Controversial issues mark newspaper’s top two 2017 stories; water voted No. 3

After four consecutive years with water and NRD issues as its top story of the year, The Imperial Republican staff selected a different subject as its No. 1 story for 2017.
    The confiscation of four Imperial police laptops by county officials in July and the week-long struggle that followed between the two entities and officials topped this year’s vote by 10 Imperial Republican staff members.
    No. 2 was another controversial issue—the announcement in October that a Colorado organic dairy was looking to locate an operation northwest of Imperial.
    Despite not making it into the top two, water issues in the Republican River Basin, which includes Chase County and the Upper Republican NRD, were still considered important to staff members as they ranked water as its No. 3 story.
    Chosen No. 4 was the hospital board’s vote to pursue construction of a new hospital, while No. 5 also dealt with the medical picture—the departure of Drs. Jonathan and Rachell Richman from the community and the arrival of Physician’s Asst. Nicole Havel.
    Rounding out the top 10 stories in order were the Wellington property auction, girls’ track state championship repeat, Imperial skatepark progress, Scott’s Pump Service fire and CCS music teaching assignments/resignation of School Supt. Joey Lefdal.
    Here’s a recap of the Top 10 story selections:
No. 1 Police laptops
    The confiscation of four police laptops in July started a week-long struggle between city and county officials on who owned them. After an examination of the computers by technicians, no evidence of viewing pornography was found, as alleged in a statement from an unnamed juvenile given to the Chase Co. Sheriff’s Dept., and who had acquired the information second-hand from another juvenile. At a September meeting, Chase Co. Emergency Manager Duane Dreiling, who requested the laptops for a Homeland Security audit, admitted the federal audit was never asked for by federal or state officials. County officials stated they do not plan to pursue further investigation into the juvenile statement.
No. 2. Organic dairy
     In October it was announced that a Colorado organic dairy was looking to locate northwest of Imperial. Citing air quality and land value concerns, neighbors organized to oppose the facility. Late in the year, the county planning commission began working on adding manure composting regulations as part of county zoning, which had not been included before.
No. 3 Supreme Court
dismisses water lawsuits
     In 2017, the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the district court dismissal of three lawsuits brought by surface water users in the Republican River Basin over the closing of surface water rights in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The NCORPE augmentation project continues to draw fire from North Platte State Sen. Mike Groene who wants the land in the project sold back to private parties, while allowing NCORPE to retain rights to the groundwater.
No. 4 New vs. remodel
    Chase County Community Hospital board members voted to pursue the construction of a new hospital after exploring costs to renovate and add on to the existing facility or build an entirely new facility. A new build was estimated to cost less than remodeling and would add new efficiencies not attainable in a remodel. The board selected a design-build group to begin working on firm cost estimates, financing options and building design.

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