November 19, 2024 (North Platte, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— During the evening hours of Friday, November 15, investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol conducted alcohol compliance checks in Lincoln and Logan counties.

In total, 12 businesses were checked. One of those businesses sold alcohol to a minor for a non-compliance rate of 8%. All of the businesses checked the minor’s ID. The business that sold alcohol to a minor was:

Hub Bar – North Platte (sold to minor, checked ID)

The businesses included convenience stores, bars, restaurants, and liquor stores.

Businesses that sell alcohol to a minor are referred to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. Clerks who sell alcohol to a minor are cited for procuring alcohol for a minor.

This project is funded 100% by the Region II Human Services SUPTBG ($427,899.00, 6B08TIO85820-01M002) through SAMHSA, contracted through the NDHHS, Division of Behavioral Health.&nbsp;

Cody ThomasNebraska State PatrolNovember 19, 2024 (North Platte, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— During the evening hours of Friday, November 15, investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol conducted alcohol compliance checks in Lincoln and Logan counties.In total, 12 businesses were checked. One of those businesses sold alcohol to a minor for a non-compliance rate of 8%. All of the businesses checked the minor’s ID. The business that sold alcohol to a minor was:Hub Bar – North Platte (sold to minor, checked ID)The businesses included convenience stores, bars, restaurants, and liquor stores.Businesses that sell alcohol to a minor are referred to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. Clerks who sell alcohol to a minor are cited for procuring alcohol for a minor.This project is funded 100% by the Region II Human Services SUPTBG ($427,899.00, 6B08TIO85820-01M002) through SAMHSA, contracted through the NDHHS, Division of Behavioral Health.&nbsp;

Alcohol Compliance Checks Held in Lincoln, Logan Counties

&nbsp;North Platte, Neb. -&nbsp; The North Platte Police Department is asking for the public's help in locating a stolen vehicle that was taken from North Platte sometime between November 11th and November 12th.  The vehicle is a Maroon 1997 GMC Sierra K1500, which had Nebraska license plate, 15-835J, attached at the time of the theft.

If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of this vehicle, please contact the North Platte Police Department by calling 308-535-6789 or your local law enforcement agency. You may also submit your information with the Lincoln County Crime Stoppers by placing your tip online at <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FLincolncountycrimestoppers.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3e4WT4cvldfuOcYhO4aPzPMW-woiDM7-OtGzRXnKcrfrq0ZC1eaU6CzfI_aem_v6EhPdvWcUivZpF9k_L5rg&amp;h=AT10PPA0aOWMMbJA5fKJv-PEII4hHsxysdk_3WUyC6WQXaPL1i7HNQAHxmwwwZGRD-7F-5ekAtp9_NjbRnjFMkxopB-8yLLI-GDamAZTFCTtjJDaaESqKGe16CtMScBYOMQ0&amp;__tn__=-UK-R&amp;c[0]=AT0Od-zjx2Qs20eBiWJEvga_cLIbVnVVzZpYwXxPg47-oMF7vc9GNEBFNhultJj0C5k3kx1zXzM06HLOyyPtB4THHypRO2Fo-_WZ-_WJ6DguXFnkdqBfXJ0eW4kPFf49UoiSNsSTuolCuQDjkhYy6_95GL_V36_rd9z2-LuQuinKC0iw2K1REKwyjuBvFhdQi8J4y6Qksc6t4g_9O92BXoGXhw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lincolncountycrimestoppers.com</a> or by calling 1-800-933-TIPS.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732034628846.jpeg" alt="19997 GMC Sieraa K1500, License Plate NE 15-835J (North Platte Police)" />
 <figcaption>19997 GMC Sieraa K1500, License Plate NE 15-835J (North Platte Police)</figcaption>
 </figure>North Platte Police Department&nbsp;North Platte, Neb. -&nbsp; The North Platte Police Department is asking for the public's help in locating a stolen vehicle that was taken from North Platte sometime between November 11th and November 12th. The vehicle is a Maroon 1997 GMC Sierra K1500, which had Nebraska license plate, 15-835J, attached at the time of the theft. If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of this vehicle, please contact the North Platte Police Department by calling 308-535-6789 or your local law enforcement agency. You may also submit your information with the Lincoln County Crime Stoppers by placing your tip online at <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FLincolncountycrimestoppers.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3e4WT4cvldfuOcYhO4aPzPMW-woiDM7-OtGzRXnKcrfrq0ZC1eaU6CzfI_aem_v6EhPdvWcUivZpF9k_L5rg&amp;h=AT10PPA0aOWMMbJA5fKJv-PEII4hHsxysdk_3WUyC6WQXaPL1i7HNQAHxmwwwZGRD-7F-5ekAtp9_NjbRnjFMkxopB-8yLLI-GDamAZTFCTtjJDaaESqKGe16CtMScBYOMQ0&amp;__tn__=-UK-R&amp;c[0]=AT0Od-zjx2Qs20eBiWJEvga_cLIbVnVVzZpYwXxPg47-oMF7vc9GNEBFNhultJj0C5k3kx1zXzM06HLOyyPtB4THHypRO2Fo-_WZ-_WJ6DguXFnkdqBfXJ0eW4kPFf49UoiSNsSTuolCuQDjkhYy6_95GL_V36_rd9z2-LuQuinKC0iw2K1REKwyjuBvFhdQi8J4y6Qksc6t4g_9O92BXoGXhw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lincolncountycrimestoppers.com</a> or by calling 1-800-933-TIPS.&nbsp;&nbsp;

North Platte Police looking for stolen truck

Hunters and landowners are encouraged to offer their feedback on big game information during the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s public meetings this winter.

These 2½-hour meetings are scheduled in each Game and Parks district. All in-person meetings, begin at 6:30 p.m. local time.

The first 30 minutes will be an open house with time to talk with wildlife biologists, conservation officers and staff. Biologists will make a presentation at 7 p.m. and discuss big game harvest results and season structure. Then they will take questions on topics such as big game management, depredation, permits, antlerless harvest, trophy management and diseases.

Dec. 9 – Valentine, Niobrara Lodge, 803 E. Hwy. 20

Dec. 11 – O’Neill, Community Center, 501 S. 4th&nbsp;St.

Dec. 16 – Columbus, Central Community College, Science and Technology Building, Room 330, 4500 63rd&nbsp;St.

Dec. 18 – North Platte, North Platte Community College, North Campus, 1101 Halligan Drive

Jan. 2 – Geneva, Public Library, 1043 G St.

Jan. 6 – Arapahoe, Ella Missing Center, 411 6th&nbsp;St.

Jan. 7 – Kimball, Fairgrounds 4-H Building, 415 S. High School St.

Jan. 8 – Kearney, Kearney Outdoor Education Complex, 10945 Poole Ave.

Jan. 13 – Superior, Country Club, 3628 Road E

Jan. 15 – Ashland, Public Library, 1324 Silver St.

People who cannot attend a meeting can watch an online big game informational session via Zoom. Two Zoom meetings are scheduled for 7 p.m. Central Time Jan. 12 and Jan. 14. See the calendar event entries at&nbsp;<a href="https://calendar.outdoornebraska.gov/events/month/2025-01/">Calendar.OutdoorNebraska.gov</a>&nbsp;for the registration links for each meeting.

Jerry KaneNebraska Game and ParksHunters and landowners are encouraged to offer their feedback on big game information during the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s public meetings this winter.These 2½-hour meetings are scheduled in each Game and Parks district. All in-person meetings, begin at 6:30 p.m. local time.The first 30 minutes will be an open house with time to talk with wildlife biologists, conservation officers and staff. Biologists will make a presentation at 7 p.m. and discuss big game harvest results and season structure. Then they will take questions on topics such as big game management, depredation, permits, antlerless harvest, trophy management and diseases.The schedule is:Dec. 9 – Valentine, Niobrara Lodge, 803 E. Hwy. 20Dec. 11 – O’Neill, Community Center, 501 S. 4th&nbsp;St.Dec. 16 – Columbus, Central Community College, Science and Technology Building, Room 330, 4500 63rd&nbsp;St.Dec. 18 – North Platte, North Platte Community College, North Campus, 1101 Halligan DriveJan. 2 – Geneva, Public Library, 1043 G St.Jan. 6 – Arapahoe, Ella Missing Center, 411 6th&nbsp;St.Jan. 7 – Kimball, Fairgrounds 4-H Building, 415 S. High School St.Jan. 8 – Kearney, Kearney Outdoor Education Complex, 10945 Poole Ave.Jan. 13 – Superior, Country Club, 3628 Road EJan. 15 – Ashland, Public Library, 1324 Silver St.People who cannot attend a meeting can watch an online big game informational session via Zoom. Two Zoom meetings are scheduled for 7 p.m. Central Time Jan. 12 and Jan. 14. See the calendar event entries at&nbsp;<a href="https://calendar.outdoornebraska.gov/events/month/2025-01/">Calendar.OutdoorNebraska.gov</a>&nbsp;for the registration links for each meeting.

