Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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Independent candidate for U.S. Senate, Todd Watson promises to answer to no one but the citizens of Nebraska. “We need a new voice not tied to the party power,” he said, during a campaign stop in Sidney on Monday. Watson was born and raised in Lincoln and received his masters degree in accounting at the University of Texas at Austin. He’s been an entrepreneur for most of his life. He currently owns two businesses and that employ 60 people. “In a day when we need jobs, I’ve created them,” Watson said. The two party system doesn’t work, in his...
The city council moved forward with plans to annex six properties adjacent to the city’s boundaries at Tuesday’s meeting, but left 21st Century Equipment out of the mix. Land planned for annexation includes the new Love’s travel stop, which will be constructed south of the Holiday Inn, the White Bluffs Veterinary Hospital on 11th Ave., the Jensen family estate, located to the west of the Love’s site and Anderson Forrest Products just south of the city landfill. Both the Love’s company and the Jensen estate requested that their property...
A large portion of the Sioux Army Depot is now more attractive to potential investors, according to city officials. At Tuesday’s meeting the Sidney city council approved a substandard and blighted designation for the former Army base which makes it eligible for tax increment financing. TIF allows developers to bond against the expected future tax increases after a development is completed to pay for public infrastructure costs related to the project. TIF has been a big draw for developers to build in the area, according to the city. Other T...
On Wednesday Sidney Regional Medical Center broke ground on the largest hospital of its kind in rural Nebraska. A crowd of community members, local officials and hospital staff gathered at the future site of the new hospital at 1000 Pole Creek crossing to take part in the ground breaking festivities. "It's an as heartwarming day as the weather is beautiful today," said city manager Gary Person. "It's really the crown jewel of what will be a very exciting development in east Sidney." The $53...
Members of the hospital's board of directors dig in at Wednesday's groundbreaking.... Full story
During the past week, the internet blew up with posts followed by #notallmen and #yesallwomen. These were both inspired by the shooting that took place at the University of California at Santa Barbara ended in the death of six students as well as the shooter. The shooter was reportedly angry enough that women weren’t attracted to him and rejected him that he went on a shooting rampage. In an answer to the shooter’s misogynistic views of women, the #notallmen campaign began arguing that not all men see women as objects and not all men exp...
During a routine traffic stop earlier this week, Sidney police arrested two Nebraska men for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. At around 11:30 p.m. on May 26 a Sidney officer stopped Emmanuel Cabello, 29 of Alliance and Christopher Garcia Sr., 29 of Gering on link 17J for a speeding violation. After dealing with the violation, the officer felt that something was off and asked for consent to search the vehicle. Cabello, the driver of the vehicle reportedly agreed to the search. Inside the vehicle, the officer allegedly found...
The Nebraska State Patrol’s Sidney office is moving locations. “The state patrol is moving out of the department of roads office,” Sgt. Lee Jacobsen told the city council on Tuesday night. “We will be moving down to 742 Jackson Street.” The patrol’s new building is located just south of the State Farm Insurance building. “The situation is, the last six years we’ve closed down two sub-stations, one in Kimball and one in Chappell and we’re consolidating those in Sidney,” Jacobsen said. The Nebraska State Patrol will soon have four new troopers s...
The Sidney city council made the final vote on Tuesday night to change the name of Toledo St. to Pole Creek Crossing from 10th Ave. east. City officials decided that a new name with a Sidney connection would be appropriate for such a vital street leading into the fast developing eastern part of town. The city decided not to change the name of Toledo St. from 10th Ave. west. Those with Toledo addresses west of 10th Ave. were not in favor of a change. There are 35 addresses on Toledo St. between 10th Ave. and 15th Ave. From 10th Ave. east, only...
Local girl scouts (left to right) Grace Payton, Kathryn Gay and Madeline Ball delivered 20 cases containing 240 boxes of girl scout cookies to the Table of Grace mobile food pantry on Tuesday. Deb Aikens, a member of the board of directors for the pantry received the cookies. These were the leftover cookies from the entire area girl scouts service unit, containing every troop in the area.... Full story
Although rates of traffic fatalities in Nebraska remained virtually identical in 2012 and 2013, the number of alcohol-related fatalities decreased by around 10 percent last year, according to the Nebraska Department of Roads. In 2012, 43 percent of fatal crashes in the state had suspected alcohol involvement. This was the highest number in 20 years. Nebraska Office of Highway Safety Administrator Fred Zwonechek hypothesized last year that the numbers could have been anomalies that would return to the usual average of around 30 percent in 2013....
On Tuesday morning Connie Miller, manager at Bomgaars in Sidney presents a $400 check to incoming Sophomore Tyler Gentry and incoming Senior Jennifer Gutierrez of the Peetz Future Farmers of America. The Peetz FFA will use the funds to pay for its trip to the state FFA convention held in Alamosa, Colorado. "Sidney supports us a lot," said Mike Forster, advisor to the Peetz FFA chapter. He thanked businesses like Bomgaars and 21st Century Equipment in Sidney for backing the Peetz FFA, especially... Full story
The Sidney planning commission had some harsh words for Werner Construction at its Monday meeting, where chairman Jerry Spiker claimed the company’s business ethics couldn’t be trusted. The city issued a conditional use permit to Werner Construction last fall to work out of the Kielian gravel pit, located one half mile south of the intersection of Roads 20 and 117, east of Sidney. The planning commission was already displeased that asphalt millings were stored on the site. Werner operated a hot mix plant out of the Kielian property, owned by...
