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Sept. 17, 2025
HARTINGTON — Hartington-Newcastle Public Schools approved a 2025-26 budget that cut the district’s overall property tax levy by roughly 14 percent despite rising valuations and increased spending.
School officials cited a 19 percent jump in taxable valuation as the key factor allowing the levy drop, while still funding staff raises, a new bus purchase and accelerated payments on the elementary school addition.
District leaders emphasized the long-term benefit of lowering debt and maintaining one of the state’s lowest school tax rates.
Sept. 17, 2025
HARTINGTON — Cedar County commissioners adopted a $29.57 million operating budget for the coming fiscal year, increasing total spending while reducing the county’s property tax levy due to a surge in valuations.
Officials noted rising equipment, supply and wage costs, particularly in the Sheriff’s Department, but said the levy reduction reflected continued efforts to manage growth responsibly amid economic uncertainty.
Sept. 17, 2025
HARTINGTON — Community concern over the future of the Hartington Chamber of Commerce came into sharp focus during a town hall meeting that drew dozens of ideas aimed at reviving the organization.
Participants stressed the chamber’s importance to the community, called for more personal outreach to recruit volunteers and discussed structural changes ranging from new membership models to hiring parttime staff, marking a pivotal moment for the group’s long-term survival.
Sept. 17, 2025
HARTINGTON — The longrunning debate over a Cedar-Dixon county line road again stalled as commissioners declined to take action on a proposed closure. Property owners urged officials to keep the half-mile stretch open for access and emergency response, while commissioners agreed to delay any decision until county attorneys could review the issues, extending a dispute that persisted throughout the year.
Sept. 24, 2025
HARTINGTON — Hartington city leaders outlined a markedly leaner 2025-26 budget, trimming spending after a year of major capital projects while building cash reserves. The plan reduced capital improvements and debt service costs but increased the city’s property tax requirement, reflecting a transition from heavy investment to financial consolidation and long-term stability.
Sept. 24, 2025
HARTINGTON — City officials moved toward a potential policy shift on urban livestock as the Hartington City Council began drafting an ordinance that would allow chickens — and possibly horses — within city limits through a permitting system. The discussion followed public input and highlighted the balancing act between neighborhood concerns, enforcement challenges and changing attitudes toward animal ownership in town.
Sept. 24, 2025
HARTINGTON — Developments in the Laurel homicide case continued to ripple through Cedar County courts as a judge ruled convicted murderer Jason Jones could skip a November mitigation hearing but must be present for his sentencing.
The decision underscored the gravity of the capital case and kept the broader legal aftermath of the Laurel killings firmly in the public spotlight.
Oct. 1, 2025
HARTINGTON — A generational transition marked a historic moment for local journalism as longtime publishers Rob Dump and Peggy Year stepped aside after nearly 34 years, passing leadership of the Cedar County News and sister publications to Kellyn and Emily Dump. The change reflected both continuity and evolution, as the next generation assumed responsibility for one of Nebraska’s most respected community newspaper groups.
Oct. 1, 2025
HARTINGTON — Cedar County Transit officials announced plans to retire aging vehicles and modernize the system’s fleet, seeking federal and state funding to replace high-mileage, non-ADA-compliant vans. The effort highlighted ongoing challenges in maintaining rural transit services while ensuring accessibility and reliability for county residents.
Oct. 8, 2025
HARTINGTON — Participants stood quietly along area roads and highways, many holding signs with messages such as “Abortion Hurts Women” and “Adoption: The Loving Option.”
The hour-long event was one of several Life Chains held across Northeast Nebraska and nationwide on the first Sunday of October, coinciding with Respect Life Month.
The 2025 Life Chain for this area extended from St. Rose of Lima parish at Crofton to the extreme eastern boundaries of Holy Family parish near Bow Valley on Highway 12.
Oct. 8, 2025
HARTINGTON — Nebraska’s 2025 corn and soybean harvest is off to a slow start, with both crops trailing their usual pace and farmers watching weather and markets closely as they move into the thick of harvest season.
As of late September, only about 11% of the state’s corn has been harvested, compared with a typical 16% to 17% at this point, according to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s CropWatch.
Soybeans are also about 11% harvested, behind last year and the five-year average.
Corn development is slightly behind normal, with about 92% of fields dented and only 64% fully mature, compared with roughly 77% mature a year ago.
Despite the delay, Nebraska is still poised for a potentially huge corn crop.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s September forecast projects 1.96 billion bushels of corn, up about nine percent from last year and possibly a state record.
Oct. 8, 2025
KEARNEY — When parents can’t find reliable child care, it ripples through the whole economy.
Employers struggle to keep workers, families weigh leaving town, and young children miss out on early learning.
To tackle that challenge, Cedar County joined Nebraska’s Communities for Kids (C4K) program — a statewide initiative helping rural and small communities grow affordable, high-quality child-care options.
