Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 104
Two individuals accepted plea agreements and received sentencing June 11 in Antelope County Court. In May, Denis Kerkman, 92, of Tilden accepted a plea agreement and agreed to plead to two counts of attempt of a Class I misdemeanor both Class II misdemeanors. In return, two additional counts of attempt of a Class I misdemeanor, both Class II misdemeanors, were dismissed, with prejudice,on the motion of Antelope County Attorney Joe Smith. On June 11, The Honorable Kale Burdick sentenced Kerkman to 48 months probation. The defendant will pay a...
Last year, I highlighted several ballot initiatives that have been approved by the Secretary of State for circulation ahead of this year's November General Election. This week, I would like to provide another overview of those measures that may still be seeking signatures. Although I provide information about these initiative petitions, this newsletter series is meant to be informative and neither represents an endorsement FOR nor AGAINST any particular measure. The Choose Life Now Amendment...
ASHTON CLEVELAND Old School Thrift Store Scholarship KARLEY DAWKINS The Susan T Buffet Foundation Scholarship WSC Dean's Commitment Scholarship Red Cross Scholarship Summerland Booster Club Scholarship The Sunset Store Scholarship JENNA FUNK WSC President's Commitment Scholarship WSC Growing Together Scholarship WSC Leadership Award Scholarship Mitchell Equipment Scholarship Farmers Pride Scholarship NECC Parenting & Child Development Scholastic Contest PEO Chapter CQ Scholarship Central Valley...
Nebraska Extension and 4-H will hold an open house, March 22, from 4 to 6 p.m., at the Antelope County fairgrounds. UNL educators will be available to meet with guests and answer questions about 4-H enrollment and the Antelope County Fair. Several 4-H projects, including livestock and static projects will be on display. Attendees will also be able to learn about volunteer opportunities through the extension and 4-H programs. For more information, contact the Antelope County Extension office at...
Hope M. Petite, 32, of Orchard, will receive another opportunity to explain why fines have not been paid in an Antelope County Court case in which Petite pleaded guilty to one count of driving under suspension/before reinstated-state, a Class III misdemeanor. Petite was expected to appear Jan. 21, before the Honorable Donna Taylor, for a show cause hearing; however, the defendant did not show up, prompting Taylor to issue a warrant for non-payment. The next day, Petite contacted the county...
Three individuals appeared during a Jan. 21 session of Antelope County Court, facing misdemeanor charges on various motor vehicle violations. Jace A. Rocha, 19, of Neligh, appeared for hearing on one count of operating a motor vehicle/avoid arrest-mi, a Class I misdemeanor. Rocha accepted a plea agreement. Antelope County Attorney Joe Smith outlined the parameters, including he would recommend probation, concurrent with a case Rocha is serving in Madison County, in exchange for a guilty plea. The probation officer will provide an update to the...
PROCEEDINGS - WORKSHOP SUMMERLAND PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION JANUARY 15, 2026 Summerland Public School Board of Education met for a workshop, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, at 3 p.m., in the school board meeting room. Attendance was taken at 3:03 p.m. All members were present. Present: Ryan Ahlers, Chelsi McLain, Nate Schwager, Scott Thiele, Austin Twibell, Jeremy Wagner. President Schwager called the workshop, which was advertised in the Jan. 7, 2026, newspapers, to order at 3:03 p.m. Schwager noted the Open Meetings Act posted in the...
A 30-year-old Tilden man who pleaded guilty to a terroristic threat charge will enroll in a probation program. The Honorable Mark Johnson pronounced sentencing for Hunter E. Ashburn Taylor during a Dec. 16 session of Antelope County District Court, ordering him to 24 months in probation. Nine conditions are listed in the probation order. Ashburn Taylor will be required to pay the probation enrollment fee. Johnson also ordered the defendant to serve 90 days in Antelope County Jail, with credit...
Summerland's football team will face a lineup of new challengers during the 2026 and 2027 seasons as the squad makes the move to an 11-man format. Declarations must be submitted to the Nebraska School Activities Association by Nov. 30. Classifications and district assignments for the 2026 and 2027 seasons will be released in December, according to NSAA officials. Schedules for both seasons will be set by NSAA officials after the first of the year, with schedules expected to be released on Feb....
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...
PROCEEDINGS SUMMERLAND PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION OCTOBER 15, 2025 Summerland Public School Board of Education met in regular session, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, at 7 p.m. President Nate Schwager called the meeting, which was advertised in the Oct. 8, 2025, newspapers, to order at 7 p.m. Schwager noted the Open Meetings Act in the board room. Attendance was taken. Present: Ryan Ahlers, Chelsi McLain, Nate Schwager, Scott Thiele, Austin Twibell, Jeremy Wagner. The pledge of allegiance was recited. Motion by Wagner, seconded by Twibell, to a...
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...
As bus doors swung open on Thursday, Aug. 14, several students made a mad dash for the doors of Summerland Public Schools before the first beel rang. Others adjusted their backpacks, stuffed with fresh school supplies, and stopped to take traditional first-day photos. Guided by this year's theme, Together ,we..., staff and students are set to focus on teamwork, connection and shared success throughout the months ahead. During an opening assembly, all students viewed a video featuring school...
