Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 184
After more than a week of pursuit, Elijah Mason Dunning, 21, was arrested in Broomfield, Colorado, on five charges: theft by receiving stolen property, a Class 2A felony; possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, a Class 1D felony; possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, a Class 2 felony; and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest and possession of a controlled substance, both Class 4 felonies. Dunning had eluded law enforcement officers since Oct. 30. At about 11 p...
A new traffic light for the intersection of Illinois Street and 13th Avenue is scheduled to be shipped on Dec. 5, with installation to occur before the end of the year. "I would expect for us to see it sometime the second week of December, with installation shortly thereafter," Mike Palmer, Sidney electric superintendent, said. In August, the light pole was hit by a truck. Since then, the intersection has had flashing yield lights for east- and westbound traffic and stop signs for north- and...
Cheyenne County Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual Night at the Races event on Nov. 18 at the Sidney Elks Club. The Chamber fundraiser event is "a fun time for the community to get together," Denise Wilkinson, Chamber president, said. "There's eight races, 10 horses each. You can pre-name your horse. And when you win, you win the paper money but also you get into the drawing for a grand prize," she said. The races are pre-recorded, Wilkinson explained. "There is a company in...
With expenses increasing for Cheyenne County Visitors Center, County Commissioners Monday questioned the effectiveness of its director, Heather Hausmann. Promotions fund expenses have increased drastically, according to information provided by Diane Scott, county treasurer. From July 2016 through June 2017, expenses totaled $240,056, a difference over its revenue of $63,454. It is the greatest difference between revenue and expenses over the previous four years combined. Lodging tax dollars...
Tony Balandran of Sidney was honored by Regional West Health Services for his 20 years of service as an emergency medical technician. Balandran described the recognition as "wonderful" and "rewarding." "The reason being is because typically the lifespan right now in EMT is about five years," he said. "I love helping people. I think I am doing my calling." An EMT's duties and responsibilities are many. "A normal day involves checking in vehicles, making sure all the equipment's there and function...
Community Action Partners of Western Nebraska in Sidney has launched a food drive and coat drive leading up to the holidays. The non-profit helps people from Cheyenne, Kimball and Deuel counties, and takes referrals from Garden County, as well. CAPWN's food pantry, at 2241 Illinois St., is in need of non-perishable goods, Lorilei Stark, family & youth stabilization coordinator, said. "We order free items from the food bank in Omaha, but we are also requesting local families that are able to...
City of Sidney's dispute with energy-provider MEAN (Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska) is going to the state supreme court, J. Leef, city attorney, informed the city council on Nov. 24. "This is not something that often comes up," Leef remarked. The city's dispute with MEAN is over increased transmission rates. Ed Sadler, city manager, said these increases will cost Sidney taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. "We had an agreement," Sadler said. "You pay for two things. You're...
Shop With a Cop is now taking donations. "It's a program where the cops get together and we help children with families who might be having a hard time getting some Christmas gifts together," SPD Officer Jennifer Woodis said. "Maybe they lost a job or there's a sickness." The program, through Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 43, is completely donation-based. "Last year we had five kids and we had $500. Each kid got $100 and they got a wishlist for their family," Woodis said. "They go out and purc...
Sidney Public Library's MakerSpace will be unveiled Dec. 5 with a Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce "Business After Hours" event. "We'll have drinks and h'ors d'oeuvres," Andrew Sherman, library director, said. "We'll have the MakerSpace open, all the equipment up and running, producing different stuff so everybody can wonder through the space and see everything in operation." The MakerSpace is being funded by a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and will establish a...
St. Patrick's Catholic Church holds its annual Autumn Festival this Sunday. "We used to call it the bazaar, and it's happened in this parish for lots and lots of years," Pat Mertz, pastoral minister, said. "It's our big fundraiser for the year." The key feature of the event is a turkey dinner, served with all the trimmings. "It's really good, and people come from all over for that dinner," Mertz said. "One of the things we do is deliver meals to people who are homebound, so if they call and...
Tim Lindahl, Wheat Belt PPD CEO, protested Sidney's sign ordinance Tuesday after the company's 2104 Illinois St. facility was cited. The Wheat Belt building was used in promoting the ordinance, Lindahl claimed at the regular meeting of the City Council. "If I had known we were to be one of the intended targets for this code we would have voiced our concern at that time," he said. Wheat Belt continues to use the Illinois Street facility, Lindahl said. "We have ceased to use it as our daily...
More than 30 trunks are participating in the city’s Halloween Trunk or Treat, making it the most the event has ever featured. “It’s pretty exciting,” Kim Phillips, event committee member, said. “That means we’re getting people involved and I think that’s pretty necessary right now.” Trunk or Treat, a community event sponsored by the City of Sidney, provides an area downtown for kids to safely trick or treat, Phillips said. In its first year, the event attracted more than 2,000, and last year bro...
Sidney High School's sextet singing group has been selected to sing the national anthem at the 2017 Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) football championship finals Nov. 21 at University of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. "They were selected from a group of over 200 candidates and they'll be performing live," Jennifer Mead, SHS choir director, said. The group of six SHS students was chosen for the sextet from a larger group called Heartbreakers, a show choir, and Sidney...
