Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 276 - 300 of 488
Foodies searching for the ultimate comfort food will find plenty of options available from Woodshed Vittles. Located on a ranch near Chambers, owner Deeann Carson Wood bakes, cans and cooks a variety of foodstuffs available at area establishments, including the Sidebar in Clearwater, Farmers Store in Page, Valley Food Coop in Lynch and Village Market in Chambers. Boutique 129, in O'Neill, sells her company's jellies and jams. Wood's interest in cooking began with family members. "I've always...
Garrett Dwyer runs about 500 head of Hereford and Angus cattle on his Bartlett ranch on the east edge of the Sandhills. The land he's on today has been in his family since 1894, when his great-great grandfather homesteaded it. Dwyer, who grew up there, is now the fifth generation in his family to ranch this land. But Dwyer didn't take over the family ranch until he did something far from home. For five years, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, including two combat tours in Iraq. Now he's...
Reprinted by permission from "The Mercury" A mysterious mammal may be moving further into the Sunflower State. A pair of Kansas State University researchers are beginning work on a three-year project to learn more about the prevalence of the southern flying squirrel in Kansas. One thing that the researchers would be excited to discover is a clue about why this small mammal glows hot pink under ultraviolet light. "It's a strange phenomenon," associate professor Adam Ahlers said. Ahlers grew up...
A familiar face will chair the Antelope County Commissioners following a vote by the board, Jan. 10. Charlie Henery was elected to serve as the 2023 chairman, following a 4-0 vote. Keith Heithoff, of Elgin, was elected vice chairperson. Commissioners appointed Tom Nelson to serve as veterans service officer; Bryan Cornett, weed superintendent; Megan Wingate, zoning administrator; LaVern Schroeder, surveyor and Brian McDonald, highway superintendent. Committe appointments for the upcoming year...
As Justin Taubenheim combined soybeans in a Buffalo County field on an October afternoon, he thought about why he does it. "I'm not farming to get rich,” he said. “I'm farming to maintain a legacy, a way of life. Faith, family and farming, in that order. The farm is kinda like the icing on the cake." Taubenheim, 31, sports fewer gray hairs than your normal Nebraska farmer. The average age of a principal Nebraska farm or ranch operator: 56.4 years old, according to census figures. The rising worry: There won’t be a next generation to carry...
An Oakland native will fill the junior/senior high principal's position next fall. Zach Rosenboom will make the move to Summerland after serving as the social studies teacher at Tekamah-Herman Public School since 2014. For the past three years, Rosenboom served as activities director for the Tigers. He started his teaching career at Dorchester Public School and spent two years there. He has coached at the junior and senior high school levels and served asn an AAU coach. Rosenboom told the...
An elected official from Antelope County died Monday. Joe Abler was elected to serve as Antelope County Attorney in 2010. He was reelected in 2014, 2018 and in the November 2022 election. Madison County Attorney Joe Smith, who also serves as deputy attorney for Antelope County, told SAM, "Joe died about 2:15 Monday afternoon, quietly with his family by his side." A Mass of Christian burial for Abler, 48, of Norfolk, will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, January 23, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in...
A number of scholarships are available to high school seniors with Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company services at home thanks to the Foundation for Rural Service. The FRS is the non-profit arm of the National Rural Broadband Association. NTCA is a national membership association with the goal of improving communication services, like broadband, in rural America by advocating for rural providers in Washington, D.C. NNTC is a supporting member of both organizations. NNTC supports the FRS...
Welcome to 2023, a new year with a whole lotta new going on at the State Capitol. There’s a new governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, auditor and 14 new state senators assuming leadership roles in the Republican-dominated Nebraska government. There will be a new U.S. senator from Nebraska to be appointed by the new governor. There are 33 Republicans and 16 Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature. So, what does this mean to you and me? A new year marks a great chance to move one year further away from the Covid pandemic l...
Peyton Clifton, of Orchard, earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in education and human sciences from the College of Education and Human Sciences, during University of Nebraska-Lincoln commencement exercises, held Dec. 17 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The university conferred 1,288 degrees during the event. Graduates represent 50 countries, 41 states and more than 170 Nebraska communities. Sen. Deb Fischer delivered the undergraduate commencement address Dec. 17. Katrina Jagodinsky, Susan J. Rosowski...
The University of Nebraska at Kearney announced students who earned a place on the dean's list for the fall 2022 semester. Students who qualify for the dean's list must have completed 12 credit hours or more of classes with a 3.5 grade-point average or better on a 4.0 scale. Local residents named to the list include: Kelsie Maria Waller, Clearwater; Ryann Haburchak, Bre Bartak and Michelle Koenig, Ewing; and Trisha Hoffman, Royal....
Pretend for a moment that Nebraska somehow halted all use of nitrogen fertilizer – not a single speck more on our lawns, golf courses and corn fields. What would happen? Nothing fast. That's because, experts say, generations of corn growing, feedlot runoff and oft-unwitting nitrogen overuse has left a legacy of nitrate, creeping slowly downward toward our water supply. "It's there, it's moving towards the groundwater, and there's not a thing we can do about it," said Don Batie, a farmer near L...
