjourning sine die. Governor Ricketts has five days (not counting Sunday) to either sign or veto the bills. He also has the option to let the legislation become law without his signature. Bills passed include all five bills that I introduced this year, in addition to one...
A new event center and lodge at Niobrara State Park, a new boat launch near the village of Niobrara and expanding the Weigand Marina at Lewis and Clark State Recreational Area, are one step closer to reality, as the Legislature gave first-round approval to LB 1023 on a 29-4 vote. LB 1023 carries out the recommendations of the State Tourism and Recreational Water Access and Resource Sustainability (STAR WARS) Special Committee, of which I am a member. The bill also includes funding for road...
The Legislature has passed the midway mark in this 60-day legislative session. The priority bill designation process is also complete. From this point on, generally only bills with priority status will be debated by the Legislature. Every senator gets to select one bill as their priority bill, every committee can pick two and the speaker is authorized to designate 25 bills as speaker priority bills. I selected LB 925 as my priority bill and it received first-round approval this past week on a...
On Thursday, Jan. 13, Governor Ricketts presented his final State of the State Address to the Nebraska Legislature. The governor emphasized his message over the past eight years has been to Grow Nebraska. He reported this has happened, despite floods, fires and a global pandemic. He touched on his priorities for this year, which include tax relief, strengthening public safety and investing in natural resources. He endorsed legislative proposals to accelerate the phaseout of taxing Social...
Anglers must be aware of fishing regulation changes that take effect Jan. 1, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The changes are: Black bass – The area where no minimum length limit on smallmouth bass is required has expanded to the Nebraska Public Power District Canal, starting at the Sutherland Reservoir outlet, to the confluence with the South Platte River in Lincoln County; this includes Lake Maloney. Bufflehead Wildlife Management Area and David City Ponds are added to the list of waters where the minimum length limit on b...
Nebraska is more than cows and corn — and really may be for everyone after all. The state will get its Discovery Channel debut Jan. 8 when “RV There Yet?” airs episode two, “Not just Cows and Corn,” featuring Arbor Lodge State Historical Park, Platte River State Park and Chadron State Park. The new reality show comes just at the right time. State and national parks saw record levels of visitors in the past few years, with more people investing in recreational vehicles and campers to travel and explore nature, according to the RV Industry...
Retired social studies teacher Laura Nelson is used to seeing her small town send its children, and its dollars, off to bigger cities. "We tend to go that way," to Lincoln and the Omaha metro, where her nieces and many former students live and shop. But lately, from her seat at the cafe table where she meets friends most mornings for coffee and an omelette, she's witnessed a reversal of fortune. City folks are spending their money in her hometown. "The cafe has managed to bring them up here,"...
It took me a long time to decide I liked asparagus. Of course, it wasn't as common in the grocery stores when I was growing up in western Nebraska as it is now, but it did grow wild along the North Platte River. I kind of remember Mom and Dad going out to gather some, but honestly, I don't remember what Mom did with it. Now I can't wait for asparagus season. I bought my first bunch just a couple of weeks ago. It's become a staple on my Easter dinner menu. But how much do you know about...
SEN. TIM GRAGERT The Legislature gave the budget bills second-round approval this past week, making only minor adjustments. After the budget is passed, the speaker plans to schedule taxation and spending measures. The session is more than two-thirds complete, but we still have many significant issues to discuss. As introduced, LB 406 focused on flood-control infrastructure projects along the lower Platte River. Senator Mike McDonnell, the primary sponsor of LB 406, has offered an amendment to...
Antelope County remains in a flood watch through Monday. Ice jams may cause flooding along the Elkhorn River, according to the National Weather Service, based in Valley. Areas along the Loup and Platte River basins may also experience flooding. Counties listed in the watch include Antelope, Madison, Stanton, Cuming, Platte, Colfax, Dodge, Washington, Butler, Saunders, Douglas, Sarpy and Cass. According to the NWS, rising temperatures predicted through the weekend will continue to melt snow....
