The Post Podcast

The Westfield Shopping Center in North Platte will kick off the holiday season Saturday with its annual Christmas in the Neighborhood event.

The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 14 and will feature live reindeer, Santa Claus, holiday games, ornament making, story time, selfies and cookie decorating.

The North Platte Optimist Club will also provide its free children’s identification safety program. Other activities include hot dogs grilled by the Orr’s Dry Cleaners crew and the Nebraska Land Bank, along with a drawing for children to win a 10-foot Christmas inflatable.

The event will also serve as the official kickoff for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign.

Organizers are encouraging visitors to bring coats, canned food or cash donations to benefit a local North Platte food pantry. Coats donated through the effort will be cleaned by Orr’s Dry Cleaners, with donations accepted through Dec. 31.

Organizers encourage families to bring cameras for photos with Santa and the live reindeer while enjoying an afternoon of holiday activities.

On this week's episode of Knight's Weekly, Paxton Gordon sits down with North Platte Community College men's basketball coach Jacob Brandl to discuss the Knights' difficult start to the season. Coming off a 116-92 home loss to Garden City, North Platte sits at 0-5 on the year.

Coach Brandl discusses the team's early-season struggles, the areas he's keeping a close eye on and what he wants to see from his players as they look to turn things around. The Knights face a challenging weekend ahead, with matchups against nationally ranked No. 10 Barton Community College, Cloud County Community College and Fort Hays Tech Northwest on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The North Platte Public Schools Foundation is accepting scholarship applications for graduating seniors while continuing to support classroom projects and student opportunities throughout the district.

Scholarship applications opened Nov. 2 and will remain available through March 1. Burchell said the foundation offers 28 scholarships totaling $23,000, with an additional $10,000 available through outside scholarships from local organizations.

Applications are completed electronically through Epsentria, a platform available to North Platte Public Schools students. Students can invite parents to help with the process, and school counselors can monitor their progress. The foundation also uploads student transcripts to make applying easier.

“I'm glad we're electronic,” Burchell said, noting that the online system has made the process easier for students and scholarship reviewers.

Some scholarships have also expanded in size or become renewable, allowing students to continue receiving support beyond their freshman year. Burchell said students who have already earned an associate degree through dual-credit coursework may also qualify for certain scholarships.

The foundation is also continuing its Reaching One Classroom at a Time program, which supports teachers and classroom projects throughout the school year. Recent projects include family and consumer science classes at North Platte High School learning different grilling methods using Blackstone and Traeger grills.

At Cody Elementary, a third-grade class received an electronic buzzer system to help students participate in classroom activities.

Burchell said the program typically runs for about 20 weeks, beginning in October and continuing into February.

The foundation is also helping support the second annual Nebraska Film Festival, which will take place in April. The event will feature high school students from across the state, with opportunities for the public to view student films during the festival.

The foundation also announced that its planned movie night on the field, originally scheduled for October, has been postponed until spring. The event is organized by Nebraska Land Bank and is open to the entire community, with free will donations supporting Kids Club.

The Ogallala City Council approved a permit to relocate a single-family home, received updates on community development and reviewed several ongoing city projects during its latest meeting.

City Manager Tell Jensen discussed the meeting during an interview, describing it as one of the shorter sessions following a previous meeting with a lengthy agenda.

One of the main items involved a request to move a single-family home to 2103 Warrior Drive. Jensen said the home was originally facing demolition before someone offered to purchase it and move it to the property for repairs.

“So he kind of saved a house as well as kind of save some maintenance,” Jensen said.

Before approving a moving permit, the city reviews several factors, including zoning requirements, street conditions and whether the structure can safely fit along the planned route. Jensen said the city also wanted to make sure the proper insurance was in place before approving the request.

The council also received a quarterly report from Keith County Area Development, along with information from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. Jensen said the presentations provided council members with data and updates on ongoing community development efforts.

Another topic was the city's upcoming online permitting process. Jensen said the city is working with Cloudpermit to make it easier for residents and businesses to apply for permits online. The system will include mobile food vendor permits, which are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

“We're looking to see how to make it easier, more accessible to the public in order to apply for a permit,” Jensen said.

He added that permits will still require city approval, even after the online application process is implemented.

Jensen also provided updates on the airport, including the recent hiring of an airport attendant. The new employee is expected to take on more responsibility for airport operations, with additional updates and information planned for the next council meeting.

