Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 138
The Nebraska State Patrol, Governor Jim Pillen, and a grateful Nebraska family were pleased to present the NSP Life Saver Award to Trooper Braden Heidbrink. "Most of you that enter this profession are very humble. You don't do this job for moments like this," said Colonel Bryan Waugh. "We sign up to do this job because we genuinely have a passion to serve, to protect, to be there at the most horrible, horrific moment in somebody's life, that we can hopefully make a difference in that moment."...
On Nov. 18, The Judicial Nominating Commission for County Court Judge in the Seventh Judicial District advanced three names for consideration by Governor Jim Pillen. Patrick P. Carney, Norfolk; Chelsey R. Hartner, Madison; and Dennis W. Morland, Norfolk., will be considered to fill a vacancy open due to the appointment of Judge Michael L. Long to the district court. The district consists of Antelope, Cuming, Knox, Madison, Pierce, Stanton and Wayne counties....
Gov. Jim Pillen and the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance gave final approval Nov. 12 to the final charter for the launch of Telcoin Digital Asset Bank in Norfolk. As a result, Telcoin will manage the first regulated digital asset depository in the United States, with leadership expecting operations to begin in December. State experts said the burgeoning market of digital assets means more economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and developers of fintech and crypto in Nebraska. It...
Union Pacific Railroad is the lone Nebraska-based company publicly known to have donated to the new White House ballroom championed by President Donald Trump. It's also a Nebraska-based company that will soon need a federal regulator to approve a massive merger that, if green-lit, would give the company control of more than 40% of rail freight traffic in the United States. Trump recently fired the most anti-merger board member of that federal regulator, the Surface Transportation Board, as he...
On Monday, Gov. Jim Pillen announced his appointment of Joey Spellerberg to the position of state treasurer. Spellerberg fills a vacancy due to the departure of Tom Briese, who is resigning to spend more time with his family. "In terms of having someone ready to jump into the role of state treasurer, I could not be more pleased in announcing my appointment of Joey Spellerberg," said Pillen. "He expressed interest in the role two years ago. He has strong credentials as a fiscal conservative,...
A decade ago, Nebraska's corrections department allowed hundreds of inmates to leave prison early through a program that few - including judges, lawmakers and the public - knew existed. Corrections leaders eventually scrapped the early-release scheme shortly after probing lawmakers revealed it. Now, as the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services continues to grapple with overcrowding and converts one prison into an immigration detention center, it is trying to create a similar program....
In 2000, state funding made up a third of the University of Nebraska's operating budget. Today, it has shrunk to 19%. Earlier this year, less-than-requested state funding led the NU Board of Regents to adopt $20 million in cuts across the university's five campuses. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln faces another $27.5 million in cuts to pull itself out of a yearslong structural deficit. NU Regents also approved an average 5% tuition increase on campuses to try to make up for the rising costs...
We live in a world where having adequate high-speed internet service is not just a luxury, but a necessity. With proper broadband, you can use a computer to run a business, manage a good website, work remotely and operate the new generation of precision agriculture equipment. But here’s the problem – it’s expensive to hook up every home, farm and ranch to the best service, which is generally agreed to be fiber optic cables. When it came to electricity, the nation opted for a federal loan progr...
LINCOLN--Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha had hoped to hear from state officials, including the governor and the director of the Nebraska Department of Corrections, during a committee hearing at the Capitol on Friday about plans to convert a state prison into a proposed immigrant detention facility. Instead, he heard from four dozen Nebraskans who showed up full of emotion, with posters and written statements to voice their opposition to turning the Work Ethic Camp in McCook into a federal facility to house those arrested by U.S. Immigration and...
On Tuesday, Gov. Jim Pillen has signed Executive Order 25-13, the latest action in his Administration’s ongoing efforts to provide meaningful property tax relief to Nebraska families. Due to an increase in casino gambling revenue and unused money remaining in the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund and the School District Property Tax Credit Fund, these funds grew by more than the amount originally appropriated by the Nebraska Legislature. The EO directs Nebraska’s Property Tax Administrator to certify and distribute the full amount in the funds to...
LINCOLN — In the past five years, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has weathered $75 million in cuts. Cuts to staff. Cuts to university libraries. Cuts to colleges that have taught UNL students for more than a century. But the pain from those cuts, spread over years, likely will be dwarfed by what's to come, as the state’s flagship university moves to slash $27.5 million by the end of the calendar year. The total, announced by Chancellor Rodney Bennett in early August, represents nearly 6% of UNL’s state-aided budget. It exceeds the budge...
eek, I ran into a few Husker ex-pats. All commented on how great the summer weather was in the mountains. No corn sweat! No 100 degree days! Not one former Husker mentioned high property taxes – which blamed by several politicians as the reason people move from the state. But I digress. We probably need to discuss the latest move to vilify and punish hard-working immigrants in our own backyard. We're talking about the "Cornhusker Clink," the takeover of a state prison camp in McCook by the f...
Michael's Cantina has been serving Tex-Mex food to the residents here for more than 30 years. It feels timeless, except for an unwelcome newcomer: the stench. For the past two years, the restaurant and nearby residents have been bothered by the stink, which owner Heath Henery describes as a "sewer smell with almost a vomit smell." He blames the odor on the dairy processing plant across the street, a company long known as Milk Specialties Global that recently rebranded as Actus Nutrition. The...
