The Utah construction company that built the Wyoming medium-security prison in Torrington is suing the tate Department of Corrections to get its final payment.
Officials with Layton Construction filed the breach of contract suit last month in Laramie County District Court,
saying the state still owes it $2.7 million dollars.
Brian Farmer with the Department of Corrections declined to comment, citing department policy not to discuss litigation involving the agency.
The Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution opened in January, 2010. The prison has room for 720 inmates.
Governor Dave Heineman has named two men from the small southeast Nebraska town of Auburn to 6-year terms on the Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees.
Insurance man Bob Engles was initially appointed to the trustees two years ago to finish the term of Floyd Vrtiska…who resigned…while banker John Chaney replaces Larry Teahon of Chadron, who stepped down after completing 2 full terms.
The Panhandle still has one member on the 6 member board…rancher and retired health care administrator Gary Bieganski of rural Chadron.
John Chaney…a UNL graduate…has been CEO of the Auburn State Bank since 1995, is a past board member of the Nebraska Bankers Association, and is active in many regional organizations in the southeast part of the state including the Auburn Development Council and the Peru State College Foundation.
Bob Engles is a graduate of Peru State and the owner of Engles Agency. He says he’s honored to have a full term as a trustee because he believes in the mission of the state colleges
State College System Chancellor Dr Stan Carpenter says both Engles and Chaney are strong advocates for students and the state college system who bring to the board a vast experience in many different areas and fields.
The Nebraska State College System has nearly 9,000 students at Chadron State, Wayne State, and Peru State…which together offer more than 200 degree, certificate and pre-professional programs on their campuses, at several off-campus locations throughout the state, and via the Internet.
The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has sent Governor Dave Heineman its 2,000-page draft evaluation of the proposed route through the state for TransCanada’s $7-billion dollar Keystone XL pipeline, but doesn’t make a recommendation on whether he should approve it.
Heineman has 30 days to review the massive report before making his decision, which will be shared with the U.S. State Department. The State Department, which has federal jurisdiction because the pipeline would cross an international border, will send its own recommendation to President Barack Obama, who has the final say.
The president rejected TransCanada’s initial application last January…in part because of environmental concerns over a proposed route that crossed part of the Nebraska Sandhills. The company then reached an agreement with Nebraska to reroute it around sensitive areas with the state to do the environmental review of the new route.
DEQ Director Mike Linder had been expected to include a recommendation on approval in the executive summary of the review, but agency spokesman Brian McManus says Linder and the DEQ felt their role was to “put together a thorough, objective report and present it to the governor with specific recommendations.”
One section did address the expected $278-million dollars in economic benefits from the project, including support for 2,740 new or existing jobs. McManus calls the section appropriate and valid because part of the agency’s mission was to evaluate the environmental and social impacts of the pipeline.
Both the executive summary and the full 2,000-plus page full draft report are available for public viewing online. The executive summary is available at pipeline.nebraska.gov while the report can be found on the Nebraska reroute website: https://ecmp.nebraska.gov/deq-seis/
The Keystone XL would bring oil from the tar sands of Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. It’s been split into two parts: one from refineries in Oklahoma to the Texas coast, which is already moving forward, and the other from Canada to Oklahoma.
The northern section would cross 5 states…Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma…with TransCanada also looking at connecting it to the Bakken oil field in Montana and North Dakota.
Keystone XL would cross both Nebraska and South Dakota diagonally…South Dakota from near the tri-state corner with North Dakota and Montana to the Nebraska state line about midway between Wyoming and Iowa.
The Nebraska route would run from there to the southeast corner of the state where it would essentially join the route of the existing Keystone pipeline…which began operation two years ago.
Deb Fischer is now officially Nebraska’s newest U-S Senator, taking the oath of office of Thursday as the successor to Democrat Ben Nelson, who did not seek reelection for a third term.
Fischer was escorted by Nebraska senior senator Mike Johanns and former Nebraska Senator David Karnes with Vice President Joe Biden administering the oath with Fischer’s husband Bruce, family, and friends in attendance.
Fischer, a Republican and Valentine-area rancher, was one of 12 new senators to be sworn in and is one of 20 female members of the Senate.
The former Nebraska State Senator says it will be an honor to serve Nebraskans and tackle the huge issues facing the country, adding as she often did during the campaign that she would “bring some Nebraska common sense to Washington.”