Sidney's Cool Kids Club program celebrated its 16th year with Lights Out After School Thursday at North Elementary. "Lights on After School is a celebration once a year," Kim Hofrock, CKC director, said. "Beyond School Bells, Nebraska Children & Family, sponsors it through a grant, to celebrate after school programs." With dinner, parents watched their children demonstrate STEM skills such as basic programming and made crafts together. Cool Kids Club is an after school program that provides...
With its annual candy buyback event, LifeSmiles of Sidney is both creating and saving smiles. The event, in its ninth year, buys back candy by the pound from children after Halloween "We invite children to bring their candy after Halloween to trade it to us for money and prizes," Leasa Dornbier, owner/dentist, said. "We'll give them $1 per pound up to five pounds of candy for kids ages 2 to 12, and then they are entered into a drawing for different prizes." Dornbier was inspired to bring the...
South Platte Natural Resources District is now taking orders for conservation tree seedlings. The program benefits landowners and producers across the state of Nebraska, Galen Wittrock, SPNRD assistant manager, said. “It’s set up for conservation practices such as a farmstead windbreak, livestock windbreak, field shelter belt and so forth,” Wittrock said. Among their benefits, conservation trees help control wind erosion. “It’s been proven that trees in the right place with the right spacing c...
Changes to the interlocal cooperation agreement between Cheyenne County and City of Sidney for the Emergency Communications Center created a dispute between city and county officials serving on the CCECC authority board. Sidney City Council asked for board members to serve as chairperson on a rotating basis. County Commissioners argued this will affect the board’s independence. Authority board bylaws currently have the representing commissioner serve as chair. “It spells out in the bylaws the re...
Nebraska’s rural school districts are struggling to find substitute teachers. Sidney Public Schools faces the same challenge, Jay Ehler, SPS superintendent, said. “We have had struggles in the past having enough substitute teachers,” Ehler said. “We’re doing a little better this year. There’s a few more people available to sub, and are coming in and filling out applications.” Not having enough substitute teachers means administrators have to step away from their duties to cover classes, Ehle...
Jeremy Lee, a Black Hills Energy employee, has started a non-profit to provide Cheyenne County children with funds to afford hot lunches and also to pay off outstanding lunch debt. A fundraiser dinner is planned for Oct. 28 at the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds 4-H Building. Lee was inspired to act by his wife, a food services staff member Leyton Public Schools. “My wife came to me and asked if there’s anything I can do at work as far as raising money,” he said. “Not only am I a Black Hills E...
Cindi Egging's Art 4 All Ages has moved from downtown Jackson Street to her Linden Street home. Egging refurbished a space to serve as both her personal studio and to teach art classes to students of all ages. This is not the first time Egging has moved her studio since starting three years ago. "I'm like the gypsy art teacher," she said. "I've had art students following me all the way from when I was by the Coffee Corner to now." Egging was first invited to teach art classes for children by...
Cheyenne County Commissioners Monday expressed concerns over amendments to its interlocal cooperation agreement with City of Sidney for the Emergency Communications Center. The city pays 65 percent of the CCECC’s expenses and the county 35 percent. The communications center provides services for all Cheyenne County public entities. Its affairs are overseen by an independent authority board comprising one county commissioner, the county sheriff, city chief of police, city manager and a C...
Sidney's third annual Out of the Darkness suicide prevention walk in Legion Park Saturday attracted nearly 25 participants. "We're here again to raise awareness and provide those peer supports, let people out there know they're not alone, whatever way suicide has affected them," Kaitlin Wilson, co-organizer, said. The event was one of thousands held nationally, Andy Flander, co-organizer said. "There's probably over 3,000 sites nationwide," he said. "Here, in Sidney, is the last walk in the...
Sidney High School's Weymouth Field track is set to be resurfaced in 2018. "We've lost a little crumb rubber," Mike Brockhaus, SHS activities director, said, "so we're looking at options of putting on a structural spray, or a thin layer of new rubber and a structural spray over the top, to help maintain the track." The track was last resurfaced seven years ago, Brockhaus said. "We put a new base mat down, new rubber, and now it's seven years later and we're trying to keep the maintenance up on...
Sidney's economic development efforts are "kicking into high gear." Melissa Norgard, economic development director, reported to the Sidney City Council Tuesday on current efforts to promote the city's assets and workforce. "We have a lot of good stuff going on," Norgard said. Agri-Plastics of Ontario, Canada, last week officially announced it was expanding its operations to Sidney. The manufacturer is closing a deal with Lukjan Metal Products LLC to purchase roughly half of its 1 Greenwood Road...
A tow-truck lost its brakes and struck a fire hydrant at 10th Avenue and Forrest Street on Oct. 6. Sidney Water Department crews spent the cold, moist Friday repairing the hydrant and the series of leaks along the street that followed. "The new (hydrants) are break-away," Ed Sadler, city manager, said. "They shut themselves off. They break at the top and there's a valve down below. This is one of the older ones, so when it broke (the truck) went over the top of it, it not only broke off the fire...
