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 26 - 50 of 184
Through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension 4-H Clover Kids program, children ages 5 to 8 learn about science, citizenship and healthy lifestyles. “We’re preparing them to go on to 4-H. This is the beginning step,” Lynn McKinney, UNL Extension office manager, said. “It’s usually the little brothers and sisters who are in it.” Clover Kids meets once monthly, each meeting focusing on a different area through lessons and hands-on activities. “This year we’re touching on the different a...
Gov. Pete Ricketts visited Sidney Thursday to tour Lukjan Metal Products LLC as part of his week-long Nebraska Manufacturing Month tour. Ricketts had welcoming words for owner Elena Lukjanczuk-Kelly, and Gary Ring, vice president of sales and marketing. "We're very excited to have you here, and really appreciate your investment in our state," Ricketts said. "You're not going to find better people anywhere else in the country than right here in Nebraska. Nebraskans are just awesome."...
John Jensen, Cheyenne County Sheriff, Mark Overman, Scottsbluff County Sheriff, and Kevin Spencer, Scottsbluff Police Chief, are being sued for harassment by Nebraska Crime Commission members Lisa Stamm and Vaness Humaran. According to a complaint filed in Lancaster County District Court on Oct. 2, Jensen, Overman and Spencer were acting both in individual and official capacities when they violated Stamm and Humaran’s right to privacy, right against unlawful search and seizure, right to equal p...
Agri-Plastics if officially coming to Sidney. The Ontario, Canada, based plastics manufacturer will join Lukjan Metal Products LLC at One Greenwood Road, a $4.5 million investment. Sidney City Council approved the facility sub-division at its Sept. 26 meeting. Agri-Plastics will close on its deal with Lukjan at the end of this month, Melissa Norgard, economic development director, said. "They are going to initially hire around 20 people and hope to start operations late January or February,"...
A youth-friendly alternative to Sidney's Oktoberfest activities, ROCKtoberfest, hosted by Kids Plus, Inc., kicks off tonight. "It is a pro-social event for kids to participate in," Cassie Challburg, Kids Plus director, said. "It has inflatables, free popcorn and candy, a huge Dozers Gaming trailer. Kids can be kids, away from the alcohol and while parents have fun, kids can have fun too." The two-night event for youths in grades 7 through 12 continues through Saturday, from 7 to 11 p.m. Last...
Sidney is pursing federal and state grant opportunities to create a revolving loan fund for new and start-up businesses. "In the last few months a couple of newer start-up type companies have approached myself and the city wanting to know what we could do to help them out in terms of either growing a new business, purchasing an existing business, or starting up a new company from scratch," Melissa Norgard, city economic development director, said. Such businesses, though, don't meet the...
Jackson G. Feddersen, 18, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Cheyenne County District Court to six felony charges related to an Aug. 31 incident. Feddersen is charged with robbery, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, second degree assault and burglary, all Class II felonies, and strangulation and terroristic threats, both Class III felonies. With the charges of robbery and use of a deadly weapon, Feddersen faces 50 years in jail maximum for each charge and a minimum one year each. For the...
Chaos erupted as endless shots from a powerful rifle fired down on the crowd. Thaddeus Oliverius, a Lodgepole native and current resident of Scottsbluff, was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival with his wife and her family, eight people total. “We were there and everything was going good and everybody was having fun,” Oliverius said. On the event’s third day, musician Jason Aldean took the stage. And Stephen Paddock, from the Mandalay Bay Hotel began shooting at the crowd. “Some people...
The levels of naturally occurring arsenic in Lodgepole’s water are below state standards again. “It’s a great relief for us,” R.J. Savely, Lodgepole Board of Trustees vice chair, said. “We also know arsenic fluctuates throughout the panhandle, and it doesn’t get us out of the woods permanently, but it gives us the chance to continue to explore and work on water options for the village.” Quarterly tests are performed by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The state standar...
A community liaison for U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith visited with the Cheyenne County Commissioners Monday to provide an update on Smith’s legislative efforts in Washington D.C. “This has been a very interesting year,” Phillip Black said. Smith’s major agenda items, shared by fellow House of Representative Republicans, Black said, are health care reform and tax reform. House Republicans passed a health care reform bill, though further efforts foundered in the Senate during the summer. The focus n...
Sidney City Council Tuesday approved a subdivision for Lukjan Metal LLC's facility on Greenwood Drive. Dividing the property is among the steps necessary to bring another company to Sidney, Robert Stefka, Commercial Investment Services of North Platte, representing Korda & Kelly, Lukjan's ownership entity, explained to council members. "When they purchased that building," Stefka said, "they looked at marketing the other half of the property because, quite frankly, it was a much larger property...
Points West Community Bank of Sidney and Fullerton National Bank of Fullerton are merging. The two institutions reached an agreement this month, Bruce Batt, Points West president, told the SunTelegraph. "Fullerton National and Points West are affiliate banks with the Olson family of Nebraska being majority shareholders," Batt said. "With the increasingly difficult regulatory and technology environments it makes sense to reduce duplication in these areas." He added, "Our group is community...
