caution - cattle crossing · 2020-02-20 · luxury of capturing hard working cattle producers on...

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• Nebraska Timeline • Remember When • Over The Hills • Happenings On The Hill • Odds & Ends • Life’s Outtakes • Dave Says • Knight Sports • Senior Spotlights • Thedford & Sandhills School News • Church Happenings Inside This Issue THOMAS COUNTY, THEDFORD, NEBRASKA 69166 (USPS 596-550) THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2019 NO. 33 THOMAS COUNTY Your Source Of News In The Sandhills • Bernard Douglas Lesher Obituary Index Legal Notices.................2 Community Calendar ......................2 Social Side ....................3 Nebraska Timeline .......................3 Opinion Page .................4 Comics ..........................4 Classifieds .....................5 Business Directory ........5 Statewide Classifieds ...................5 School News .................6 School Lunch Menus..........................6 Senior Spotlights ...........6 Proceedings ..................7 Church Page..................8 Notices • Upper Loup NRD Notice Of Public Hearing • Thedford School Board Proceedings • Village Of Thedford Regular Meeting Proceedings • Village Of Thedford Emergency Meeting Proceedings • Thomas County Board Of Commissioners’ Proceedings • Thomas County Planning Commission Notice Of Hearing News Briefs Story & Picture Terri Licking See Stranded Page 7 The legal description of a noxious weed is any plant designated by a Fed- eral, State or county gov- ernment as injurious to public health, agriculture, recreation, wildlife or property. More com- monly they are defined as a plant that grows out of place and is competitive, persistent, and perni- cious. Regardless of which weed you are trying to manage it’s important to continue yearly manage- ment. Skipping a year can cause the noxious weed to re-infest rapidly. Persist- ence is the key to any suc- cessful weed control program. In Nebraska you are legally required to control noxious weeds on your The Thedford Service Club will be hosting a meeting with Ansley community members who have used innovative ways to enhance their com- munity from successful balloting for sales tax to sales of village lots to get them back on the tax roll. A low income housing company now calls Ansley home. Learn how they are living their motto "Some Bigger, None Better." The meeting will be held Tuesday, March 5th with a Dutch treat meal at 6:00 p.m. (CT) fol- lowed by the meeting at 7:00 p.m. CT in the east room of the Sandhills Corral café in Thedford. The Public is welcome. RSVP for the meal to Sandhills Corral at 308-645-2323. Sullivan Hills Camp is in its 22nd year, but for the first time, Thomas County kids will be able to attend for free. Donors have subsidized the en- tire cost of camp this year to make sure every child has the opportunity to at- tend. First through twelfth graders spend a week de- veloping great friend- ships, growing self- confidence, and deepen- ing their faith at this 640- acre residential summer camp near Lodgepole, Ne- braska. Each week through June and July, trained Summer Ministry Team members lead kids through activities such as a high ropes challenge course, archery, boating, Photos like this are rep- resentative of cattle pro- ducers who drive their cows home from corn- stalks this time of year. This is easier on the cows that are a month or so from calving, but find- ing a good weather day has been difficult. This drive could be seen Satur- day afternoon, February 9, on the Sandhills Jour- ney Scenic Byway. One does not often have the luxury of capturing hard working cattle producers on bitter cold days. Thanks goes out to Kim and Denise Woodward of Broken Bow. Denise Woodward, who was in the pickup with a trailer bringing up the rear, said their 80 plus cows did pretty well con- sidering it was an eight mile trek. The trailer would be used to bring the horses home. "When we came to the curve before the tracks, we had probably gone two miles. Melody Doss and her daughter were in the lead feed pickup with a hay bale - a coaxer most cows follow this time of Caution - Cattle Crossing year." On horseback was Denise's husband Kim, and the Doss men, Melody's husband, Dakota and their son, Drake. Care was taken to ensure everyone’s safety. A deputy from the sher- iff's department was on hand, BNSF had been con- tacted, a wait on two trains to pass caused delay for highway traffic. "Ice on the gravel road was another problem after the tracks." Cows falling on ice can induce early labor, thus lost revenue. When they turned on the Paulsen road, passing KinKaider's, Denise said there was a party in progress, so a lot of onlookers with their phones took pictures of the cattle drive. Denise probably got the most exercise, running up and down the line of cars on the highway a couple of times, thanking them for their patience and un- derstanding, and explain- ing the delay. The Woodwards want to thank the travelers who were patient and under- standing throughout. Pa- tience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're wait- ing - (Author unknown). Most behaved admirably she said. Free summer camp for Thomas County youth Bible study, creative arts, and many other classic camp activities. Registrations are now open at SullivanHills.org or by calling 402-944- 2544. A $50 deposit is re- quired at registration; it will be refunded after the child attends camp. Pictured on horseback are, l-r: Kim Woodward, Drake Doss and Dakota Doss. Denise Woodward brought up the rear with the pickup and horse trailer. Service Club to host meeting Yearly Management Of Noxious Weeds Important property. The common noxious weeds on the Ne- braska State list include: plumeless thistle, musk