Big game meetings scheduled across Nebraska

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655805794423.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>Lincoln County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732019159153.jpeg" alt="Justin Hobbs - Safekeep Red Willow County" />
 <figcaption>Justin Hobbs - Safekeep Red Willow County</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732019173294.jpeg" alt="Daniel Smith - Conditional Release Violation x2" />
 <figcaption>Daniel Smith - Conditional Release Violation x2</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732019187509.jpeg" alt="Natalie Heigis - Safekeep Kimball Co" />
 <figcaption>Natalie Heigis - Safekeep Kimball Co</figcaption>
 </figure>***Keith County JailNo New Arrests***Buffalo County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732019221180.jpeg" alt="Aaron Wallace - Fail to Appear | Out Of County" />
 <figcaption>Aaron Wallace - Fail to Appear | Out Of County</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732019236385.jpeg" alt="Marcus Robinson - Contempt Of Court | In County x2" />
 <figcaption>Marcus Robinson - Contempt Of Court | In County x2</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732019247376.jpeg" alt="Joseph Vanhorn - Probation Sanction" />
 <figcaption>Joseph Vanhorn - Probation Sanction</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732019266720.jpeg" alt="Guillermo Leoncio-Jorge - Criminal Trespass-2nd Degree, Theft-Shoplifting $0-$500/3rd/Subs x2, Theft-Shoplifting $1,500-$4,999, Criminal Trespass-2nd Degree/Defy Order, Possess Controlled Substance, Contempt Of Court | Out Of County x2 " />
 <figcaption>Guillermo Leoncio-Jorge - Criminal Trespass-2nd Degree, Theft-Shoplifting $0-$500/3rd/Subs x2, Theft-Shoplifting $1,500-$4,999, Criminal Trespass-2nd Degree/Defy Order, Possess Controlled Substance, Contempt Of Court | Out Of County x2 </figcaption>
 </figure>***<div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://northplattepost.com/category/arrests/" target="_blank">Click Here To See Past Hot Sheets</a></h2>

This information is not a criminal history. Criminal charges are often dropped or reduced. All individuals included in this post are presumed innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. The North Platte Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information. Any person who believes information provided is not accurate may submit a complaint to admin@northplattepost.com.</div>

The Hot Sheets: November 19th, 2024

***Post news director Canon Rath chatted with&nbsp;Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House General Manager Levi Ben-Israel during the grand opening on Monday. Check out their conversation below:

North Platte, Neb. - North Platte welcomes Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House as the newest addition to District 177. Community members braved the cold and made the trip over to the chop house Monday morning for the official ribbon cutting ceremony.&nbsp;

"It's just wonderful, all of North Platte is such a warm and welcoming community," said Levi Ben-Israel, General Manager of Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House. "The people who came out for the ribbon cutting, were all very excited and I can't be thankful enough for the North Platte community."&nbsp;

The Rib &amp; Chop House was founded in 2001 in Bozeman, Montana by Burke and Melissa Moran and currently operates 14 locations in the United States. North Platte marks the company's first location in Nebraska. Other states to have a Rib &amp; Chop House include Montana (5 locations), Wyoming (5 locations), Colorado (1 location), Utah (1 location) and Idaho (1 location). Livingston, Montana is where the first location opened around 20 years ago.&nbsp;

The chop house offers a delicious brunch, lunch, dinner and specials for everyone to enjoy. From a variety of different cuts of steaks, to delicious burgers and so much more. If you would like to check out their full menu, <a href="https://ribandchophouse.com/menus/" target="_blank">click here.</a>&nbsp;

The tale of how North Platte even got a location was thanks to a few community members visiting the Cheyenne location and a t-shirt caught the eye of a district operator.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"One of our locations in Cheyenne, there were a couple of community members from North Platte, the owner of the Western Nebraska Bank was with some of their friends and one of our district operators saw a t-shirt that they commented on, and the group said we should bring one of these restaurants to North Platte," said Ben-Israel. "That's when we started to research the area and decided to bring it here."&nbsp;

The chop house is open 7 days a week from 11:00am - 10:00pm and is located at 1017 S. Dewey St., Suite 103.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"Thank you to the entire North Platte community for such a warm welcome and we can't wait to see your smiling face in here," said Ben-Israel.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731953760729.jpeg" alt="Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House General Manager Levi Ben-Israel and staff ready to cut the ribbon (POST/Canon Rath)" />
 <figcaption>Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House General Manager Levi Ben-Israel and staff ready to cut the ribbon (POST/Canon Rath)</figcaption>
 </figure>***Post news director Canon Rath chatted with&nbsp;Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House General Manager Levi Ben-Israel during the grand opening on Monday. Check out their conversation below:<div><iframe title="(Audio) Interview with Levi Ben-Israel, GM of Nebraska's Rib & Chop House" allowtransparency="true" height="150" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);height:150px;" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=cib6r-17431a5-pb&from=pb6admin&share=1&download=1&rtl=1&fonts=Times%20New%20Roman&skin=1b1b1b&font-color=&logo_link=episode_page&btn-skin=ff6d00" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>North Platte PostNorth Platte, Neb. - North Platte welcomes Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House as the newest addition to District 177. Community members braved the cold and made the trip over to the chop house Monday morning for the official ribbon cutting ceremony.&nbsp;"It's just wonderful, all of North Platte is such a warm and welcoming community," said Levi Ben-Israel, General Manager of Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House. "The people who came out for the ribbon cutting, were all very excited and I can't be thankful enough for the North Platte community."&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731963634344.jpeg" alt="North Platte Mayor Brandon Kelliher shaking hands with Levi Ben-Israel at the ribbon cutting on Monday (POST/Canon Rath)" />
 <figcaption>North Platte Mayor Brandon Kelliher shaking hands with Levi Ben-Israel at the ribbon cutting on Monday (POST/Canon Rath)</figcaption>
 </figure>The Rib &amp; Chop House was founded in 2001 in Bozeman, Montana by Burke and Melissa Moran and currently operates 14 locations in the United States. North Platte marks the company's first location in Nebraska. Other states to have a Rib &amp; Chop House include Montana (5 locations), Wyoming (5 locations), Colorado (1 location), Utah (1 location) and Idaho (1 location). Livingston, Montana is where the first location opened around 20 years ago.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731963687124.jpeg" alt="Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House sign (POST/Lewys Carlini)" />
 <figcaption>Nebraska's Rib &amp; Chop House sign (POST/Lewys Carlini)</figcaption>
 </figure>The chop house offers a delicious brunch, lunch, dinner and specials for everyone to enjoy. From a variety of different cuts of steaks, to delicious burgers and so much more. If you would like to check out their full menu, <a href="https://ribandchophouse.com/menus/" target="_blank">click here.</a>&nbsp;The tale of how North Platte even got a location was thanks to a few community members visiting the Cheyenne location and a t-shirt caught the eye of a district operator.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731963721773.jpeg" alt="The bar located inside the chop house (POST/Canon Rath)" />
 <figcaption>The bar located inside the chop house (POST/Canon Rath)</figcaption>
 </figure>"One of our locations in Cheyenne, there were a couple of community members from North Platte, the owner of the Western Nebraska Bank was with some of their friends and one of our district operators saw a t-shirt that they commented on, and the group said we should bring one of these restaurants to North Platte," said Ben-Israel. "That's when we started to research the area and decided to bring it here."&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731963771505.jpeg" alt="Seating area inside the chop house (POST/Canon Rath)" />
 <figcaption>Seating area inside the chop house (POST/Canon Rath)</figcaption>
 </figure>The chop house is open 7 days a week from 11:00am - 10:00pm and is located at 1017 S. Dewey St., Suite 103.&nbsp;&nbsp;"Thank you to the entire North Platte community for such a warm welcome and we can't wait to see your smiling face in here," said Ben-Israel.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731963789432.jpeg" alt="Terri Burchell presents Levi Ben-Israel and staff the locations first dollar (POST/Canon Rathj)" />
 <figcaption>Terri Burchell presents Levi Ben-Israel and staff the locations first dollar (POST/Canon Rathj)</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731963861127.jpeg" alt="North Platte Mayor Brandon Kelliher speaking at the ribbon cutting (POST/Canon Rath)" />
 <figcaption>North Platte Mayor Brandon Kelliher speaking at the ribbon cutting (POST/Canon Rath)</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731963897286.jpeg" alt="Seating area inside the chop house (POST/Canon Rath)" />
 <figcaption>Seating area inside the chop house (POST/Canon Rath)</figcaption>
 </figure>

District 177 expands with the addition of Nebraska's Rib & Chop House

North Platte Community College will join the American Red Cross in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the television show, “Friends” by hosting a blood drive from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 on Monday, Nov 25.

The drive will take place in the concessions area of the McDonald-Belton Building on the NPCC South Campus, 601 W. State Farm Rd. The event is open to the public.

