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The Grand Island Independent

The Grand Island Independent We are Central Nebraska's news source

09/02/2025

Here's a guide to making the most of a visit to the Caribbean this year.

08/02/2025

Gardell returned to clubs and theaters after his CBS comedy, “Bob Hearts Abishola,” ended its run last year. Like others on the show, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

08/02/2025

The IRS has faced intense blowback to Direct File from private tax preparation companies that have made billions from charging people to use their software.

08/02/2025

Many Americans with high-deductible health insurance plans face a cold reality at the start of every year. However, patient advocates say there are ways to manage the challenge.

08/02/2025

Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023.

08/02/2025

If you want to quit smoking, CHI Health St. Francis is offering “Freedom from Smoking” to***co cessation classes starting Feb. 20.

08/02/2025

Anyone prohibited from having access to the sensitive information since Jan. 20 must destroy all copies made from the department's systems.

08/02/2025

Every year, Nebraska 4-H Month brings thousands of young people, parents, volunteers and alumni together to celebrate all the ways in which 4-H helps youth find a place where they

08/02/2025

Two proposals to restore a winner-take-all model for Nebraska's future presidential elections appear to be stuck in limbo as uncertainty continues over whether either has the votes to pass.

08/02/2025

Extension Educator Cami Wells says that “a common concern I often hear is that fruits and vegetables are too pricey. However, it is possible to include them even with a

08/02/2025

A new literacy plan approved by the Nebraska State Board of Education Friday is focused on leveraging science of reading strategies to improve reading proficiency statewide.

08/02/2025

As a librarian for the Grand Island Public Library, Laura Fentress has several confessions to make. Among them: “Sometimes I check out a pile of books and return them three

08/02/2025

The trick to "flying solo" on Valentine's Day is to keep your life full and to share who you are with the world, says Dr. Barton Goldsmith. One way to

08/02/2025

Changes coming to the Heartland Events Center include new foods, a beefed-up concert schedule and maybe even roller skating.

08/02/2025

“It’s not very assuming until you get right up to it and you see how big that trunk is. You’re like ‘Holy cow, that’s a big one,’” a Nebraska Forest

08/02/2025

The Grand Island Senior High and Northwest boys and girls teams all qualified to the state bowling tournament.

08/02/2025

Students, parents and teachers shared their opinions on a resurrected bill seeking to encourage donations to private school scholarship funds, months after voters repealed a similar law.

08/02/2025

Read through the obituaries published today in Grand Island Independent.

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Tuesday	08:00 - 17:00
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Thursday	08:00 - 17:00
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Videos

Watch live: New Nebraska AD Troy Dannen gives an introductory news conference Tuesday.

See what Troy Dannen has to say about Husker sports in his new role as athletic director at Nebraska.

The upcoming solar eclipse will give scientists a rare opportunity to study the behavior of animals.

Trial of 'Rust' armorer begins in fatal film rehearsal shooting by Alec Baldwin.

President Jimmy Carter becomes the first president to live to see White House ornament honoring his legacy.

A trial date has been pushed back from June to November for a former Los Angeles-area gang leader charged with killing hip-hop music icon Tupac Shakur.

What you can expect to experience during April’s total solar eclipse.

While Valentine's Day may not be known as a busy time for air travel, it's a busy time at Miami International Airport. where many of the nation's fresh cut flowers arrive from South America.

Flight attendants for major U.S. airlines are holding rallies at airports around the country to push for higher pay.

The latest nails trends to express Valentine's love.

Paris Olympics medals unveiled.

With the Chiefs preparing to face off against the San Francisco 49ers in Kansas City's fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years, stores can hardly keep in stock any of the caps, sweatshirts and other odds and ends (some odder than others) commemorating the sports and pop crossover romance.

A federal appeals panel has ruled that Donald Trump can face trial on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

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Central Nebraska’s News Source

One of Grand Island's oldest businesses didn't actually get its start in Grand Island.

What is now The Grand Island Independent began as The Platte Valley Independent in 1869.

