Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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I was busy this spring morning clipping little stems of grape hyacinth in my garden which is out my kitchen window. Containers, including a small glass cream pitcher and a tiny crystal cordial glass, are now filled with the pretty purple flowers. I just can’t resist clipping the flowers when they bloom in my garden. They remind me of what I think were gentler days, or perhaps a slower-paced lifestyle. My mother-in-law had grape hyacinth in her country garden and had shared the bulbs with me. I enjoy sharing them too. I’m not sure of the pro...
"We had no idea anything was wrong." That's how Skylar and Cabre Reynolds describe the first few minutes of their daughter Teigyn's life. The 5-pound 8-ounce bundle of joy, the couple's first child, arrived Sept. 12, 2023, at Boone County Health Center in Albion. It would take approximately six weeks before the Reynolds would learn Teigyn was battling neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy, a rare disorder of the lungs. This Sunday, residents from Skylar's hometown will host a benefit for...
It's easy to understand but hard to remember that the one task of the Nebraska Legislature is to pass a balanced budget during the 90-day session and to make adjustments to and pass that budget again in the 60-day session. Mission accomplished again by the 2024 Legislature, which has a little more than a week of session left. The simple task often gets lost in the shadow of high-profile issues, such as this year's struggle to find a solution for skyrocketing property taxes. With all eyes on...
Nebraska residents should have easier access to public records under a bill that, in effect, overrules a recent Nebraska Supreme Court decision allowing the state to charge high amounts for retrieving public records. Gov. Jim Pillen signed Legislative Bill 43, adopting the First Freedom Act and new public record provisions, on Wednesday, March 27, after it unanimously passed in the Legislature, 39-0. The bill went into immediate effect due to an emergency clause. The emergency clause was added to an amendment inspired by Lincoln Sen. Danielle...
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is a proverbial saying reportedly coined by the English nobleman Lord Acton in 1857. How much power should be given to the executive branch of Nebraska state government is a topic for discussion by state lawmakers and political observers alike. Currently there are 18 code agencies, which answer to Governor Jim Pillen. The Legislature is considering measures addressing the situation. Sen Steve Erdman of Bayard wants History Nebraska (formerly...
A 20-year-old O’Neill man was back in the Holt County district courtroom March 11, to be resentenced for crimes committed Aug. 5, 2021, after he admitted violating probation. The Honorable Mark Kozisek revoked probation and resentenced Drake D. Ruegge to 100 days in the Holt County Jail on each of two underlying counts, possession of a controlled substance and third-degree domestic assault, with credit given for 44 days previously served. Provided he loses none of his good time, Ruegge must serve 58 days, less 44 days on Count I and another 5...
ORDINANCE NO. 2024-1 VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER, NEBRASKA TO HAVE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES CONSTITUTE A BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT; TO REPEAL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; TO PROVIDE WHEN THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT; AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ORDINANCE IN PAMPHLET FORM. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CHAIRPERSON AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER, NEBRASKA: SECTION 1. Pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. §19-911, the Board of Trustees shall constitute the...
An Elgin man, who had moved from Arizona last fall, has learned about icy road conditions and Nebraska law regarding vehicle and driver’s licenses. Tyler S. Zawacky, 30, of Elgin appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh on March 6 for pretrial hearing on Count I, leaving scene of property-damage accident, a Class 2 misdemeanor; Count II, no proof of financial responsibility, a Class 2 misdemeanor; and Count III, fictitious plates, a Class 3 misdemeanor. Pursuant to a plea agreement with a...
Three of the four kids in my family were born on the same day in December over a span of 14 years. The "other" one was born on March 1. To appease her, my older sister and brother and I told the March-born she was special because she shared a birthday with the State of Nebraska! (I'm pretty sure it didn't work.) So, happy belated 157th birthday Nebraska. And happy 82nd to my late sister. Too much cake and party hats? Where are we now? Let's take a look. A is for agriculture. Still more counties...
Ed. Note: Sen. Dorn’s letter to the editor is in regards to an editorial by J.L. Schmidt, statehouse correspondent for the Nebraska Press Association. A recent editorial in this publication showed no understanding of the constraints on city governments regarding rundown properties, citing LB 45. While it would be most desirable for all property owners to keep their properties in peak condition, that is not the reality; thus, communities across the state are left with buildings which continue to deteriorate. Let me start at the beginning of h...
PROCEEDINGS VILLAGE OF PAGE, NEBRASKA Feb. 12, 2024 The regular monthly meeting of the Village Board of Page was held Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the village office. This meeting was conducted in compliance with the Nebraska Open Meetings Act and the Open Meeting Laws are posted at the Village Office. Chair Linquist called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Trustees VanEvery, Tyrrell, Campbell and Leichleiter present. Also present: Matt Kellum and Cora Calkins. Absent: None. Motion by Tyrrell, second by Campbell: approve minutes of the Jan. 19, 2024,...
Dear fellow citizens of Holt County, For the past months, the Nebraska Association of County Officials has been an integral part of Gov. Pillen’s tax working group, along with many other entities, state senators, Pillen and his key staff, and other stakeholders such as the cities, Farm Bureau and the realtors.. We have had many meetings striving to craft Nebraska tax policy, to cut taxes, to more equitably define policy and to ensure we have the revenue necessary to provide essential services to our citizens. LB 1067, introduced by State S...
Omaha Senator Justin Wayne, chair of the Judiciary Committee, has offered a bill that would put Nebraska's Legislature in charge of the state's prison system, which is currently under the purview of the executive branch. Given the way things have been going with the Department of Correctional Services, especially the selection of a site for a new prison in northeast Lincoln that was changed to an allegedly more acceptable site at the last minute, I like Wayne's proposal. If made law, it would pu...