Everyone who donates blood will receive two pairs of “Friends” and Red Cross socks, one to keep and one to gift, while supplies last.

Donors are urged to make an appointment ahead of time using the free American Red Cross Blood Donor App, by visiting redcrossblood.org by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

A blood donor card, driver’s license or two other forms of identification will be required at check-in.

Jennifer FullerNPCCNorth Platte Community College will join the American Red Cross in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the television show, “Friends” by hosting a blood drive from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 on Monday, Nov 25.The drive will take place in the concessions area of the McDonald-Belton Building on the NPCC South Campus, 601 W. State Farm Rd. The event is open to the public.Everyone who donates blood will receive two pairs of “Friends” and Red Cross socks, one to keep and one to gift, while supplies last.Donors are urged to make an appointment ahead of time using the free American Red Cross Blood Donor App, by visiting redcrossblood.org by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).A blood donor card, driver’s license or two other forms of identification will be required at check-in.

NPCC blood drive will have “Friends” theme

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/feathered-friends-of-4-h-and-ffa-students-featured-in-2025-ne-ag-department-calendar/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;Budding farmers and 4-H students who captured pet and other poultry in winning photographic images will see their work featured in a special Nebraska Department of Agriculture 2025 calendar.

The calendar also includes important biosecurity information that poultry owners can use to protect their flocks. It can be&nbsp;<a href="https://nda.nebraska.gov/animal/avian/contest/2025PoultryCalendar.pdf" target="_blank">viewed and downloaded&nbsp;</a>from the state agency’s website.&nbsp;

NDA Director Sherry Vinton said the poultry photo contest shows how 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) members “go the extra mile to make sure their birds are well cared for and healthy.”

Vinton said the agency received many great photos and was proud to recognize the students’ work. Winning entries were announced and also displayed at this year’s Nebraska State Fair.

Those who submitted winning photos: Jacelyn Brown of Gering; Joel Brown of Gering; Kelsey Bunn of North Bend; Reagan Dinger of Roca; Sofie Farr of Farnam; Aaron Fuchs of Arlington; Alandra Huntley of Lincoln; Emily Johnston of Hemingford; Kara Oberg of Farnam; Piper Pillard of Firth; Reese Pillard of Firth; Molly Preston of Scottsbluff; and Brenna Steager of David City.

NDA said it also will use the winning photos throughout next year in promotional materials and on social media. The contest provides the agency an opportunity to share biosecurity information that helps prevent diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza and Virulent/Exotic Newcastle Disease.

For more information about protecting flocks, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://nda.nebraska.gov/animal/avian" target="_blank">nda.nebraska.gov/animal/avian</a>.

Paul Hammel<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/feathered-friends-of-4-h-and-ffa-students-featured-in-2025-ne-ag-department-calendar/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;Budding farmers and 4-H students who captured pet and other poultry in winning photographic images will see their work featured in a special Nebraska Department of Agriculture 2025 calendar.The calendar also includes important biosecurity information that poultry owners can use to protect their flocks. It can be&nbsp;<a href="https://nda.nebraska.gov/animal/avian/contest/2025PoultryCalendar.pdf" target="_blank">viewed and downloaded&nbsp;</a>from the state agency’s website.&nbsp;NDA Director Sherry Vinton said the poultry photo contest shows how 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) members “go the extra mile to make sure their birds are well cared for and healthy.”Vinton said the agency received many great photos and was proud to recognize the students’ work. Winning entries were announced and also displayed at this year’s Nebraska State Fair.Those who submitted winning photos: Jacelyn Brown of Gering; Joel Brown of Gering; Kelsey Bunn of North Bend; Reagan Dinger of Roca; Sofie Farr of Farnam; Aaron Fuchs of Arlington; Alandra Huntley of Lincoln; Emily Johnston of Hemingford; Kara Oberg of Farnam; Piper Pillard of Firth; Reese Pillard of Firth; Molly Preston of Scottsbluff; and Brenna Steager of David City.NDA said it also will use the winning photos throughout next year in promotional materials and on social media. The contest provides the agency an opportunity to share biosecurity information that helps prevent diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza and Virulent/Exotic Newcastle Disease.For more information about protecting flocks, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://nda.nebraska.gov/animal/avian" target="_blank">nda.nebraska.gov/animal/avian</a>.

Feathered friends of 4-H and FFA students featured in 2025 NE Ag Department calendar

On today's episode of Knight's Weekly, we sat down with the Head Coach of North Platte Community College Men's Basketball team Jacob Brandl to discuss the teams first three game losing streak of the season and, get you prepared for another home game on Friday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655346441244.png" alt="<a href="http://www.npkubota.com/">POST PODCASTS SPONSORED BY NORTH PLATTE KUBOTA</a>" />
 <figcaption><a href="http://www.npkubota.com/">POST PODCASTS SPONSORED BY NORTH PLATTE KUBOTA</a></figcaption>
 </figure>On today's episode of Knight's Weekly, we sat down with the Head Coach of North Platte Community College Men's Basketball team Jacob Brandl to discuss the teams first three game losing streak of the season and, get you prepared for another home game on Friday.<div><iframe title="Knight's Weekly #2 featuring North Platte Community College Men's Basketball Coach Jacob Brandl" allowtransparency="true" height="150" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);height:150px;" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=9n7hg-17429b5-pb&from=pb6admin&share=1&download=1&rtl=1&fonts=Times%20New%20Roman&skin=1b1b1b&font-color=&logo_link=episode_page&btn-skin=ff6d00" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>

(Audio) Knight's Weekly #2 featuring North Platte Community College Men's Basketball Coach Jacob Brandl

Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department

The Great American Smokeout is November 21, 2024. This is also an exciting year, as Governor Pillen is signing a proclamation that declares November 17-23, 2024, Tobacco Cessation Awareness Week. Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) supports the American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout event and encourages community members to take the next steps toward decreasing tobacco use and helping create healthier communities throughout Nebraska.

The tobacco epidemic is a large public health threat that is faced all over the world. It is estimated that over 22% of the world’s population uses tobacco in some form. Tobacco kills more than 8 million people every year. More than 1.3 million of the people who die are non-smokers that have experienced second-hand smoke exposure.

“Quitting tobacco is hard but even one step in the right direction can make a difference to not only your health, but also the health of the people around you,” explains Hunter York, Program Manager at SWNPHD. “There are many benefits when you quit smoking, including improved health, increased stamina, and a reduced chance of getting lung cancer. During this annual event, join thousands of others across the country and start living your smoke-free life!”

It is important to understand what resources and tools are available to help you succeed and start living a smoke-free life. With free resources like the Nebraska Tobacco Quitline, the process can be much easier.

The Nebraska Quitline offers coaching and counseling services and resources to those who are ready to take the next step in their quitting journey. You can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669) or visit QuitNow.ne.gov for additional resources and to learn more about free quit medication. Spanish-speaking participants can call 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (3535-3569). The Quitline provides translation services in over 200 languages.

There are also other resources that can help you quit tobacco use for good. Talk with your doctor to find out what resource would work best for you. These resources include:

· Healthcare providers - Speak with your healthcare provider about ways to quit.

· Counseling - There are many different counseling options including group counseling, individual counseling, and telehealth counseling options.

· Medications - There are a few different options for both over the counter and prescription non-nicotine medications.

For additional information, call SWNPHD at 308-345-4223. Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department serves Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock, Keith, Perkins, and Red Willow counties. Follow SWNPHD on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for further details and recent updates. You can also check out our website at www.swhealth.ne.gov which contains many resources and additional information helpful to prevent disease, promote and protect health.

Southwest Nebraska Public Health DepartmentThe Great American Smokeout is November 21, 2024. This is also an exciting year, as Governor Pillen is signing a proclamation that declares November 17-23, 2024, Tobacco Cessation Awareness Week. Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) supports the American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout event and encourages community members to take the next steps toward decreasing tobacco use and helping create healthier communities throughout Nebraska.The tobacco epidemic is a large public health threat that is faced all over the world. It is estimated that over 22% of the world’s population uses tobacco in some form. Tobacco kills more than 8 million people every year. More than 1.3 million of the people who die are non-smokers that have experienced second-hand smoke exposure.“Quitting tobacco is hard but even one step in the right direction can make a difference to not only your health, but also the health of the people around you,” explains Hunter York, Program Manager at SWNPHD. “There are many benefits when you quit smoking, including improved health, increased stamina, and a reduced chance of getting lung cancer. During this annual event, join thousands of others across the country and start living your smoke-free life!”It is important to understand what resources and tools are available to help you succeed and start living a smoke-free life. With free resources like the Nebraska Tobacco Quitline, the process can be much easier.The Nebraska Quitline offers coaching and counseling services and resources to those who are ready to take the next step in their quitting journey. You can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669) or visit QuitNow.ne.gov for additional resources and to learn more about free quit medication. Spanish-speaking participants can call 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (3535-3569). The Quitline provides translation services in over 200 languages.There are also other resources that can help you quit tobacco use for good. Talk with your doctor to find out what resource would work best for you. These resources include:· Healthcare providers - Speak with your healthcare provider about ways to quit.· Counseling - There are many different counseling options including group counseling, individual counseling, and telehealth counseling options.· Medications - There are a few different options for both over the counter and prescription non-nicotine medications.For additional information, call SWNPHD at 308-345-4223. Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department serves Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock, Keith, Perkins, and Red Willow counties. Follow SWNPHD on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for further details and recent updates. You can also check out our website at www.swhealth.ne.gov which contains many resources and additional information helpful to prevent disease, promote and protect health.

