Norfolk, NE

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Huskers Volleyball Players train kids at Medelmans Lake in Norfolk for Fireworks Fundraiser



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Norfolk celebrates completion of Nebraska’s largest solar power farm

People behind the state’s largest solar farm and one of its largest battery installations celebrated a finished project Wednesday in Norfolk, Nebraska. Norfolk’s new community solar power farm can produce 8.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1,250 homes, city officials explained in a press release. A new Nebraska Public Power District battery system will store up to 2 megawatt-hours of power, enough to help local NPPD customers during peak-usage times, including hot days. The City of Norfolk worked with NPPD and developers at N Solar — including Sol Systems, GenPro Energy Solutions and Mesner Development — on the solar project.

The average residential customer who signed up for the city’s community solar program will save about $15 to $20 a month by participating, city officials said. Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning said he was pleased to see local interest in community solar survive the five-year wait for the project to be completed. “Having local electricity generation helps balance our system,” Moenning said. “We’re using our own natural resources, in which the fuel is free.” NPPD President Tom Kent said the contract helps NPPD bolster its solar portfolio to 20 megawatts. The utility also runs hydroelectric and nuclear power plants. “We are very committed to a low-carbon resource mix … as we move into the future,” Kent said. Sol Systems and its partners will operate the farm as part of a 30-year agreement with NPPD to purchase power the farm produces, according to a press release from the company.

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Nebraska's largest solar facility opens in Norfolk

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Norfolk solar project largest in state, relies on community input

Some Nebraskans are finding out it literally pays to go green.

Norfolk has become the latest Nebraska community to make money off going solar — savings that are being shared with Norfolk businesses and citizens who signed up for solar energy. The city of about 24,400 is doing so through an 8.5 megawatt community solar farm that is going live within the next few weeks. Electricity from the project will cost less than conventional electricity, resulting in savings to those customers who signed on. For participating residential customers, the savings can amount to as much as a $16.43 reduction in their monthly electric bill, said Grant Otten, spokesman for Nebraska Public Power District.

The solar farm is a project of Norfolk, NPPD and N Solar, a collaboration of three companies: Mesner Development Co., GenPro Energy Solutions and Sol Systems. That solar has become so affordable isn’t surprising. The cost of large-scale solar farms has dropped dramatically in the past decade or so, by as much as 82%, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a part of the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Rock Concert to Highlight Madison County Fair

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Norfolk artist paints mural for new downtown business

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New café-style restaurant now open for business in Norfolk

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Poppy's Pumpkin Patch experiencing 'difficult' pumpkin shortage this fall

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Streets, police, aquatic center: campaign pushing for Norfolk improvements kicks off

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Norfolk’s buses stopped running after $1 million went missing. The main suspect is still on the run.

NORFOLK, Neb. (Flatwater Free Press) — One of the last bus drivers in Norfolk begins his day by taking Nancy Stehlik to work. Wrapped in a purple coat and earmuffs, Stehlik inches her walker onto the small bus’s wheelchair lift. Driver Neil Schlecht pushes a button and the lift whirs down, placing Stehlik outside of Walmart, where she works as a cashier.

Schlecht spends the rest of his shift on a recent Monday crisscrossing Norfolk – a pick up at Odd Fellow Rebekah Manor, an assisted living facility. A drop off at Walmart. The doctor’s office. And then back to Odd Fellows again. He takes seven people to work, clinics, church, the grocery store, home. It’s just as he long did for North Fork Area Transit, the bus service which until recently used 35 buses and vans to give as many as 10,000 rides a month. As Schlecht talks and jokes with his riders, it feels like any normal day on his route. But the bus in Norfolk has become undeniably abnormal.

“This is just a smidge of what we used to do,” Schlecht said. On Jan. 6, the buses serving Madison County stopped operations for a reason that shocked riders, drivers and some area leaders: The transit system’s general manager, Jeff Stewart, had allegedly stolen as much as $1 million, much of it taxpayer money, from the transit nonprofit. A warrant had been issued for his arrest. But he’s nowhere to be found – authorities believe he’s fled the country. His company cell phone and laptop are also missing, according to court records. Now, Schlecht drives a lone bus around Norfolk, bought in January by a city council member to make sure people without transportation weren’t left entirely stranded. North Fork Area Transit’s swift end left 60 employees without a job. And it left hundreds of residents without reliable transportation – residents including many Norfolk senior citizens, people with disabilities, students and single parents.

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That’s a true crime documentary plot if I’ve ever seen one.

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City of Norfolk brings the holiday spirit to downtown and River Pointe Square



NORFOLK, Neb. (KMTV) — Whether it’s the chill in the air or the Christmas tree taking shape downtown the signs are clear, it’s the holiday season in Norfolk. “We are putting lights on the trees and decorating in the median, we have our tree assembled as you can see behind me so we are really excited about that,” said PJ Evans, Assistant Director for Norfolks Park and Recreation department.

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Baby animals spring up around Poppy’s Pumpkin Patch during off-season



NORFOLK, Neb. (KOLN) - At this time of year, you won’t see any pumpkins growing in the fields of Poppy’s Pumpkin Patch. But you will see all the new faces that springtime brings. The owners, Ryan and Mashaela Wolken, use the off-season to introduce little kids to baby animals. “We were obviously having baby animals born that time of year, and we kind of just looked at each other like, ‘Oh, our customers would just love that,’” said Mashaela Wolken. The Wolkens raise lambs, ducklings, chicks and baby goats. Their petting zoo also features donkeys, a llama, an alpaca and peacocks.

In June, the Wolkens begin planting cover crops on about seven acres. Then they roll over rye to kill off weeds and make room for pumpkins. “We’ve got a planter rigged up, so now we plant a little more efficiently than we used to,” Ryan said. “We used to do the hoe and walk and have the kids drop the seeds in and cover them up behind us.” Until pumpkin season, their farm is filled with the sights and sounds of spring. If you would like to see the fluffy new faces at Poppy’s Pumpkin Patch, you can come to their spring event on May 18-19 and 25-26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. People can enjoy the petting zoo, attractions and refreshments at 55275 837th Rd outside of Norfolk.

You can pay at the front or buy tickets here.

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Pierce potter sells handmade art in hometown with PeekenPots



PIERCE, Neb. (KOLN) - At his family’s fifth generation acreage, Scott Peekenschneider enjoys making art that people can use. Then he sells it through his small business called PeekenPots Handmade Pottery. “It’s like making your own tools,” Peekenschneider said. “It’s like making my own coffee mug to be able to drink or making my own plate to be able to eat from - I’ve always been interested in that utilitarian aspect of pottery.” He was first introduced to making pottery in art class while growing up in Pierce. The hobby followed him when he moved to Lincoln for six years and then to Omaha for six years. “It’s a skill that not everyone tries, so not everyone can do,” Peekenschneider said. “So there’s a sense of accomplishment there.”