Dorchester Times: Our Picks For Tuesday's Local Elections

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Our Picks For Tuesday's Local Elections

Only three more days until Election Day. For most of us, that can't come too soon -- unless you enjoy the political advertising, campaign promises, yard signs and bumper stickers.

In the Dorchester area, we have a few races of our own that will be decided on Tuesday, including important races for Dorchester School Board and the Village Board.

While we have promised not to make a practice of getting into the endorsement business, we believe there is a need for some public discourse when it comes to who is on the ballot, who will best represent us, and who will most wisely spend our tax dollars.

Here is who the Dorchester Times is recommending for our local representative bodies:

Dorchester School Board
Matthew W. Hansen
Steve Vyhnalek
Carol Schnell

Dorchester Village Board
Dean Prachiel
Todd Jensen
LJ Barley

The individuals who have filed for Dorchester School Board seats are all incumbents. We feel these representatives have done a good job balancing the needs of the Dorchester school district, while looking out for the pocketbooks of the district's taxpayers. We also believe all three are committed to ensuring Dorchester academics remain top notch.

In the village board race, Prachiel and Jensen are incumbents seeking re-election, while Barley is a challenger seeking to fill a vacancy left by retiring board member Joyce Karl. We feel the mix of board experience, knowledge of current issues and Barley's role as a small business owner on Dorchester's main street will serve the voters of Dorchester well.

In the race for Legislature, we have endorsed Laura Ebke based on her conservative approach to state government.

Be sure to vote on Tuesday! Every vote counts.

5 comments:

Don HoffmanNovember 1, 2014 at 2:06 PM
Seems like a fine group of candidates, who will represent our interests in several different arenas.
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AnonymousNovember 2, 2014 at 9:02 AM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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AnonymousNovember 3, 2014 at 8:01 PM
I'm not in the business of campaign management, but I'd stick to the facts if I were either side. I'm voting for Ebke tomorrow not based on Phil's vet practices but because of his politics and political IQ, which leaves a little to be desired. Laura is sharp and more fiscally minded than Phil. That is just one female voter's opinion.
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AnonymousNovember 4, 2014 at 7:39 AM
sometimes the truth hurts!!!!
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."