Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Starting a small business requires dedication and, often, taking out a loan. A loan can be a practical step for those seeking growth and can allow small business owners to tackle challenges like cash flow gaps, space constraints, or inventory needs. Why apply for a loan? A loan can be a powerful tool for small businesses when used strategically. Loans are versatile and can be used for equipment, working capital, or real estate. Additionally, programs like the Nebraska Advantage Microenterprise...
Gail Rock credits an unusual collaborator that inspired a 1970s holiday season staple and launched her career as an author: a mouse. The mouse, which scurried atop the stove in a friend's home, triggered a series of events that birthed "The House Without a Christmas Tree," a television movie that aired each Christmas season on CBS from 1972 to 1977. It eventually became a novel, written by Rock, and led to several TV movie spinoffs. The story centers on a young girl who longs for a Christmas...
Justin Harris could use the money. The McCook farmer and businessman is already behind on last year’s property taxes, and still owes $3,200 that’s growing with interest. And Harris is also missing out on a tax rebate thanks to a much-misunderstood change that Nebraska lawmakers made earlier this year. It’s costing him $1,300 – money he could have nabbed had he paid his property taxes by Dec. 31, 2023. “There was no chance for us to be able to take advantage of that discount because we're living paycheck to paycheck,” he said. The vast majori...
When it comes to running a successful small business, providing a great product or service is only half the battle. Whether you’re selling handcrafted products, offering professional services, or running a local shop, knowing who your potential customers are—and how to reach them—can make all the difference in your business’s success. What is a target market? Think of your target market as a group of your ideal customers. These people likely have similar characteristics outside of being most lik...
Three new members – Keith White of Neligh, Bev Krutz of Orchard and Gary Arehart of Elgin – were elected to serve on the board of the Antelope County Historical Society at the organization's recent annual meeting. All three bring a strong interest in the county's history, with each having diverse experiences and interests. "We welcome these new members to our board," said Donna Hanson, Antelope County Museum executive director. "Their broad experience and love for Antelope County will go a lon...
As November begins, so does the busiest shopping season of the year. We're familiar with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but let's not overlook Small Business Saturday - a day dedicated to supporting the businesses that keep our communities vibrant and unique. On this day, shop small and make an impact close to home by supporting the shops, services, and makers in our own backyards. Rural and local businesses face unique pressures. They compete not only with the convenience of online shopping...
One word best defines how Megan Landes-Murphy and her husband Tom Murphy met, made career choices and launched a unique-to-Nebraska business. Sheep. Neither spent much time around the animals while growing up in northwest Wisconsin and the Omaha area, respectively. Now, they have sheep, a few chickens and two Great Pyrenees dogs named Milo and Birdie on their 12-acre ranch east of the small south-central Nebraska town of Lawrence. Two years ago, Landes-Murphy launched Kestrel Ridge Pellet Co.,...
Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company has been recognized as a 2024 Smart Rural Community Showcase Award winner. The announcement was made by The Rural Broadband Association Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield during a conference hosted by the NTCA on Sept. 30. The Smart Rural Community program is a network of more than 280 communities, supported by NTCA member providers, committed to driving growth through robust broadband service. The Showcase Awards are presented to providers in...
Pricking his finger with a small needle, Anthony Warrior squeezed a drop of blood onto the test strip. As he saw the number illuminate, the then-40-year-old Absentee Shawnee citizen and Muskogee descendant knew his days of bad eating had caught up with him. With his weight nearing 500 pounds and his blood sugar dangerously high, Warrior was facing a future of possible blindness, kidney failure and limb amputation – all complications of unchecked diabetes. If he didn't address his eating h...
Eight street projects will fill Clearwater's six-year street plan. The one-year plan can be summed up in a single word: maintenance. Village engineer John Zwingman told trustees he went through the prior plan "with a fairly fine-tooth comb." "Last year's plan costs made zero sense to me and the attached maps didn't match project descriptions," he said during Monday's public hearing held at the fire hall meeting room. Projects include: • Nebraska Street, from Iowa Street to Main Street, .22 m...
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...
State lawmakers have long since finished their long, 17-day special session in Lincoln and headed back home. The summer session unfolded as a lot of people, including me, expected - a lot of ideas for reducing property taxes were discussed, but only a small, incremental change, one that will result in a 3% drop in property taxes for some taxpayers, was passed. As we've discussed before, reducing property taxes, while a noble and needed move, is a complicated task and requires an adept hike...
One of the most exciting things we can do for the places we love is make a planned gift. Exciting might not be the first word we associate with making a will, which is the simplest and most common way to make a charitable planned gift, but bear with me for a moment. Planning your estate offers a poignant opportunity to examine your passions and values. When we sit down to decide what causes are important enough to be included in our legacy, the stakes become a bit higher. We catalog our lives,...
Happiness. It's a word Amy Larsen associates with the look on an individual's face when they receive flowers. "There's something about the happiness ... some would smile and some would cry when they open the door and see you with a bouquet," she said. Now, Larsen hopes to spark happiness in the Ewing area as she introduces Beautiful Chaos Designs, a floral and gift shop. The store is located in the science room in the former Ewing High School, at 416 North Spruce Street. Larsen's interest in...
Nebraska isn't known as a battleground state when it comes to presidential elections. That tag usually goes to Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, along with Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. But the recent pick of Nebraska native and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the vice presidential running mate for Kamala Harris is revving up talk that the Cornhusker State – at least Omaha's congressional district – is in play and may help decide this fall's presidential election. Walz, a 60-year-old former teache...
Funeral services for Jerry Tomjack, 95, of Ewing, will be 10:30 a.m., Friday, August 23, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Ewing, with Father John Norman officiating. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, August 22, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Ewing, with a 7 p.m. wake service. Burial will be in St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery, with military rites by Sanders American Legion Post 214. Snider Memorial Funeral Home in Clearwater is handling the arrangements. Jerry died Aug. 15, 2024, at Lake...
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...
Summer is usually a relaxing time in Lincoln. College students have left, state lawmakers have gone home, the weather gets hot, the backyard tomatoes get ripe, and the biggest debate around town is whether this is the year the Huskers become relevant again in football. Optimism always abounds in the pre-season, before the first kickoff. But not sure the same optimism accompanies the special session Gov. Jim Pillen has convened to address the state's traditionally high property taxes. Every...
Phil Whitmarsh starts a lot of conversations with an offbeat question: Have you ever played a 500-year-old guitar? Eventually, he'll hand you Mary Kate. The instrument resembles a Fender Telecaster, the six-string synonymous with Americana twang and favored by artists like Bruce Springsteen. Mary Kate looks and plays like a Telecaster, but the sound is different. It's the wood, says Whitmarsh. That wood once helped hold up the old Woolworth warehouse in Omaha's historic Old Market. In a few...
In a time before Prohibition, tiny Wilber, Nebraska, produced something nearby metropolis Omaha envied. Today, more than a century later, Wilber is trying to make Omaha jealous again. In its heyday, the Wilber Brewing Company produced 40,000 barrels of beer per year, and almost all of it was consumed by residents of the small town, located 40 miles southwest of Lincoln, and nearby communities. Gary Wooten, secretary of Wilber Czech Brewery Company LLC, said his organization wants to bring back t...
The message from Clearwater residents is overwhelmingly clear: fix the streets. "We've been researching different options and trying to figure out a way to start improving the streets. When we went through the surveys done for the Downtown Revitalization project, and the housing grant two years ago, streets were the No. 1 concern of citizens of the community," said Clearwater Economic Development Director Lauren Sheridan. Navigating Clearwater's business corridor may get a whole lot smoother if...
REGULAR PROCEEDINGS VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER BOARD OF TRUSTEES July 15, 2024 The Board of Trustees of the Village of Clearwater met for a regular meeting Monday, July 15, at 7 p.m., in the fire hall meeting room. Meeting opened at 7:02 p.m. Notice of meeting was given in advance by publication in Summerland Advocate-Messenger, was posted at US Post Office in Clearwater, Clearwater Market and Cornerstone Bank-Clearwater and was given to board members prior to meeting. Public was informed of location of Open Meeting Act poster. Present: Kelly...
Ask Ally Sedlacek what is Holt County's biggest asset and she'll quickly share her point of view. "It's the people," she said. "Without the people, this wouldn't be such a great place to live." An O'Neill native, Sedlacek has first-hand experience with the supportive and welcoming nature of area residents. This summer, she is highlighting locals who "have made a positive impact" and sharing why they love life in rural Nebraska. The end product: The People of Holt County, a compilation of video...
Data breaches are on track for a record year in 2024 as cybercriminals increasingly hunt for valuable information. On average, a data breach exposing sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, has around 172,000 victims, according to a ConsumerAffairs analysis of the Identity Theft Resource Center's database from 2018 to the first quarter of 2024. These breaches cause headaches for consumers, who then need to check if their information is secure elsewhere because they are now more...
Scotti Fullbright 1951-2024 Scotti Dean Fullbright, beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, was promoted to his 'Long Home' on May 28, in Wichita, Kansas, after battling an infection in his body for several months. He was born June 3, 1951, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to parents Paul and Myrna (Wilcox) Fullbright. He was a rambunctious child by all accounts and his early life was punctuated by tragedy when his father passed away suddenly when he was just 13. In his high school years, his...
