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Nursing home, trial were top news here in 2025
LAUREL — From difficult decisions to moments of growth and reflection, 2025 proved to be a defining year for Laurel.
Laurel Advocate staffers selected the following stories as the most significant of the year, based not only on headlines, but on how deeply each issue touched residents, institutions and the long-term direction of the community.
1. Hillcrest Care Center closes
The closure of Hillcrest Care Center emerged as the most consequential story of 2025 because of its sweeping impact on nearly every corner of the community. For decades, Hillcrest served as more than a nursing home — it was a place where local families cared for their own, where residents could remain close to home, and where dozens of Laurel-area residents found employment.
As financial pressures mounted, staffing challenges intensified and lines of credit expanded, city officials faced increasingly emotional public meetings and difficult questions about sustainability. When the decision was made to close the city-owned facility, residents were forced to relocate — often to communities far from family — and roughly 50 employees lost their jobs.
Beyond the immediate human toll, Hillcrest’s closure reshaped Laurel’s civic and financial landscape. The loss of the facility raised broader concerns about the future of rural long-term care, the limits of municipal ownership and the challenge small communities face in maintaining essential services amid rising costs and shrinking workforces.
2. Carrie Jones case reaches verdict and sentencing
The legal proceedings involving Carrie Jones remained a dominant presence in 2025, bringing renewed attention to the Aug. 4, 2022, murders that forever altered Laurel.
After a change of venue to Madison County due to pretrial publicity, a jury convicted Jones on multiple felony counts related to the killings. She was later sentenced in Cedar County District Court to life in prison without parole.
For Laurel, the case was never just a court story. It represented an ongoing search for accountability, understanding and closure following one of the most traumatic events in the community’s history. Court hearings, sentencing and subsequent appeals kept the case in the public eye throughout the year, reminding residents that the emotional aftermath of the crimes continues even as legal milestones are reached.
3. Building Blocks child care center opens
In contrast to the year’s most difficult stories, the opening of the Building Blocks Child Care Center stood out as one of 2025’s most hopeful developments.
Years of planning, grant applications and local fundraising culminated in the opening of a modern, purpose-built child care facility designed to serve families across the Laurel area.
The center addressed one of the most persistent challenges facing rural communities: access to reliable, high-quality child care. For Laurel, the importance extended beyond early childhood education. Community leaders repeatedly emphasized that child care availability is directly tied to workforce stability, economic development and a community’s ability to attract and retain young families.
The Building Blocks project demonstrated what can be accomplished through collaboration among local leaders, donors, and state and federal partners, and it signaled an investment not just in children, but in Laurel’s long-term vitality.
4. Area residents mourn the death of community boosters
The deaths of Rick Adkins and Bob Yost marked the loss of two individuals whose influence reached far beyond their professional roles.
Adkins, a longtime banker and civic supporter, was widely respected for his commitment to agriculture, local organizations and community development. His work touched farmers, businesses and nonprofits across the region, and his leadership helped shape Laurel’s economic and civic life.
Yost’s passing marked the end of an era in local journalism.
Through his work with the Coleridge Blade and the printing trade, Yost helped preserve the tradition of community newspapers that record everyday history and connect small towns. His career spanned generations, and his influence was felt not only by readers, but by journalists and printers who learned the craft under his guidance.
Together, their deaths prompted reflection on leadership, service and the quiet ways individuals shape communities over time.
5. Transitions at Laurel Advocate and Hefner Oil
Two business transitions rounded out the year’s top stories, signaling generational change in cornerstone Laurel institutions.
At the Laurel Advocate, new publishers were named, marking a transition in leadership while reaffirming the paper’s commitment to local news coverage.
Laurel native Emily (McCoy) Dump and her husband, Kellyn, were named publishers of the Advocate and the Northeast Nebraska News Company in October. They replace Kellyn’s parents, Rob Dump and Peggy Year, who guided the Advocate since 1996.
For a community that relies on its newspaper to document milestones, hold institutions accountable and share stories large and small, continuity in local ownership and editorial mission remains essential.
At the same time, Hefner Oil — a long-standing local business — underwent an ownership change, closing another chapter in Laurel’s business history. The transition reflected broader shifts occurring across rural America, where family-owned enterprises face succession challenges even as communities work to keep services and jobs local.
Together, the changes highlighted both the inevitability of transition and rural Nebraskans ongoing effort to adapt while preserving its identity.
Top 5
1. Nursing Home 2. Murder Trial 3. Building Blocks opens 4. Community boosters die 5. Business transitions
