Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Holt County Supervisors will contemplate additions and changes to planning and zoning regulations during an Oct. 31 public hearing at the courthouse in O’Neill. Planning and zoning officer Mike Durre told supervisors, during the board’s Sept. 29 meeting, five regulations will be under consideration, including language about unregistered wells; setbacks; crude oil, tarsands, and affluents; carbon dioxide pipelines; solar farms and wind energy. Planning and zoning board member Mary Kaczor sai...
“Someone is going to die.” Naturally, this sentence piqued my attention. I wasn’t eavesdropping on the conversation where the above-mentioned line was uttered. Oh, contrare. It was said during a public gathering, by an individual sitting next to Scott and me. In fact, several comments from this person and the group he/she was with caught my attention. I was making a mental note to speak with them privately about their concerns, when one of the group members told about an incident they witne...
BROOKE WRAGE Nebraska News Service As of March 31, Gov. Pete Ricketts approved 16 bills to become state laws. The bills include topics varying from transportation and health care to government and military affairs. An overview of the new state laws follows. View the full list of bills that received approval on the Nebraska Legislature at https://nebraskalegislature.gov/calendar/agenda.php?day=2021-03-25. LB 14: Adopt the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue introduced LB 14, which will allow...
Ken Paulson Director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University When government fails, it’s the rare public official who says, “Oops. My fault.” That’s human nature, particularly for officials in the public eye who may have to run for office again. No one wants to be held directly responsible for letting the public down. Case in point is the recent catastrophe in Texas, when unexpected winter storms left 4 million homes without power, ruptured pipes and tainted the water supply for many. Texas’ energy grid essential...
BROOKE WRAGE, CELENA SHEPHERD and MADELEINE GRANT Nebraska News Service The first week of floor debates kicked off the second week in March. Senators debated and advanced a handful of bills in the Nebraska Legislature. A recap of the week. LB255: Provide compensation to families of deceased first responders Sen. Matt Hansen, of Lincoln, introduced LB255, which would establish the In the Line of Duty Compensation Act to provide a one-time death benefit for a family member of a first responder who dies while on the line of duty. “I believe it i...
Madeleine Grant and Brooke Wrage Nebraska News Service LINCOLN--Nebraska lawmakers continue to push for marijuana legislation this session. On Feb. 19, the Nebraska Legislature Judiciary Committee heard six bills relating to the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana. Substance possession penalties State senators are considering a bill to change the penalty for controlled substance possession. LB 287, was introduced by Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha to lessen penalties for possession of unusable amounts of controlled substances under the...
The 107th Legislature, first session, began Wednesday, Jan.6 under different circumstances from other years. Due to the pandemic, families of the newly-elected and re-elected senators were not allowed to sit on the floor but had to be seated in the balcony. The chief justice of the Supreme Court administered the oath to the newly-elected and re-elected senators, who remained at their seats instead of gathering up front for the swearing-in ceremony. Eight new senators took their oath, of which, t...
The last two weeks in the Legislature have seen a flurry of activity, as senators worked hard to get a great number of bills passed in a short number of days. There were some heated debates on the floor and emotions ran very hot for a few days, with contentious issues turning into some personal squabbles between senators on either side of those issues. With so much to accomplish in such a short time, perhaps this should be expected, but I am always hopeful that cooler heads will prevail and we...
LUNA STEPHENS Nebraska News Service While much of the attention on this summer's legislative session will likely be focused on property tax relief, Nebraska state senators passed a variety of bills before the session was suspended and have more to discuss. The Nebraska Legislature's 2020 session was suspended March 16 because of COVID-19 concerns and will resume July 20. Here's a look at some of the legislation that became laws, and some that will continue to be debated when the Legislature resu...
An approximate 220-mile, 345,000 volt transmission line, known as the R-Project was unplugged last week. Wednesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge William J. Martinez, of Denver, overturns a 2019 "incidental take permit" issued to Nebraska Public Power District, regarding the project's potential impact on the environment. The route will begin at NPPD's Gerald Gentleman Station, near Sutherland, and run northeast to Thedford. There, it will connect to an expanded substation, before swerving east...
SUBMITTED ARTICLE "Antelope Memorial Hospital continues to have daily meetings, monitor the constant COVID-19 updates and take steps to stay prepared in the event the virus reaches our doors," said Diane Carlin, AMH CEO. "Plus, our entire staff is taking many precautions to help protect against the spread of a possible COVID-19 infection to other patients or our employees." Currently, clinic patients with non-respiratory symptoms are being seen in the old Neligh AMH Family Practice Clinic,...
In the last two weeks, a lot of things have happened at the Legislature in Lincoln, and at the same time, very little has happened. A number of good bills have advanced: supporting victims of human trafficking, providing an income tax break to military retirees and others. But we haven’t had the opportunity yet to give an up-or-down vote on any of the bills dealing directly with property tax relief. The session is still young and I am hopeful that we will get something meaningful moved forward t...
The Holt County supervisors addressed cyber security at their final 2019 meeting. The leaders met Dec. 31 at the courthouse in O'Neill. Steve Anson with Anson Insurance Services was invited, by chairman Bill Tielke, to present information about insuring the county against "hacking" of county computers. Tielke indicated cyber security concerns were raised at a recent convention he had attended. "I don't think it's a matter that we can keep beating around the bush and not doing something about,"...
Anglers should be aware of changes to Nebraska Game and Parks Commission sport fishing orders that took effect Jan. 1. The changes pertain to daily bag limits, possession limits, length limits and open areas. Changes include: • Trout – The daily bag and possession limits on cutthroat trout change from five and 12, respectively, to two and four, respectively, and only one fish in the bag can be 12 inches or longer. Cutthroats do not naturally reproduce in Nebraska and are produced in limited num...
A special mail-in election, underway in Antelope County, will close next Tuesday, Oct. 15. County Clerk Lisa Payne has hired a receiving/counting board to help process ballots that day. County voters in two of the county's five commissioner districts received ballots through the United States Postal Service last week. The ballots ask voters if elected officials, Allan Bentley and Tom Borer, should be removed from their positions as county commissioners. "When a ballot is returned, it is logged...
Sometimes, life sends you on a single journey, and other times, the path resembles a slip knot: a loop here, another there, an endless spiral of thread that pretzels together, forming a solid knot. Cosetta Laws knows a bit about slip knots. On YouTube, she hosts the popular Setta's Place, where crochet is interspersed with remnants of wisdom and love. Laws visited Clearwater recently, as she weaves her way from her former Virginia home, en route to Alaska, where she will renew Haven of Grace, a...
Two Antelope County Commissioners will face a recall election after petition circulators submitted notarized forms to the Antelope County clerk Tuesday morning. Bethany Miller, of Elgin, and Jack Allemang, of Clearwater, presented petitions for the recall of district five commissioner Tom Borer, of rural Clearwater, and district three commissioner Allan Bentley, of Neligh, respectively. Petition circulators needed to collect 135 signatures to recall Bentley, while 203 needed to be gathered to...
Findings by a private law firm, engaged by the Antelope County commissioners to investigate one of their own, was made public recently, after the investigation itself became the focus in efforts to recall two commissioners. Woods & Aitken LLP, a firm with offices in Lincoln and Omaha, was hired to conduct an independent investigation of Eli Jacob, Antelope County commissioner and former road department worker, after he was accused of the theft of a heater and other items, according a memorandum...