Great American Smokeout November 21st

Nominations are now open in the Beauty of the Holidays lighting competition, which is organized each year by Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful and the North Platte Bulletin.

The friendly competition is a way to salute the accomplishments of those who put up yard decorations and make the Christmas holidays brighter for everyone.

If you know the work of someone who shares the holiday spirit through yard decorations, you can nominate them in the contest.

Anyone can nominate a home — it can even be your own. Submit the name of owner, address, brief description of the display, a photo (if possible), and any directions that might help locate the property.

The nomination deadline is 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11.

Send in the nominations one of these ways: · Email: knplcb@yahoo.com.

· Phone: 308-534-8100 – leave a message with requested information.

· Facebook Message: Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful or the North Platte Bulletin.

This year’s prize sponsors are Schaben Sanitation, Menards, Brothers Tavern and Cody Keno.

Prize money will be awarded to the top winners and color photos of the homes will be published in the Bulletin.

Winners will be selected in each of North Platte’s 4 city wards as well as one outside of city limits, within Lincoln County. Judging will be based on curb appeal, balance, theme and maintenance.

There is time to get everything set in the yard: Entries will be judged Friday-Sunday, Dec.13-15. Lights must be on from 5-10 p.m. those nights and the display must be seen from the street.

The first-place winners from 2023 are not eligible to win a prize this year. Otherwise, everyone can compete.

It’s important to get your nomination in, because only the homes that are nominated will be judged. One nomination is enough — the judges will decide the winners.

Good luck and may the “best bulbs” win!

Mona AndersonNominations are now open in the Beauty of the Holidays lighting competition, which is organized each year by Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful and the North Platte Bulletin.The friendly competition is a way to salute the accomplishments of those who put up yard decorations and make the Christmas holidays brighter for everyone.If you know the work of someone who shares the holiday spirit through yard decorations, you can nominate them in the contest.Anyone can nominate a home — it can even be your own. Submit the name of owner, address, brief description of the display, a photo (if possible), and any directions that might help locate the property.The nomination deadline is 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11.Send in the nominations one of these ways: · Email: knplcb@yahoo.com.· Phone: 308-534-8100 – leave a message with requested information.· Facebook Message: Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful or the North Platte Bulletin.This year’s prize sponsors are Schaben Sanitation, Menards, Brothers Tavern and Cody Keno.Prize money will be awarded to the top winners and color photos of the homes will be published in the Bulletin.Winners will be selected in each of North Platte’s 4 city wards as well as one outside of city limits, within Lincoln County. Judging will be based on curb appeal, balance, theme and maintenance.There is time to get everything set in the yard: Entries will be judged Friday-Sunday, Dec.13-15. Lights must be on from 5-10 p.m. those nights and the display must be seen from the street.The first-place winners from 2023 are not eligible to win a prize this year. Otherwise, everyone can compete.It’s important to get your nomination in, because only the homes that are nominated will be judged. One nomination is enough — the judges will decide the winners.Good luck and may the “best bulbs” win!

Beauty of the Holidays: Lighting competition celebrates season

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655805794423.png" alt=" " />
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 </figure>Lincoln County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731932599585.jpeg" alt="Isidoro Barrera - Possession With Intent To Deliver" />
 <figcaption>Isidoro Barrera - Possession With Intent To Deliver</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731932612395.jpeg" alt="Colbey Flaming - Poss Of Controlled Substance" />
 <figcaption>Colbey Flaming - Poss Of Controlled Substance</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731932623800.jpeg" alt="Elias Garza - Poss Of Controlled Substance" />
 <figcaption>Elias Garza - Poss Of Controlled Substance</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731932637410.jpeg" alt="Steven Marsh - Disturbing The Peace, Failure To Appear" />
 <figcaption>Steven Marsh - Disturbing The Peace, Failure To Appear</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731932647732.jpeg" alt="James Mosbarger - Shoplifting $0-$500 (3rd)" />
 <figcaption>James Mosbarger - Shoplifting $0-$500 (3rd)</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731932662307.jpeg" alt="Aspen Lenz - Probation Violation" />
 <figcaption>Aspen Lenz - Probation Violation</figcaption>
 </figure>***Keith County JailNo New Arrests***Buffalo County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731932692473.jpeg" alt="Skylar Warburton - Assault By Confined Person-No Weapon, Probation Violation x2" />
 <figcaption>Skylar Warburton - Assault By Confined Person-No Weapon, Probation Violation x2</figcaption>
 </figure>***<div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://northplattepost.com/category/arrests/" target="_blank">Click Here To See Past Hot Sheets</a></h2>

This information is not a criminal history. Criminal charges are often dropped or reduced. All individuals included in this post are presumed innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. The North Platte Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information. Any person who believes information provided is not accurate may submit a complaint to admin@northplattepost.com.</div>

The Hot Sheets: November 18th, 2024

As we near the end of the year, MPCC is still offering many courses for everyone to enjoy at the college. Even Holiday courses are starting to pop up as the holiday season is quickly approaching. POST Derek Beck chatted with Jeff Smeltzer from the college about all the upcoming courses. To learn more, check out the podcast below.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655346441244.png" alt="<a href="https://www.npkubota.com/">Post Podcast Sponsored By North Platte Kubota</a>" />
 <figcaption><a href="https://www.npkubota.com/">Post Podcast Sponsored By North Platte Kubota</a></figcaption>
 </figure>North Platte Post&nbsp;As we near the end of the year, MPCC is still offering many courses for everyone to enjoy at the college. Even Holiday courses are starting to pop up as the holiday season is quickly approaching. POST Derek Beck chatted with Jeff Smeltzer from the college about all the upcoming courses. To learn more, check out the podcast below.&nbsp;<div><iframe title="(Audio) MPCC: Sign up for the many fun courses at the college!" allowtransparency="true" height="150" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);height:150px;" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=8ueu6-173f242-pb&from=pb6admin&share=1&download=1&rtl=1&fonts=Times%20New%20Roman&skin=1b1b1b&font-color=&logo_link=episode_page&btn-skin=ff6d00" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>

(Audio) MPCC: Sign up for the many fun courses at the college!

Steve Samual Green II, 29, North Platte and Brooklyne Hope Nunn, 26, North Platte

Steve Samual Green II, 29, North Platte and Brooklyne Hope Nunn, 26, North Platte

Marriage Licenses For Lincoln County (Week of November 11th)

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655805794423.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>Lincoln County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731852201095.jpeg" alt="Ciara Macmillan - Poss Of Controlled Sub, Driving Under Influence Liquor, Driving Under Influence With Passenger Under 16, Child Neglect, Driving Revoked" />
 <figcaption>Ciara Macmillan - Poss Of Controlled Sub, Driving Under Influence Liquor, Driving Under Influence With Passenger Under 16, Child Neglect, Driving Revoked</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731852219876.jpeg" alt="Penny Sullivan - Safekeep Red Willow County" />
 <figcaption>Penny Sullivan - Safekeep Red Willow County</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731852231262.jpeg" alt="Terry Deese - Fugitive From Justice-Gwinett Co. GA x3" />
 <figcaption>Terry Deese - Fugitive From Justice-Gwinett Co. GA x3</figcaption>
 </figure>***Keith County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731852252287.jpeg" alt="Victor Mares - Burglary" />
 <figcaption>Victor Mares - Burglary</figcaption>
 </figure>***Buffalo County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731852268802.jpeg" alt="Jose Perez - Theft-Unlawful Taking $0-500, Possess K2 Or Marijuana 1 Oz Or Less-1st, Possess Or Use Drug Paraphernlia" />
 <figcaption>Jose Perez - Theft-Unlawful Taking $0-500, Possess K2 Or Marijuana 1 Oz Or Less-1st, Possess Or Use Drug Paraphernlia</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731852281173.jpeg" alt="Brenden Hoffschneider - Resist Arrest-1st Offense, Child Abuse-Negligent No Serious Injury, Disturbing The Peace, Criminal Trepass-2nd Degree" />
 <figcaption>Brenden Hoffschneider - Resist Arrest-1st Offense, Child Abuse-Negligent No Serious Injury, Disturbing The Peace, Criminal Trepass-2nd Degree</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731852292269.jpeg" alt="Dominick Blea - Contempt Of Court l Out Of County" />
 <figcaption>Dominick Blea - Contempt Of Court l Out Of County</figcaption>
 </figure>***<div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://northplattepost.com/category/arrests/" target="_blank">Click Here To See Past Hot Sheets</a></h2>

This information is not a criminal history. Criminal charges are often dropped or reduced. All individuals included in this post are presumed innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. The North Platte Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information. Any person who believes information provided is not accurate may submit a complaint to admin@northplattepost.com.</div>

The Hot Sheets: November 17th, 2024

North Platte Post&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Connection Homeless Shelter sponsorship program has been off to a great start since being created earlier this fall. On Nov. 20th, Raisin Canes and the Connection Homeless Shelter will be coming together from 5:00pm-9:00pm with meals purchase, Canes will donate a portion back to the homeless shelter. Make sure to let Canes know you are there for the Connection Homeless Shelter fundraiser event. 