Nebraska Extension will host a workshop covering agricultural land management and leasing considerations for 2023, in O’Neill, Jan. 6, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Holt County Courthouse Annex, 128 N. 6th Street. The workshop will offer updated leasing information relevant to landlords and tenants, including tips for communication and negotiating. It will address topics like equitable rental rates, managing and adjusting farmland leases, landlord-tenant issues, pasture leasing, crop-share leasing and other management considerations. The p...
Third-party ads that targeted state Sen. Tony Vargas during his recent run for U.S. Congress featured incredulous voices, baffled over a seemingly selfish move: He wanted to "double his own salary" with taxpayer money. What the ads didn't say: Nebraska's 49 lawmakers have been paid $12,000 a year since George H. W. Bush was first elected president, leg warmers were en vogue and Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" blasted unironically from boomboxes. If their pay had kept pace with inflation...
KEARNEY – Nicole Strope loves to learn. She proved that last week by completing her third degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. "I can't stop going to school," the English language arts teacher joked. Strope first enrolled at UNK in 2011, back when she wanted to be a therapist. The Bridgeport native liked the university's location – not too far from home – as well as the size of the campus and community. "The class sizes at UNK are big enough that you're getting more of a chall...
Myra Schwebel 1945 - 2022 Myra Lee Rotherham Schwebel died quietly at her home in Ponte Vedra, Florida, on Tuesday, Nov. 22, surrounded by her family. She had been treated for cancer for the past seven years. Myra was born to Matilda (Bauer) and James Rotherham on June 27, 1945, in Ewing, the sixth of nine children. She attended school in Ewing except for her freshman and sophomore years at St. Mary's Academy in O'Neill. She graduated from high school in 1963 and continued her education at the U...
After a 76-day search on the coaching trail, Nebraska officially introduced its 31st head coach, Monday. Matt Rhule, a former walk-on Big 10 linebacker at Penn State and former coach in collegiate and NFL ranks, will make $72 million for an eight-year stint. Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts told the crowd assembled in the Hawks Championship Center, he interacted with 13 coaches throughout the search process. "Candidate 1A, for me and the University of Nebraska, was always Matt Rhule,"...
The farmer was growing impatient. He and dozens of other central Nebraska farmers had gathered for mandatory training in Columbus a few weeks before last Christmas. In response to high nitrate levels, the Lower Loup Natural Resources District had designated a "Phase 3 area." That led to new requirements – like this training to help farmers manage their nitrogen fertilizer use. The farmer didn't like this. He told NRD leaders he had been drinking water containing nitrate at 40 parts per m...
As a freshman, Olga Mendoza watched several Latinx students receive scholarships from the Gallery of Stars, presented during the annual Latino Youth Summit, held at Central Community College in Columbus. At the time, she thought, "I can't wait until I'm a senior. I want that scholarship." Last Wednesday, as Mendoza and other Summerland students who attended the summit gathered for a photo, the Summerland senior received a surprise. Jane Shanahan, with the Jesusita and Santos Courage and...
Two initiative measures - one requiring photographic identification, one increasing minimum wage - were passed by Nebraska voters during the Nov. 8 General Election. Initiative 432 amends Nebraska's constitution, to require voters to "present valid photographic identification" prior to voting. Nebraska's Legislature will hammer out the details, according to language in the measure. Voters also approved Initiative 433, which will gradually raise the state's minimum wage from the current rate of...
In the summer of 1978, Allen Wilke slammed the brakes. He did this often. A true plantsman, he observed everything but the road itself. He would spy a flowering prickly pear in the ditch, a wild grapevine. He would double back without warning, often sending his son and daughter – half asleep in his gutted cargo van's backseat – tumbling forward with their luggage. This time, the plantsman was alone. He was puttering through the Sandhills on Highway 91, a mile west of Taylor, when a tall, ski...
Greater Nebraska's future healthcare workers are already here, but they may not know it yet. In the last three years, Nebraska Community Foundation surveyed more than 3,200 middle and high school students across the state on what they want their future communities and careers to look like. In 2022 alone, more than 700 students responded to the survey. Students consistently rank medical or healthcare professions as their most desired career among multiple options. The most recent survey, however,...
Native Americans in Lincoln and their supporters are continuing their fight against the Wilderness Crossing development set to be built near Wilderness Park. The legal team for the Niskithe Prayer Camp, which formed to protest the city's support for Wilderness Crossing, is deciding how to respond to the latest legal development and hopes to take action soon, said Rose Godinez, senior legal and policy counsel for ACLU Nebraska. Additionally, University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor Lory Dance...
In middle school, my favorite shoes were Chucks. I had three pairs: red, white and black. They were comfy. And, honestly, I didn’t care what shoes I wore. I wasn’t trying to make a fashion statement. That changed by the time I was a sophomore. I still owned several sets of Chucks, but the fashionista gene was kicking in and platform shoes and Mary Janes were preferred footwear. Through the years, I grew to like tennis shoes less and less, owning a single pair that would last for years. Ins...
Nick Herringer claps along with a metronome. He draws lines on a big screen, repeating patterns drawn by the computer. He identifies icons of cars when they flash before his eyes. This is the 22-year-old's speech and cognitive therapy, which he has been doing at least twice a week. Every week. For three years. Nick's thick brown hair hides a massive, ear-to-ear scar from his four brain surgeries for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer he has battled since he was a teenager. His mom, Tammy Herringer, drives Nick to therapy and back. She...
