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Seventh earthquake in a month shakes Arnold area

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Another earthquake rattled residents of the southern Sandhills region on Thursday.

Meteorologist Brandon Thorn, at the National Weather Service bureau in North Platte, says the latest quake was primarily felt in the Arnold area.

“It was a 3.3 magnitude earthquake,” Thorn says. “It happened about 20 miles east-southeast of Stapleton again. The thing that gets us concerned is that it’s the 7th earthquake in the past 30 days that’s hit in that small area.”

All seven of the earthquakes have been similar in strength, ranging from 2.5 to 3.7 in magnitude. None of the quakes have caused any injuries or damage.

Thorn says there isn’t anything to be extremely alarmed about, however it is somewhat unusual for this many quakes to be felt in a state that typically doesn’t have a lot of earthquake activity.

All residents of the state can take a lesson from these incidents, he says.

“Be prepared for any kind of weather and be weather ready,” Thorn says. “This comes with earthquakes, too. Have a plan in place. Know where you’d go for a safe spot.”

Thanks to Tristen Winder, Huskeradio

 

Petition drive for tax relief ballot initiative “on track” to meet deadline

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Organizers of a ballot initiative are working to gather 85,000 signatures to place a property tax relief measure on the November ballot.

Trent Fellers, spokesman for the group “Yes to Property Tax Relief,” says signature collection is going quite well.

“I can’t give a ballpark figure because those are numbers we’re holding pretty close to the campaign,” Fellers says, “but what I can tell you is we’re on track and we’re excited about the progress we’ve made and we’re full steam ahead towards that due date in July.”

The deadline to get the signatures is July 5th in order to get the initiative on the ballot this fall.

Fellers says the petition seeks a ballot measure that calls for a refundable property tax credit that’s equal to 50-percent of the property taxes you pay to K-through-12 school districts.

“So, if you’re looking for the dollar amount of the tax credit that you’d get back from the state, just go to your property tax statement from your county treasurer,” Fellers says. “Go down to your school levy, excluding the bonds and any other construction levies they might have and divide by two. That’s the check you’d get back on your state income taxes from the state.”

Fellers says they have support from a number of diverse groups representing agriculture, education, small businesses and individual citizens.

“This isn’t an effort that you do in one city or in one town, this is an effort that you need the entire state to help you out with,” Fellers says. “We’ve been blessed with some really great support from every corner of the state.”

With the state legislature on the brink of adjournment, he says they’ll ramp up the effort to collect signatures. State senators were unable to agree on property tax relief legislation this session.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

 

New president of Nebraska FFA sees urgent need for ag ed teachers

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Amanda Most, Nebraska FFA president

A young woman growing up on a fourth-generation family farm in Ogallala is the new president of the Nebraska FFA.

Amanda Most is a member of both FFA and 4H. She’s shown hogs and cattle, competed at the National FFA convention and earned her state degree. Most says she wants to help other students achieve their dreams.

“Something I hope to accomplish serving as president is to be able to help students find their passion no matter what it may be,” Most says. “My passion certainly is agriculture and FFA, but I realize that isn’t for everyone. I just hope I’m able to encourage and inspire students to find something they’re passionate about.”

Most says it’s been a quick ride to the presidency as she comes from a relatively new chapter.

“I actually didn’t join FFA until my sophomore year in high school because Ogallala didn’t have an ag ed program until then,” Most says. “It’s crazy. I remember after my first state convention as a sophomore, telling my mom how cool it would be to be a state officer but I never thought in my three short years of FFA, I would get the opportunity.”

Nebraska now has some 8,000 members in 184 FFA chapters. Most says the majority of the state’s chapters are growing rapidly, as is the need for ag teachers.

“It’s hard to keep up and we aren’t graduating nearly enough ag teachers to fill these positions,” Most says. “Even after our first year as a chapter, the teacher decided to move on and our position was open again. We were scared for a bit that we weren’t going to be able to fill it but thankfully, we did.”

Following her term as president, Most plans to attend the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and major in Ag Communications.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

 

Options emerge for keeping western part of Lewis & Clark Lake navigable

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Gavins Point Dam and Lewis & Clark Lake

About five-million tons of sand and mud flow into Lewis and Clark Lake each year and it’s slowly turning the lake’s western end into a slough.

Mark Simpson of Niobrara, who chairs the Missouri Sedimentation Action Coalition, is working to find solutions so it won’t become a stagnant swamp.

“As we explore more opportunities for what to use this sediment for, we have a chance to go ahead with some of these options we have,” Simpson says. “As we learn, the options become better all the time. We forsee that we have some partial solutions that may someday contribute to a total solution.”