Earlier in the week, POST news director Canon Rath chatted with Ashley Lewis about these topics. To learn more, check out the podcast below.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655346441244.png" alt="<a href="https://www.npkubota.com/">Post Podcast Sponsored By North Platte Kubota</a>" />
 <figcaption><a href="https://www.npkubota.com/">Post Podcast Sponsored By North Platte Kubota</a></figcaption>
 </figure>North Platte Post&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Connection Homeless Shelter sponsorship program has been off to a great start since being created earlier this fall. On Nov. 20th, Raisin Canes and the Connection Homeless Shelter will be coming together from 5:00pm-9:00pm with meals purchase, Canes will donate a portion back to the homeless shelter. Make sure to let Canes know you are there for the Connection Homeless Shelter fundraiser event. Earlier in the week, POST news director Canon Rath chatted with Ashley Lewis about these topics. To learn more, check out the podcast below.&nbsp;<div><iframe title="(Audio) Connection Homeless Shelter November conversation" allowtransparency="true" height="150" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);height:150px;" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=rkphh-173f228-pb&from=pb6admin&share=1&download=1&rtl=1&fonts=Times%20New%20Roman&skin=1b1b1b&font-color=&logo_link=episode_page&btn-skin=ff6d00" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>

(Audio) Connection Homeless Shelter November conversation

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655805794423.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>Lincoln County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766251379.jpeg" alt="Richard Smith - Assault-Domestic Violence 3rd Degree" />
 <figcaption>Richard Smith - Assault-Domestic Violence 3rd Degree</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766263632.jpeg" alt="Carl Von Hubright - Failure To Appear, Contempt Of Court x3, Shoplifting $0-500" />
 <figcaption>Carl Von Hubright - Failure To Appear, Contempt Of Court x3, Shoplifting $0-500</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766276257.jpeg" alt="Jose Mendez-Benitez - Driving Under Influence Liquor" />
 <figcaption>Jose Mendez-Benitez - Driving Under Influence Liquor</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766294524.jpeg" alt="Jimmy Thompson- Trespassing" />
 <figcaption>Jimmy Thompson- Trespassing</figcaption>
 </figure>***Keith County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766313294.jpeg" alt="Michael Kuskie - Probation Sanction" />
 <figcaption>Michael Kuskie - Probation Sanction</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766324471.jpeg" alt="Brook Finley - Resisting Arrest-1st Offense" />
 <figcaption>Brook Finley - Resisting Arrest-1st Offense</figcaption>
 </figure>***Buffalo County Jail<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766343136.jpeg" alt="Mark Baird - Contempt Of Court l In County" />
 <figcaption>Mark Baird - Contempt Of Court l In County</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766355972.jpeg" alt="William Walker - Violate Protection Order" />
 <figcaption>William Walker - Violate Protection Order</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766368383.jpeg" alt="Richard Vasquez - Contempt Of Court l In County" />
 <figcaption>Richard Vasquez - Contempt Of Court l In County</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766379632.jpeg" alt="Lori Sechtem - Contempt Of Court l In County" />
 <figcaption>Lori Sechtem - Contempt Of Court l In County</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766390744.jpeg" alt="Kyle Smets - DUI-Alcohol 2nd Offense, No Proof Of Insurance" />
 <figcaption>Kyle Smets - DUI-Alcohol 2nd Offense, No Proof Of Insurance</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766407480.jpeg" alt="Armando Tapia-Casados - Probation Violation" />
 <figcaption>Armando Tapia-Casados - Probation Violation</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766419377.jpeg" alt="Hugo Escamilla Jr - DEL/DSP/DST/MAN/POS Controlled Subs-SCH 4,5" />
 <figcaption>Hugo Escamilla Jr - DEL/DSP/DST/MAN/POS Controlled Subs-SCH 4,5</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766441569.jpeg" alt="Dustin Miller - DV Assault-3rd Threat Bodily Injury" />
 <figcaption>Dustin Miller - DV Assault-3rd Threat Bodily Injury</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731766452487.jpeg" alt="Zachary Rouzee - DUI-.15+" />
 <figcaption>Zachary Rouzee - DUI-.15+</figcaption>
 </figure>***<div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://northplattepost.com/category/arrests/" target="_blank">Click Here To See Past Hot Sheets</a></h2>

This information is not a criminal history. Criminal charges are often dropped or reduced. All individuals included in this post are presumed innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. The North Platte Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information. Any person who believes information provided is not accurate may submit a complaint to admin@northplattepost.com.</div>

The Hot Sheets: November 16th, 2024

&nbsp; Nebraska Extension will host a grain marketing workshop for farmers in Oshkosh on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Berea Lutheran Church, 2874 Hwy 27, between Oshkosh and Chappell.

Nebraska Extension Educator Jessica Groskopf will discuss the basis, bears, bulls, long, short, and more in the workshop and use real audio and video examples. The workshop will help you decode the “market talk.”&nbsp;

“With harvest complete, it is time for farmers to develop a marketing plan,” said Groskopf. “This workshop is an opportunity to look at the coming year and the forces driving the current grain market conditions.”

Pre-registration is encouraged. To register, call the Garden County Extension Office at 308-772-3311.&nbsp; &nbsp;

&nbsp; Nebraska Extension will host a grain marketing workshop for farmers in Oshkosh on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Berea Lutheran Church, 2874 Hwy 27, between Oshkosh and Chappell.Nebraska Extension Educator Jessica Groskopf will discuss the basis, bears, bulls, long, short, and more in the workshop and use real audio and video examples. The workshop will help you decode the “market talk.”&nbsp;“With harvest complete, it is time for farmers to develop a marketing plan,” said Groskopf. “This workshop is an opportunity to look at the coming year and the forces driving the current grain market conditions.”The program is free to attend. Pre-registration is encouraged. To register, call the Garden County Extension Office at 308-772-3311.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Grain marketing workshop scheduled in Oshkosh

&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://flatwaterfreepress.org/author/nalamdari/">Natalia Alamdari</a>,&nbsp;Flatwater Free Press

NORTH PLATTE – In light, cursive script, she strings newly learned verbs into sentences.&nbsp;

She sounds out each foreign syllable, practicing with the volunteer teacher.&nbsp;

“Yo escucho, tu escuchas,” Janet Evans recites.&nbsp;I listen. You listen.&nbsp;

“It would take me 100 years to say anything to anyone,” the retired North Platte doctor jokes.&nbsp;

Evans is one of 53 people signed up for this Spanish class organized by the nonprofit HOPE-Esperanza. The goal for this group of English-speaking 911 dispatchers, doctors, city and county employees, ranchers, police officers and business owners: communicate better as North Platte prepares for the opening of a massive new meatpacking plant.&nbsp;

“If you want to go to Spain or Mexico, this isn’t the class for you,” said TinaMaria Fernandez, founder of the nonprofit. “There’s a need in our community. How do we help communicate with each other to provide safety and welcoming?”

In the spring, the rancher-owned meatpacking plant Sustainable Beef will open in this west-central Nebraska city of 22,523. The plant is expected to add 2,500 people to town, as employees and their families move to fill the predicted 800 jobs, making it the city’s third-largest employer.

City leaders say it’s a boon for North Platte, a rare growth opportunity after decades of stagnation.

<a href="https://flatwaterfreepress.org/meet-our-sponsors">Meet our sponsors</a>&nbsp;•&nbsp;<a href="https://flatwaterfreepress.org/sponsorship">Become a sponsor</a>

But in the years since the plant was announced in 2021, City Council meetings have also been peppered with complaints about the project – worry over the smell. Traffic on South Newberry Road. Harm to nearby wetlands.&nbsp;

And assumptions about the plant’s future employees, complaints about its yet-to-arrive people. Residents have pointed to Grand Island and Lexington, and the meatpacking plants that helped to demographically transform those towns, as cautionary tales.&nbsp;

They fear North Platte will change. They fear its future.&nbsp;

“These jobs that we’re getting are not for North Platte people,” resident Chuck McCarty said at a City Council meeting in August 2021.&nbsp;

“They are for the people that are coming across the border,” he said. “Obviously illegal.”&nbsp;

Echoes rattle through the gray concrete and metal insides of the Sustainable Beef plant, as construction workers hang the labyrinth of chains where strung-up cattle will soon be pulled through this 556,000-square-foot facility.&nbsp;

Soon, this assembly line will process 1,500 head of cattle, hauled in on 45 semi-trucks, each day. That’s an astonishingly ambitious number – fully 1.5% of the nation’s fat cattle, CEO David Briggs said.&nbsp;

“It’s right in the middle of cattle country,” Briggs said. “We’re right in the center of the country and I-80.” North Platte, he says, is “a natural fit.”