thistle, diffuse knapweed, spotted knapweed, Canada thistle, leafy spurge, purple loosestrife and saltcedar. Fortu- nately, not all of these weeds are found in our District. To help with the battle with those found in our area (leafy spurge, Canada thistle, musk this- tle) the Upper Loup Natu- ral Resources District provides cost share funds for BOTH fall and spring treatment to landowners in the NRD area. Funds are available to cover 50% of the cost of approved chemicals up to $500 per landowner. R-Project powerline is nearing decision point The federal government approval of NPPD’s “R- Project” powerline is nearing a decision point. The Environmental Im- pact Statement (EIS) for the project has been on the Federal Register since the 8th of February and is nearing the end of its 30 day waiting period. After which, a “final record of decision” is soon to fol- low. This gives NPPD the green-light to begin con- struction of the power- line. The problem with all this is they have not and are not following the fed- eral law (Endangered Species Act). In spite of the shiny new R-Project sales brochure handed out by NPPD at the capitol today, they continue to show a complete disre- gard for the countless con- cerns raised by the public. The route of the R-Project has not changed an inch. If one drills down into this 837 page document, you will find Appendix E which concerns the Whooping Crane. The highly technical computa- tions discussed in this ap- pendix attempt to answer the question of “mortal- ity.” Specifically, how many Whooping Cranes do the US Fish & Wildlife biologists think will be killed by collisions with this power line over the 50 year life of the project? Remember, only 505 of these animals remain. The data used to answer this question is old and sparse, and the calcula- tion method used was de- signed to deliberately skew the result to as near “zero” as was mathemati- cally possible. A large amount of new, modern data were found in early 2018, but the chapter on “threatened and endan- gered species” was closed by that point and the new data was not considered in the EIS. This violates the Endangered Species Act which requires the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) use “the best available science.” As it is, they are deliberately ig- noring it, and so is NPPD. As a result of a Depart- ment of Interior Inspector General’s Complaint I filed, analysis of the new data was eventually forced to happen by the USFWS Scientific In- tegrity Officer, and is now part of the public record. In an effort, I believe, to deliberately discredit the data, the biologists in the Denver USFWS office wrote an incomplete re- buttal of the analysis and it is rife with errors. I’m shocked this actually made it into the public record. They did this, I be- lieve, because an honest appraisal of the best data available shows a shock- ing Whooping Crane mor- tality rate. The law provides a rem- edy for all of this called a “Supplemental Environ- mental Impact Study.” This new Whooping Crane data could be prop- erly studied and a scien- tifically sound report, free of bias could be rendered. It’s the right thing to do. Sadly, NPPD steadfastly refuses to do this. On the advice of NPPD’s paid lob- byist in Denver, the US Fish & Wildlife Service also steadfastly refuse to do this. Other members of Nebraska’s congres- sional delegation have joined me in this fight. We will soon see if the De- partment of Interior agrees with the corrup- tion surrounding the R Project. Please contact my office with any comments, ques- tions or concerns. Email me at; [email protected]. gov. Mail a letter to; Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1423, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509 or call us at (402) 471-2628. By State Senator Tom Brewer Page 3 The Thomas, Blaine, and Loup County Farm Bureaus will host a town hall meeting with Sen. Tom Brewer of District 43. The town hall meeting will take place Friday, March 8, at 4 p.m. at Uncle Bucks Lodge in Brewster. The meeting is free and open to the pub- lic. Sen. Brewer will answer questions from con- stituents and give an up- date on his work at the Legislature and what to expect during the upcom- ing legislative session. The meeting will also allow District 43 con- Town Hall Meeting with Sen. Brewer stituents to meet and visit personally with Sen. Brewer. “We are excited to hold a town hall meeting for Sen. Brewer and the con- stituents in District 43,” said Katherine Kubacki, president of Thomas County Farm Bureau. “The town hall meeting will allow citizens to ask questions that matter to them and hear responses from Sen. Brewer.” For more information you may contact Tammy Fiechtner, North Central regional manager, Ne- braska Farm Bureau, (402) 302-9494. The Nebraska State Pa- trol (NSP) and Nebraska Department of Trans- portation (NDOT) closed Interstate 80, Saturday, February 23, due to nu- merous crashes and white out conditions in the east- ern half of the state. I-80 was closed between mile marker 312, near Grand Island, and mile marker 439, near Gretna. Troopers responded to numerous crashes, in- cluding large crashes at mile markers 329, 355, and 409 on Interstate 80. Some of those crashes in- Hundreds of stranded motorists volved injuries. The first large crash oc- curred near mile marker 355, east of York, involv- ing an estimated 30 vehi- cles, including at least 15 semis. The crash occurred at approximately 2:45 p.m. More than 100 vehi- cles became stranded be- hind that crash. At approximately 3:10 p.m. a crash occurred at mile marker 329, near Au- rora. That crash involved approximately 15 vehi- cles, including 10 semis. The Sandhills-Thedford Junior-Senior Prom will be held Saturday, March 30 at the NE National Forest in Halsey.

