Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Medicare enrollment period begins on Oct. 15, extending through Dec. 7th. Throughout this time, seniors across Greater Nebraska will receive numerous calls and letters urging them to switch to Medicare Advantage plans. While these plans often promote cost savings and added perks, the reality for patients and health care providers can be much different. Patients face delays and higher costs Unlike traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans often require prior approval for care. In fact, nearly all Medicare Advantage enrollees must get prior...
One. That's the number by which enrollment at Summerland Public Schools dropped for the 2024-25 school year. Superintendent Molly Aschoff supplied the numbers after final enrollment totals were given to the Nebraska Department of Education at the end of September. Records show 442 students are enrolled this year. One noticeable differences is the size of the senior class. Last year, 20 students were enrolled. This year's class has 42 students. Twenty-two students are enrolled in preschool this...
Online learning seems new, but it’s older than you think. The field’s predecessor, distance education, can be traced back centuries. From Sir Isaac Pitman, who taught shorthand by correspondence in 1840, to lectures broadcast on the radio in the early 1920s, all the way through to the early 1990s when colleges and universities took advantage of the newly minted World Wide Web and began to offer online education programs, it has evolved alongside technological advances. In those early days of the internet, online learning was an adjustment for...
The group of teachers had a straightforward but daunting assignment before them: How could Cody-Kilgore, a small district nestled in the Nebraska Sandhills, buck the trend of rural decline and revitalize the school? Teachers Stacey Adamson and Tracee Ford latched onto an unusual idea that started as a joke – one that grew more unusual as it progressed. What about a grocery store run by students? Now nearly two decades after the idea first surfaced, the Circle C Market – a student-run gro...
Jessica J. Snyder, 41, of Ewing appeared in the Holt County district courtroom in O’Neill on Monday, July 1 to be sentenced for her Class 3A felony conviction of making terroristic threats. The Honorable Mark Kozisec ordered a three-year term of probation for the September/October 2023 crime. She was taxed $165.46 costs of prosecution and ordered to pay a $30 probation enrollment fee. Monthly $25 program fees are waived during the time they are paid in a companion case. Snyder is not allowed to be within five miles of the residences of Ervin M...
Half of U.S. children depend on government programs for health care, and in some states, they're beginning to lose that coverage at rates that have concerned the federal government. Foothold Technology analyzed data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state health departments collected by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families to illustrate which states have allowed children to lose health care at an alarmingly fast pace. Passed in March 2020, the...
ESU #8, based in Neligh, is a vital educational support hub across a seven-county region in northeast Nebraska. Working closely with local schools, it provides crucial services to students, educators, and families from birth to 21 years old. ESU #8's Eastern Learning Center in Norfolk and the Clearwater Learning Center offer comprehensive education for students aged 5-21 with significant disabilities. From academics to vocational training, these Level III schools promote holistic development and progress. The learning centers have been operatio...
The purple ribbon atop the pencil drawing of a famous icon says it all: Best of Show. Caydence Schumacher, a sophomore at Summerland Public Schools, submitted a pencil drawing of Marilyn Monroe to the ESU 8 Art Show, held April 5 to 7 at the Antelope County Fairgrounds in Neligh. Judges awarded it the top prize. Schumacher said when she's decided what to draw, she sometimes has an individual in mind or she'll search for famous people she's a fan of. "I decided to do Marilyn Monroe because she...
Will Summerland Schools be part of a new activity conference? Board of education members will answer that question when they meet Wednesday, Jan. 17. The meeting will be held in the board room at the school at 7 p.m. Discussion about a potential conference, which could include Elkhorn Valley, Hartington-Newcastle, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Lutheran High Northeast, Neligh-Oakdale, Plainview, West Holt and Summerland has taken place at board meetings since November. In December, Superintendent...
TV is flooded these days with commercials encouraging everyone to sign up for Medicare Advantage. What is MA and why are they doing this? First of all, a bit of history. For more than 30 years, Congress has debated whether the private insurance industry could deliver Medicare benefits more efficiently than the federal government. In 2003, these efforts evolved into what is now known as Medicare Part C or, more commonly, Medicare Advantage. MA plans, operated by private insurance companies, cover...
A Neligh couple, whose June 29 argument became physical, were each sentenced to seven days in jail for counts of third-degree assault, by mutual consent. Plea agreements had been negotiated with Antelope County attorney Joe Smith by the respective court-appointed attorneys for Melissa A. Murberger, 48, represented by Martin Klein of Neligh, and Ronald E. Murberger, 48, represented by public defender Pat Carney of Norfolk. The agreement included staggered jail sentences so one of them would be available to care for their children and Smith’s a...
Summerland School officials have until Nov. 30 to declare if the Bobcat football team will play in the eight-man division during the next two-year cycle. During the Oct. 16 board of education meeting, activities director Zach Rosenboom said the current enrollment shows 63 male students in grades nine, ten and eleven. "The cutoff (for eight-man) is 47," he said. Rosenboom said a one-cycle waiver is available, which makes the Bobcats eligible for post-season play. Board member Nate Schwager asked...
PROCEEDINGS SUMMERLAND PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION Monday, Oct. 16, 2023 Summerland Public School Board of Education met in regular session, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023 at the school. President Steve Thiele called the meeting, which was advertised in the Oct. 11, 2023, newspapers, to order at 6:03 p.m. Thiele noted the Open Meetings Act posted in the board room. Roll call was taken. Present: Ed Nordby, Nate Schwager, Scott Thiele, Steve Thiele, Austin Twibell, Jeremy Wagner. Motion by Wagner, seconded by Twibell, to approve the agenda as...
