Hebron Journal-Register

07/21/2024

NDOT projects in Thayer County extensive

136 from Highway 81 West to the County Line
•Vontz Construction out of Hastings and its subcontractors - Construction has gotten off to a slow start due to utility conflicts along this stretch, however, the plan is to work on culverts and grading this fall complete that work in 2025 with repaving and widening (24’ to 28’) of the asphalt roadway.

Highway 81 Bridges at Belvidere Southbound (and the 136 Bridge at Road 6500)
•Constructors Inc. out of Lincoln and its subcontractors will begin work on these bridges. It has not been determined which bridge the contractor will start on.

•The following was published in “Third International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete 2023” in an article titled “Design and Detailing of Nebraska's First UHPC Ribbed Slab Decked I-Beam Bridges“

"The state of Nebraska has embarked on an ambitious program to design a series of bridges using ultra-high-performance concrete.
"The first bridge is the Belvidere North Bridge, in Belvidere, Nebraska. It consists of three spans, 75-85-75 ft. It is 42 ft-8 in. wide.
"The design is based on previously completed research by the University of Nebraska to create a cost effective UHPC mix (Mendonca et al. 2020).
"The non-proprietary mix only costs a fraction of prebagged proprietary mixes. It achieves very high tensile properties and adequately high compressive strength. It also achieves excellent durability.
"Using this mix along with a highly optimized decked I-beam cross section achieves a cost competitive UHPC superstructure system that features rapid construction and a highly durable deck.
"This paper covers the features of design of four bridges being designed for NDOT. The first bridge is the Belvidere North Bridge in Belvidere. The other three are overpasses over I-480 in Omaha.”

Highway 81 Weigh Station Lighting
The weigh station on Highway 81 between Hebron and Chester will receive updated lighting towers.

The state also recently published its 2026-2030 planning that includes working on all highways colored blue in the image below-Highways 4 and 5 in Thayer County; Highway 136; and 8 East of Highway 81.

07/18/2024

Yesterday evening at Sacred Heart Cemetery, U.S. Army Civil War Private Joseph Rollin Prentice was honored with a wreath by American Legion Auxiliary Past Department President Vicki Ozenbaugh along with the Hebron American Legion Post 180 and Auxiliary Unit 180. Descendants of Prentice attended the ceremony, which will be featured in next week's Hebron Journal-Register.

Maddie Hammer sang the "Star Spangled Banner." Brock Godown played "Taps."

07/09/2024

07/06/2024

Hope everyone had a good
Independence Day.

07/04/2024

06/19/2024

Pony Express Re-Ride went through Thayer County yesterday. Photos are of the mochila exchange on Highways 53 and 81.

06/18/2024

06/18/2024

Follow the pony for the Pony Express Re-ride LIVE!

http://nationalponyexpress.org/re-ride/follow-the-ride/

06/13/2024

Don’t miss the town hall meeting on June 13th to discuss the future of Willard Park. Join us at 7 PM to share your thoughts and help shape our community!

05/31/2024

Rain or shine, the show must go on! 🌧️✨ The weather will clear up just in time for our outdoor movie night. Don’t miss out on the fun—bring your blankets and join us under the stars! 🎬🍿

05/30/2024

Memorial Day photos and guest speaker Retired Lt. Col. Ben Votipka's speech at the Thayer County Courthouse

Memorial Day Memorial Day Service in Hebron with guest speaker Retired United States Air Force Lt. Col. Ben Votipka Nancy McGill May 30, 2024May 30, 2024 Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, For those that don’t know me, I’m Ben Votipka and grew up on a dairy farm over by Alexandria. I’m number ...

05/29/2024

Bill and Evonne Williams of Patriotic Productions Memorial Day Parade in Omaha.

https://hebronjournalregister.com/fourth-patriotic-parade-in-omaha/

05/27/2024

Memorial Day, initially referred to as Decoration Day, was observed by many communities after the Civil War, when the nation suffered more than 620,000 military deaths, roughly 2 percent of the total population at the time. John A. Logan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of Republic, chose May 30, 1868, as a day to decorate the graves of Union troops across the nation. From this beginning, Memorial Day is now designated as an annual day of remembrance to honor all those who have died in service to the United States during peace and war. Veterans Day, November 11, celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.

Each Memorial Day and Veterans Day, volunteers, many of whom are veterans, raise about 250 flags on the Thayer County Courthouse lawn.

05/15/2024

Primary results from the Nebraska Secretary of State’s website at 11:43 p.m.

For Thayer County minus the commissioners race with Marlin Bauhard and Rick Dageforde, unofficial results are:

Donald Trump - 829
Joe Biden - 125
Nikki Haley - 130
Dean Phillips - 42
Perry Johnson - 19

Deb Fischer - 754
Aaron Kowalski - 218

Pete Ricketts - 821
John Glen Weaver - 117
Mac Stevens - 37

https://electionresults.nebraska.gov/resultsSW.aspx?text=Race&type=SW&map=CTY

04/18/2024

Among the bills on the Nebraska Legislature's agenda for its final day today are LB388 and its appropriation bill, LB388A.

LB388 with its Amendment 3419, is the bill to create property tax relief by increasing other taxes to generate revenue.