A recent study from the U.S. Geological Survey shows promise the sand could be used by the oil and gas industries for fracking. The challenges remain how to remove and then transport the river sand.

Simpson says they would like to set up a small demonstration project this summer.

“Keep doing what we’re doing,” he says, “and if we’re looking at sediment collector technology and if we can get a demonstrator model on the Niobrara River, that’s our next step.”

Simpson says they’re also working on future funding through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and elsewhere to keep the west end of the lake navigable.

“There’s a possibility this year and then we’ve got another grant opportunity through the Corps for the following year,” Simpson says. “One way or the other, we’re going to try and get it done.”

The coalition is made up of cities, counties and other interested parties along the Missouri River in Nebraska and South Dakota.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

Nebraska woman charged with murder in Iowa woman’s stabbing death

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Melissa Camargo-Flores

Police in Sioux City, Iowa, have identified the woman who was fatally stabbed Sunday morning on the city’s west side. Police say 24-year-old Kenia Alvarez-Flores died outside her home from numerous stab wounds.

Detective Nick Thompson says police arrested 20-year-old Melissa Camargo-Flores of Dakota City, Nebraska after stopping a vehicle within minutes of arriving at the crime scene.

He says an officer stopped the vehicle and noticed that Camargo-Flores had heavy amounts of blood on her clothing. She was taken to the hospital and treated for a self-inflicted stab wound to the leg that he says is non-life threatening. It is believed Camargo-Flores accidentally stabbed herself in the attack.

She was treated and released from the hospital and then booked into the Woodbury County Jail on a first-degree murder charge.

“We determined throughout the investigation that the suspect had waited outside the victim’s residence and was waiting for her to go to work. And as she was walking to her car to get in and go to work she was approached by the suspect and stabbed multiple times ,” according to Thompson.

Thompson declined to comment on a possible motive for the stabbing — but says the two women had multiple issues with each other and are not related.

It is the sixth homicide in Sioux City this year.

Camargo-Flores is being held in the Woodbury County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City

 

Study: Sediment in Lewis & Clark Lake could be sold for fracking

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Lewis & Clark Lake behind Gavins Point Dam

A study of the sediments building up in Missouri River reservoirs shows many tons of that material could be used in the oil and gas industry for fracking.

The study, coordinated by Nathan Schaepe with the U.S. Geological Survey, looked at sediment deposits in the upper end of Lewis & Clark Lake, near where the Niobrara River flows in.

“We do have all of the grain sizes that would be of interest to those same industries,” Schaepe says. “The data is available so if people want to evaluate it based on looking at some other industry, it’s definitely possible.”

Schaepe says most of the sediment flows in from the Nebraska Sand Hills and it’s rapidly filling in the western end of the lake.

“We know about 60% is estimated as coming from the Niobrara River and about 5-million tons annually,” he says.

While marketing the sediment to the oil and gas industry for fracking may sound lucrative, Schaepe says it’s not reliable.

“Five years ago, North Dakota was crazy booming and it’s just now starting to come back a little bit, but a couple of years ago it was down in the dumps,” Schaepe says. “People were heading out of there faster than they got there. Relying on the oil and gas industry is not something I’d put a lot of stock into.”

Schaepe says other challenges include how to remove the sand and how to transport it.

The report was part of the annual meeting of the Missouri Sedimentation Action Coalition.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

 

Nebraska soybean growers could feel punch from latest China threat

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China is threatening to impose a new series of trade tariffs on dozens of American products, including soybeans. It’s another blow to Nebraska farmers who are already struggling with low commodity prices.

Paul Sedlacek, with Advantage Commodities in Pierce, says we’re seeing the trade war escalate.

“One move and then there’s a countermove, and another countermove and another move and it all snowballs,” Sedlacek says. “Nobody knows where this is going to stop.”

Sedlacek says the back-and-forth tariff threats will hurt both the U.S. and China.

“History has proven that these are not good things,” he says, “and it’s proving it once again.”

China’s latest threat, issued Wednesday, includes soybeans and 105 other U.S. products that would be hit with 25% levies, worth about $50-billion. No date was set for the tariffs to be enacted.

Sedlacek says there could be significant losses of export markets for American producers.

“If somebody starts to look to Russia to buy things or Brazil or Argentina or wherever it might be instead of the U.S.,” Sedlacek says. “That’s the long-term effect.”

The Nebraska Soybean Board says half of all state-grown soybeans are exported.

