Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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People are encouraged to use caution as avian influenza is affecting waterfowl and other bird species throughout Nebraska and adjacent states. Nebraska Game and Parks officials said waterfowl die-offs and sick birds have been reported at water bodies from Niobrara to Alma recently. About 300 dead or dying snow geese have been collected at Harlan County Reservoir and additional ones at locations in northeast and southeast Nebraska. Highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, has been confirmed in two cases. Due to the widespread nature of...
Summerland boys' and girls' cross country teams competed in the NSAA D-3 District, Thursday, Oct. 17, at Ainsworth. While none of the Bobcats qualified for the state meet, scheduled for Oct. 25 in Kearney, the Bobcats ran solid races while battling windy conditions and warm temperatures. In the girls' division, Lenora Kester was the first runner to cross the finish line. She finished in 23rd place, with a time of 24:34.14. Carlee Livingston kept race with her teammate. She finished in 25:15.20,...
No medals. Just a lot of experience and personal bests. That describes the Summerland high school cross country teams' results from the first-ever Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference meet, held Oct 10 at the Plainview Country Club. Senior Lenora Kester was seconds away from a medal. She finished 17th, running 24:35.45. Carlee Livingston was two spots behind Kester. She placed 19th, running 25:17.32. Aubrey Parker ended 27th in the field of 34 runners. She cross the line in 27:52.62. West Holt c...
There's a map tacked up on the wall in Kameron Runnels' office – squared lines and small text showing who owns what pieces of the Santee Sioux reservation. Six of the squares, big chunks of land, are labeled the same: "school land." Runnels, the tribe's vice chairman, said he always wondered what exactly that meant. Two of the squares are colored in green – land the tribe pays the state almost $65,500 per year to rent and farm, even though it's within reservation boundaries. When Nebraska was...
The final outage in a series of planned outages is scheduled for electric customers in Boyd County, as well as parts of Holt and Knox County, Sunday, Sept. 19 from 1 to 6 p.m. to finish work on a transformer replacement at the substation serving the area. The outage will impact Nebraska Public Power District customers in the communities of Butte, Bristow and Lynch, as well as the village of Spencer and Niobrara Valley Electric Membership Corporation customers in rural Boyd County, northwestern Knox County and northern Holt County. These...
Back in the day, the Omaha World-Herald provided me with a company car and the instructions: "Drive across the state and find some stories." It was obviously a more formal command than that, something like, "If you like your job, you'll write something interesting." It was an incredible adventure in various vintages of Ford Taurus'. On the road, you realize that there are fascinating stories – sometimes tragic and sad, sometimes heart-warming and uplifting – in every corner of the state. You rec...
Driving north on Highway 14, one may be inclined to stop and smell the roses. Rylee Wagner, proprietor of Wild Arrow Farms, hopes you stop to smell the zinnias, sunflowers, snapdragons and other floral varieties at her you-pick flower farm, located at 87544 Highway 14 near Winnetoon. For $20, visitors to the not-so-secret garden can cut stems and fill a 20-ounce cup, creating their own bouquet. Wagner also offers made-for-you bouquets. She recently organized a you-pick fundraiser for a family...
The Legislature concluded the special session that was called to relieve property taxes on Aug. 20. After a contentious start, senators agreed to compromise on legislation that will frontload the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act credits from LB1107 (2020) directly onto taxpayer’s property tax statements, trim and adjust the state budget by $185 million and tighten existing property tax levy caps for counties, cities and villages to the greater of inflation or 0%. Of the 81 bills and 24 r...
Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park, southeast of Burwell in Valley County, is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the building of the fort with a special event Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. In September 1874, U.S. military soldiers and hired civilian workers began construction on an infantry outpost on the edge of the Sandhills. Now, Fort Hartsuff's original and reconstructed buildings stand as one of the most complete examples of forts from the Plains Indian Wars. With lime/concrete buildings, wide...
United States Attorney Susan Lehr recently announced that Moody Motor Co., Inc., located in Niobrara, was sentenced on July 31, in federal court in Omaha, for accessory after the fact to a Clean Air Act violation. U.S. District Court Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Moody Motor Co., Inc. to a one-year term of probation, a $39,741.95 fine and a $125 special assessment. Moody Motor is a certified Ford dealership. In addition to selling new and used vehicles, Moody Motor has a vehicle service department. The company has been in operation since...
Adam D. Lorenz, 33, of Springfield, South Dakota, faced the Honorable Kale Burdick via Zoom from a South Dakota Department of Corrections’ facility on July 2, to be sentenced for two Class 3 misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of financial devices, committed in February 2023. Burdick sentenced Lorenz to 10 days in the Holt County Jail on each count, to be served concurrently and concurrent to sentence he is currently serving in South Dakota. He is ordered to pay $158.87 restitution to Julie Tielke and was taxed $60 costs. Lorenz pleaded g...
Three defendants recently faced the Honorable Kale Burdick in the Holt County courtroom in O’Neill for driving under the influence of alcohol. Avery A. Dilsaver, 43, of O’Neill faced Burdick June 11 for sentencing on a DUI charge, a Class W misdemeanor committed in the city in December 2023. Burdick placed Dilsaver on probation for nine months, fined him $500 and ordered him to serve two days in the Holt County Jail, with credit given for one day previously served. The jail sentence was suspended until June 21. His driver’s license was revok...