Since its announcement in 2021, Sustainable Beef has said it hopes to woo experienced meatpackers with better working conditions: a single, family-friendly daytime shift; decent wages; and a top-notch facility.&nbsp;

The idea is that meatpackers from places like Lexington, Grand Island and nearby states will leave their jobs for Sustainable Beef, growing North Platte’s population base and reversing a decades-long stall and slide.

In 1980, North Platte stood at 24,509 residents. It had grown by 5,000 people during the 1970s, and proudly hailed itself as the largest Nebraska city outside the Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island metros.&nbsp;

That same year, the trucking company Consolidated Freightways relocated employees to Las Vegas and Lincoln.&nbsp;

“I remember driving down one of the busier streets in North Platte. I’m not exaggerating – about every third house was for sale,” said Mayor Brandon Kelliher, a North Platte native. “I don’t know how many people moved out, but it was noticeable, even for a kid.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The trucking company’s departure kicked off three decades of population inching up or down, never breaking past 25,000 people.

With Union Pacific as its largest employer, North Platte’s size stayed yoked to the success and struggles of the railroad, Kelliher said.&nbsp;

“People just say, ‘well, I can’t find a good job here, so I’m going to go somewhere else,’” Kelliher said. “And they leave. It’s that simple.”&nbsp;

Then, from 2010 to 2020, the city shrank by 1,343 people – a blaring alarm bell to leaders like City Council President Jim Nisley.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sustainable Beef is expected to grow the population by roughly 10%, they say. It will fill empty seats in the school. It’s already helped bring hundreds of new apartments to the community.

It’s also bringing fear and anger, with much of it revolving around the meatpacking employees themselves, said the Rev. Steve Meysing, rector at North Platte’s Episcopal Church of Our Savior.

North Platte is the county seat of Lincoln County, which just voted 77% for Donald Trump after he promised an immigration crackdown and mass deportations. In public and private conversations, North Platte residents shared their fears: The new employees’ language. Their religion. Their immigration status. Their alleged criminality.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It didn’t take long before all the dark concerns of long-term residents were being named,” Meysing said.&nbsp;

Letters to the editor poured into the North Platte Telegraph.

“The only ones profiting from this will be the investors and the illegals,” resident Dee Fugate wrote to the paper. She appeared at a planning commission meeting and termed the project “a nightmare.”

“Are they in cahoots with Joe Biden? Or just looking to turn this wonderful small town into Lexington II?” wrote Lora Bevington.&nbsp;

“Most of these people that work at these plants are immigrants,” resident Jim Jackson said in December 2021. “Quite a few of them are illegal immigrants. What’s it going to do to the crime rate in North Platte?”&nbsp;

Before a packed room in March 2021, resident Josh Empfield spoke one question into the microphone: “Where are we going to put the prison?”&nbsp;

Laughter rippled through the crowd.&nbsp;

In Nebraska, industries like meatpacking and manufacturing do rely on immigrants, so much so that more than 60 Nebraska organizations – including the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Nebraska Cattlemen and the Nebraska Dairy Association – joined to publicly call for more generous federal immigration policies.&nbsp;

Plants like Sustainable Beef – and the lack of locals to staff them – have largely driven the diversification and population growth of rural Nebraska communities since the 1990s.&nbsp;

From 2010 to 2020, 16 different rural Nebraska counties grew, with 100% of that growth driven by Nebraskans of color, census data shows – largely first- and second-generation immigrants.

And like in other communities transformed by immigration, those potential changes have sparked anxiety.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“They definitely have the right to be concerned about their town changing, it’s their town,” Kelliher said. “What I feel like the government and city needs to do, is make sure that we’re communicating what is actually happening. Because if you’re living in a small town, boy, rumors are rampant.”&nbsp;

Drive an hour east of North Platte and you’ll hit Lexington – population 10,248 and home to a massive Tyson meatpacking plant.&nbsp;

Like much of rural Nebraska, the 1980s farm crisis hammered this town, when Sperry New Holland, a combine manufacturer, closed its Lexington plant and Dawson County saw an 11% population nose dive.&nbsp;

But in 1988, Iowa Beef Processors announced it would buy the old combine factory and turn it into a meatpacking plant.&nbsp;

At the time, IBP said its labor force would max at 1,300. Company managers told reporters they planned to “hire as many workers as possible from the immediate area.”&nbsp;

Instead, by the mid ’90s, the company employed 2,300 workers – most Latino immigrants, according to a 1997 University of Nebraska at Omaha case study on the city.&nbsp;

There are echoes of those workforce promises in North Platte. Sustainable Beef has said it expects to hire 800 workers, and that about 300 likely already live within 60 miles of North Platte.&nbsp;

“At this time, we do expect all our employees to come from within the United States,” CEO Briggs said in an interview, while declining to elaborate on recruitment tactics.&nbsp;

The opening of IBP prompted Lexington’s population to skyrocket from 6,601 in 1990 to past 10,000 a decade later. And all of Lexington’s growth was Latino, with that population jumping by 4,972 residents in 10 years.

In North Platte, the dynamics of a population increase should look and feel different because of its size, said Kelliher, the mayor. North Platte already has 23,390 residents and expects about a 10% population bump, nothing close to Lexington’s near doubling.&nbsp;

Still, the mayor knows there will be turbulence ahead.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“One of the biggest messages that the folks from Lexington presented to us is no matter how well you prepare, there’s going to be things that happen that you didn’t even know were going to be an issue,” Kelliher said.

Housing consultants in Lexington originally thought the city needed 334 new units. It wasn’t nearly enough – more than half the families surveyed in the UNO case study reported they had difficulty finding homes.&nbsp;

By 1992, consultants realized Lexington actually needed twice as much new housing as had been recommended.

But in North Platte, there’s already much more building happening, with 2,000 new housing units, a mix of houses and apartments, in various stages of development.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“That is very, very significant for a community that’s only built between 20 and 30 new housing units a year for the last few decades,” said Gary Person, president and CEO of North Platte Area Chamber &amp; Development Corporation.

Crime is also on some North Platte residents’ minds. People point to meatpacking communities like Grand Island and Lexington as examples of what they fear.

But that fear obscures the fact that, today, North Platte’s crime rate is higher than Lexington’s. North Platte crime is in fact higher than every other similar sized city with a meatpacking plant in Nebraska, former police chief Dan Hudson told the North Platte Telegraph.

“For us to automatically assume that if this group of people or that group of people come into our community, that it’s going to be a problem, I think that’s a far reach,” Hudson said in a work session focused on Sustainable Beef.&nbsp;

North Platte is already more diverse than Lexington was before IBP came to town. Then, Lexington’s Latino population was barely 5%. Latinos already make up about 10% of North Platte.&nbsp;&nbsp;

And North Platte Public Schools is already equipped to handle more than 20 languages, Superintendent Todd Rhodes said. The district has three teachers and three paraprofessionals dedicated to students learning English, he said, though those students make up only 2% of the total student body of 3,872 kids.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In Lexington, public school enrollment has doubled in the past 30 years, and about 40% of current students are learning English.

At a July 2021 meeting of North Platte’s Economic Development Fund Committee, resident Fugate voiced her concern over schools: “What are you going to do when you get a 14-year-old boy in a class with a bunch of third graders and he can’t speak English?”&nbsp;

That will never happen, Rhodes said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Our high school kids are high school kids,” he said. “We don’t have a fifth grader in a first grade classroom because they don’t speak our language.”&nbsp;

When Sustainable Beef was first announced, Evans, a family doctor in North Platte for 34 years, had a knee jerk impulse – fear, she said, that North Platte would become “just like Lexington.”

Meysing, who leads the Episcopal Church of Our Savior congregation, decided to address that fear by bringing Lexington and North Platte residents together, planning a panel of residents from both cities to talk about the future at a time when North Platte was focused on Lexington’s past.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“There are people feeling a lot of darkness, because they’re scared. They’re uncertain about what the future of the community is going to be … a lot of it was catastrophizing too,” Meysing said. “What I said was, let’s learn from those who have been down the road before us.”&nbsp;

The church gathered former teachers, nonprofit leaders and translators. They discussed Lexington’s rocky start with the IBP plant; how the young unmarried men who came to work were eventually replaced with new families and school-aged children; how local churches helped newcomers navigate doctors appointments, school registration and the immigration system.