Tariffs were also announced by China on Monday targeting dozens of U.S. products, including pork and ethanol. The day before, the White House unveiled plans for 25% levies on a wide range of goods from China, some 1,300 items worth $50-billion dollars, everything from shoes to furniture to phones.

Thanks to Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

 

Display of gorgeous quilts, made by Nebraskans, completes national tour at Homestead monument

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A special exhibit of hand-crafted quilts will be on display in eastern Nebraska through April, wrapping up its national tour for the centennial of the National Park Service.

Mark Engler, superintendent of the Homestead National Monument of America, near Beatrice, says the display was created by Fiber Works, a group of textile artists from the Lincoln and Omaha areas.

Engler says, “This group of ladies selected their favorite National Park Service site and then designed, fabricated a quilt around the themes from that park.”

The quilts depict attractions like Mount Rushmore, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Statue of Liberty and Everglades National Park, among many others. Engler says the group of intricate, stunning quilts made its first appearance at the Homestead in December of 2015.

“They’re back and this is the end of the show,” Engler says. “From here, they will be sent out, donated by each of the textile artists to the parks that are featured.”

On Sunday, April 15th, the monument will host a special reception allowing the public to meet the quilts’ creators, from 2 to 4 p.m.

“The work that was put into these quilts is really spectacular,” Engler says. “These are beautiful images that can be found from the parks. We’d like everybody to come out and enjoy them one last time.”

The display is in the Homestead National Monument Education Center through months’ end.

By Doug Kennedy, KWBE, Beatrice

 

Tax cut bill heads to floor today for legislative debate, filibuster expected

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Sen. Tyson Larson

Among the first bills scheduled for debate today as state lawmakers return from Easter Break will be the tax cut proposal backed by Governor Pete Ricketts.

It faces a filibuster. A similar proposal from the governor couldn’t overcome a filibuster last session.

Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill, who sits on the Revenue Committee, says he’ll support the bill which would cut property and income taxes.

“It’s a balance between urban and rural,” Larson says. “Obviously, as a rural senator, I do wish there had been more on property taxes but essentially, that one isn’t going to garner enough votes to get any of the urban senators completely on board. Whether or not it has the votes to break a filibuster, I don’t know.”

The bill would need 33 votes to overcome the filibuster and advance to the second round.

LB 947 has undergone a number of changes through the process prior to the Revenue Committee voting it out of committee onto the floor for debate.

Larson says compromises adding income tax cuts were needed to get the bill out of committee.

“It wasn’t going to come out of committee unless we compromised and brought in some of the urban stuff with the income taxes,” he says, “which obviously takes a bite out of property taxes but it was either some progress or no progress.”

Larson says most of the property tax increases can be blamed on county budgets.

“I’ve had issues with counties in the past in terms of when you have valuations continuing to rise at the level they have but they haven’t lowered their levies, which means their budgets have been skyrocketing,” Larson says. “They should be lowering their levy and they should be lowering their levy significantly the way the valuations have continued to rise.”

Opponents claim the bill would drastically cut state revenues, leading to major spending cuts.

This version has been edited to clarify LB 947 is coming up for debate.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

 

Nebraska’s pork producers worry over escalating trade troubles with China

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Farmers, ranchers and commodity group leaders in Nebraska are growing more concerned about the looming trade war with one of the state’s biggest trading partners.

Al Juhnke, executive director of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association, says China is a vital buyer of American pork and the Chinese tariffs will have a real impact.

“They are one of the major producers and purchasers of pork,” Juhnke says. “They are not able to produce enough pork to feed their population and the United States has had a great partnership with them in the last few years, getting them that product.”

President Trump signed an order placing $60 billion in tariffs on imported Chinese goods. China retaliated in two stages, first, slapping a 15% tariff on 120 products worth $977 million and later, a higher 25% tariff on $1.99 billion of pork and aluminum.

Juhnke says America’s pork producers are highly reliant on exports so any trade disruption directly impacts their bottom line.

“Nearly 30% of our pork production in the U.S. is exported,” Juhnke says. “That amounts to over $50 per pig and really is the difference between making a profit or not making a profit many years in our industry.”

Juhnke says the National Pork Producers Council will ask President Trump to change his stance and they’ll also be speaking to members of Congress about the trade implications.

“We have been sending letters not only to the administration but to our congressional delegations,” Juhnke says. “We have been working with Secretary Perdue, who I do think understands the issue and we’re hopeful he has a front row seat in the White House as these decisions are being made.”

The president says he’s imposing the tariffs due to China’s pattern of stealing intellectual property and robbing U.S. companies of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton