Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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As a young reporter, I got the opportunity to cover, and learn a few things, from maybe the greatest state senator ever, Jerome Warner. He was the kind of state senator who just commanded respect, and unlike some politicians, had a well-formed group of beliefs that guided his decision making. For instance, one was that user fees should finance certain aspects of government. For example, roads. The primary users of roads and highways should pay for them, Warner reasoned. Thus, he believed that...
Chronic wasting disease surveillance conducted in eastern Nebraska during the November firearm deer season detected 60 positive cases in deer. More than 1,400 samples were collected from harvested deer at check stations in the Missouri, Elkhorn, Loup East, Wahoo, Blue Northwest and Blue Southeast deer management units. CWD was detected for the first time in Antelope, Madison, Butler, York, Seward, Jefferson, Richardson, Merrick, Greeley and Platte counties. To view 2024 CWD results, identified...
In the summer of 2002, Margaret Stamp returned home to Sarpy County from college four weeks after her 74-year-old grandmother, Phyllis Behm, had died from a short battle with colorectal cancer. Stamp found her dad, Mark Behm, a former northeast Nebraska county attorney and private practice lawyer, wincing in pain on the living room floor. Stamp described him as in shape and thin. She said he looked healthy and didn't drink or smoke. But that weekend, Stamp's father was doubled over, and he told...
The envelope didn't surprise Dru McMillan. But when she opened the letter and read the number, she felt sick. "If you agree with the determination, please submit a draft in the amount of $21,042.73 within 30 days," it read. McMillan is a Lincoln therapist. She has long served a majority of patients who use Medicaid, the government-funded cheap or free insurance, to pay for mental health care. The letter came from an auditor working for one of three massive insurance companies the State of...
Transitioning a farming or ranching operation from one generation to the next, or even from one operator to another can be complicated. The Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition recently partnered with Nebraska Extension and Legal Aid of Nebraska to host two workshops on this topic. The workshops were held in O’Neill and Hartington and featured Dave Goeller, retired extension transition specialist, and Joe Hawbaker, estate planning attorney. These one-day educational workshops provided participants an opportunity gain knowledge related to s...
As we celebrate Veterans Day, we should all take the time to acknowledge and thank the Huskers across our community who've chosen a path of service and self-sacrifice. For Morgan Erhardt, this was a path that she knew she would take since she was a kid. "At a really young age, I knew that the military was something I wanted to do," says Morgan. "It just always felt like a calling." Morgan says she enlisted in the National Guard "the second I turned 17." After graduating high school, Morgan...
A community, just like a person, is an unfolding process. Ever changing, growing and maturing, a community always needs to appreciate the present while focusing on the future. This year Nebraska Community Foundation (NCF) is celebrating its 30th anniversary of helping Nebraska hometowns do just that: create new community capacity, better teamwork and a progressive vision for a future that motivates and inspires the next generation to want to be in community with us. In November NCF held its...
Alonzo Denney sets his phone on the conference table, pulls up a family photo and starts counting. There are 11 living relatives, including him, now sharing ownership of 80 acres along the Bazile Creek in Knox County, land originally allotted to their ancestor by the federal government. Then Denney does some quick math. He might, he says, be paid around $25,000 if this land, now mostly flooded and unusable, was placed into a flowage easement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Denney,...
Starting Nov. 1, Page residents wanting to partake in a noon or evening meal or a grab an after-work drink, will have to take their business outside of village limits. Dan and Jen Cunningham, who leased KC Bar & Grill from Page Development Corporation since November 2023, will not be renewing the lease when it expires on Halloween. The couple made the announcement via the café's Facebook page on Oct. 3. "We appreciate all the support we have received this past year and the people we have met...
Starting this fall, hunters have the option to electronically report their November firearm deer season harvest or take their deer to a check station. While checking in deer is mandatory, hunters may choose to check in their deer at a check station or through Telecheck for the first time this nine-day firearm season. In the past, hunters were required to take their harvest to a physical check station during the firearm season while deer harvests during the remainder of the year were reported...
University of Nebraska-Lincoln students Carleigh Greene, Tilden, a 2022 high school graduate of Elkhorn Valley Schools, and Riley Martensen, a 2022 graduate of Neligh-Oakdale Public Schools, have been named winners of the Schuchardt Family Scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year. Greene, the daughter of Randy Greene of Tilden and Bobbi Jenkins of Oakdale, is a junior majoring in community health and wellness in the College of Education and Human Sciences. She is a member of the CEHS Student...
For several Summerland FFA students, school never is out of session, even during summer months. Through a Supervised Agriculture Experience, FFA members are able to explore career options and learn about workplace life. Summerland FFA Advisor Jacob Goldfuss said, "Essentially, it is some type of job or project that an FFA member should have to help them learn skills and knowledge that they can use in the classroom and in FFA contests." The sky's the limit when it comes to a job or project for an...