Publisher Seth P. Mobley moved the paper to Grand Island after an angry mob gathered in front of the newspaper's North Platte office. The group was upset over columns that had been written about the Union Pacific Railroad.

As part of a peace agreement between the railroaders and Mobley, he and his editor, Maggie Eberhart, had to leave town. Around the same time, a group of Grand Island businessmen were looking for a newspaper proprietor and welcomed The Independent to town.

The first edition of the weekly Independent in Grand Island was printed on July 2, 1870. Mobley and Eberhart were married the next year. By the end of the decade, the Mobleys were feuding with just about everyone in town. They faced financial difficulties but did have one major advertiser, Fred Hedde.

In 1881, Maggie Mobley, who was the first female newspaper editor in Nebraska, directed criticism at Hedde's wife, and the Mobleys' relations with their last major supporter were damaged. The paper was put up for sale.

"Since (The Independent's beginning), other papers sprouted to serve various political leanings or ethnic customers," the late editor, Bill Dunn said. "There have been papers that served Republicans, Democrats and other parties as well as several German-language newspapers. Free enterprise being what it is, the financial pressure of the publishing business eventually caused most of them to fold after a year or two."

The Independent was saved from being a mere history-book description when J.A. McMurphy bought it in 1883. He only owned the paper for a week before selling it to Hedde, who renamed the paper The Grand Island Daily Independent.

Hedde converted the paper to a daily in 1884. During the late 1800s, there were as many as eight newspapers in Grand Island, but a severe depression, drought and grasshopper infestations destroyed the city's economy in the early 1890s and nearly wiped the newspaper out of business. In 1894, The Independent's circulation dwindled to just 360 households.

Prior to the depression, The Independent had already become much more than just a newspaper to Grand Island.

"Many do not realize the importance of The Platte Valley Independent to the initial growth and eventual success of Grand Island," Dunn said. "At one point, The Independent and the Union Pacific Railroad went together to Germany to recruit settlers to the Platte Valley. That resulted in the large German population that moved into the area to farm and establish businesses."

By 1900, Hedde's health was failing, and he turned ownership of the paper over to several Grand Island businessmen, including August Buechler, J.R. Fullerton, Fred G. Baldwin, Gus E. Neumann and Charles E. Fralick.

Oscar Stauffer purchased The Independent in 1930 and owned it until the newspaper was purchased by Morris Communications, a family-owned corporation, in 1995.

The newspaper has seen a number of changes over the last several decades, including computerization in the 1970s, adding a Sunday publication in 1979, switching from afternoons to mornings in 1992 and launching a Web site in 1996.

The word "daily" was dropped from the name of the paper on Nov. 13, 1989.

The Independent has also called a number of buildings home. In its beginning, the newspaper was housed in a small frame building behind a hardware store owned by Hedde. It was then moved to the Hedde Building on the corner of Third and Locust streets, where it remained until 1910. That year, the business moved to 113 N. Locust St., where Equitable Bank is today.

In 1957, it moved to its present location, 422 W. First St., a building that was constructed specifically for the newspaper. The building covers 23,370 square feet on the first floor and has a partial basement.

The Independent bought other buildings on the block in 1989 and, by the time the main building was remodeled in 1993, the newspaper owned the entire block.

Dunn said the paper's mission hasn't changed much in its history.

"The role of The Independent in the Central Nebraska community is to be the primary information center for our readers," he said. "In addition, as the largest news-gathering operation between Lincoln and Denver, we are committed to a role as the watchdog over government and the seeker of truth in our coverage area. With the introduction of the Internet, The Independent's role is increasingly becoming a center for community conversation, where people can share opinions about their community.

"With one of the largest reader pe*******on rates in America, we appreciate the trust that readers place in The Independent, and we work hard every day to validate that trust," Dunn said. "As the media evolves and technology allows us to present the news in faster and more complete ways to our readers/viewers, The Independent has become even more vital in the lives of our customers. The transformation of electronic and print media that The Independent has undertaken means that readers/viewers will look to The Independent even more than ever.

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