Sidney Allard, 8 raised more than $1,000 for Jump Rope for Heart. As a reward, she was tasked with shaving her P.E. teacher's beard. Jon Linden, P.E. teacher at North and South Elementary, had promised students participating in the charity drive that he would either fashion his hair into a mohawk or shave his beard if one of them raised $1,000. "Unfortunately for me, Sidney raised over $1,000," Linden said at a gathering at North Elementary on Wednesday where Allard shaved his beard. With help...
Several county roads will see improvements this year. At Monday’s meeting, the Cheyenne County board of commissioners approved the county highway department’s one and six year road improvement plans. A previously completed project in the plan includes a box culvert replacement at Rd. 139 northwest of Lodgepole on Weyerts Rd. This project was finished this spring. The box culvert washed out in a storm in 2010. Improvement plans for this year include asphalt to be ground and imbedded on Rd 109 at a cost of around $14,000. A little less than a m...
Trishna Petluri, 9 eats ice cream during the ice cream social at North Elementary. The social took place to honor 24 parent and community member volunteers at the school. The Sidney Elks distributed dictionaries to third grade students after the festivities.... Full story
Earlier this week I heard news of the jerky gun that Cabela’s recalled due to overheating issues that could cause a fire hazard. As of last week there was only one report of a jerky gun battery pack overheating, with no injuries, according to the Associated Press. This news made me think about all the inventions out there that no one really needs. Of course Cabela’s sells a plethora of equipment that is useful, practical and even necessary for many outdoor adventures. I do not think that the jerky gun is one of them. The gun, which rep...
On Tuesday Theodore Medina, 24, pled guilty in Cheyenne County district court to reduced charges for the November 2013 beating death of 51-year-old Ernest Ward. An altercation in Ward’s home between he and Medina, who was Ward’s ex son-in-law, ultimately ended in Ward’s death due to blunt force head injuries. Medina also pled guilty on Tuesday for the part he played in a jailhouse fight two days after Ward’s demise. Medina was initially charged with first degree assault, a class two felony and manslaughter, a class three felony for his role in...
The city again touted the benefits of designating the former Sioux Army Depot as substandard and blighted in a public hearing before the planning commission on Monday. Megan McGown, community development director, spoke with the commission about LB 66, adopted by the Nebraska legislature in 2013. The law allows for redevelopment projects outside city limits on former defense sites, like the depot. “The Sioux Army Depot, as you all know is ideally located in terms of logistics and warehousing and transportation for development for our c...
After months of requests from District 12 Probation, the Cheyenne County commissioners found new office space for the probation branch in Sidney. The Sidney office had outgrown its current space in the Cheyenne County courthouse building, and the county needed to utilize grant money meant for additional office space before it was required to return the funds to the state, in the middle of June. County commissioner Ken McMillen was set with the task of seeking possible locations for office space after the commission’s May 5 meeting, when time w...
Construction contracts are in such high demand due to all the work in Sidney this summer that competitive bids, or sometimes any bids, are difficult to find. Last week the city of Sidney opened bids for work on sanitary sewer and water extensions on the Fairfield Marriott hotel project as well as a sanitary sewer extension for a nearby property. “There were no bids received,” said city manager Gary Person at last week’s city council meeting. “This was part of our fear, with so many things going on in the community right now, of getting no bids...
The city began work to replace 10th Ave. between Illinois St. and Jackson St. with new concrete pavement this week. The sidewalk in front of 10th Ave. businesses is still open to pedestrians.... Full story
The city plans to bury around 50,000 feet of electric lines within the next three to five years. Sidney had already buried tens of thousands of feet of electric line within the last five years, but decided to consider some new options in moving forward. The electric department solicited bids earlier this month for a master contractor for boring (drilling into the earth for underground conversion) as well as for boring machines themselves. The city wished to determine whether buying its own machine and completing the work itself, or hiring one...
Bell Lumber & Pole will receive a $500,000 performance based loan from the city of Sidney. Although this loan was already approved by the city council in fall 2012, when construction of the utility pole treatment plant was announced, the two entities officially entered into the loan agreement with city council approval this week. The money for the loan will come from a fund authorized by the Sidney voters in 2007 specifically to be used for job creation projects. These funds are provided as an incentive for major projects like the Bell plant...
Cost estimates for the 11th Ave. beautification projects presented at Tuesday’s city council meeting were higher than expected. Even though the predicted price tag rose significantly since the city council’s last update on the project, it authorized Baker & Associates to complete plans for a sign and landscaping at the corner of 11th Ave. and Old Post Rd., as well as a walking path along 11th Ave. The walking path will begin at the intersection of 11th Ave. and Old Post Rd. and will continue north along the west side of 11th Ave. to Summit Dr....
