Election filing deadlines rapidly approaching

Filing deadline for incumbent office holders seeking re-election is coming up on Tuesday, Feb. 16. The deadline for nonincumbents hits two weeks later on March 1.

In Chase County, all elective county positions are up for election with the exception of the District 1 seat on the County Board of Commissioners to which Chuck Vette of Wauneta was elected in 2008.

Nebraska’s 2010 primary election will be held on Tuesday, May 11.

The last day to register as a voter in order to be eligible to vote in the primary is May 3.

A notice of offices to be filled by election and notice of election filing deadlines is included in an ad on page 10.

WP music students selected for honor festivals

Three Wauneta-Palisade students have been selected to participate in the High Plains Festival at Chadron State College Feb. 1-2, with the final concert slated for Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. MT.

Brittnae Maris was selected for honor band, Jenna Jutten for honor choir, and Tayler Nordhausen for the women’s choir.

This week, five WP students were selected to travel to Kearney to attend the University of Nebraska-Kearney Festival Choir on Jan. 25.

Students from Wauneta-Palisade selected to participate included Landen Lawless, Colby Skelton, Amanda Johnston, Peter Holmes and Clint Majors.

Shop for a Valentine’s gift in Palisade this Saturday

A day of special one-stop shopping is planned in Palisade on Saturday, Jan. 30, as several home-based businesses are pulling together to host a Valentine’s Day Extravaganza.

A wide variety of items will be available on that day at the American Legion Auxiliary Hall in downtown Palisade from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. MT/9 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The Legion Auxiliary will host a raffle, bake sale and white elephant sale during the event.

Local vendor products featured at the Valentine’s Day Extravaganza include: Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, Scentcy Scents, Sheal’s, Premier Jewelry, Upper Case Living, Avon, Mary Kay, Shear Reflections and more.

Lunch will be available at the Auxiliary Hall.

State’s unemployment rate up slightly at 4.7 percent

Nebraska’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 4.7 percent in December but still remained less than half the national unemployment rate of 10 percent, the state Department of Labor said Friday.

Nebraska continues to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. North Dakota again led the nation with a 4.4 percent rate in December. Nebraska and South Dakota tied for the second lowest rate at 4.7 percent unemployment.

State labor officials revised preliminary November’s unemployment rate to 4.6 percent from 4.5 percent.

The Nebraska unemployment rate in December is eight-tenths of a percentage point higher than the rate in December 2008. The national December rate is 2.6 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

Nebraska Labor Commissioner Catherine Lang says three sectors of the state economy reported increases in the number of jobs in December, including the first net increase in manufacturing employment since March 2008.

The trade, transportation and utility sector added 2,151 jobs between November and December. Manufacturing added 576 jobs. And financial businesses added 456 jobs.

Nebraska’s seasonally adjusted labor force included 983,159 people in December. Of those, 46,299 were listed as unemployed, which is 1,543 higher than in November and 7,153 higher than December 2008.

The state says the only labor markets where the unemployment rate decreased last month were Beatrice and Columbus. The rate was flat in Fremont and Hastings, and up in every other labor market the state tracks.

Omaha’s estimated unemployment rate increased to 5 percent in December from a revised 4.7 percent in November. The rate was 4.1 percent in December 2008.

Lincoln’s estimated unemployment rate also increased to 4.1 percent in December from a revised 3.9 percent in November. In December 2008, the Lincoln rate was 3.4 percent.