Gov. Jim Pillen’s policy research office sent a letter to senators describing the latest updates to the bill that includes eliminating the one percent sales tax increase.

“The amendment addresses many of the concerns that were expressed on the floor during debate,” director of the policy research office, Kenny Zoeller, stated.

In addition, the bill creates the advertising sales tax for companies earning $1 billion or more and increases cigarette tax to $1; lottery sales tax; va**ng and games of skill tax to 20 percent; cannabis derivative tax to 100 percent; and removes candy and soda tax exemption, along with storage facilities and veterinarian services that exclude livestock.

The bill also contains the Property Tax Growth Limitation Act for cities and counties to grow their budgets by three percent or CPI, whichever is greater. Exemptions for the cap are approved bonds, emergencies, unused authority, and imminent and significant threats to public safety, which is capped at a six percent increase.

The New Property Tax Relief creates the School Property Tax Credit Fund, which includes an initial transfer of $750 million and will grow by $30 million each year thereafter. The credit will be distributed to counties and delivered to property taxpayers by reducing their tax statement for school taxes paid by 30 percent.

Another $757,581 for this fiscal year and $235,832 for next year will be appropriated to the state department of revenue to administer LB388. The limit on permanent and temporary salaries and per diems for the department of revenue is $98,900 for this year and $58,900 for next year.

The bill also:
“There is hereby appropriated (1) $750,000,000 from the School Property Tax Credit Fund for FY2024-25 and (2) $780,000,000 from the School Property Tax Credit Fund for FY2025-26 to the Department of Revenue, for Program 121, to aid in carrying out the provisions of Legislative Bill 388.

“There is included in the appropriation to this program for FY2024-2025 $750,000,000 Cash Funds for state aid, which shall only be used for such purpose. There is included in this appropriation to this program for FY2025-2026 $780,000 Cash Funds for state aid, which shall only be used for this purpose.”
LB388 (new language is underlined in the bill and former language is crossed out)
https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Final/LB388.pdf
LB388 appropriations
https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Final/LB388A.pdf
You can watch or listen to the legislature live at:
https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/series-media/unicameral-video/standalone-video-15928/legislative-morning-session-50023916/

Nebraska Legislative Session

04/15/2024

** OUTDATED POST from Monday...this severe weather outlook valid time has passed

A potent upper-level storm system will bring increasing chances for showers and thunderstorms to the Central Plains late this afternoon into the overnight, and early Tuesday morning. Some storms could be strong to severe. The entire forecast area is included in either the Storm Prediction Center Slight or Enhanced Risk area. The main time frame of concern for severe weather is from 9 PM Monday evening through 4 AM Tuesday morning. Hail near the size of golf balls is the primary hazards, but the threat for damaging wind gusts over 60 MPH and isolated tornadoes is present as well. Stay up to date with the latest forecast and be sure to have multiple ways to get warning information.

04/08/2024

Out and about in Hebron to catch solar eclipse viewers.

04/08/2024

The total solar eclipse will not be visible again in the United States until 2044. While the path of totality will be south of our local area, we should still experience 70 to 85 percent of the eclipse in eastern Nebraska.

03/28/2024

Two ribbon cuttings in Thayer County today - the first for RW's Station Deshler welcomed by the Deshler Chamber of Commerce and the second for Glenwood to begin its broadband project that will serve more rural customers.

For the ribbon cutting, Glenwood was joined by supporters and board members of Thayer County Economic Development, Thayer County Commissioner Dean Krueger, members of the county's Broadband Action Team, Dan Watermeier of the Nebraska Public Service Commission, Kelly Gwecke of Nebraska Department of Economic Development and Alpha Utility, the contractor for the project.

03/25/2024

Freezing drizzle in Hebron, 5:14 p.m.

Temperatures will fall into the teens by Tuesday morning. With the strong winds, wind chills will be around zero to 10 below zero Tuesday morning, especially across south central Nebraska. Wednesday morning, temperatures will be as cold if not colder, but winds will be weaker.

03/15/2024

03/13/2024

Union Pacific has closed the railroad crossing on Highway 5 for most of the day. The Thayer County Sheriff’s Office will advise when the crossing opens.

03/12/2024

Unofficial results are in for the Deshler School bond election in an amount not to exceed $8,750,000 for urgent facility and program needs:

162 - For
407 - Against

Thayer County Election Commssioner Maurica Burns reported a 63 percent turnout for voting.

03/01/2024

Bad accident just south of Bruning spur. Traffic was open in east lane a few minutes ago.

02/24/2024

District runner-up for the first time in program history, the Thayer Central Titan girls!

02/15/2024

Cole Vorderstrasse over Owen Kreikemeier of Raymond Central. He will wrestle Jaret Peterson of Chase County tomorrow.

Dylan Williams dropped to Kreyton Rockefeller of Gibbon. He and James Bonar also wrestle tomorrow with James against Keith Kvasnicka of Wilber-Clatonia and Dylan will be on the mat with Broken Bow or Falls City.

02/15/2024

Cole Vorderstrasse moves ahead in 215!

02/15/2024

State qualifier Dylan Williams advances in 175!

02/11/2024

STATE qualifiers for the Thayer Central 2023-2024 wrestling season are Cole Vorderstrasse, Dylan Williams and James Bonar!

Congratulations and good luck!