Governor Dave Heineman says an hour-long private meeting yesterday with 3 northern Panhandle county commissioners about fire recovery efforts was very productive and very gratifying.

Over 200,000-acres were burned in Dawes, Sioux, and Sheridan counties during a series of fires this summer, and Heineman welcomes the desire of local officials to take a coordinated approach to recovery efforts.

The commissioners…Stacy Swinney of Dawes County, James Krotz of Sheridan County, and Lotten of Sioux County…had sent the governor a list of priorities drafted at a public planning session last week so he could study them in advance. He says the move made yesterday’s meeting even more productive.

Much of the burned area…especially from the Wellnitz Fire in northern Sheridan County…is state land, so the governor wants to find out what recovery help is available from Game and Parks.

Another state agency Governor Heineman plans to talk with is the Department of Roads…the result of the county commissioners asking him about the possibility used or surplus posts from guardrails or right-of-way fences being made available to local ranchers who lost thousands of miles of fences to the fires.

One of the big, immediate needs identified by last week’s planning meeting was repairing county roads damaged by the fires or the heavy truck traffic from firefighting efforts. Governor Heineman hopes to find out shortly if the losses to public infrastructure were enough to trigger federal help.

The governor plans to work closely with U-S Senator Mike Johanns, 3rd District Congressman Adrian Smith, and the winner of the Deb Fischer-Bob Kerrey senate race over the coming months and years to push federal officials for as much fire recovery help as possible.

Governor Heineman also plans to meet with northern Panhandle officials again in a month to 6 weeks to exchange updates.

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Eric Johnson, 46, of Alliance has been arrested stemming from a domestic abuse allegation made on September 23.  This will be Johnson’s second domestic violence charge in the last 18 months.

Johnson made his initial appearance October 2, and was released on $5,000 bond after being held in custody for nine days.  He is being charged with Domestic Assault in the 3^rd Degree, his 2^ndOffense, which is a Class IV Felony as well as Resisting Arrest, a Class I misdemeanor.  If convicted, he could receive up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both on the felony charge.  He is ordered to have no contact with his wife and daughter at this time.  Johnson will make his next appearance in court on October 17.

Written by: Ashley Hinker

Nearly two dozen business and government leaders from eastern Nebraska will be in Chadron tonight and tomorrow for a special turkey hunt organized by the Nebraska Northwest Development Corporation.

NNDC executive director Deb Cottier says the Pine Ridge Wild Turkey Hunt is intended as a fun, but out of the ordinary event to bring movers-and-shakers to the region for a chance to see for themselves why the northern Panhandle is a good place to locate a business.

The turkey hunt is the successor to the Governor’s Turkey Hunt, which the NNDC hosted in the 1990s but eventually dropped because then-Governor Mike Johanns wasn’t a hunter.

Current Governor Dave Heinemann isn’t either, but Lt Governor Rick Sheehy is and Cottier says both men will be on hand for a get acquainted event tonight, with Sheehy staying the night and hunting tomorrow.

Cottier admits it’s little difficult to point with absolute certainty to definite economic development gains from the turkey hunts of the past, but is convinced there were plenty…starting with personal relationships formed with the visitors.

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Three northern Panhandle county commissioners will meet with Governor Dave Heineman in Chadron today to discuss a 90-day action plan for fire recovery efforts in the parts of Dawes, Sioux, and Sheridan counties that burned in this summer’s wildfires.

Work on creating the plan began with a public meeting last week in Chadron that drew about 75 participants from the 3 counties and came up with some general areas of focus and possible action.

Priorities included rebuilding pasture fences, clearing fallen trees, salvaging burned timer, repairing damaged county roads, and replanting burned areas. Some could, or should, begin within the next 30 days.

Dawes County Commissioner Stacy Swinney…who organized both the input session and today’s meeting…sent the priorities list to the governor last week to give him a chance to review the ideas and be able to offer some firm answers today.

Meeting the governor along with Swinney will be commissioners Jim Krotz of Sheridan County and Kevin Lotten of Sioux County.  Swinney says the idea is a private meeting that allows open discussion without running afoul of the state’s Open Meetings law.

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