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Page 1: Caution - Cattle Crossing · 2020-02-20 · luxury of capturing hard working cattle producers on bitter cold days. Thanks goes out to Kim and Denise Woodward of Broken Bow. Denise

• Nebraska Timeline• Remember When• Over The Hills• Happenings OnThe Hill

• Odds & Ends• Life’s Outtakes• Dave Says• Knight Sports• Senior Spotlights• Thedford & SandhillsSchool News

• Church Happenings

Inside This Issue

THOMAS COUNTY, THEDFORD, NEBRASKA 69166 (USPS 596-550) THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2019 NO. 33

THOMAS COUNTY Your Source OfNews In The Sandhills

• Bernard Douglas Lesher

Obituary

IndexLegal Notices.................2CommunityCalendar......................2

Social Side ....................3NebraskaTimeline .......................3

Opinion Page.................4Comics ..........................4Classifieds .....................5Business Directory ........5StatewideClassifieds ...................5

School News .................6School LunchMenus..........................6

Senior Spotlights ...........6Proceedings ..................7Church Page..................8

Notices• Upper Loup NRDNotice OfPublic Hearing

• Thedford School BoardProceedings

• Village Of ThedfordRegular MeetingProceedings

• Village Of ThedfordEmergency MeetingProceedings

• Thomas CountyBoard OfCommissioners’Proceedings

• Thomas CountyPlanning CommissionNotice Of Hearing

News Briefs

Story & PictureTerri Licking

See Stranded Page 7

The legal description ofa noxious weed is anyplant designated by a Fed-eral, State or county gov-ernment as injurious topublic health, agriculture,recreation, wildlife orproperty. More com-monly they are defined asa plant that grows out ofplace and is competitive,persistent, and perni-cious.

Regardless of whichweed you are trying tomanage it’s important tocontinue yearly manage-ment. Skipping a year cancause the noxious weed tore-infest rapidly. Persist-ence is the key to any suc-cessful weed controlprogram.

In Nebraska you arelegally required to controlnoxious weeds on your

The Thedford Service Club will be hosting ameeting with Ansley community members whohave used innovative ways to enhance their com-munity from successful balloting for sales tax tosales of village lots to get them back on the taxroll. A low income housing company now callsAnsley home. Learn how they are living theirmotto "Some Bigger, None Better."

The meeting will be held Tuesday, March 5thwith a Dutch treat meal at 6:00 p.m. (CT) fol-lowed by the meeting at 7:00 p.m. CT in the eastroom of the Sandhills Corral café in Thedford.

The Public is welcome. RSVP for the meal toSandhills Corral at 308-645-2323.