Get comfortable being uncomfortable. That advice from Gov. Jim Pillen stuck with four Summerland Public School seniors who took part in the first-ever Governor's Youth Summit, held Aug. 14 in Kearney. Shaylie Kester, Clair Krysl, Caydence Schumacher and Leah Wiese, along with Superintendent Molly Aschoff, joined more than 300 high school and college students for the day-long event, designed to connect Nebraska's youth with agricultural and business leaders. Schumacher said the summit gave...
Holt County extension personnel requested a 2% budget increase for the upcoming fiscal year. Extension Educator Amy Timmerman told Holt County Supervisors, Monday, the amount totals $2,820. “Of that, $2,220 is all for salary increase. We’re not even doing a cost of living increase. Cost of living is closer to 6.5 to 7% this year, so (with this), we can within the 2% range,” Timmerman said, noting once Governor Jim Pillen announced a 2% threshold, she stuck to that amount. “I want to make sure we...
Based on preliminary figures, presented to Holt County Supervisors during a July 31 meeting, the road budget will see approximately a $300,000 increase from the previous year's proposal. Holt County Road Superintendent Gary Connot told supervisors the increase includes salary and equipment increases. "We adjusted the capital outlay by about $100,000," Connot said. Chairman Bill Tielke asked if the budget stays within a 3% increase, a number tossed around by state officials, primarily Gov. Jim...
Governor Jim Pillen was joined by Senator Barry DeKay and Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Sherry Vinton at Shamrock Locker in O'Neill, July 17, to ceremonially sign LB246. The new law bans the manufacture, distribution and sale of lab-grown or cultivated meat in Nebraska. Passage of the measure during the most recent legislative session builds on the governor's executive order from last year, which prohibits agencies from purchasing lab-grown meat and requires state contractors to...
Well, it's that time of year – when the corn is rising in the fields, the calves are fattening on the pastures, and politicians aplenty are announcing their candidacy for elected office. Those announcements seem to come earlier than ever, as do the negative campaign ads. The next election is the primary in 2026, about a year away. But unfortunately, it's not too early to send out some mud-slinging ads condemning so-and-so for doing something horrible, like once traveling to China, or having s...
On June 18, Gov. Jim Pillen appointed Jason S. Doele, of Norfolk, as district court judge in the Fifth Judicial District, which consists of Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders, Seward, and York counties. Doele has been a partner in the law firm of Stratton, DeLay, Doele, Carlson, Stover & Stratton in Norfolk since February 2010. Before that, he was with the firm of Jewell, Collins, DeLay, Gray and Flood, also in Norfolk. Doele is licensed to practice in both...
Cryptocurrency kiosks – also known as crypto ATMs – are proliferating nationwide. You see them in convenience stores, gas stations, shopping centers, and other high-traffic locations. At last check, there were nearly 200 crypto ATMs in Nebraska alone. While these machines offer a legitimate and convenient way to buy cryptocurrency, they are also a favored tool of scammers. Consumer losses tied to scams using crypto ATMs increased nearly tenfold from 2020 to 2023, and topped $65 million in jus...
State lawmakers went home recently, ending a 90-day session marked by reductions in spending and borrowing from cash reserves to close a projected budget gap that once topped $400 million. Hard to believe that just a couple of years ago, the state was sitting on a huge surplus of cash. It was enough to set legislators dreaming big dreams, like digging a massive lake between Omaha and Lincoln and financing new marinas and other tourism amenities. But that was then and this is now, and the...
As entrepreneurs face uncertainty because of the defunding of state grant programs and worries over global tariffs, Nebraska state leaders and organizations continue to voice strong support for small businesses. Earlier this month, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen issued a proclamation for Nebraska Small Business Week 2025 in conjunction with National Small Business Week. The May 20 event at the Capitol was an opportunity to highlight small businesses' contributions to their communities and the work of...
Colonel Bryan Waugh took the oath of office Monday as the 19th superintendent in the history of the Nebraska State Patrol. "I am honored, committed, and prepared for this opportunity," said Waugh. "The Nebraska State Patrol is a storied organization with professional men and women who are first class, dedicated, committed, and driven to provide the highest level of public safety and professional services for the entire state of Nebraska." Waugh comes to NSP from the Kearney Police Department,...
On April 2, 2025, the first child since the expansion of Nebraska's Safe Haven law, Nebraska Revised Statute § 43-4903, was surrendered. A healthy baby was surrendered to a safe haven location in the Northeastern part of the state and is under the care of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Due to HIPAA laws, no further details can be provided. Effective July 19, 2024, Nebraska Revised Statute § 43-4903 which allows a baby up to 90 days old to be left with an employee on duty at one of the following locations: A hospi...
Governor Jim Pillen and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture are partnering to provide Nebraskans with information about the appearance of avian influenza in wild birds this time of year. On March 21, the Douglas County Health Department reported the detection of H5N1 in dead geese at ConAgra Lake in Omaha. “Nebraska is situated in the heart of the migratory bird path, especially waterfowl. It’s well known that wild waterfowl can be infected with avian influenza and transmit the virus to other birds, including backyard and commercial pou...
