The Logan County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to approve a moratorium on data centers, making Logan the 12th county in the state to temporarily halt any data center construction.

The 12-month development ban also bars wind and solar energy systems, as well as cryptocurrency mining facilities, County Clerk Jennifer Nicholson said.

“Data centers are popping up everywhere,” Nicholson said. “We are in the middle of redoing our comprehensive plan and zoning regulations, and we want to get those in place since we currently don’t have anything that addresses data centers.”

Eleven other counties already have moratoriums in place: Butler, Box Butte, Custer, Dundy, Furnas, Hayes, Harlan, Johnson, Kearney, Otoe and Seward.

Cass, Gage and Garfield county planning commissions have voted in favor of moratoriums, but they await final approval from their respective county boards.

Logan County Commissioner Jon Hill said the moratorium buys the county time to finish refining its regulations in order to protect the county’s resources. While Hill said several residents are in favor of data centers and the business they may bring to the region, others are concerned about water use and how a center might impact the county’s electric supply and rates. He said he has questions of his own.

“I do have questions about why they cover so much land,” Hill said, referring to hyperscale data centers. “Some of them I’ve read about are three or five thousand acres.”

One potential data center developer, Tenaska, sent a representative to a Gage County meeting on moratoriums. The representative warned that moratoriums can create the appearance of being closed for business. Hill said that would not apply in Logan County.

“There might be an appearance that way, but I can’t say why,” Hill said. “Because we’ve made it plain in our action that it would be just twelve months until we can get regulations fixed up for them.”

Lincoln County Commissioners, on the other hand, rejected a moratorium earlier this week. Despite a large crowd showing up in force to advocate for strict regulations around data centers, or, better yet, a moratorium, board members argued that their existing regulations that address data centers are enough. Judy Clark, development director for the county, said the county is still working on refining those regulations that touch on data centers. Since the vote, county election officials confirmed a recall drive has been initiated against three of the five county commissioners.

Other counties are also reworking their zoning regulations, even ones that do not have moratoriums that temporarily bar development. This comes after legislation passed by lawmakers this year setting up a timeline for county boards to follow when they receive special or conditional use permit applications, typically used by data center developers. While some bills, like LB1261, do come with protections for counties, such as requirements for any developer needing a great deal of power to finance upgrades to the grid, many counties are working to ensure that any developer that hopes to build in their region has to abide by local rules as well, tailored to suit the community.

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A part-owner of Endless Journey Hospice is speaking out after the Nebraska Attorney General issued a 14-page petition of disciplinary action against her and another nurse at the company.

Melanie Costlow, who has been a part owner of Endless Journey Hospice since the company opened in 2016, said she is working to show the positives of the organization following allegations from the state.

Allegations and investigation

In April of last year, the state opened an investigation into Endless Journey Hospice following a self-reported incident. Attorney General Mike Hilgers issued the disciplinary petition against two nurses at the company.

Allegations against Costlow included failing to report misdemeanors on nurse renewal applications, transporting medications from a deceased patient, and allowing staff to sign medical reports as a physician.

The second nurse was accused of mishandling medications in an unlocked cabinet and signing patient records as a physician. That nurse has since been terminated.

Costlow’s response

Costlow said she was unaware the employee was keeping medications from a deceased patient, and that an automated computer system unknowingly marked employees as physicians in patient records.

“None of that happened knowingly. None of that was done with ill intent,” Costlow said.

She said the charting system issue was identified and steps were taken to correct it before the state investigated.

“I will tell you that we had a system. All hospices had a system that they chart and we changed our system,” Costlow said.

Regarding the failure to report prior misdemeanors, Costlow said she had an attorney at the time and was unaware she was required to report them to the state board of nursing.

“That was not done maliciously. That is not me trying to hide from the state board of nursing that I was caught driving without a driver’s license,” Costlow said.

Outcome

There is no longer an active investigation. Costlow will serve a 90-day suspension and pay a $10,000 fine. Endless Journey Hospice will remain open.

Costlow said her suspension had not yet begun but was expected to start in the coming days.

“I don’t want Endless Journey to suffer for something that we already been through, that we already handled, that we already took care of,” Costlow said.

ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – A Bent Mountain teenager will compete at the National High School Rodeo Finals in Lincoln, Neb., later this month after qualifying with the Virginia High School Rodeo Association.

Kellen Hamm, a dual-enrolled homeschooled Roanoke County senior, graduated this May with a 4.2 GPA. She will compete at the national finals July 18–25 in four events: breakaway roping, team roping, barrel racing and pole bending.

Seventh state title in pole bending

Hamm recently claimed her seventh consecutive Virginia state championship in pole bending, riding her horse Tucker. Winning seven straight state titles in the same event on the same horse is considered a rare accomplishment in high school rodeo competition.

College plans

Hamm has been accepted to Murray State University in Kentucky, where she plans to enroll this fall. She will pursue a degree in elementary education and compete on Murray State’s collegiate rodeo team.

To follow Hamm’s progress at the National High School Rodeo Finals, visit the event’s official website online.