Sullivan Hills Camp is inits 22nd year, but for thefirst time, ThomasCounty kids will be ableto attend for free. Donorshave subsidized the en-tire cost of camp this yearto make sure every childhas the opportunity to at-tend.

First through twelfthgraders spend a week de-veloping great friend-ships, growing self-confidence, and deepen-ing their faith at this 640-acre residential summercamp near Lodgepole, Ne-braska. Each weekthrough June and July,trained Summer MinistryTeam members lead kidsthrough activities such asa high ropes challengecourse, archery, boating,

Photos like this are rep-resentative of cattle pro-ducers who drive theircows home from corn-stalks this time of year.

This is easier on thecows that are a month orso from calving, but find-ing a good weather dayhas been difficult. Thisdrive could be seen Satur-day afternoon, February9, on the Sandhills Jour-ney Scenic Byway. Onedoes not often have theluxury of capturing hardworking cattle producerson bitter cold days.

Thanks goes out to Kimand Denise Woodward ofBroken Bow.

Denise Woodward, whowas in the pickup with atrailer bringing up therear, said their 80 pluscows did pretty well con-sidering it was an eightmile trek. The trailerwould be used to bringthe horses home.

"When we came to thecurve before the tracks,we had probably gone twomiles. Melody Doss andher daughter were in thelead feed pickup with ahay bale - a coaxer mostcows follow this time of

Caution - Cattle Crossing

year."On horseback was

Denise's husband Kim,and the Doss men,Melody's husband, Dakotaand their son, Drake.

Care was taken to ensureeveryone’s safety.

A deputy from the sher-iff's department was onhand, BNSF had been con-tacted, a wait on twotrains to pass causeddelay for highway traffic.

"Ice on the gravel road

was another problemafter the tracks."

Cows falling on ice caninduce early labor, thuslost revenue. When theyturned on the Paulsenroad, passing KinKaider's,Denise said there was aparty in progress, so a lotof onlookers with theirphones took pictures ofthe cattle drive.

Denise probably got themost exercise, running upand down the line of cars

on the highway a coupleof times, thanking themfor their patience and un-derstanding, and explain-ing the delay.

The Woodwards want tothank the travelers whowere patient and under-standing throughout. Pa-tience is not simply theability to wait - it's how webehave while we're wait-ing - (Author unknown).

Most behaved admirablyshe said.

Free summercamp for ThomasCounty youth

Bible study, creative arts,and many other classiccamp activities.

Registrations are nowopen at SullivanHills.orgor by calling 402-944-2544. A $50 deposit is re-quired at registration; itwill be refunded after thechild attends camp.

Pictured on horseback are, l-r: Kim Woodward, Drake Doss and Dakota Doss.Denise Woodward brought up the rear with the pickup and horse trailer.

Service Club tohost meeting

Yearly ManagementOf Noxious

Weeds Important

property. The commonnoxious weeds on the Ne-braska State list include:plumeless thistle, muskthistle, diffuse knapweed,spotted knapweed,Canada thistle, leafyspurge, purple loosestrifeand saltcedar. Fortu-nately, not all of theseweeds are found in ourDistrict. To help with thebattle with those found inour area (leafy spurge,Canada thistle, musk this-tle) the Upper Loup Natu-ral Resources Districtprovides cost share fundsfor BOTH fall and springtreatment to landownersin the NRD area. Fundsare available to cover 50%of the cost of approvedchemicals up to $500 perlandowner.

R-Project powerlineis nearing decision point

The federal governmentapproval of NPPD’s “R-Project” powerline isnearing a decision point.The Environmental Im-pact Statement (EIS) forthe project has been onthe Federal Register sincethe 8th of February and isnearing the end of its 30day waiting period. Afterwhich, a “final record ofdecision” is soon to fol-low. This gives NPPD thegreen-light to begin con-struction of the power-line.

The problem with allthis is they have not andare not following the fed-eral law (EndangeredSpecies Act). In spite ofthe shiny new R-Projectsales brochure handedout by NPPD at the capitoltoday, they continue toshow a complete disre-gard for the countless con-cerns raised by the public.The route of the R-Projecthas not changed an inch.