Her priorities…also repeated frequently during the campaign are to cut federal spending, set priorities for government, reduce needless regulations, and bring comprehensive tax reform.
Fischer has made several trips to Washington since beating former senator and governor Bob Kerrey in November, including 3 days for Senate orientation…where she learned about Senate ethics, rules and procedures. She says she wants to represent Nebraska with dignity and integrity.
Upon conclusion of the ceremony, Senator Fischer released the following statement:
“Today, I placed my hand on the Bible and swore to ‘support and defend’ the Constitution – a sacred charge I take with great humility. I am committed to working with my colleagues – Republicans and Democrats – to restore America’s fidelity to her constitutional principles. This requires policies that limit the size of government, revitalize our ailing economy, and respect the liberties and hard-earned money of American taxpayers. The road ahead requires tough choices, and I will cast my votes solely on the merits of policies and their impact on Nebraskans and the nation.
“I look forward to serving all Nebraskans and encourage them to remain engaged in the democratic process beyond just participating in elections. A healthy democracy requires an ongoing conversation between lawmakers and constituents. I will actively reach out to citizens across Nebraska as we seek to shape public policy. In turn, I hope that constituents will contact me directly through phone calls, letters, and e-mails. Their wisdom comes from years spent running businesses, maintaining farms and ranches, and raising families – not time in Washington. Together, we can bring a strong dose of Nebraska common sense to Washington, D.C.
“I am thankful for this opportunity, I am honored by the trust placed in me, and I am proud to represent the interests of all Nebraskans.”
Nebraska Republican Senator Mike Johanns says he has the same feelings about the 1-year extension of the farm bill that was included as part of the fiscal cliff compromise that he has about the overall compromise itself; it’s not ideal, but it’s a lot better than the alternative.
The farm bill had expired at the end of September, reverting U-S ag policy back to a 1949 law that would have forced a return to parity pricing and mandatory land set aside. Johanns says no one would have been happy with that.
The Senate easily passed a new 5-year farm bill with strong bipartisan support last year, but the House chose to work on its own version…which never reached a floor vote. Johanns thinks the Senate bill will be the foundation for work this year.
House action on the farm bill last year got hung up in efforts to reduce the budget, with members pushing for more than the $23-billion dollars in cuts in the Senate version…especially in the area of food stamps.
Johanns thinks any new version this year will stay fairly close to the Senate figure, with the key being able to come up with a farm bill proposal that’s acceptable to a majority of the House members.
Johanns will be right in the middle of the farm bill fight as a member of the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. He’s also been named to Appropriations…Veterans Affairs…and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
He says he’s honored to serve on those committees because of their importance to both the nation and Nebraska, and because they’ll allow him to continue working on his priorities: reining in spending, seeing a reform-minded farm bill signed into law and providing the military and veterans with the services they need.
The overall index in Creighton University’s month survey of supply managers in the 9-state Mid-America region came in below the growth-neutral point of 50 for the fifth time in the past six months in December.
Economist and survey head Ernie Goss says the 49.5 index was up 1-1/2 points for the month and up 3 full points from November, pointing to slightly negative to zero growth for the region in the next three to six months, but still no recession.
Goss says there are a lot of factors involved in the regional slowdown, but puts much of the blame on the struggling global economy reducing demand for ag products from the Mid-America region.
Goss also blames the uncertainty caused by the gridlock in Washington over a variety of key issues including the implementation of Obamacare and the fiscal cliff…the expiring tax cuts and coming spending cuts avoided with the compromise passed Monday and Tuesday.
The region’s employment gauge dipped below growth neutral to 48.0 while the prices-paid index, which track inflation through the cost of raw materials and supplies, fell about a point to 63.5.
The confidence index, how the supply managers see things 6 months ahead, rose 6-1/2 points to reach growth-neutral…which Goss thinks is simply a result of things in December not being as bad as the supply managers had feared a month earlier.
The Creighton survey offers numbers for each of the 9 states as well as for the region as a whole. Nebraska, like the region, had its overall index improve slightly…1.1 points…but still come in below growth-neutral for the 5th time in 6 months at 48.4. The various components of the index were also below 50, including employment at 46.7.
Goss says Nebraska was one of only three states in the region to expand its labor force over the last year, but still was able to add jobs at a pace that reduced its unemployment rate to the second lowest in the nation.
Nebraska gained almost 3,000 manufacturing jobs since the national recovery began in July 2009, but Goss expects no more than slow job gains for the first half of 2013 in both the manufacturing and non-manfacturing sectors.
