Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 26 - 43 of 43
PROCEEDINGS SUMMERLAND PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION Summerland Public School Board of Education met in regular session, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, in the school’s board room. President Ed Nordby called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. Nordby noted the Open Meetings Act poster in the board room. Members present: Nordby, Nate Schwager, Scott Thiele, Steve Thiele, Austin Twibell and Jeremy Wagner. Nordby turned the meeting over to Superintendent Finke for election of officers. All board members took the oath of office. Discuss, consider and t...
As a freshman, Olga Mendoza watched several Latinx students receive scholarships from the Gallery of Stars, presented during the annual Latino Youth Summit, held at Central Community College in Columbus. At the time, she thought, "I can't wait until I'm a senior. I want that scholarship." Last Wednesday, as Mendoza and other Summerland students who attended the summit gathered for a photo, the Summerland senior received a surprise. Jane Shanahan, with the Jesusita and Santos Courage and...
Greater Nebraska's future healthcare workers are already here, but they may not know it yet. In the last three years, Nebraska Community Foundation surveyed more than 3,200 middle and high school students across the state on what they want their future communities and careers to look like. In 2022 alone, more than 700 students responded to the survey. Students consistently rank medical or healthcare professions as their most desired career among multiple options. The most recent survey, however,...
In 2024, NASA will send a small surgical robot from Nebraska to the International Space Station. The tiny, two-pound robot will be able to perform surgeries on the space station that would normally require a surgeon’s expertise and much larger equipment. The surgical robot can operate more or less on its own, performing complex procedures at the flip of a switch. The device, developed by Nebraska-based Virtual Incision, is a significant step toward making it possible for surgeons to operate r...
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...
JEFF YOST President & CEO Nebraska Community Foundation Hope alone doesn’t go very far. Hope alone assumes we need only to sit back and wait for good things to happen. That our communities are predestined to succeed merely because that’s the expectation. There’s also a hint of resignation, like everything is just outside our control. We hope because we cannot see ourselves making a difference. But Nebraskans don’t like warming the bench. At Nebraska Community Foundation, we embrace the phrase “active hope” – which functions both as a noun and...
It's early summer and a Lakota woman stares into the trees, deep past the leaves and their shadows, her dark eyes misting up. Norma LeRoy tries to understand why a school secretary cut her two little girls' hair without her consent in the spring of 2020. The secretary was checking for lice, LeRoy was told - lice the mother said they never found. LeRoy feels like few in this remote region of Cherry County understand what they took. It's why the 36-year-old Rosebud Sioux has to turn away from her...
The Summerland School District will operate on a $13,331,200 budget in 2021-22. Board members approved the proposed budget and tax levy request during Monday's regular board meeting, the first held at the new school facility. During the budget hearing, held prior to the regular meeting, Superintendent Kyle Finkle said land valuations remained steady, except in Holt County, which saw a 9.24% decrease. "The proposed budget is to decrease general asking from 65 cents and change to 55 cents and...
MADLEINE GRANT Nebraska News Service A bill that would provide financial aid for low-income students advanced to the next round of debate in the Nebraska Legislature on March 24. Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont introduced LB529, which would set the distribution of lottery dollars for education programs from 2021-2022 through 2025-2026. Every five years, the Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee reevaluates the use of lottery funds and decides which education programs will receive funding. Since a previous version of the bill (LB920) failed t...
It goes without saying that 2020 is a year we will never forget. It was a year of change, challenge and pivots. Some things slowed down. Others stopped altogether. Despite considerable hardship, the Nebraska Community Foundation network’s resolve to build a Greater Nebraska proved impervious to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid efforts to flatten the curve, neighbors stepped up to help those in need. Goals were met. Grants were made. Work got done. Total assets now exceed $180 m...
Northeast Community College faculty, staff, students, volunteers, donors and other guests gathered Thursday for an event that is literally and figuratively groundbreaking for the institution's agriculture program. A ceremony marked construction that is presently underway on the Nexus project which consists of a new veterinary technology building and a combination farm operations building and large animal handling facility at the new Acklie Family College Farm. The site is located near...
KATIE ANDERSON Nebraska News Service Property tax relief is on the agenda for the 17-day legislative session later this month, but opponents argue that the proposed property tax relief plan will hinder school district spending and taxing authority. State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, chairwoman of the revenue committee, is leading the charge to get a property tax relief package passed when the Legislature resumes on July 20. “We have a property tax crisis more severe now in agriculture but moving toward suburbia,” Linehan said. “If you b...
Almost 500 new bills were introduced by members of the Legislature during the first 10 days of the legislative session. Each proposed legislation will have a public hearing before the relevant committee. The public hearing process has already started and will continue through February. I introduced five bills this year. The first three will have public hearings next week before the Natural Resources Committee and the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. LB 769 requires that each...
With regrets, the Ewing Board of Education accepted the resignation of science instructor Krista Holliday during the Jan. 13 meeting. Holliday's tenure at Ewing begin in the 1996-1997 school year. In her letter of resignation, Holliday wrote, "It is with remorse and excitement I submit this letter of resignation. Remorse because I am leaving a great institution and workplace behind and excitement because to retire at an early age in the career of my choice marks a personal goal complete." She...
The Orchard advisory and original boards of education reorganized for the upcoming months, when they met in joint session last Monday, Jan. 6, at the school. Advisory board members Candace Hoke, DeAnna Clifton, Nathan Schwager and Kristi Schutt voted to retain the current officers for the remaining months, until the Summerland consolidation takes effect. Hoke will continue as president; with Schutt as vice president; Clifton, secretary; and Schwager, treasurer. Board committee members will also remain the same, including Clifton and Hoke on...
Orchard Advisory Board of Education members, Candace Hoke, Kristi Schutt, DeAnna Clifton and Nate Schwager, will be joined by Original Orchard Board of Education members Terra Williby and Terri Hergert, beginning with the December meeting, as they work to dissolve Nebraska Unified District 1 and begin transition efforts to the new Summerland school. Hergert and Williby sat in the audience at the Nov. 13 Advisory Board meeting held at Orchard High School. Both Schutt and Cathy Cooper, Orchard principal, said they had fielded questions from...
Why are the Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard school boards calling a special bond election November 12th? For several years, the three school boards have been working to find the best solution to address needs each district faces when it comes to operational efficiency, enrollment limitations, aging facilities and limited program offerings for students and families in their communities. Following a rigorous process of identifying the urgent needs, utilizing community engagement to determine an effe...
The Orchard Public School Advisory Board of Education faced a short agenda when they met last Wednesday at the high school. Board members heard from Principal Cathy Cooper that enrollment numbers used for football classification, as of last Wednesday, sat at 47, the maximum allowed for eight-man participation, in order to qualify for state playoffs. An increase in the number of boys enrolled in grades nine, 10 and 11 in any of the three schools, would push the future Bobcats to 11-man. Enrollment on Oct. 1 will determine classification....