These discussions changed Evans’ mind, calmed her fear.

“They had ironed out those difficulties, figured out how to live at peace with each other and realized their communities were stronger, more robust and better,” the retired doctor said. “We paid attention to Lexington at the beginning … but we never thought to go back and ask how they were doing.”

HOPE-Esperanza started out of the back of Fernandez’s SUV in 2021. The nonprofit’s founder would drive to church parking lots and parks handing out boxes of food to those in need. Sustainable Beef hadn’t been announced yet.&nbsp;

“If a kid needs a coat, let’s get them a coat. If somebody needs translation, let’s help them make that appointment,” Fernandez said. “And then it became glaringly obvious that this was a much bigger matter.”

Fernandez said that HOPE-Esperanza has helped thousands of people each year in North Platte and surrounding areas. It stocks walk-up food pantries and hands out nearly 50 food boxes each week. It gives donated furniture to newcomers who need a couch or kitchen table. It gets residents clothes, books, shampoo, soap.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A welcoming coordinator helps parents sign up their kids for school and sometimes helps the parents find jobs. The city reaches out to the nonprofit if they need a translator.&nbsp;

Early on, Fernandez said new families would find their way to HOPE-Esperanza maybe a month after arriving in North Platte, often referred by the school or city employees.

“Now, we’ll get calls from people wanting to set up an appointment before they even arrive in North Platte,” mostly through word of mouth and family, Fernandez said.&nbsp;

HOPE-Esperanza is helping the community prepare for an influx of people, many of whom are expected to be native Spanish speakers.&nbsp;

At Fernandez’s recommendation, law enforcement, schools and local businesses now have handheld translators.&nbsp;&nbsp;

With Episcopal Church of Our Savior, the nonprofit hopes to start a neighbor-to-neighbor program, where longtime residents of North Platte are paired with new families to share each other’s cultures, Meysing said.&nbsp;

Sustainable Beef actually plans to use HOPE-Esperanza’s space for job interviews, since the plant offices aren’t finished yet.&nbsp;

And potential employees are already arriving.&nbsp;

“We call them ‘the watchers,’” Fernandez said – mostly Cubans from Florida looking for temporary work as they wait for Sustainable Beef to be up and running.&nbsp;

“As soon as those walls are up and they’re hiring, they’re going to do the whistle and say, come,” Fernandez said.

The day after Spanish class in North Platte, two groups of people came together to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos – the longtime residents taking HOPE-Esperanza’s Spanish classes, and the newer residents learning English.&nbsp;