SUBMITTED ARTICLE On Aug. 21 and 22, a dynamic educational initiative called "Ignite the Patient Experience" was held at Antelope Memorial Hospital for its executive/senior management team. The initiative provided a comprehensive organizational and cultural assessment, leadership training and a three-year blueprint to achieve a breakthrough to a five-star patient experience rating. A grant from the Department of Health and Human Services was used to cover the cost of the training. The initiative...
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn't the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester. But back in 1974, he was a 34-year-old professor at the University...
Jackie Poulsen, also known as Jack Poulsen, 71, of Ericson was sentenced Aug. 1, in federal court in Lincoln, for bank fraud, United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced recently. U.S. District Judge Susan Bazis sentenced Poulsen to 18 months' imprisonment with five years of supervised release to follow. There is no parole in the federal system. Poulsen was additionally ordered to pay $815,000 in restitution. Poulsen was the president of Ericson State Bank from June 2010 until September 2019....
Mental health treatment within the criminal justice system plays a pivotal, yet often overlooked, role in both the well-being and rehabilitation of incarcerated individuals. This is often overlooked by the general population due to attitudes against the incarcerated and the lack of overall media attention. It is my belief that change needs to take place. Firstly, while many in society have negative outlooks on incarcerated or previously incarcerated individuals, most fail to realize that approximately 45% of Americans have had an immediate...
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...
Data breaches are on track for a record year in 2024 as cybercriminals increasingly hunt for valuable information. On average, a data breach exposing sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, has around 172,000 victims, according to a ConsumerAffairs analysis of the Identity Theft Resource Center's database from 2018 to the first quarter of 2024. These breaches cause headaches for consumers, who then need to check if their information is secure elsewhere because they are now more... Full story
Scotti Fullbright 1951-2024 Scotti Dean Fullbright, beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, was promoted to his 'Long Home' on May 28, in Wichita, Kansas, after battling an infection in his body for several months. He was born June 3, 1951, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to parents Paul and Myrna (Wilcox) Fullbright. He was a rambunctious child by all accounts and his early life was punctuated by tragedy when his father passed away suddenly when he was just 13. In his high school years, his...
Scotti Dean Fullbright, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend was promoted to his 'Long Home' on May 28, 2024, in Wichita, Kansas, after battling an infection in his body for several months. He was born on June 3, 1951, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Paul and Myrna (Wilcox) Fullbright. He was a rambunctious child by all accounts and his early life was punctuated by tragedy when his father passed away suddenly when he was just 13. In his high school years, his family, including siblings...
Nebraska residents should have easier access to public records under a bill that, in effect, overrules a recent Nebraska Supreme Court decision allowing the state to charge high amounts for retrieving public records. Gov. Jim Pillen signed Legislative Bill 43, adopting the First Freedom Act and new public record provisions, on Wednesday, March 27, after it unanimously passed in the Legislature, 39-0. The bill went into immediate effect due to an emergency clause. The emergency clause was added to an amendment inspired by Lincoln Sen. Danielle...
Transitioning to become a parent can be one of the most pivotal changes in a person's life. Rarely are the hard moments of this change talked about enough. For example, did you know one in five women and one in 10 men suffer from postpartum depression? Parents of any culture, race, age or income level can be affected. We commonly hear and get confused about postpartum depression being the "baby blues." This is a common misconception. The baby blues are very common and happen to 80% of women in...
The price tag for January's snow removal in Antelope County isn't tallied, but it may be a slippery path en route to the final figures. "I don't want to put a number out until we know," county road superintendent Aaron Boggs said during the Jan. 6 Antelope County Commissioners meeting. "Hopefully we get some help from the state." County clerk Lisa Payne said some of the incoming claims did not have a set fee. "I think we're going to get in trouble," she said. According to Boggs, he set a fee...
Omaha Senator Justin Wayne, chair of the Judiciary Committee, has offered a bill that would put Nebraska's Legislature in charge of the state's prison system, which is currently under the purview of the executive branch. Given the way things have been going with the Department of Correctional Services, especially the selection of a site for a new prison in northeast Lincoln that was changed to an allegedly more acceptable site at the last minute, I like Wayne's proposal. If made law, it would pu...
In the intricate tapestry of education, the threads that weave together to create an inclusive and supportive environment for students with special needs are fraying at the edges. The current crisis of a shortage of special educators threatens to unravel the progress made in ensuring that every child, regardless of their abilities, has equal access to a quality education. Special educators play a pivotal role in nurturing the unique potential of students with diverse learning needs. Their expertise extends far beyond traditional teaching...