I will continue a series where I highlight several of the priority bills and resolutions that are pending and could be scheduled early next session. This week’s newsletter will provide an overview of several carryover priority bills and resolutions whose fate, at least to me, is more uncertain going into next year. LB13, by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, would require that Nebraska file a state plan amendment for the Child Care Subsidy program to pay providers based on a child’s enrollment or aut...
Editor’s note: This debut column contains the opinions of Leah Barrett, president of Northeast Community College. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Northeast Board of Governors, the college’s governing body. Most Nebraskans are familiar with dual credit, which enables students in high school to take classes that earn college credit. For the past few years, Northeast Community College and Metro Community College have offered these credits at no charge to high school students. LB173 would allow this to continue and provide fundi...
Nebraska USDA Farm Service Agency is partnering with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Agricultural Profitability on a webinar designed to educate commodity crop producers on the 2025 Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs election and enrollment process. The ARC/PLC signup period is open through April 15, and producers are encouraged to begin working with their USDA county Farm Service Agency office to complete the election and enrollment process. Producers can learn about the ARC and PLC options for 2025 duri...
Medicare enrollment period begins on Oct. 15, extending through Dec. 7th. Throughout this time, seniors across Greater Nebraska will receive numerous calls and letters urging them to switch to Medicare Advantage plans. While these plans often promote cost savings and added perks, the reality for patients and health care providers can be much different. Patients face delays and higher costs Unlike traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans often require prior approval for care. In fact, nearly all Medicare Advantage enrollees must get prior...
One. That's the number by which enrollment at Summerland Public Schools dropped for the 2024-25 school year. Superintendent Molly Aschoff supplied the numbers after final enrollment totals were given to the Nebraska Department of Education at the end of September. Records show 442 students are enrolled this year. One noticeable differences is the size of the senior class. Last year, 20 students were enrolled. This year's class has 42 students. Twenty-two students are enrolled in preschool this...
Online learning seems new, but it’s older than you think. The field’s predecessor, distance education, can be traced back centuries. From Sir Isaac Pitman, who taught shorthand by correspondence in 1840, to lectures broadcast on the radio in the early 1920s, all the way through to the early 1990s when colleges and universities took advantage of the newly minted World Wide Web and began to offer online education programs, it has evolved alongside technological advances. In those early days of the internet, online learning was an adjustment for...
The group of teachers had a straightforward but daunting assignment before them: How could Cody-Kilgore, a small district nestled in the Nebraska Sandhills, buck the trend of rural decline and revitalize the school? Teachers Stacey Adamson and Tracee Ford latched onto an unusual idea that started as a joke – one that grew more unusual as it progressed. What about a grocery store run by students? Now nearly two decades after the idea first surfaced, the Circle C Market – a student-run gro...
Jessica J. Snyder, 41, of Ewing appeared in the Holt County district courtroom in O’Neill on Monday, July 1 to be sentenced for her Class 3A felony conviction of making terroristic threats. The Honorable Mark Kozisec ordered a three-year term of probation for the September/October 2023 crime. She was taxed $165.46 costs of prosecution and ordered to pay a $30 probation enrollment fee. Monthly $25 program fees are waived during the time they are paid in a companion case. Snyder is not allowed to be within five miles of the residences of Ervin M...
Half of U.S. children depend on government programs for health care, and in some states, they're beginning to lose that coverage at rates that have concerned the federal government. Foothold Technology analyzed data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state health departments collected by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families to illustrate which states have allowed children to lose health care at an alarmingly fast pace. Passed in March 2020, the...
ESU #8, based in Neligh, is a vital educational support hub across a seven-county region in northeast Nebraska. Working closely with local schools, it provides crucial services to students, educators, and families from birth to 21 years old. ESU #8's Eastern Learning Center in Norfolk and the Clearwater Learning Center offer comprehensive education for students aged 5-21 with significant disabilities. From academics to vocational training, these Level III schools promote holistic development and progress. The learning centers have been operatio...
The purple ribbon atop the pencil drawing of a famous icon says it all: Best of Show. Caydence Schumacher, a sophomore at Summerland Public Schools, submitted a pencil drawing of Marilyn Monroe to the ESU 8 Art Show, held April 5 to 7 at the Antelope County Fairgrounds in Neligh. Judges awarded it the top prize. Schumacher said when she's decided what to draw, she sometimes has an individual in mind or she'll search for famous people she's a fan of. "I decided to do Marilyn Monroe because she...
Will Summerland Schools be part of a new activity conference? Board of education members will answer that question when they meet Wednesday, Jan. 17. The meeting will be held in the board room at the school at 7 p.m. Discussion about a potential conference, which could include Elkhorn Valley, Hartington-Newcastle, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Lutheran High Northeast, Neligh-Oakdale, Plainview, West Holt and Summerland has taken place at board meetings since November. In December, Superintendent...