Launched by the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation in 2017, C4K teams up with local volunteers to assess needs, recruit and support providers, and guide bigpicture planning.
Cedar County entered the program in 2022 with a 12-member core team representing schools, businesses and community leaders from across the county.
Cedar County’s program is one of 86 such initiatives working statewide to support young children and their families.
Oct. 15, 2025
MINNEAPOLIS — The Cedar County News was one of just eight Nebraska newspapers to pick up national honors here Friday.
This marks the 14th year in a row the News has earned national acclaim — the longest streak by any Nebraska newspaper.
The News picked up five awards during the 139th annual National Newspaper Association Foundation convention at the Minneapolis downtown Hilton Hotel.
News Editor Rob Dump was honored with awards for his newswriting and for his personal columns.
Photographer Jeremy Buss was honored for his sports photography.
The Cedar County News staff earned awards for its strong local news coverage and for a colorful weather graphic used to show the year’s weather extremes.
Oct. 15, 2025
WASHINGTON — The first federal government shutdown in seven years has left hundreds of thousands of workers furloughed and members of the public struggling to understand what’s open, what’s closed and what might be delayed.
States Newsroom’s Washington, D.C. Bureau scoured agency plans published by the Trump administration and the courts, and produced this guide to help you understand what’s going on: The USDA plans to furlough about half, 42,300, of its nearly 86,000 employees, though workers at several programs for farm communities and rural areas will keep working without pay.
Operations will continue on some farm loans, certain natural resource and conservation programs, essential food safety operations related to public health and wildland firefighting activities.
Agriculture Department employees working on animal and plant health emergency programs — including African swine fever, highly pathogenic avian influenza, exotic fruit flies, new world screwworm and rabies — are exempt from furloughs.
Oct. 22, 2025
HARTINGTON — The Hartington City Council made it known Tuesday, they will be cracking down on vandalism.
Earlier this fall, the Council discovered damage to the Hartington Community Complex parking lot.
After reviewing footage from a security camera at the facility, they discovered a car was “burning cookies” in the lot right after fresh gravel had been laid down.
They turned the tape over to the Cedar County Sheriff’s Department.
Officers then tracked down the vehicle and the driver.
Mayor Mark Becker said the parents of the teenage driver were then contacted.
Oct. 22, 2025
HARTINGTON — Anyone planning to cut into a city street curb or sidewalk, will now need to follow updated permit rules under a new ordinance approved Oct. 14 by the Hartington City Council.
The revised ordinance simplifies and clarifies how residents, contractors and utilities can obtain permission to dig into or remove sections of city paving.
It requires anyone doing this type of work — whether for a new driveway, utility repair or other reason — to first secure a written permit from the city clerk.
Before a permit is issued, the City Utilities Superintendent must inspect the location where the work will occur.
The superintendent will also oversee the cutting process to ensure it’s done safely and according to city standards.
Applicants must pay a $50 permit fee and an additional $10 per square foot of pavement, curb or sidewalk that will be removed. Jan. 8, 2025
Oct. 22, 2025
HARTINGTON — The debate over a possible road closure in northeastern Cedar County seems to get muddier with each passing day.
Cedar County Commissioners held a hearing earlier this summer to discuss closing a two-mile stretch of 576 Avenue between 884 Road and 886 Road, along the Dixon–Cedar County line.
After a constituent requested the closure, Cedar County Road Superintendent Carla Schmidt inspected the road and filed a report recommending that a portion be closed.
What began as a routine procedural matter has since turned into a complex dispute involving property boundaries, historical road use and jurisdictional questions between the two counties.
Local landowner Jerry Stewart, who farms property adjacent to the road, told commissioners Tuesday the stretch has not been maintained or used for at least 50 years.
He said the road has deteriorated badly, with deep erosion and trees growing in the right-of-way, and that both counties have effectively abandoned it.
Oct. 22, 2025
HARTINGTON — Local residents will now be allowed to keep backyard chickens and even horses inside city limits — as long as they follow new licensing and property requirements recently approved by the City Council.
The Council passed three ordinances on Oct. 14 that lift the longstanding ban on chickens and horses and set new rules for keeping them responsibly in residential areas.
Councilman Chris Bartling was the only Council member voting against the plan.
He has been opposed to allowing chickens within city limits since the issue was first discussed last spring.
Under the new rules, residents who live in single-family homes can keep up to six hens (no roosters allowed). A $25 annual license is required from the city clerk before acquiring the birds.
Oct. 29, 2025
HARTINGTON — Hartington’s past has been given new life, thanks to a passionate group of local residents who spent more than three years piecing together the community’s story from its frontier beginnings to the vibrant city it is today.
The result is a richly detailed new history book that traces Hartington’s 140 years of growth — from the arrival of the railroad to its deep agricultural roots and the people who helped the town thrive.
