News

“Just knowing that I got to partake in something that hopefully changed people’s opinions,” Gisselle Manniquez said about participating in the 2020 March for Life event at Washington, D.C. Gisselle Manniquez and Kathia Castor, high school students at Johnson County Central Schools and members of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Tecumseh, participated in the National March for Life held in Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 24.

“When we arrived at the March, it seemed like everyone was ready to go and March for something meaningful,” said Gisselle. “It was a calm event, but there were some people who were protesting against us,” she added.

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition http://www.etypeservices.com/Tecumseh%20ChieftainID376/

As of Tuesday, February 4, candidates who have filed for local offices in the 2020 election are:

Johnson County Commissioner: Ted Evans, incumbent; Jeff Carmine, non-incumbent, filed on January 27.

Johnson County Central Schools Board of Education: Arlin Beethe, incumbent, filed on January 29.

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition http://www.etypeservices.com/Tecumseh%20ChieftainID376/

Filings are currently underway for the 2020 Primary Election. A notice of election can be found on page 7. County, city and school board positions up for this year’s election in the local communities of Johnson County, and the names of people who have already filed, are as follows:

Johnson County Commissioner, District 2: Ted Evans, incumbent, filed for another term on December 16, 2019.

City of Tecumseh: Ward 1: Lorie Topp, incumbent; Ward 2: Travis Goracke, incumbent; and Ward 3: James Reed, incumbent.

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition http://www.etypeservices.com/Tecumseh%20ChieftainID376/

In a reorganizational meeting on January 20, Cheri Wirthele was re-elected president of the Sterling Board of Education. All other board officers and committee assignments remained the same.

Jeff Deline of Dana F. Cole and Company gave a summary of the 2018 audit report before the Sterling Board of Education members. Deline informed the board that the audit did not have any non-compliance issues. He added that there were some coding errors, basically due to the fact that the state auditing coding system had been updated. Therefore, some of the funds were transferred to the wrong accounts. Once the bookkeeper became aware of these coding changes, she and the Interim Superintendent Dr. Tom Sharp diligently worked to update the school’s coding system and make sure all funds were in the right accounts.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) announced 20 proposals have been selected for funding in the fourth round of the County Bridge Match Program (CBMP). Among the proposals selected as of January 17, 2020 is the replacement of a bridge in Johnson County, located 2.5 miles north and 1.5 miles west of Sterling at the stream, with culvert pipes. The CBMP was created as a result of the 2016 Transportation Innovation Act (TIA), signed into law by Governor Pete Ricketts in April of 2016.

Sonja Wenzl began working as an insurance agent for the Community Insurance Group at their office in Tecumseh on January 2 and is excited to announce the opening of a new office in Sterling. The new will be located at 655 Maple Street.

Sonja has worked in the insurance business for 16 years and is a licensed insurance agent. She previously worked as an agent for the Nebraska Bankers Association for six years. She also worked as a property/casualty adjuster for Farmers Mutual of Nebraska and as a workers compensation adjuster for Allied Insurance.

At the new Sterling facility Sonja will be able to offer her customers home, auto, farm, crop, commercial, life, and health insurance.

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition http://www.etypeservices.com/Tecumseh%20ChieftainID376/

St. Andrew Catholic Schools in Tecumseh will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week January 26 through February 1. Activities will begin on Sunday, January 26, with the theme Celebrate Our Parish. The students at St. Andrew School will celebrate St. Andrew parish and its families by singing a special song during the 10 a.m. mass and conduct the Gospel readings.

Activities on Monday, January 27, focus on the theme Celebrate the Community. St. Andrew students will create cards for parishioners at Belle Terrace and Ridgeview Towers as well as parishioners who may be ill or shut in their homes.

Celebrate Vocations is the theme for Tuesday, January 28. To celebrate this theme, the students at St. Andrew School will create cards to present to the Sisters and Fr. Craig Clinch and Fr. Thomas McGuire. There will be a presentation for the students on life in the seminary.

April

The Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s office investigated a fire that happened on April 5, involving a chicken growing house occupied by an estimated 22,000 chickens. The structure is the only one of 30 houses totaled in the fire and is located on property owned by Tecumseh Poultry, which is a subsidiary of Tyson Foods.

JCC Board of Education considers six scenarios for building improvement to JCC Schools.

Topp’s Mechanical Inc., shipped out a CO2 recovery skid to Brookhaven, Miss. These skids are used in plants for making dry ice. As dry ice is made, a vapor steams up from the pellets or blocks and the skid (recovery plant) captures the vapor so it can be reused.

Carol Sisco, managing editor of the Tecumseh Chieftain, shared the rich 150 year history of the newspaper during a Monday Night at the Museum session on April 8.

The Board of Education at Johnson County Central Schools approved a superintendent’s contract for Jon Rother for the 2020-2021 school year. His salary will be $130,000 which includes 245 contract days effective July 1 of this year. This superintendent’s contract was approved at the January 8 board meeting.

“I want to let you know how much I appreciate your confidence in me,” Rother told the board upon his contract approval.

The board also approved a contract for Dr. Galen Boldt to serve as an assistant superintendent for the 2020-2021 school year. His contract consists of a salary of $80,000 with 150 contract days and will be effective until June 30, 2021.

Tecumseh, NE – Pheasants Forever along with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency will be hosting several landowner meetings around the state. This general CRP sign-up will begin December 9th, 2019 and will continue through February 28th, 2020. Two meetings will be held in Richardson and Johnson counties in January 2020.

Information will be presented to landowners to show the many options of CRP and other conservation programs and highlight the updated rental rates. Information on field eligibility and NRCS programs will also be presented. Whether landowners are interested in stopping erosion, increasing habitat for wildlife or learning about financial assistance for conservation efforts, they are encouraged to talk to any local Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist or attend one of these meetings.