Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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This past week, the Legislature gave first-round approval to two bills offering tax relief for Nebraskans. Further debate on the two proposals will wait until we are further along in the session and have a better idea of projected revenues and expenses. LB825 accelerates the phase-out of the taxation of social security benefits. Under the proposal, all social security benefits will no longer be subject to the income tax, beginning in 2025. LB723 guarantees a higher level of property tax relief...
PRIMARY ELECTION NOTICE AND OFFICES TO BE FILLED BY ELECTION AND FILING DEADLINES I, Lisa Payne, Antelope County Clerk/Election Commissioner, hereby give notice of the offices to be filled by election that will appear on the 2022 Primary Election Ballot to be held May 10th, 2022, in Antelope County, Nebraska, as per State Statute 32-601. Notice is also given that the filing deadline for such offices are: Feb. 15, 2022, for incumbents and March 1, 2022 for non-incumbents. An incumbent is anyone serving in an elective office, even if they are...
Longtime Holt County Supervisor Bill Tielke will continue to preside over the board after he was elected to serve as chairman for 2022, on a 5-0-1-1 vote, when the board met Jan. 6 to reorganize. Supervisor Scott Keyes was absent from the meeting and Tielke abstained. Doug Frahm, of Amelia, was elected to chair the county's board of equalization. After approving board of representatives, delegates and committee assignments for the upcoming year, supervisors approved the reappointments of and...
Three new awards will be presented in the Clearwater community, including volunteer, community organization (non-profit) and business of the year. Economic development director Lauren Sheridan-Simonsen presented the idea at the village’s Jan. 10 meeting. Community members may nominate an individual, group or business as a way “to recognize individuals who give their time, talents and treasure.” “You just can’t run a community without the great volunteers and businesses,” Sheridan-Simonsen said. Funding for the awards will be made through the...
Broadband access for portions of northern Antelope County, including Royal and Orchard, along with Elgin and Oakdale, will be on the horizon, after Midstates Data Transport, dba Stealth Broadband, received more than $1.23 million from the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program. Nebraska’s Public Service Commission approved 60 grants, totaling approximately $18 million, earlier this month. Commissioner Crystal Rhoades cast the lone dissenting vote. Dan Watermeier, PSC chairman said, “We are ple...
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...
Holt County Supervisors approved Resolution 2021-33, redistricting of the seven supervisor districts, using an equal population, based on the 2020 U.S. Census, during its Dec. 30 meeting, on a 5-1 vote. District seven supervisor, Don Butterfield, cast the dissenting vote. District four supervisor, Scott Keyes, was absent. According to Census results, the population count totals 10,127, which would put 1,447 residents in each district. The biggest concern expressed by Butterfield was losing a por...
Based on the county's comprehensive plan, Holt County supervisors denied a perpetual wetland reserve easement, for Melvin Knox's Bar K Bar , LLC, during a Dec. 16 public hearing, at the courthouse in O'Neill. Supervisor Doug Frahm made the motion, which passed unanimously. Supervisor Dustin Breiner was absent. The hearing, which lasted more than an hour, was a required step, following a Dec. 13 public hearing in front of the county's planning and zoning board. That board voted 6-3 in favor of...
Ramey Vachal, Hanna Christensen, Chin Tung Tan Nebraska News Service State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks announces run for Congress State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of District 28 announced her bid for Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District. Brooks cannot run for her state senate seat in 2022 due to term limits. The incumbent of the first district is Congressman Jeff Fortenberry. Fortenberry is under indictment for allegedly lying to the FBI and has not said if he will run again in 2022. Three snow leopards die at Lincoln Children’s Zoo due to COV...
Looking out my kitchen window, my eyes seem to travel to plants and blooms in the tones of orange, rust and burgundy. It's October and I just can't get enough of the warm colors of fall. Even the kitten that plays in the flower garden has orange in its calico-colored fur. We know the weather is going to get cooler, but somehow we are never ready for the chill and then the freeze that ends our growing season. I'm not sure just why the flower colors are so much brighter preceding a frost, but...
Late in the week of Sept. 6, and after considerable debate and negotiation, the redistricting committee introduced its bills outlining proposed new districts for the election of Congressional, Legislative, Supreme Court, Public Service Commission, Board of Regents and State Board of Education members. Our special session relative to redistricting commenced on Sept. 13. That same day, we began three days of hearings on those bills in Grand Island, Lincoln and Omaha, where many Nebraskans weighed...
The special session of the Nebraska Legislature began Monday, Sept. 13, for the sole purpose of redistricting, along with various confirmations of gubernatorial appointments. The nine-member redistricting committee, of which I am a member, has been hard at work for several weeks prior to the session. The redistricting committee was tasked with drawing up several district maps, including, US Congress, Nebraska Legislature, State Supreme Court, Public Service Commission, University of Nebraska Boa...
Representatives moved forward the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act, which includes investments in roads, bridges, other major public infrastructure projects and broadband. One of the most significant funding allotments in the bill is in the realm of digital infrastructure. Some 30 million Americans, mostly rural, are still without the infrastructure for standard internet access speeds. In Nebraska, for example, 26% of residents do not have adequate access to high speed...
Any farmer or rancher who is interested in conservation programs through the Natural Resources Conservation Service is required to have a farm number for the application process. Farm numbers are issued for free and allow access to key U.S. Department of Agriculture programs including working lands conservation, farm loans and others that require farm records to be shared as part of the application process. There is no minimum acreage requirement to register as a farm. Having a farm number also...
The University of Nebraska- Lincoln announced Wednesday morning that former Husker All-American Trev Alberts will be its next athletic director. Alberts returns to the Huskers after serving as the athletic director for the University of Nebraska-Omaha since 2009. During his tenure, he helped transition UNO to Division I athletics, cutting the football and wrestling program in the process. Alberts replaces Bill Moos as athletic director after his abrupt retirement last month. Alberts played football at Nebraska from 1990 to 1993. In his senior...
Senators approved an increase in state spending on initiatives such as broadband, foster care reimbursement rates, pay for people who provide services under Medicaid and rail industrial parks during Nebraska’s 107th legislative session, which adjourned on May 27. Senators also focused on cutting taxes and designated a portion of the state’s FY 2021- 2022 $4.8 billion budget toward tax relief, according to the 2021 general fund budget summary. Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango said this session was different because there was more money to work wit...
I would consider the recently completed legislative session successful for Nebraska taxpayers. Among other items, we passed, and the governor signed into law, bills to provide a sales tax exemption on municipal water, tax relief for military retirement recipients, tax relief for social security recipients and income tax relief for corporate taxpayers. On the property tax front, we provided a valuation reduction for agland in the context of school bond repayment, we added additional dollars to...
Holt County Supervisors approved a resolution against President Biden’s Executive Order 14008, dubbed the 30 x 30 land grab, during its May 28 meeting. Prior to the vote, seven individuals spoke to the board about plan, which would conserve 30% of lands and waterways in the United States by 2030. The county’s resolution states the program, if implemented, “will conflict with plans, policies, zoning and programs of Holt County and notes that supervisors are in opposition to it. The resolution, introduced by Doug Frahm and seconded by Dusti...
JONATHAN HLADIK Policy director Center for Rural Affairs With a nearly-unanimous vote last month, the Nebraska Legislature retained and improved one of the only incentives available to businesses of five or fewer employees. After a year when many small businesses shuttered and others were forced to pause plans for future growth, the approval of Legislative Bill 366 also sends an important message to microentrepreneurs-the services they provide are a worthy and important part of our state's...
The speaker of the Legislature has announced that senators will complete their work a few days early, adjourning sine die on May 27 rather than June 10. This is partially due to the many late nights that were worked in order to complete our business and knowing we will be meeting again in a couple months. Every 10 years, the Legislature must complete the redistricting process to reflect population changes after the U.S. Census is complete. Due to the pandemic, states didn’t get the census d...
Antelope County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a resolution declaring the county as a Second Amendment sanctuary county at the board’s May 4 meeting. The resolution, similar to one approved by Holt County Supervisors, pledges support for the right to bear arms, as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Approximately 35 counties have approved resolutions, according to the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association website. No discussion was held prior to the vote a...
Two major pieces of legislation that would have provided property tax relief were defeated this past week. Generally, I am supportive of proposals that attempt to lower property taxes. LR 11, introduced by Bayard Senator Steve Erdman, is a constitutional amendment proposing to replace all taxation with a consumption tax on the purchase of services and new goods. Nebraska residents would no longer pay property taxes, income taxes, sales and use taxes, inheritance taxes, or estate taxes. LR 11...
The Legislature continues to work through the stack of priority bills, sometimes working into the evening and adjourning between 8 and 10 p.m. Since my last column, we’ve debated a couple of bills related to property tax relief. The first, Senator Wayne’s LB 24, provides a sales tax exemption for municipal water bills. I had hoped that this would be packaged with my LB 2, which provides a reduction in agland valuations for school bonds approved after the effective date of the act. One would pro...
Governor Ricketts signed the budget bills this past week with no line-item vetoes. He praised the Legislature for passing a budget that limited spending growth and placed an emphasis on increased funding for property tax relief measures. The Legislature gave first-round approval to LB 64, which addresses the taxation of social security benefits. LB 64 was introduced by Omaha Senator Brett Lindstrom and prioritized by Seward Senator Mark Kolterman. Only 13 states tax social security benefits....
The Legislature passed the budget bills this past week. Governor Ricketts has five days (not counting Sunday) to decide whether to sign the legislation. The governor has the authority to line-item veto specific items on budget bills, without vetoing the entire bill. Once the budget bills have been passed, other legislation that appropriates General Funds or results in the reduction of revenue to the General Fund, and all other tax expenditure bills, can be read on final reading. LB 2,...