South Dakota’s overall index rose above 50 for the first time in 6 months, but only to tepid 51.9. All the components except inventories were also above 50, with employment at 54.3.
The state’s labor force shrank by approximately 2,600 workers, allowing the unemployment rate to drop despite almost no job growth.
South Dakota has added more than 4,000 manufacturing jobs during the recovery, but Goss says the survey points to a reversal of those gains over the next 6 months with no change in manufacturing jobs and very slow increases in nonmanufacturing jobs.
The Nebraska State Patrol made 101 Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) arrests during the most recent edition of the national You Drink & Drive. You Lose anti-drunk driving campaign…which wrapped up its 2-plus week run on New Year’s Day.
Troopers also issued 1,555 speeding citations, 98 driving under suspension citations, and 141 citations for no proof of insurance…as well as 320 seat belt citations and warnings, and 51 child restraint citations and warnings. They also provided assistance to 714 travelers.
The Patrol received a nearly $28,000 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety to cover the overtime hours of troopers and communications specialists during the holidays and the You Drink and Drive. You Lose campaign.
All six of the U-S Senators from Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota voted for the compromise avoiding the fiscal cliff while 3 of the 5 members of the House from the 3 states…all Republicans…did not.
Voting against the plan were Adrian Smith and Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, while Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Nebraska’s Lee Terry voted for it.
The House vote was 257-167…with 85 Republicans and172 Democrats voting “yes” and 151 Republicans and 16 Democrats voting “no.”
The Senate vote was 89-8 with Republicans Mike Johanns of Nebraska, John Thune of South Dakota, and Mike Enzi and John Barrasso of Wyoming in the majority along with Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Tim Johnson of South Dakota.
Congressman Smith, in a post-vote statement, said an alternative must be found to the “arbitrary defense cuts” in the sequestration portion of the fiscal cliff, but that “simply delaying these difficult decisions without replacing the spending reductions is the wrong approach.”
Senator Mike Johanns saw things the opposite way, saying that although the deal wasn’t “ideal,” it protects 99% of Americans from being hit with the largest tax hike in the country’s history.
DEADWOOD, S.D. (AP) — A Deadwood casino has been closed at least temporarily, leaving 52 people out of work and uncertain about their futures.
The Rapid City Journal reports that the Gold Dust closed at the end of its New Year’s Eve celebration. A lawyer for the Gold Dust’s owner says the casino is closed for renovations.
The casino is owned by the Dunham Company, a Sioux Falls firm that deals with construction, real estate brokerage and property management.
Dunham’s attorney, John Archer, says the company plans to reopen the casino in the future, but he does not know when that will happen. He says he also does not know whether former employees will be rehired after the renovations are complete.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska will ring in the new year with a host of new state laws.
Lawmakers approved 10 bills this year that go into effect Tuesday.
One measure will allow counties to charge higher filing fees for deeds, wills, mortgages and other property documents. Part of the money will help register-of-deed offices post more documents public documents online, while the rest goes to county general funds. The law ends in 2018, which forces register officials to prove they have used the money as intended.
Another law will give cities and counties the authority to allow golf cars on roads alongside golf courses, but operators must have insurance.
All or parts of the following Nebraska laws will go into effect Tuesday:
LB 14: Changes fees for deeds, mortgages, wills and other papers within a county’s register of deeds.
LB 216: Creates a special interest license plate for classic cars that aren’t used for regular travel.
LB 536: A law designed to give counties additional notice that property is changing hands because of a death.
LB 854: Gives businesses that have been dissolved up to five years to apply for reinstatement with the Nebraska secretary of state’s office.
LB 887: Reduces filing fees and changes other rules for Nebraska insurance companies.
LB 1058: Requires employers to send information about a worker’s eligibility for unemployment benefits to the state within 10 days of the Department of Labor requesting it.
LB 1080: Establishes tax breaks for data centers that locate in Nebraska.
LB 1091: Requires Nebraska retailers to collect a surcharge on prepaid cellphones and phone cards.
LB 1113: Sets rules in legal matters involving powers of attorney.
LB 1155: Gives Nebraska cities and counties the power to allow golf carts on streets that run alongside golf courses, but requires operators to have insurance to drive on streets.
The Utah construction company that built the Wyoming medium-security prison in Torrington is suing the tate Department of Corrections to get its final payment.