The North Central District Health Department will host its first Healthy Living Expo, in Niobrara, June 11. "NCDHD-area residents are invited to attend," said Jennifer Booker, public health nurse for the district. The expo will take place at Niobrara Public School from 1 to 7 p.m., and will be packed with fun, education and community spirit according to organizers. Admission is free. "We've partnered with 30-plus fantastic organizations to bring you an event like no other. The aim of the event i...
Northeast Community College will host some of the top high school players in the region at the 2024 Northeast Nebraska All-Star Basketball games on May 31. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 p.m., with the boys’ game following at 8 p.m., at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk. Members of the girls’ light team, with the high school where they played, include: Madison Abbenhaus, Bloomfield; Chloe Hanel, Clarkson/Leigh; Abbie Kromarek and Teya Boyer, Plainview; Mya Hedstrom and Lorissa Reiman, O’Neill St. Mary’s; Avery Wegner, Pender; Isabel Ha...
Two planned outages will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for customers in Boyd County as well as parts of Holt and Knox Counties on May 28 and 29, to repair an emergent issue on a Western Area Power Association transmission line. This second outage is updated from the original date of May 31 due to a WAPA schedule change. The outage will impact Nebraska Public Power District customers in the communities of Butte, Bristow, and Lynch, as well as the Village of Spencer and Niobrara Valley Electric Membership Corporation customers in rural Boyd...
Recently, the Niobrara Valley Conference recognized students who earned a 28 or higher composite ACT score. Thirty-one students were named to the list, including Summerland juniors Carter Bergman and Sarah Wiese....
A dozen Summerland art students brought home approximately 35 awards from the Niobrara Valley Conference art show, held in Bassett, April 26. Caydence Schumacher received three judge's merit awards for Marilyn Monroe, Avator and a bird watercolor. Three pieces received first place, including a colored flower, a clay gnome and a rose painting. A drawing of Freddie Mercury placed second, as did an ink drawing of a skull. A heart drawing received honorable mention. Two pieces - an ink collage and a clay cookie, were each given a commendable...
The Bobcat boys' track team left Atkinson, Saturday, with two conference champions. Gavin Whiting, a junior, claimed the shot put title with a throw of 48' 4.25 inches. He set a personal record in discus, with a toss of 128' seven inches. He ended in fourth place. Junior Ryan Rifer set a PR in high jump, clearing 6' two inches, to claim first place.Rifer also finished 14th in the 800m, running 2:27.09. Ruger Switzer brought home the bronze medal in high jump, after he cleared 5' 10 inches....
On a chilly Saturday, rain and wind kept a damper on the Niobrara Valley Conference Track Meet, held in Atkinson. The Lady Cats finished sixth in team standings, with a lineup of usual suspects in the hunt for medals. Several athletes set personal records, despite the conditions. Bailey Ahlers and Lydia Robertson placed second and third, respectively, in high jump. Ahlers cleared 5' two inches and Robertson, 4' 10. Robertson brought home a fourth-place medal in triple jump, reaching 32 feet....
Three Bobcat golfers claimed medals in the Niobrara Valley Conference Golf Tournament, played at Tatonka Golf Course, near Santee. Dane Miller led the Bobcats, shooting 85. He finished eighth. Bennet Flenniken was one stroke behind Miller. He placed 10th after carding an 86. Michael Koenig shot an 89, placing 13th. Other Bobcat competitors included Dylan Rotherham, who shot 90; Sam Cheatum, 90; Kelton Bruhn, 99; Barrett Stearns, 100 and Ayden Hartigan, 127. Coach Tom Thramer said the season is...
Get ready to shop until you drop. The ultimate northeast Nebraska road trip begins Friday and continues through Sunday. Bargain Buyway, organized for a second season by Polly Anderson, Lisa Meisner, Melissa Keetle-Nelson, and Lindsay Nelson, includes a three-day shopping loop, covering a 250-mile path in northeast and north central Nebraska, April 26 to 28. The 2024 event will include garage sales, flea markets, antiques and more in 38 towns, including the Summerland communities of Clearwater,...
On April 18, the Legislature completed its work for this 60-day legislative session. Although the last day is typically reserved for veto overrides and closing remarks, the Legislature also took action on 15 bills remaining on Final Reading. Notably, the governor’s proposed property tax package contained in LB388 stalled when it became clear that the bill did not have the votes to break a filibuster. LB388 was then passed over on the agenda at the request of the introducing senator, meaning t...
UPDATE: (APRIL 25, 2024) The planned outage, originally scheduled to take place April 28, for Boyd County and parts of Holt and Knox counties, is being canceled due to forecasted severe weather conditions. Crews don’t currently have plans to reschedule this planned outage due to upcoming graduation and holiday weekends and will wait until September to conduct the final planned outage. Electric customers who would’ve been impacted by the outage are being contacted and notified of the change in plans. ****** The second in a series of three pla...
Summerland shot 359 at Saturday's Osmond Invite and finished with two medalists in less-than-desirable conditions. Dane Miller carded an 80, good enough for third place. Michael Koenig shot a 90, ending in 17th. Other varsity golfers participating included Kelton Bruhn, 94; Bennet Flenniken, 95; and Dylan Rotherham, 102. Coach Tom Thramer said the team shot the best team score of the season, "even in cold and windy conditions." and finished fourstrokes out of the runner-up spot. "I was pleased with how most of our guys dealt with the adverse...