If one drills down intothis 837 page document,you will find Appendix Ewhich concerns theWhooping Crane. Thehighly technical computa-tions discussed in this ap-pendix attempt to answerthe question of “mortal-ity.” Specifically, howmany Whooping Cranesdo the US Fish & Wildlifebiologists think will bekilled by collisions withthis power line over the50 year life of the project?Remember, only 505 ofthese animals remain.

The data used to answerthis question is old andsparse, and the calcula-tion method used was de-signed to deliberatelyskew the result to as near“zero” as was mathemati-cally possible. A largeamount of new, moderndata were found in early2018, but the chapter on“threatened and endan-gered species” was closedby that point and the new

data was not consideredin the EIS. This violatesthe Endangered SpeciesAct which requires the USFish & Wildlife Service(USFWS) use “the bestavailable science.” As it is,they are deliberately ig-noring it, and so is NPPD.

As a result of a Depart-ment of Interior InspectorGeneral’s Complaint Ifiled, analysis of the newdata was eventuallyforced to happen by theUSFWS Scientific In-tegrity Officer, and is nowpart of the public record.In an effort, I believe, todeliberately discredit thedata, the biologists in theDenver USFWS officewrote an incomplete re-buttal of the analysis andit is rife with errors. I’mshocked this actuallymade it into the publicrecord. They did this, I be-lieve, because an honestappraisal of the best dataavailable shows a shock-ing Whooping Crane mor-tality rate.

The law provides a rem-edy for all of this called a“Supplemental Environ-mental Impact Study.”This new WhoopingCrane data could be prop-erly studied and a scien-tifically sound report, freeof bias could be rendered.It’s the right thing to do.Sadly, NPPD steadfastlyrefuses to do this. On theadvice of NPPD’s paid lob-byist in Denver, the USFish & Wildlife Servicealso steadfastly refuse todo this. Other membersof Nebraska’s congres-sional delegation havejoined me in this fight.We will soon see if the De-partment of Interioragrees with the corrup-tion surrounding the RProject.

Please contact my officewith any comments, ques-tions or concerns. Emailme at; [email protected]. Mail a letter to; Sen.Tom Brewer, Room#1423, P.O. Box 94604,Lincoln, NE 68509 or callus at (402) 471-2628.

By State SenatorTom Brewer

Page 3

The Thomas, Blaine,and Loup County FarmBureaus will host a townhall meeting with Sen.Tom Brewer of District43. The town hall meetingwill take place Friday,March 8, at 4 p.m. atUncle Bucks Lodge inBrewster. The meeting isfree and open to the pub-lic.

Sen. Brewer will answerquestions from con-stituents and give an up-date on his work at theLegislature and what toexpect during the upcom-ing legislative session.The meeting will alsoallow District 43 con-

Town Hall Meetingwith Sen. Brewer

stituents to meet and visitpersonally with Sen.Brewer.

“We are excited to hold atown hall meeting forSen. Brewer and the con-stituents in District 43,”said Katherine Kubacki,president of ThomasCounty Farm Bureau.“The town hall meetingwill allow citizens to askquestions that matter tothem and hear responsesfrom Sen. Brewer.”

For more informationyou may contact TammyFiechtner, North Centralregional manager, Ne-braska Farm Bureau,(402) 302-9494.

The Nebraska State Pa-trol (NSP) and NebraskaDepartment of Trans-portation (NDOT) closedInterstate 80, Saturday,February 23, due to nu-merous crashes and whiteout conditions in the east-ern half of the state. I-80was closed between milemarker 312, near GrandIsland, and mile marker439, near Gretna.

Troopers responded tonumerous crashes, in-cluding large crashes atmile markers 329, 355,and 409 on Interstate 80.Some of those crashes in-

Hundreds ofstranded motorists

volved injuries.The first large crash oc-

curred near mile marker355, east of York, involv-ing an estimated 30 vehi-cles, including at least 15semis. The crash occurredat approximately 2:45p.m. More than 100 vehi-cles became stranded be-hind that crash.

At approximately 3:10p.m. a crash occurred atmile marker 329, near Au-rora. That crash involvedapproximately 15 vehi-cles, including 10 semis.

The Sandhills-ThedfordJunior-Senior Prom will beheld Saturday, March 30 atthe NE National Forest inHalsey.