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Imagination, innovation and invitation are three of the most important words in community building. These words hold great power in shaping hometowns in Greater Nebraska, today and in the future. For 20 years I've had the pleasure of working with community leaders throughout Holt County (population 10,127) in north central Nebraska. Amazing people live and work in Atkinson, O'Neill, Stuart and many other small towns in Holt County. It's always been a great place to be a kid. Today, Holt County...
Holt County Supervisors tackled several topics during a regular meeting, May 31, in the supervisors’ room at the Holt County Courthouse in O’Neill. A quick discussion was held about watering of roads. Chairman Bill Tielke mentioned that people are watering their roads with sprinklers. He instructed county clerk, Cathy Pavel, to send a notice out to inform the public that it is against the law to saturate any road: including the use of all sprinklers; it is not limited to just irrigation end gun...
Should the Village of Ewing purchase the former Ewing School? The question will be posed to Ewing residents, Sunday, June 5, during a 4 p.m. town hall meeting in the school's gym. Trustees broached the topic earlier this month during the group's May 9 meeting, when Trustees Dustin Wright and Kane Fry opened discussion on turning the school into a community center. According to Wright, younger adults in the community support the idea. Fry said he has had conversations about a potential purchase...
Summit Carbon Solutions representatives met with area landowners, May 18, in the former Orchard School building, to answer questions about a potential carbon dioxide pipeline slated for construction in the area. Jake Ketzner, vice president of government and public affairs at Summit Carbon, opened the meeting with a brief overview of the new carbon pipeline that would cut through Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota, if approved. The Ames, Iowa-based company plans to run the pipeline th...
April was National Autism Awareness Month and National Adopt a Pet month. Zekiel Kaiser, a preschooler at Summerland Public School, was successful bringing a light to both causes last April. Kaiser was born on Jan. 5, 2016. When he was brought home, his mother, Courtney Soper, noticed he would eat and immediately vomit everything up. "He couldn't keep anything down and progressively got worse. He wasn't gaining weight and in general, was 'cranky,'" said LuAnn Schindler, Zekiel's grandmother....
After existing for 42 years, Holt County's comprehensive plan will be updated. But, a proposed 18-month moratorium on industrial pipelines, wind and solar power, will not be in effect while updates take place. Supervisors voted 6-0, Wednesday, March 16, to deny the moratorium, following a public hearing in O'Neill. The moratorium request came from the county's planning and zoning commision, which voted 6-2 in favor of the moratorium, March 7, following a two-hour public hearing. At that time, la...
Editor’s note: In last week’s edition of SAM, the jump for this story was not included. We are running the article in its entirety and regret the error. After hearing public comment on a proposed moratorium, March 7, Holt County Planning and Zoning Commission members voted 6-2 to recommend an 18-month moratorium on all industrial pipeline, wind and solar power development to Holt County Supervisors. Commission member Mary Kaczor told an audience of more than 35 individuals, that the cou...
A decision on a perpetual easement for the Graham Crowe Ranch, LLC, in northeastern Holt County, will be revisited at 10:30 a.m., during a March 16 meeting of the Holt County supervisors. Supervisor Don Butterfield, of Atkinson, made a motion to table a decision, Feb. 28, following a public hearing which lasted more than 90 minutes. "I need to have a little time to mull this over," Butterfield said. Chairman Bill Tielke said it's unfair to make a quick decision. "Don, I'll agree with you. This...
A handful of Holt County residents shared concerns about a proposed CO2 pipeline with supervisors during Holt County's Dec. 30 meeting. Diana Steskal, of Atkinson, said landowners are asking supervisors to research pipelines and Summit Carbon Solutions before making any decisions. "We'd like the supervisors to ask the Summit company for an open public meeting, to inform the citizens about the pipeline and let the citizens ask questions," Steskal said. Construction practices, land reclamation,...
The Honorable Mark Johnson, presiding from the bench in the Antelope County district courtroom in Neligh last week, sentenced two individuals who had previously been convicted pursuant to plea agreements. Hope M. Petite, 27, appeared for sentencing on four counts. On Count II, the most serious of the four, third-degree assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor, Johnson ordered her to spend 180 days in the Antelope County Jail. She was given credit for 56 days served prior to sentencing. Petite was also sentenced to 90 days for Count III, leaving the...
If a tree grows in the right of way, along a township road, and needs trimmed or removed, who is responsible for tree trimming? Holt County Supervisors listened to public comment on the topic, Thursday, during a public hearing held in the supervisors' room at the Holt County Courthouse in O'Neill. While the hearing focused on written notices, sent by the county attorney's office, to landowners in Rock Falls Township,the question of responsibility first sprouted earlier this year, when the Emmett...
North Central District Health Department has been made aware of 59 new COVID-19 cases in the district since last reporting period on Aug. 16. Case count update as of 3 p.m., Monday, Aug. 23, includes: 4,723 total cases, 4,500 recoveries and 76 deaths, to date; and 101 total cases reported in the last 14 days. NCDHD is no longer ableto release county-based data in our districts due to HIPAA standards. Previously, the health depaprtment was granted special privileges to release the county- based...
