News

Internet is now considered a utility as essential as water and electricity, and the pandemic-related economic shutdown in 2020 revealed that not everyone living in Clay County has reliable broadband service.

COVID relief funding has opened up granting possibilities for local Internet service providers. Glenwood, based in Blue Hill, has partnered with South Central Public Power District with a plan to build a fiber network into Clay County to bring high-speed internet to 330 rural residents between the communities of Clay Center, Edgar, Fairfield, Harvard, and Ong.

“Our goal with this is to start with a backbone and just peel off that until everyone in the county has fiber broadband,” Jennifer Reiman, Glenwood’s business development director, said at an October 2021 meeting of the Clay County Board of Supervisors.

On Dec. 30, at the direction of Governor Pete Ricketts, Lieutenant Governor Foley signed a disaster proclamation in response to the severe windstorms that struck Nebraska on Dec. 15, 2021.

The proclamation allows for use of the Governor’s Emergency Fund in response to damage that occurred as a result of storms and high winds that downed power lines and trees and created power outages.

The state declaration is needed to request a federal disaster declaration for public assistance.

The State of Nebraska and local agencies continue to conduct damage assessments. Once sufficient information is gathered, a request for Federal Public Assistance will be sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional office, then to FEMA headquarters, and finally to the White House for review and approval.

The Nebraska motor fuels tax rate for Jan. 1 through June 30, 2022, will be 24.8 cents per gallon, down from 27.7 cents per gallon. The components of the future and current rates include wholesale, variable, and fixed rates.

The wholesale tax rate is set depending on the wholesale price of fuel. The variable tax rate is set to meet legislative appropriations. The fixed tax rate is set by statute.

Questions regarding the calculation of the variable percentage rate may be directed to the Nebraska Department of Transportation at 402-479-4635.

Statistical information regarding motor fuels tax receipts can be found on the Nebraska Department of Revenue’s

(DOR) website under Motor Fuels, and Statistics.

The petroleum release remedial action fee is not included in the state motor fuels tax and remains unchanged at 0.9 cents per gallon on motor vehicle fuels and 0.3 cents per gallon on diesel fuels.

Two accidents a day apart from each other resulted in one transport and minor injuries.

On Monday, Dec. 20, Clay County officers and Fairfield and Clay Center Fire and Rescue responded to a two-vehicle accident near the north turn of the Sandy Creek parking lot.

A northbound 2005 Chevy Silverado was waiting to turn into the north side of the SC parking lot when another northbound vehicle, a 2018 Ford F-150, hit the Silverado behind the driver’s cab as the truck began turning.

Clay County Deputy Sean Julich said there were minor injuries but no one involved in the wreck was transported.

On Tuesday, Dec. 21, a single-vehicle rollover was reported on County Road

319 between S and T west of Sutton.

Julich reported a minor driving a Kia car was westbound on County Road 319 when she lost control between roads S and T, going into the ditch and went end over end

The Nebraska Department of Education released the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) results earlier this month, showing insight into how students who tested are performing academically as part of the NDE’s COVID-19 recovery efforts.

NSCAS English Language Arts (ELA) and NSCAS Mathematics, rigorous assessments with high expectations for college and career readiness, were given in grades three through eight.

The NSCAS Science assessment is given in grades five and eight but was in a field test last spring and did not produce scores. The NSCAS ACT is given to all Nebraska juniors statewide.

Nebraska’s participation rate is normally more than 99 percent of students.

Due to the pandemic, last year’s participation dropped by approximately 8,500 students but was still almost 95 percent. This shows that Nebraska led the nation by returning to school sooner and more consistently than most other states.

On Dec. 16, the day following a string of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, ice clung to outside structures and there was a chill in the air. Southwest of Harvard, thick pieces of ice were found hanging from this pivot, creating a beautiful and much different scene than what the county viewed and felt Dec. 15.

In a matter of a few hours, hundreds of presents were wrapped and sorted thanks to the organizers and handful of volunteers helping at the annual Clay County Giving Tree Dec. 15, at the fairgrounds. Presents were delivered to county towns Thursday, Dec. 16.

ABOVE: Teresa Corman, right, helps Evynn with wrapping a present. LEFT: Kacy Johanson focuses on cutting wrapping paper for a present.

*A feature story on the Heinz family is on pg. 2A, with more photos of the event on pg. 5A.

So far this winter Clay County hasn’t had to endure heavy snow or extreme freezing temperatures; however, Dec. 15 saw an unprecedented thunderstorm system move swiftly over eastern Nebraska.

A high wind warning was already in effect for Dec. 15, with wind speeds reaching 70 mph in Clay Center around 2:30 p.m.

Temperatures broke an almost 20-year record, with the National Weather Service in Hastings reporting a temp of 68 degrees, one degree higher than recorded in 2002.

As stated in an NWS-Hastings press release Tuesday, “December tornadoes are rare, but have occurred in Nebraska. Prior to Dec. 15, a total of five tornadoes had been confirmed in Nebraska since 1950.

“On Dec. 13, 1975, two tor nadoes rated F2 occurred, one in Thayer County and one in Pawnee County. In 2016, Christmas Day tornadoes were confirmed in Phelps County (rated EF1), Kearney County (rated EF0) and in Buffalo County (rated EF0).

On Nov. 9, a petition made by Sutton resident Jeri George was filed with the City of Sutton to stop the sell of a 5.833 acre tract of ground, located in northwest Sutton just east of the DLD Ball Complex.

During a special meeting and public hearing held by the Sutton City Council Monday, Dec. 20, that ground under the microscope of opinions related to the petition to stop the sale of the ground has been deemed invalid by attorney Drew Graham, who represented the City of Sutton in this matter.

The petition gained the 30 percent of the signatures needed to halt the sell of the ground to the Sutton construction firm, Van Kirk Bros. Contracting, with 270 signatures approved and accepted by the Clay County Election Commissioner. It officially needed 257 signatures to be approved.

Communication skills, along with the development of professional skills are some of the big advantages that students involved with the Nebraska Center for Advanced Professional Studies (NCAPS) will have access to, according to Ashley Borer, the Associate NCAPS Coordinator.

“Many of our students, especially our juniors during the fall semester, are afraid to pick up the phone and make a call to their mentors to schedule the first visit. They have to learn quickly how to communicate with people and to work as a part of a team. Students also see how their mentors manage time in order to complete tasks. These skills carry over to the classroom and can be applied to group work and project-based learning,” Borer said.

Wednesday, Dec. 8, proved to be a day for many students involved with the NCAPS program to give presentations about their mentored internships throughout the South Central Nebraska area.