At each table, they painted detailed sugar skulls. An “ofrenda” honoring family members who have passed took up a corner of the church meeting room. Evans placed a photo of her parents there, to remember them.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731699482944.jpeg" alt="The Sustainable Beef worksite is currently limited to construction workers, and danger signs are posted along the road on the plant’s north side. But the plant will soon be operational and will quickly become one of the city’s biggest employers, bringing an estimated 2,500 people to North Platte, as employees and their families move in to fill the predicted 800 jobs. Photo by Lori Potter for the Flatwater Free Press" />
 <figcaption>The Sustainable Beef worksite is currently limited to construction workers, and danger signs are posted along the road on the plant’s north side. But the plant will soon be operational and will quickly become one of the city’s biggest employers, bringing an estimated 2,500 people to North Platte, as employees and their families move in to fill the predicted 800 jobs. Photo by Lori Potter for the Flatwater Free Press</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://flatwaterfreepress.org/author/nalamdari/">Natalia Alamdari</a>,&nbsp;Flatwater Free PressNORTH PLATTE – In light, cursive script, she strings newly learned verbs into sentences.&nbsp;She sounds out each foreign syllable, practicing with the volunteer teacher.&nbsp;“Yo escucho, tu escuchas,” Janet Evans recites.&nbsp;I listen. You listen.&nbsp;“It would take me 100 years to say anything to anyone,” the retired North Platte doctor jokes.&nbsp;Evans is one of 53 people signed up for this Spanish class organized by the nonprofit HOPE-Esperanza. The goal for this group of English-speaking 911 dispatchers, doctors, city and county employees, ranchers, police officers and business owners: communicate better as North Platte prepares for the opening of a massive new meatpacking plant.&nbsp;“If you want to go to Spain or Mexico, this isn’t the class for you,” said TinaMaria Fernandez, founder of the nonprofit. “There’s a need in our community. How do we help communicate with each other to provide safety and welcoming?”In the spring, the rancher-owned meatpacking plant Sustainable Beef will open in this west-central Nebraska city of 22,523. The plant is expected to add 2,500 people to town, as employees and their families move to fill the predicted 800 jobs, making it the city’s third-largest employer.City leaders say it’s a boon for North Platte, a rare growth opportunity after decades of stagnation.Thanks to our sponsor<a href="https://flatwaterfreepress.org/meet-our-sponsors">Meet our sponsors</a>&nbsp;•&nbsp;<a href="https://flatwaterfreepress.org/sponsorship">Become a sponsor</a>But in the years since the plant was announced in 2021, City Council meetings have also been peppered with complaints about the project – worry over the smell. Traffic on South Newberry Road. Harm to nearby wetlands.&nbsp;And assumptions about the plant’s future employees, complaints about its yet-to-arrive people. Residents have pointed to Grand Island and Lexington, and the meatpacking plants that helped to demographically transform those towns, as cautionary tales.&nbsp;They fear North Platte will change. They fear its future.&nbsp;“These jobs that we’re getting are not for North Platte people,” resident Chuck McCarty said at a City Council meeting in August 2021.&nbsp;“They are for the people that are coming across the border,” he said. “Obviously illegal.”&nbsp;****Echoes rattle through the gray concrete and metal insides of the Sustainable Beef plant, as construction workers hang the labyrinth of chains where strung-up cattle will soon be pulled through this 556,000-square-foot facility.&nbsp;Soon, this assembly line will process 1,500 head of cattle, hauled in on 45 semi-trucks, each day. That’s an astonishingly ambitious number – fully 1.5% of the nation’s fat cattle, CEO David Briggs said.&nbsp;“It’s right in the middle of cattle country,” Briggs said. “We’re right in the center of the country and I-80.” North Platte, he says, is “a natural fit.”Since its announcement in 2021, Sustainable Beef has said it hopes to woo experienced meatpackers with better working conditions: a single, family-friendly daytime shift; decent wages; and a top-notch facility.&nbsp;The idea is that meatpackers from places like Lexington, Grand Island and nearby states will leave their jobs for Sustainable Beef, growing North Platte’s population base and reversing a decades-long stall and slide.In 1980, North Platte stood at 24,509 residents. It had grown by 5,000 people during the 1970s, and proudly hailed itself as the largest Nebraska city outside the Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island metros.&nbsp;That same year, the trucking company Consolidated Freightways relocated employees to Las Vegas and Lincoln.&nbsp;“I remember driving down one of the busier streets in North Platte. I’m not exaggerating – about every third house was for sale,” said Mayor Brandon Kelliher, a North Platte native. “I don’t know how many people moved out, but it was noticeable, even for a kid.”&nbsp;&nbsp;The trucking company’s departure kicked off three decades of population inching up or down, never breaking past 25,000 people.With Union Pacific as its largest employer, North Platte’s size stayed yoked to the success and struggles of the railroad, Kelliher said.&nbsp;“People just say, ‘well, I can’t find a good job here, so I’m going to go somewhere else,’” Kelliher said. “And they leave. It’s that simple.”&nbsp;Then, from 2010 to 2020, the city shrank by 1,343 people – a blaring alarm bell to leaders like City Council President Jim Nisley.&nbsp;&nbsp;Sustainable Beef is expected to grow the population by roughly 10%, they say. It will fill empty seats in the school. It’s already helped bring hundreds of new apartments to the community.It’s also bringing fear and anger, with much of it revolving around the meatpacking employees themselves, said the Rev. Steve Meysing, rector at North Platte’s Episcopal Church of Our Savior.North Platte is the county seat of Lincoln County, which just voted 77% for Donald Trump after he promised an immigration crackdown and mass deportations. In public and private conversations, North Platte residents shared their fears: The new employees’ language. Their religion. Their immigration status. Their alleged criminality.&nbsp;&nbsp;“It didn’t take long before all the dark concerns of long-term residents were being named,” Meysing said.&nbsp;Letters to the editor poured into the North Platte Telegraph.“The only ones profiting from this will be the investors and the illegals,” resident Dee Fugate wrote to the paper. She appeared at a planning commission meeting and termed the project “a nightmare.”“Are they in cahoots with Joe Biden? Or just looking to turn this wonderful small town into Lexington II?” wrote Lora Bevington.&nbsp;“Most of these people that work at these plants are immigrants,” resident Jim Jackson said in December 2021. “Quite a few of them are illegal immigrants. What’s it going to do to the crime rate in North Platte?”&nbsp;Before a packed room in March 2021, resident Josh Empfield spoke one question into the microphone: “Where are we going to put the prison?”&nbsp;Laughter rippled through the crowd.&nbsp;In Nebraska, industries like meatpacking and manufacturing do rely on immigrants, so much so that more than 60 Nebraska organizations – including the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Nebraska Cattlemen and the Nebraska Dairy Association – joined to publicly call for more generous federal immigration policies.&nbsp;Plants like Sustainable Beef – and the lack of locals to staff them – have largely driven the diversification and population growth of rural Nebraska communities since the 1990s.&nbsp;From 2010 to 2020, 16 different rural Nebraska counties grew, with 100% of that growth driven by Nebraskans of color, census data shows – largely first- and second-generation immigrants.And like in other communities transformed by immigration, those potential changes have sparked anxiety.&nbsp;&nbsp;“They definitely have the right to be concerned about their town changing, it’s their town,” Kelliher said. “What I feel like the government and city needs to do, is make sure that we’re communicating what is actually happening. Because if you’re living in a small town, boy, rumors are rampant.”&nbsp;****Drive an hour east of North Platte and you’ll hit Lexington – population 10,248 and home to a massive Tyson meatpacking plant.&nbsp;Like much of rural Nebraska, the 1980s farm crisis hammered this town, when Sperry New Holland, a combine manufacturer, closed its Lexington plant and Dawson County saw an 11% population nose dive.&nbsp;But in 1988, Iowa Beef Processors announced it would buy the old combine factory and turn it into a meatpacking plant.&nbsp;At the time, IBP said its labor force would max at 1,300. Company managers told reporters they planned to “hire as many workers as possible from the immediate area.”&nbsp;Instead, by the mid ’90s, the company employed 2,300 workers – most Latino immigrants, according to a 1997 University of Nebraska at Omaha case study on the city.&nbsp;There are echoes of those workforce promises in North Platte. Sustainable Beef has said it expects to hire 800 workers, and that about 300 likely already live within 60 miles of North Platte.&nbsp;“At this time, we do expect all our employees to come from within the United States,” CEO Briggs said in an interview, while declining to elaborate on recruitment tactics.&nbsp;The opening of IBP prompted Lexington’s population to skyrocket from 6,601 in 1990 to past 10,000 a decade later. And all of Lexington’s growth was Latino, with that population jumping by 4,972 residents in 10 years.In North Platte, the dynamics of a population increase should look and feel different because of its size, said Kelliher, the mayor. North Platte already has 23,390 residents and expects about a 10% population bump, nothing close to Lexington’s near doubling.&nbsp;Still, the mayor knows there will be turbulence ahead.&nbsp;&nbsp;“One of the biggest messages that the folks from Lexington presented to us is no matter how well you prepare, there’s going to be things that happen that you didn’t even know were going to be an issue,” Kelliher said.Housing consultants in Lexington originally thought the city needed 334 new units. It wasn’t nearly enough – more than half the families surveyed in the UNO case study reported they had difficulty finding homes.&nbsp;By 1992, consultants realized Lexington actually needed twice as much new housing as had been recommended.But in North Platte, there’s already much more building happening, with 2,000 new housing units, a mix of houses and apartments, in various stages of development.&nbsp;&nbsp;“That is very, very significant for a community that’s only built between 20 and 30 new housing units a year for the last few decades,” said Gary Person, president and CEO of North Platte Area Chamber &amp; Development Corporation.Crime is also on some North Platte residents’ minds. People point to meatpacking communities like Grand Island and Lexington as examples of what they fear.But that fear obscures the fact that, today, North Platte’s crime rate is higher than Lexington’s. North Platte crime is in fact higher than every other similar sized city with a meatpacking plant in Nebraska, former police chief Dan Hudson told the North Platte Telegraph.“For us to automatically assume that if this group of people or that group of people come into our community, that it’s going to be a problem, I think that’s a far reach,” Hudson said in a work session focused on Sustainable Beef.&nbsp;North Platte is already more diverse than Lexington was before IBP came to town. Then, Lexington’s Latino population was barely 5%. Latinos already make up about 10% of North Platte.&nbsp;&nbsp;And North Platte Public Schools is already equipped to handle more than 20 languages, Superintendent Todd Rhodes said. The district has three teachers and three paraprofessionals dedicated to students learning English, he said, though those students make up only 2% of the total student body of 3,872 kids.&nbsp;&nbsp;In Lexington, public school enrollment has doubled in the past 30 years, and about 40% of current students are learning English.At a July 2021 meeting of North Platte’s Economic Development Fund Committee, resident Fugate voiced her concern over schools: “What are you going to do when you get a 14-year-old boy in a class with a bunch of third graders and he can’t speak English?”&nbsp;That will never happen, Rhodes said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Our high school kids are high school kids,” he said. “We don’t have a fifth grader in a first grade classroom because they don’t speak our language.”&nbsp;When Sustainable Beef was first announced, Evans, a family doctor in North Platte for 34 years, had a knee jerk impulse – fear, she said, that North Platte would become “just like Lexington.”Meysing, who leads the Episcopal Church of Our Savior congregation, decided to address that fear by bringing Lexington and North Platte residents together, planning a panel of residents from both cities to talk about the future at a time when North Platte was focused on Lexington’s past.&nbsp;&nbsp;“There are people feeling a lot of darkness, because they’re scared. They’re uncertain about what the future of the community is going to be … a lot of it was catastrophizing too,” Meysing said. “What I said was, let’s learn from those who have been down the road before us.”&nbsp;The church gathered former teachers, nonprofit leaders and translators. They discussed Lexington’s rocky start with the IBP plant; how the young unmarried men who came to work were eventually replaced with new families and school-aged children; how local churches helped newcomers navigate doctors appointments, school registration and the immigration system.These discussions changed Evans’ mind, calmed her fear.“They had ironed out those difficulties, figured out how to live at peace with each other and realized their communities were stronger, more robust and better,” the retired doctor said. “We paid attention to Lexington at the beginning … but we never thought to go back and ask how they were doing.”****HOPE-Esperanza started out of the back of Fernandez’s SUV in 2021. The nonprofit’s founder would drive to church parking lots and parks handing out boxes of food to those in need. Sustainable Beef hadn’t been announced yet.&nbsp;“If a kid needs a coat, let’s get them a coat. If somebody needs translation, let’s help them make that appointment,” Fernandez said. “And then it became glaringly obvious that this was a much bigger matter.”Fernandez said that HOPE-Esperanza has helped thousands of people each year in North Platte and surrounding areas. It stocks walk-up food pantries and hands out nearly 50 food boxes each week. It gives donated furniture to newcomers who need a couch or kitchen table. It gets residents clothes, books, shampoo, soap.&nbsp;&nbsp;A welcoming coordinator helps parents sign up their kids for school and sometimes helps the parents find jobs. The city reaches out to the nonprofit if they need a translator.&nbsp;Early on, Fernandez said new families would find their way to HOPE-Esperanza maybe a month after arriving in North Platte, often referred by the school or city employees.“Now, we’ll get calls from people wanting to set up an appointment before they even arrive in North Platte,” mostly through word of mouth and family, Fernandez said.&nbsp;HOPE-Esperanza is helping the community prepare for an influx of people, many of whom are expected to be native Spanish speakers.&nbsp;At Fernandez’s recommendation, law enforcement, schools and local businesses now have handheld translators.&nbsp;&nbsp;With Episcopal Church of Our Savior, the nonprofit hopes to start a neighbor-to-neighbor program, where longtime residents of North Platte are paired with new families to share each other’s cultures, Meysing said.&nbsp;Sustainable Beef actually plans to use HOPE-Esperanza’s space for job interviews, since the plant offices aren’t finished yet.&nbsp;And potential employees are already arriving.&nbsp;“We call them ‘the watchers,’” Fernandez said – mostly Cubans from Florida looking for temporary work as they wait for Sustainable Beef to be up and running.&nbsp;“As soon as those walls are up and they’re hiring, they’re going to do the whistle and say, come,” Fernandez said.The day after Spanish class in North Platte, two groups of people came together to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos – the longtime residents taking HOPE-Esperanza’s Spanish classes, and the newer residents learning English.&nbsp;At each table, they painted detailed sugar skulls. An “ofrenda” honoring family members who have passed took up a corner of the church meeting room. Evans placed a photo of her parents there, to remember them.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“I don’t think any of us feel like we’re going to be fluent in Spanish,” Evans said. “What we’re hoping to see is both sets of speakers get more comfortable with each other, feel OK making a mistake, laugh about it, move on and get to know each other.”&nbsp;HOPE-Esperanza has another session of language classes planned for next year, Fernandez said.&nbsp;Already, January’s Spanish classes are nearly booked solid.***&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flatwaterfreepress.org/">The Flatwater Free Press</a> is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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