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Place your logo here and link it to any website
For details contact:
LeRoy.Janssen@nacone.org
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| WHO SUPPORTS NACO AND THEIR MISSION?  Associate and Sustaining Members
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NACO Associate and Sustaining Members enable NACO to enhance its continuing education programs for county officials across the state. Visit NACO's complete associate and sustaining membership list
here.
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| Annual Conference Matters |
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Registration is now open for the annual NACO conference that will be held at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney.
The conference dates are December 14th through 16th. Wednesday, December 14th is the opening session at 2 p.m. and the final day concludes with a Friday, December 16th breakfast, business meeting and awards presentations following through to a sack luncheon dismissal at about noon.
Registration may be accomplished by clicking
here
. The general activities agenda can be accessed by clicking
here
. Group agendas can be viewed here.
Conference Keynote Speaker
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Aaron Thomas |
Aaron Thomas' father, Ed, was a beloved high school football coach, who not only trained generations of players on the importance of hard work, dedication, excellence, and commitment, but personally put those values into action as the community leader who inspired his town to rebuild in the wake of a deadly EF5 tornado. Not long after the community withstood the disaster of the storm, the small town of Parkersburg, Iowa endured a far worse tragedy...the fatal shooting of Coach Ed Thomas by a former player with mental health issues.
In this incredible story of ordinary people thrust into an extraordinary situation, Aaron Thomas shares his family's journey of showing uncommon strength during the darkest of times. Aaron will discuss how to deal with adversity and how to make the most of all opportunities. You will be challenged to look at your life, your family, and your organization to see if you are being a true difference maker.
County Official of the Year Nominations Are Being Sought
Do you know of an elected or appointed county official who you feel serves as the embodiment of a true dedicated public official? If so, nominate that individual for the annual County Official of the Year Award. The Nebraska Association of County Officials will present its highest honor to one county official at the conclusion of the December 16th business meeting.
The County Official of the Year Award was created as a means of honoring one individual each year for his or her leadership abilities, high standard of public service and outstanding contributions made to the medium of county government and that person's community.
The official nomination form can be found on NACO's
website or by clicking
here.
To nominate someone you know, print the form, complete it and return it to the NACO office by November 30th, along with any supplemental materials you feel would provide additional insight into why this person is deserving of the award. Supporting material may include testimonial letters from peers or other printed matter that highlight his or her record of service. Each of the 2016 nominees will be introduced and recognized during the conference. The announcement will be made as to who has been chosen by a special selection committee following the NACO Business Meeting on Friday, December 16. The 2016 recipient will join an elite list of county officials who have previously received this award and will receive a handsomely engraved plaque befitting of this prestigious honor.
Candlewood Suites
The Candlewood Suites are available for conference booking. They are located just north of the Younes Conference Center across 4th Avenue in Kearney. The Candlewood Suites do not have a guaranteed room rate for the conference this year. The room rate at the Candlewood Suites is $119.95 per night plus taxes. A preview of that property can be seen
here.
Changes Or Cancellations To Lodging Reservations
PLEASE NOTE:
Reservations may have been made initially under the county name but must all have individual names of who will occupy each room
no later than November 11, 2016. Any reservation being held under the county name after this date have been cancelled.
County officials should take note that the date for changing or cancelling any reservations for the NACO conference was November 11.
Any county making cancellations or changes lodging reservations after the November 11th date will be charged the first night's lodging.
Clerks, Register of Deeds & Election Commissioner's Goodwill Project
The 2016 NACO Conference Goodwill Project has been described by Joyce Oakley, the Nemaha County Clerk. The project will follow similar guidelines as the 2015 conference donations. Personal Care items will be asked for from the conference attendees. Each NACO district will be assigned certain items that will be collected at the conference and
will be set for distribution to the state's Veterans' homes.
View the project in its entirety
here.
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Board Training for Public Officials
For the past two years Vernon Waldren, who is retired with Nebraska Extension, has presented a condensed board training as part of the NACO Institute of Excellence. Institute of Excellence participants suggested that the topic be covered more in-depth in an Advanced Institute. So it shall be.
Board Training for Public Officials will be presented to
graduates of the NACO Institute of Excellence prior to the start of NACO's annual meeting on Tuesday, December 13th in Kearney at the Younes Conference Center. The training will begin at 2:00 p.m. and run until 5:00 p.m. The training will be held in Diamond Ballroom 3.
