Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 159
The Bazile Groundwater Management Area has launched a new website for the new year. The BGMA's new online presence debuted in early January at bgma.nebraska.gov in a move to separate itself from the Lewis & Clark Natural Resources District's website. "We decided to get a new website so we would have our own stand-alone website," said Jeremy Milander, the management area's Nebraska Extension cropping systems educator. "We felt that this would avoid some confusion as our old site was a tab on the...
A farm cooperative that serves customers in a 30-county region of northeast Nebraska has pledged its support to improvements in agriculture facilities currently underway at Northeast Community College in Norfolk. Farmers Pride, headquartered in Battle Creek, has pledged $50,000 to the Nexus project at Northeast to build a new veterinary technology clinic and classroom building and other facilities on the Acklie Family College Farm. "Many of our employees and customers have graduated from...
A memorial visitation service for Lamont Larson, 93, of Tilden, will be held Saturday, Jan. 9, from 3 to 5 p.m., at Peace United Church of Christ, in Tilden, with Pastor Melanie Miller officiating. A remembrance service is planned for 3 p.m. Private graveside services at the Oakdale Cemetery, in Oakdale, will be held at a later date. Per Lamont's requests, visitors are asked to wear red or Husker apparel to the visitation. Lamont died Thursday, Dec. 31, at Community Pride Care Center in Battle...
North Central District Health Department reported 38 new cases in the district Jan. 4, including: seven, Antelope; 0, Boyd; 0, Brown; one, Cherry; six, Holt; 0, Keya Paha; 15, Knox; nine, Pierce and 0, Rock. NCDHD has received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and is proceeding to disperse vaccine to Phase 1A partners, as outlined in the Nebraska COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. As of Dec. 31, 784 north central Nebraska residents received the first dose of the vaccine. NCDHD will notify the public as the district transitions to each phase. The speed of...
A memorial visitation service for Lamont Larson, 93, of Tilden, Nebraska, will be held Saturday, Jan. 9, from 3 to 5 p.m., at Peace United Church of Christ, in Tilden, with Pastor Melanie Miller officiating. Private graveside services at the Oakdale Cemetery, in Oakdale, Nebraska, will be held at a later date. Per Lamont's requests, visitors are asked to wear red or Husker apparel to the visitation. Lamont died Thursday, Dec. 31, at Community Pride Care Center in Battle Creek. Lamont Larson was...
While the apprenticeship model has been instrumental for decades, the current system applies to more than the typical occupations that often come to mind - plumbers, electricians and linemen, among others. Apprenticeships have greatly expanded in the last decade to include more non-traditional occupations in areas that include healthcare, information technology (IT), advanced manufacturing, and engineering. The United States Department of Labor currently has 1,349 approved occupations that...
Summerland School students will not be in school Friday, Oct. 23. Fall break is scheduled for the day. Classes will resume at the normal time, Monday, Oct. 26. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, classes will not be held, due to faculty in-service training. Summerland School Board of Education approved the date, allowable by the Nebraska State Department of Education, at its Oct. 12 meeting....
Antelope County may need to weed out candidates depending on how many applications it receives from people wanting to replace a longtime employee. The board of commissioners received a letter of resignation from county weed superintendent Bruce Ofe during its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 13, in Neligh. The Oakdale man plans to retire from the full-time position Dec. 31 after more than 40 years of working for the county. "I'd be willing to stay that long so that if you get somebody hired, I could help...
Fall is here which is the perfect time for students to bite into local foods. October is Farm to School Month when Nebraska will be defending its title in the Mountain Plains Crunch Off. During this event, our state competes with Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota on the number of students who crunch into local foods. While the event is only one day, it can be a valuable experience and inspire teachers, administrators and students to learn more about...
Summerland Public School Superintendent Dale Martin recently released preliminary enrollment numbers for the district. Martin listed the number of students per grade at each respective site, in a report released Aug. 24. Enrollment at the three sites totals 402 students, a decrease of eight students from the 2019-2020 school year Clearwater site The Clearwater site boasts the largest enrollment, totaling 140 students. While Clearwater’s enrollment shows a decrease of 11 students from last y...
Discussion on reduction in force and early retirement policies occurred during the Summerland School Board of Education’s Aug. 10 regular meeting, in Ewing. In July, the board tabled discussion of RIF policy criteria, seeking input from the school’s attorney, Steve Williams of KSB Law, regarding the use of formal and informal teacher evaluations as one criterion. Superintendent Dale Martin said Williams does not advise using evaluations as a criterion. ms said evaluations are subjective and ope...
Superintendent Dale Martin shared the following information with Summerland families, July 28. Our district administrative team and the Summerland Board of Education, in consultation with the North Central District Health Department, Nebraska Department of Education and following the Center for Disease Control guidelines, is planning to start the 2020-2021 school year with in-person, normal instruction, Aug. 13. The schools of Summerland - Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard - will operate within the...
The Nebraska School Activities Association is preparing to begin the 2020 fall sports season as currently scheduled. First practices for football, volleyball, cross country, girls' golf, boys' tennis and softball are set to begin Aug. 10. "The health and safety of our student participants, coaches and officials has been our priority as we work to provide activities for our member schools," the association said in a press release. "This will not change and modifications may have to be made. Pleas...
KATIE ANDERSON Nebraska News Service Property tax relief is on the agenda for the 17-day legislative session later this month, but opponents argue that the proposed property tax relief plan will hinder school district spending and taxing authority. State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, chairwoman of the revenue committee, is leading the charge to get a property tax relief package passed when the Legislature resumes on July 20. “We have a property tax crisis more severe now in agriculture but moving toward suburbia,” Linehan said. “If you b...
As the Memorial Day holiday approaches, the Nebraska Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office is partnering with state and local law enforcement to promote the importance of buckling up. Just as COVID-19 has taught us the importance of proactively protecting yourself by wearing a mask, buckling up is as important in reducing motor vehicle injuries and fatalities. "As our state resumes to normal business and transportation activities, it is important that we share this lifesaving...
Members of Nebraska Unified District #1 board answered roll call for the final time, May 11, as the board held its last meeting before the three member schools go separate ways. Clearwater and Orchard will become part of Summerland Public Schools, along with Ewing. Verdigre will operate on their own next year. President Peggy Liska called the meeting to order, with four members present. Marty Konopasek, of Verdigre, was excused. Superintendent Dale Martin discussed a waiver of Nebraska Departmen...
When Clearwater, Ewing and Orchard seniors went to school March 16, they did not know it would be the last time they attended school with their classmates. The three school districts announced they would be closed, due to coronavirus concerns, for a two-week period beginning March 17. A week later, administrators announced the remainder of the school year would be completed at home, based on recommendations from local health officials, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and Dr. Matt Blomstedt, comm... Full story
On April 21, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts announced a plan for testing for COVID-19. A public-private partnership will expand testing over several weeks. Per program guidelines, residents will be able to enlist in the program to take an assessment, get tested and track health. "I am excited to roll out our Test Nebraska initiative to accelerate our ability to defeat the virus and get Nebraskans back to work," Ricketts said during a press conference. "Having good data will give us the confidence...
According to the 2018 Counties At-A-Glance report put together by Nebraska’s Legislative Research Office, 12% of our 6,421 individuals in Antelope County are food insecure. Food insecurity is described by Feeding America as “a household’s inability to provide enough food for every person to live an active, healthy life.” This means approximately 771 people in our county do not have regular access to food. While these are staggering numbers, I would like to discuss one of many ways we can help our neighbors in need. Help fight hunger this year b...
Don't panic. That's the message Ewing Principal Greg Appleby wants parents and students to follow as the school transitions into a continuity of learning plan. The plan went into effect Wednesday, April 1. Students picked up assignments and textbooks on Monday. "I feel good about what our teachers have planned," Appleby said. Students have been out of the building since March 17. Enrichment activities were distributed then, with work set to wrap up March 30. Appleby said those activities came...
It's the end of the school year as we know it. Unlike the comeback line of R.E.M.'s 1987 pop hit, not everyone feels fine about the decision, which was announced Monday afternoon. Ewing Public, Nebraska Unified District #1 and other schools in the Educational Service Unit 8 area reported they were following recommendations from local health officials, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and Dr. Matt Blomstedt, commissioner of the Nebraska Department of Education, to keep school buildings shuttered...
Many unprecedented events have taken place over this past week. In my March 13 newsletter, I wrote about the Legislature giving first-round approval to the budget bills. Since then, COVID-19 has completely overshadowed everything else. Terms such as community spread and social distancing have become part of our daily language. The Legislature postponed its session, beginning March 17, until it is safe and necessary to call members back into session. However, the speaker may call us back in soon...
The Appropriations Committee presented its recommendations for the budget to the Legislature this past week. Budget bills were also given first-round approval from the Legislature. Over the interim, the financial status of the current biennium has improved significantly. The variance from the minimum General Fund reserve was estimated at only $0.2 million when we adjourned last year, but has since grown to $133.8 million. Furthermore, the rainy day fund increased from $322.4 million to $731...
Chinese philosopher Confucius is credited with the saying, "Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life." What happens when someone veers from a chosen career path? How do decisions made during high school affect future career skills? Approximately 115 area students, including Clearwater and Orchard underclassmen, discovered answers to those questions during an interactive career exploration simulation called Connecting the Dots, Tuesday, at the Antelope County...
Organizations and institutions across Nebraska are taking precautionary measures amidst concerns about COVID-19. While no cases have been reported in Antelope, Holt or Wheeler counties, the North Central District Health Department has identified a presumptive positive case in Knox County. NCDHD received notification a Cherry County individual tested negative for the disease. Here is a list of cancellations, as of Friday, March 13: Fish fries On Thursday, the Archdiocese of Omaha requested its...