Jeffrey A. Reinke, 35, of Omaha faced the Honorable Donna Taylor last Wednesday, Jan. 17, in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh, in a five-year-old case. He was charged with Count I, leave accident, fail to furnish information, a Class 2 misdemeanor, and Count II, no operator’s license, a Class 3 misdemeanor. Reinke’s attorney, Gregory Pivovar of Bellevue, had filed a motion to dismiss or discharge, on Jan. 14. He indicated, in the motion, that neither the complaint filed Feb. 26, 2018, nor a warrant issued in May 2018, were ever ser...
Best-selling true crime author and Nebraska native Harry Mac-Lean knew he'd one day examine the most infamous crime in Nebraska history, the 1958 Charles Starkweather murder spree. But MacLean's reluctance to revisit his own fraught upbringing in Lincoln, where most of the murders occurred, kept pushing that day further away. Until now. MacLean offers his own take on one of the nation's first mass media serial killings in his book "Starkweather: The Untold Story of the Killing Spree That...
A 35-year-old O’Neill man, accused in several county court cases, resolved them along with his resentencing in a Holt County district court felony case, when he faced two judges in the county courtrooms in O’Neill last week. The Honorable Mark Kozisek revoked probation ordered in April 2023 and, on Monday, Jan. 8, resentenced Shawn D. Crist on a Class 4 felony conviction of possession of methamphetamine. Kozisek ordered Crist to serve two years in a facility under the jurisdiction of the Nebraska Department of Corrections for the crime com...
The hole keeps getting deeper. Remember when I suggested someone should give the governor a shovel so he could dig a deeper hole for himself? That was when he had refused to read a published report on high levels of nitrates on his pig farms because it was written by "someone from Communist China." He subsequently refused to apologize to the reporter with a Chinese surname who is a graduate of an American university and has been working for news organizations in the United States for several yea...
TAYLOR – Bailley Leibert walks into civics class and plops her sunflower-print backpack onto an empty table. The 15-year-old rummages for her notebook and colored pens. Around her are enough chairs to seat 10 students. But today, and every day, there are nine empty seats. It's just the ninth-grader and social studies teacher Ken Wright – an unintentional private lesson for the only freshman in this school. At Loup County High School, Bailley is the sole member of the class of 2027. The cla...
Since we're writers, we, at SAM love lists. Trust us, we keep and use them every single day. But, how does one determine which articles should be at the top of the yearly list? In the past, we've based it by reader count from our website. This year, we're still relying on reader count, featuring the top-read article by month. We wrote nearly 2,000 articles in 2023 and, while some of our favorites don't appear on the list, we're sure these are a newsworthy representation of the Summerland region....
NOTICE OF INCORPORATION TWO BILLS, INC. Notice is hereby given that Articles of Incorporation for Two Bills, Inc., were filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State as follows: 1. The name of the corporation is: Two Bills, Inc. 2. The number of shares of stock authorized to be issued is 100 shares. 3. The street address of the corporation’s initial registered office is: 85630 512 Ave., Ewing, NE 68735. 4. The name and street address of the initial registered agent and incorporator is: Brian Ferris, 85630 512 Ave., Ewing, NE 68735. Dated this 2...
A change is gonna come. Leaders of the Nebraska Legislature want to streamline the process and perhaps change a few rules during the upcoming short session to avoid the mess of last year's 90-day struggle. A short recap. An Omaha senator introduced a measure to limit medical care for transgender youth, clearly something that is part of the Republican Party national agenda, but not a Nebraska issue. What resulted was months of filibuster by two other Omaha senators that slowed the Legislature to...
Content advisory: This article discusses sensitive topics, including suicide. Reader discretion is advised. No one told Kristine Cecava that one day her job would lead her to cleaning up the scene of a suicide. Yet when the time came, she knew what needed to be done to help support the deceased's family. Cecava, a former district judge and county attorney in Cheyenne County, was called to a crime scene at the home of a friend's son where he committed suicide. In sparsely populated areas, part...
ORDINANCE NO. 2023-10 VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER, ANTELOPE COUNTY, NEBRASKA, SETTING WAGES AND SALARIES FOR OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE VILLAGE FOR THE YEAR COMMENCING JAN. 1, 2024, AND CONTINUING TO AND THROUGH DEC. 31, 2024; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ORDINANCE IN PAMPHLET FORM. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN AND VILLAGE BOARD OF THE VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER, NEBRASKA: SECTION 1. That there be and hereby are established...
ORDINANCE NO. 2023-11 VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER, ANTELOPE COUNTY, NEBRASKA SETTING FORTH THE DAY, TIME AND PLACE OF REGULAR MEETINGS FOR THE VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER BOARD OF TRUSTEES; TO REPEAL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; TO PROVIDE WHEN THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT; AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ORDINANCE IN PAMPHLET FORM. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CHAIRPERSON AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF CLEARWATER, NEBRASKA: SECTION 1. The Village of...
Mary Reyes, of Page, was simply looking for something extra to occupy her time, when a conversation with her sister and brother-in-law led to a fresh idea. For nearly a year, Reyes has been creating scented bead car fresheners and selling them under the Godly Irresistible Freshies label. She said the process is painless. First, she mixes aroma beads with various fragrance oils, which cure for two weeks. During that time period, Reyes shakes the bottles four to five times a day. "I walk by and...