Paul A. Lucero, 41, of Littleton, Colorado, appeared in Cheyenne County District Court Tuesday on an amended charge of attempted enticement by electronic device. The amended charge is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The original charge of enticement, though, is a Class 4 felony. Lucero entered a plea of not guilty. The amended complaint alleges Lucero, between Feb. 7 and Nov. 10, 2016, while a resident of Sidney, "knowingly and intentionally utilized an electronic communication device to attempt to...
Sidney City Council Tuesday approved amending its interlocal cooperation agreement with Cheyenne County for the Emergency Communications Center. Discussions were held recently between J. Leef, city attorney, and Paul Schaub, county attorney, about the agreement, Leef reported. Several needed updates to the contract were proposed. “It still talks about teletypes and things we no longer have. It was revamped to take that out,” Leef said. “It also addresses several things that really hadn...
The Kindness Bus stopped in Sidney Thursday. It was an accident that caused the bus to break down at Sidney's Walmart, but for one day Sidney residents were witness to more than 450 quotes and messages of kindness painted along the blue bus's front, sides and back. For more than 10 years, Bob Votruba, One Million Acts of Kindness founder, and his dog Bogart, a Boston terrier, have been traveling the country to spread a message of performing kind acts. He was inspired to act following the 2007...
Third graders from multiple school districts filled Legion Park and Cheyenne County Community Center Wednesday for Kids Fitness and Nutrition Day. More than 250 students participated in the yearly event, Janelle Hansen, Panhandle Public Health District health educator, said. The students from Sidney, Leyton, Bridgeport, Kimball, Creek Valley and other school districts were greeted by a variety of physical activity and nutrition stations. "They're learning about how important it is to keep...
South Platte Natural Resources District has received two grants to bring trees to Sidney and the surrounding area. Through ReTree Nebraska and EAT (Environmentally Adapted Trees) grants, SPNRD has already received 40 trees, which it will soon begin dispersing, Galen Wittrock, SPNRD assistant manager, said. ReTree is a University of Nebraska initiative, through the Nebraska Forest Service, to replant a million trees. "The forest service provides money to buy large, landscape trees, and provide...
Cheyenne County Commissioners Monday approved the 2017-18 budget. The county is requesting $6.64 million in property taxes, a decrease from the $6.68 million requested for the 2016-17 year. Before taxes, the total budget amounts to $13,189,303, an increase from $11,991,544 the previous year. Commissioners acted to set a 2017-18 county tax levy that was different than the 2016-17 levy. “Your levy last year was at that .429714 after the amended budget was filed, and the property tax request t...
Sidney Police Department is renovating its building to feature a more limited waiting space, with a public window and secure doors to the rest of the office. "There's going to be a window with bullet-resistant glass, reducing the public to this area here only," SPD Chief Joe Aikens, standing in the lobby, said, "and not allowing them access to the records area or the rest of the police department." The renovations will increase security for the office staff and personnel, Aikens said. "It's not...
A subdivision for the Lukjan Metal LLC facility on Greenwood Drive was approved by the Sidney Planning Commission Monday. Dividing the property is among the steps necessary to bring another company to the Sidney facility. Robert Stefka, Commercial Investment Services of North Platte, which is representing Korda & Kelly, Lukjan’s ownership entity, explained the plan. “What we’re asking to do is be able to subdivide that so we can market that property to another company in hopes we can proba...
Traffic lights on the south side of the 13th Avenue and Illinois Street intersection will not be replaced for as many as eight months. The light pole was hit by a truck in August and since then has had flashing yield lights for east- and westbound traffic, and stop signs for north- and southbound traffic. A new light pole has been ordered, Ed Sadler, city manager, said, but its arrival will be delayed. "These are not something they keep in stock," he said. The city was contacted by the...
Brian Fort was laid off from Cabela's in April, but soon found a new position as senior director of sales for Counter Assault, a Kalispell, Montana based company. "We handle anything from bear spray to law enforcement spray to personal protection spray for the customer," Fort said. "We sell to buying groups and retailers, independents, sporting goods. We're in a lot of different retailers." When not on the road, Fort works from home and his downtown office on the 1000 block of Illinois Street. F...
Sidney City Council Tuesday approved a budget summary for 2017-18. The budget is a balanced one, Ed Sadler, city manager, reported to the council in his presentation. “It’s spending the revenue that we’ve got,” he said. “It’s not spending any more than what we’re taking in this year, which is a good thing, because that has not been the case for the last couple of years.” Expenses totaling $31,638,848 for the year were projected. “This is a much more concise budget,” Sadler explained. “This is...
Sidney's VFW Post 610's Hurricane Harvey relief effort last week resulted in more than 35,000 pounds worth of supplies being collected. "It was a great effort," Cmdr. Stephanie Dadgostar said. "There were people from all different walks of life. We had veterans out there. We had school kids out there. We had all kinds of people helping out. It was a pretty amazing community effort." From Tuesday through Thursday evenings, VFW volunteers at Cheyenne County Fairgrounds, with a truck donated by...
Jackson G. Feddersen, 18, appeared in Cheyenne County Court Thursday for a preliminary hearing on charges of robbery, second degree assault, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, all Class II felonies, and strangulation and terrorist threats, both Class III felonies. On the morning of Aug. 31, Feddersen allegedly broke into the home of Ryan Stettner, and with friends attacked Stettner with a crowbar or other object, and stole $3,000 from him. Paige Feddersen, Jackson Feddersen's mother,...