North Central District Health Department has set times for walk-ins during vaccination clinics. Individuals who already have a scheduled appointment time should arrive at that time. Clinics will dispense Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson and/or Moderna vaccines. Walk-in locations and times include: Aug. 31: Greater Sandhills Family Healthcare - Atkinson, 9 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 4:30 p.m., Moderna and Pfizer; Avera Creighton Hospital, 1 to 3 p.m., Moderna; Rock County Clinic, 1 to 4:15 p.m., Moderna;...
Concerns from landowners about the speed of traffic, traveling on a three-mile stretch of 868 Road, north of Page, were brought to the attention of Holt County supervisors during Monday's meeting in O'Neill. Dan Hanlon, of Page, said people"fly by" at high rates of speed between 501 and 504 avenues. At least three residents along the stretch, who have children and grandchildren, have posted yellow caution signs noting children are in the area. One of the signs, posted by a residence near the int...
I'm in survival mode. I made it through fair week, personally and professionally, and am gearing up for week two of fair coverage. The Holt County Fair will be in full swing when this edition hits your mailbox. Some people may look forward to evening entertainment and think it makes or breaks the fair experience. Don't get me wrong - it's a lot of fun and I've seen a multitude of quality fair concerts, stock car races and rodeos that are memorable. As a former 4-H member, the fair experience alw...
Damage from a lightning strike that ignited grassland and spread to a five- to six-mile-wide fire is still being assessed. Holt County Emergency Management director Deb Hilker presented a map of damaged acres and buildings to Holt County Supervisors at the group's June 30 meeting in O'Neill. Hilker said an estimated 6,600 acres were affected. The topographical map is interfaced with a plat map to highlight people and acres affected by the fire, which started June 24, in the river bottom between...
SUBMITTED ARTICLE O'Neill Community Foundation Fund and Holt County Economic Development Fund welcome Emily Morrow and Katie Hawk home for the summer to help local leadership further their missions. Morrow and Hawk are both students at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Morrow graduated from UNL in May with a dual degree in advertising and public relations and broadcasting. Hawk will begin her sophomore year in the fall at UNL studying business management. Both began their duties in May a...
A potential resolution denouncing President Biden's Executive Order 14008, dubbed the 30 x 30 land grab, will have to wait, after Holt County Supervisors tabled the item during Monday's meeting in O'Neill. The executive order, titled "Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad," directed the secretary of the interior, secretary of agriculture and other senior officials to devise and submit a plan, by April 27, to conserve 30% of lands and waterways in the United States by 2030. According to...
Signs noting a seven-ton weight limit were posted along Antelope County oil roads, following discussion by county commissioners at the board's March 9 meeting, in Neligh. Discussion on the potential dominated nearly one hour after county road superintendent Aaron Boggs referenced restrictions in neighboring counties. Knox and Holt counties have restrictions currently in place. According to Boggs, Holt County implements a speed limit restriction, with trucks allowed to go up to 40 miles per hour...
North Central District Health Department will vaccinate residents 18 years of age and older for COVID-19. Any district residents born in 2003 or prior, who resides in Antelope, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Holt, Keya Paha, Knox, Rock or Pierce counties, is now eligible to receive a vaccine. The first step on the way to receiving a vaccine is registering. It is important for people 16 and older to register at vaccinate.ne.gov. Access to this registry can also be found on the NCDHD homepage at: www.ncdhd.ne.gov. Currently, vaccine NCDHD is dispensing at...
Holt County Supervisors may declare its support of the Second Amendment of the U.S. and Nebraska constitutions during the governing body's March 16 meeting. Holt County Attorney Brent Kelly told supervisors, during the board's Feb. 26 meeting at the Holt County Courthouse, other counties have passed similar resolutions. "Basically, it's declaring this board's support for the Second Amendment ... If the state passes a law, it would preempt what you're doing. I don't have any problem with you...
Antelope County businesses participating in the northeast The Best of the Backroad Tour of northeast Nebraska, sponsored by News Channel Nebraska and area economic development groups, will receive an economic incentive, in the form of $100. Visitor fund committee member Rick Schuchardt, along with NCN representative Laurie Larsen, addressed the Antelope County Commissioners March 2. Schuchardt said a discussion with Neligh Chamber of Commerce officials led to discussion about the tour and...
The Antelope County results are in for the 2020 general election. County clerk and election commissioner Lisa Payne noted 3,615 voters out of the 4,570 registered in the county cast ballots before and on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The people who turned out for the election voted for candidates who were running for positions at the local, county, regional, state and federal levels. "We counted 1,340 early voters, leaving 2,275 voting in person on Election Day," Payne said. "I did not hear of any problems...
A decision on an appeal regarding TC Energy's application for a pipeline construction permit in Holt County will wait a little longer. Following nearly 3 and one-half hours of testimony by 60 individuals during a public hearing Oct. 29, at O'Neill's community center, the Holt County board of adjustment recessed until Thursday, Nov. 5, at 2 p.m. In February, Holt County supervisors voted to deny the permit, until conditions laid out by the county planning commission, are met. In denying the permi...
Holt County Supervisors approved fixing a drainage issue on the corner of 496 Avenue and 871 road, approximately two miles east of O'Neill. Whether Grattan Township will assist with costs for the upgrade wasn't immediately clear during the board's Oct. 15 meeting at the Holt County Courthouse meeting room. Road superintendent, Gary Connot, said concerns surfaced approximately one and one-half years ago, when homes in the area were impacted by surface and subsurface water. County road department...