Cost of the workshop is $45 per person. NACO will bill counties after the workshop according to participation.
Mr. Waldren works closely with the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands and enjoys retirement by teaching many courses on Boardsmanship. He will focus this presentation on structure, mission, due diligence, finance and compliance. The information will be tailored for public officials, especially those who serve on nonprofit boards as representatives of county government.
To cover travel and program costs, a minimum of 15 county officials is required to hold the training. To register or get more information email Extension Educators
Carroll Welte, or call her at 402.374.2954; or
Jessica Jones, or call her at 402.335.3669.
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| Grant Training To Be Held In Omaha |
Grants Training in Omaha, NE
January 9-10, 2017
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The Omaha Police Department and Grant Writing USA will present a two-day grants workshop in Omaha, January 9-10, 2017. This training is for grant seekers across all disciplines. Attend this class and you'll learn how to find grants and write winning grant proposals.
Beginning and experienced grant writers from city, county and state agencies as well as nonprofits, K-12, colleges and universities are encouraged to attend.
We are excited to offer Nebraska Association of County Officials members and their staff a special tuition rate of $425 which includes
everything: two days of terrific instruction, workbook, and access to our Alumni Forum that's packed full of tools, helpful discussions and more than 200 sample grant proposals. Please use discount code "NEASSN" to receive this $30 discount off full price at registration.
Seating is limited, online reservations are necessary. Tuition payment is not required at the time of enrollment.
Multi-enrollment discounts and discounts for Grant Writing USA returning alumni are available. Tuition payment is not required at the time of enrollment.
Complete event details including learning objectives, class location, graduate testimonials and online registration are
available here.
Contacts:
Janet Darling
at Grant Writing USA
888.290.6237
Sgt. Ken Fox
Omaha Police Department
402.444.4501
More than 10,000 agencies across North America have turned to Grant Writing USA for grant writing and grant management training.
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| Legislature Schedules Interim Study Hearings |
Although the 2017 legislative session won't begin until January, senators and staff are working on new legislation during the interim. Resolutions proposing interim studies are offered during the session to examine new ideas for legislation and to dig deeper into issues raised by previously-introduced bills. Public hearings are held on some of the priority issues selected by each legislative committee, including the topics that are of interest to counties. County officials are encouraged to attend the hearings and provide testimony. Unlike hearings during the legislative session, testifiers do not need to take a position in support or opposition to the issue, but are simply asked to provide input. Many of the hearings will be live-streamed by Nebraska Educational Television and can be accessed through the Legislature's website.
November 22
Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee
State Capitol, Room 1525, 9:00 a.m.
LR483 (Kolterman) Interim study to examine the public employees retirement systems administered by the Public Employees Retirement Board
LR571 (Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee) Interim study to examine local political subdivision retirement plans for public employees
December 2 Urban Affairs Committee
State Capitol, Room 1510, 1:30 p.m.
LR490 (Crawford) Interim study to examine the enforcement of state and local building codes
December 5
Transportation and Telecommunications Committee and Appropriations Committee
State Capitol, Room 1113, 1:30 p.m.
Nebraska Department of Road Needs Assessment
Open to the public, invited testimony only
December 12
Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee
State Capitol, Room 1507, 10:00 a.m.
LR597 (Murante) Interim study to examine financing mechanisms available to various political subdivisions to issue bonds or assume future payment obligations without a direct vote of taxpayers
LR596 (Murante) Interim study to examine issues within the jurisdiction of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee
Election Technology Committee
State Capitol, Room 1507, 1:30 p.m.
Study the longevity of the technology used by election commissioners and county clerks to conduct elections as of January 1, 2016, and the feasibility of updating or replacing the technology
December 15
General Affairs Committee
State Capitol, Room 1510, 1:00 p.m.
LR541 (Larson) Interim study to examine the economic benefits of keno
NACO makes every effort possible to keep abreast of changing legislation as it may have an effect on county government. The NACO E-line
will also make every effort
to report any interim study hearing notices that become available in future publications.
The Nebraska Legislature has released its
Tentative 2017 Legislative Calendar
At the beginning of the 2017 session, the newly elected Speaker will publish the permanent session calendar, which may differ from the tentative calendar.