The city's technology needs were another part of Jensen's report. He presented council members with quotes and estimates from several companies as the city considers upgrades and modernization. Jensen said he outlined the costs, budget considerations and pros and cons of the different options.

The council also completed a second reading of a proposed ordinance addressing RV parks and campgrounds. Jensen said the ordinance must go through three readings before it can be passed.

On this week's episode of Knight's Weekly, Paxton sits down with North Platte Community College men's basketball coach Jacob Brandl to discuss the Knights' start to the season and how the team is progressing. The Knights are looking to bounce back after two road losses to Laramie County Community College and No. 8 Indian Hills Community College. Brandl also previews the team's next opportunity to get back in the win column at the Calzonetti Classic, where North Platte will face Dodge City Community College on Friday and Garden City Community College on Saturday.

The Prairie Arts Center in North Platte is preparing for a busy November and December, with new art exhibits, holiday classes and community events planned for the coming weeks.

Executive Director Holly Carlini discussed the center's November gallery, titled It Takes a Soul to Love the Prairie, which features artists from across Nebraska and showcases prairie landscapes through oil paintings, acrylics and other artwork. A public reception is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m., with the exhibit remaining on display throughout the month.

“It's just a beautiful depiction of prairie life, so a lot of landscapes, a lot of oil paintings, acrylic,” Carlini said.

The center's impact gallery will also feature a private collection of military ships and memorabilia from board member Andy Miller. Miller will be at the center throughout November demonstrating ship modeling.

Looking ahead to the holiday season, the Prairie Arts Center will host its Making Christmas Magic event Nov. 13. Participants can choose three classes for $65, with projects including mosaic and clay ornaments, wood-burning projects, pillow making and painting.

The center is also partnering with the North Platte Community Playhouse for Carousel of Homes, decorating as many as 30 Christmas trees throughout the event space. Visitors will also have opportunities to take pictures with Santa, and silent auction items will be available.

The Prairie Arts Center is open Tuesday through Saturday, and admission to the galleries is free.

On today's episode of Knight's Weekly, Paxton sat down with Jeff Thurman, Head Coach of the North Platte Community College Women's Basketball team, to talk about the team's offseason and his approach to this new season. Thurman also discussed how the start of the season has been just 2 games in, with games against #15 Frank Phillips and York University JV.

Visitors spent $124 million in Lincoln County in 2025, a 6.7% increase over the previous year, according to tourism figures shared by Visit North Platte Executive Director Lisa Burke.

During her interview Burke discussed the numbers, recent tourism grant awards and upcoming events during an interview with North 

Visit North Platte recently awarded funding to several events and projects expected to bring visitors to the area. Among the recipients was Midwest Championship Fighting, which received $3,000 for its St. Paddy’s Day Beatdown scheduled for March 2027.

North Platte High School also received $14,000 to help host the Nebraska High School State Video Competition in April. The competition is expected to bring approximately 1,000 students to North Platte.

Other grant recipients included Miss Rodeo Nebraska and the city of North Platte. The city plans to use its funding to create brochures highlighting the Cody Park Railroad Museum and local parks.

Burke said tourism numbers for 2026 are also showing continued growth, currently tracking approximately 9% ahead of last year.

She pointed to lodging tax collections in August as another indicator of tourism activity in the area. Lincoln County collected $185,000 in lodging tax revenue that month, compared with $170,000 in Buffalo County and $155,000 in Hall County.

More information about upcoming events, visitor attractions and travel opportunities in the area is available at VisitNorthPlatte.com.

The North Platte City Council approved several property and development-related items during its meeting Tuesday, including an agreement with Midwest Land Development for a proposed housing project.

Kelliher discussed the agreement, which involves approximately 66 acres of city-owned property near Devco Street and the proposed extension of Francis Street.

Kelliher also said the developer plans to turn most of the area into housing, with some light industrial lots. As part of the project, the developer will pay for approximately 3,100 feet of Francis Street, an estimated cost of more than $2 million.

The council also approved the sale of a small piece of city-owned property to nearby property owners, reduced the Library Advisory Board from 12 members to eight and approved the first reading of an ordinance addressing the board's responsibilities.

Other actions included approving the appointment of Tammy Timmerman-Lashley to the Planning Commission, renewing the city's human resources agreement with Zell, and awarding Weathercraft Companies a contract of up to $59,221 to replace the roof at Fire Station No. 1.

North Platte Head Volleyball Coach Shelby Welsh joins Sports Director Hayden Coker to discuss this past season with her Lady Bulldogs, the flow of coaching each individual, and how she got into coaching.