SARPY COUNTY, Neb. (KMTV) – Sarpy County went through a lot in 2024 from the approval of the Good Life District in Bellevue to severe weather that impacted several communities but the community always came together to support their neighbors.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Sarpy County has been through a lot of changes in the last year. Here are some stories that impacted me in the last year as your Sarpy County neighborhood reporter:
Bellevue had big news with the approval of the fourth good life district in the state. The district will be centered around the waterpark “Bellevue Bay” and neighbors were excited to hear about the project.
"I think it's awesome. I mean Bellevue has been here for a while and our community is building up a lot,” neighbor Rachel Westerlond said.
The groundbreaking for the Good Life District is expected to be in the spring of 2025.
But some challenges come along as the county grows.
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The Astro concert venue in La Vista had a busy summer with shows at the amphitheater but for one neighbor, the noise was too much.
Adam Giesen had the theater in his backyard and the noise forced him out of his first home.
"I’m not going to be here for the fix but I wanted to help my neighbors and others in the neighborhood and hopefully have something come of this," Giesen said.
The city did conduct a sound study to make changes to the noise level in the future.
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The community gathered for the return of something special for Sarpy County, The Defenders of Freedom Air and Space Show coming back to Offutt Air Force Base after a six-year hiatus.
“Once you get everyone out here, it’s the electricity of everyone here and then talking to the pilots and everyone that is involved with the maintenance of these planes and jets, it is just phenomenal,” neighbor Sheila Peterson said.
The anticipated show brought out nearly 80,000 people to the base over the weekend.
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And the community came together to help their neighbors in Sarpy County.
By suppling items some families couldn’t afford through the Sarpy County Period Project.
"I haven't heard of a group of community leaders coming together trying to provide period products for a whole area, not just their school or district, a whole area,” said Kristin Lowery, founder of ACCESS Period.
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Severing meals to neighbors left without power for days.
"I’ve been in this community 23 years and it's amazing how we all come together to help each other, it's really nice,” Volunteer Dina Haberer said.
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And filling a local food pantry when it was in need after the power outage caused it to lose produce.
“Whenever we ask for something, we have people who respond right away, and this time was no different. It means just the world to us to be able to know the community can help us so we can help everybody,” said Diane Wagner, manager of the Bellevue Food Pantry.
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Through all the changes the community has seen this year, neighbors continue to come together to support each other and their community.
It was a pleasure covering this neighborhood over the past year. If neighbors have more story ideas in their neighborhood, you can email me at greta.goede@3newsnow.com.