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Default Applications in Windows 10
When upgrading to Windows 10, you may have noticed that your default internet browser has now been changed to Microsoft Edge. Microsoft Edge has also become the default application for some other common files like Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). Windows 10 might have also pre-selected other integrated Windows applications like Windows Mail for your e-mail, Bing Maps for map requests, Groove Music for listening to music, Photo Viewer for viewing photo and Movies & TV for watching videos.
While the default applications may be well and good for most people, you may find that you would rather use an old favorite like Microsoft Outlook, Windows Media Player, Google Chrome or Adobe's Acrobat Reader instead. Some of the default applications are easier to change than others. To make the changes, go to the Start Menu and select the Settings option. This will display the Windows Settings screen, from here choose System and then the Default Apps option.
The six most common options (e-mail, maps, music, photos, videos and web browsing) are listed under Choose Default Apps. To change the default, simply select the default application, like Groove Music, and then select Windows Media Player instead. Then close the settings and you are done, right? What about PDFs? You may have noticed that PDF was not one of the six common options.
To change more specific items, like PDFs, you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the Default Apps Settings and choose "Choose default apps by file type". From here, you will see associated file types with specific apps. Scroll down through the Names until you see .pdf (Adobe Acrobat Document). To the right, you can change from Microsoft Edge to something like Adobe Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader.
Now, if you mess up, you can always "Reset to the Microsoft recommended defaults" from the bottom of the Default Apps Settings screen.
Keep in mind, the application you wish to use must already be installed on the computer. For example, Google Chrome does not come pre-installed on many computers. You must download and install it manually.
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County Government Day PowerPoint
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The PowerPoint presentation is available electronically at no charge (sent via e-mail) for use by counties during their annual County Government Day. The PowerPoint provides a comprehensive look at county government functions in the State of Nebraska and can be customized by each county. CD's are also available for $10.00 each to cover processing, shipping and handling. To request the County Government Day PowerPoint electronically, please e-mail your request to
larrydix@nacone.org
. The CD order form is available
here.
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NACO's Directory of County Officials is a valuable resource that not only gives you names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of every county official in the state, but includes a listing of county board meeting days, NACO districts, county seats, NACO officers and directors, affiliate officers and NACO staff.
As of January 2016,
NACO no longer prints the hard copy of the directory and sends one to each county. The directory has been made a part of the NACO website through a clickable and searchable icon and will be updated as corrections are submitted. The directory on the website is downloadable for a printed copy and it can also be transferred electronically to office computers and devices with memory storage such as smartphones and ipads.
For a copy of the last printed 2015 hard copy directory, click
here for the order form.
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2016 County Board Handbook and Revision
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The 2016 County Board Handbook and related revisions will be available at the 2016 NACO
Annual
Conference in Kearney in December.
The cost for a current handbook, including legislative information from the 2016 session, is $80.00/book plus $18.00 shipping and handling per book. The 2016 Supplement to the County Board Handbook is available for $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. The order form is available on the NACO website or by clicking here. If you are interested in purchasing a complete handbook and picking it up at Conference on December 15, please notify Deb Eberly at our office by November 30, 2016 so that you can pick up a copy at the conference. Copies of the 2016 Supplement will be available at the conference on December 15. For questions, contact
Deb Eberly by email
or call her at (402) 434-5660 ext. 232.
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| News From NACo |
COUNTY PRIORITIES IN BALANCE DURING LAME DUCK SESSION
With the 2016 general election behind it, Congress will return from recess the week of Nov. 14 for a lame duck session that is expected to adjourn on Dec. 16. With many pundits projecting before Election Day that control of the U.S. Senate as well as the White House could be up for grabs, congressional leaders indicated their plans for the lame duck session would be driven by the outcome of the 2016 elections.
Now, with Republicans retaining control of both chambers of Congress and with a victory by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, how Congress will proceed with its remaining work is a hotly discussed topic.
To read the entire article, click here.
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| NACo Webinars |
Webinar
Energizing Counties: Strategies and Tools to Improve Your County's Energy Efficiency
Dec. 1, 2016
, 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm CST
Join us on this interactive webinar to learn how counties are innovating to improve the energy efficiency of county assets, and assist residents and businesses with improving their energy efficiency. Energy professionals and county leaders will discuss the strategies and tools they use to achieve success. This discussion will give county elected officials and staff members an idea of where the field of energy efficiency is heading in the face of changing physical, environmental and economic conditions, and will suggest next steps that counties can take to improve their energy efficiency.
For more information, please contact Jenna Moran at
JMoran@naco.org or 202.942.4224.
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