Infrastructure is often the first hurdle to high-speed internet access for rural Nebraskans, but it isn’t the last. Once the wires have been laid, residents still have to pay to use the service. Subscriber fees can vary widely, but they are frequently higher for communities and households in rural areas, where long stretches of fiber optic cable reach fewer access points relative to urban settings that have more people living within a smaller space. Greater lengths of cable means higher i...
A Randolph man was recently sentenced to serve one year in the Antelope County Jail and fined $1,000 for his latest conviction of domestic assault Brennon J. Coleman, 39, previously of Neligh, was given credit for 15 days already served and was taxed $204.71 costs of prosecution when he faced the Honorable James Kube on Sept. 27. During the sentencing hearing, Coleman, who had pleaded no contest in July, contended he had not hit the victim. When asked by the judge if he recalled the incident, he answered, “Absolutely.” And, when asked why, he...
A 24-year-old O’Neill man has been given the opportunity to resolve a pair of felony cases through the North Central Problem Solving Court. Problem-solving courts allow for an alternate route through the criminal justice system for nonviolent drug-related offenders, utilizing a specialized team process within the existing court structure. The court's goal is to protect public safety and increase the participant's likelihood of successful rehabilitation by utilizing validated risk and need assessments, early and individualized behavioral h...
PROCEEDINGS SUMMERLAND SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION Sept. 12, 2023 Summerland Public School Board of Education met in regular session, immediately following the tax request hearing, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. President Steve Thiele called the meeting, which was advertised in the Sept. 6, 2023, newspapers, to order at 5:17 p.m. Thiele noted the Open Meetings Act posted in the boardroom. Roll call was taken. Present: Ed Nordby, Nate Schwager, Scott Thiele, Steve Thiele, Austin Twibell, Jeremy Wagner. All board members present. Motion by Nordby,...
Preliminary enrollment numbers show an increase in Summerland Public Schools after the first weeks of classes. Superintendent Kyle Finke said 13 more students are enrolled than last year at this time. According to Finke, 443 students are currently enrolled in preschool through 12th grade. Final enrollment numbers are due to the Nebraska Department of Education by the end of this month. One of the noticeable differences is in the senior class. Thirty students comprised the class of 2023, while...
Not many students can say that their parents are attending college at the same time they are, and even fewer can say all three are attending the same college. My unique journey started when my father, mother, and I all decided to attend Wayne State College this fall. Three Wildcats is much better than only one. Our Wayne State journey started when my father, Brian, decided to go back to college in August 2019 after his company went through a merger. Job insecurity was a risk and he wanted to...
PROCEEDINGS SUMMERLAND PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION May 16, 2023 Summerland Public School Board of Education met in regular session, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. President Steve Thiele called the meting, which was advertised in the May 10, 2023, newspapers, to order at 7:02 p.m. Thiele noted the Open Meetings Act posted in the board room. Roll call was taken. Present: Ed Nordby, Nate Schwager, Scott Thiele, Steve Thiele, Austin Twibell, Jeremy Wagner. Motion by Twibell, seconded by Schwager, to approve the agenda as presented. Voting aye:...
As if propping up the school aid formula to historic proportions wasn't enough, the new governor appears to be getting his way in the Legislature with a package of tax changes that could cost the state more than $3 billion over the next six years. The plan would increase Nebraska's two property tax credit programs, cap school property tax growth and eliminate almost all community college property taxes. Oh, and this bill works in concert with one that would cut the state's top income tax rate...
A 22-year-old O’Neill woman has been given the opportunity to resolve her felony case through the North Central Problem Solving Court. Problem-solving courts are an alternate route through the criminal justice system for nonviolent drug-related offenders, utilizing a specialized team process within the existing court structure. The court's goal is to protect public safety and increase the participant's likelihood of successful rehabilitation by utilizing validated risk and need assessments, early and individualized behavioral health t...
summerlandadvocate.com A 19-year-old former Orchard woman has been sentenced after reaching plea agreements in six Holt County court cases. Makenzie A. Dow, now of Norfolk, and Holt County public defender Rod Smith, reached agreement with Holt County attorney Brent Kelly on Feb. 14 in the misdemeanor cases. Kelly dismissed two of six counts in a July 29, 2022, case in exchange for Dow’s guilty pleas to remaining charges in all six cases. There was a joint recommendation for probation. The Honorable Kale Burdick handed down sentences for the c...
This week saw the Legislature continue the discussion of the governor’s school finance and tax package. LB 243, as amended by the Revenue Committee, would make a series of changes aimed at easing the financial impact of increasing property tax valuations on Nebraska’s local property taxpayers. Among changes proposed, the measure would increase the minimum amount of relief granted under the Property Tax Credit Act to $388 million in tax year 2024 and $560 million by tax year 2029. This amo...
The Antelope County Fair, along with every county fair, provides 4-H youth across the state an opportunity to showcase the projects members have completed throughout the year and to receive recognition. Model rockets that have been assembled from basic materials, cookies that will make your mouth water, sheep that are sheared for the big show, and many other exhibits can most likely be seen at your local county fair. Through these projects, youth develop self-confidence by experiencing success at solving problems and meeting challenges. County...
