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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Jonathon Jackson, 19 and his father William Jackson, 44 both of Dalton were charged with terroristic threats and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, for an incident that occurred in late December. Arrest warrants were issued in Cheyenne County for the Jacksons on Dec. 28 and both were subsequently arrested and bonded out. Bond was set at $250,000 each. According to a Cheyenne County sheriff's office report, Jeremy Reimers was walking to Jessica Cook's residence in Dalton on Dec. 26 with James Goeman and Camden Grasnick when the group...
Last month, Cheyenne County was ranked among the top 15 counties in Nebraska for job seekers in an article by NerdWallet, a national financial advice website. The site placed the county 12th best in the state for those searching for employment. Overall, the state of Nebraska is fairing better than most of the country in this aspect, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the U.S. As of November 2013 Nebraska’s unemployment rate was 3.7 percent, compared to a national rate of 7 percent. The criteria that determined the website’s ran...
Multiple thefts occurred in rural areas of Cheyenne County in the past two weeks. Cheyenne County sheriff John Jenson urges residents to be on the look-out for any suspicious activity. The sheriff’s office is currently investigating five incidents, which recently occurred at abandoned farmsteads and outbuildings. Items taken from these locations included power tools, miscellaneous hand tools, electrical wiring, pipe and small farm equipment. Jenson asked the community to watch for suspicious vehicles, persons or activity particularly in r...
Nancy Gipfert was sentenced to 24 months of probation, the first 90 days to be served in Cheyenne County jail, for her part in an incident which led to the permanent brain injury of an infant in her care. In November a jury of six men and six women found Gipfert guilty of negligent child abuse, a class I misdemeanor. The two-month-old victim in this case became seriously ill after his first visit to Gipfert's daycare on Sept. 13, 2011. It was later confirmed that he suffered from bleeding...
Dating and relationships are hard to master at any age. What works for some people definitely doesn’t work for everyone. While some need to be around a significant other daily, others need time and space to be by themselves. Although I have a feeling that the nuances of dealing with relationships were probably always an elusive beast, I think technology has made them even more complicated. As someone who has a slew of friends, both male and female in many parts of the country I wish to share some advice based on relationship issues I’ve exp...
The Cheyenne County commissioners discussed how to fit raises for elected county officials into an increasingly tight budget at Monday’s meeting. The commissioners agreed on a base pay of $55,000 per year starting in 2015 with a 3 percent cost of living increase for the following three years. This decision was based on recommendations from the Nebraska Association of County Officials. Additionally, NACO advised that the county attorney and county sheriff should receive 150 percent and 120 percent respectively of the base pay, to which the c...
Break In The second costly tool theft in a month's span took place in Sidney last weekend. Sometime over the weekend, thousands of dollars worth of tools were stolen from the Lodgepole Creek Apartment complex work site on Fort Sidney Road. This equipment was stored in large trailers at the construction site. "When employees arrived at work Monday, they had nothing to work with," said Sidney Police Chief B.J. Wilkinson. The police are currently running down a few leads related to the investigation, he added. Equipment stolen from the site...
Cheyenne County Commissioners appointed Donald Brush of Panhandle Land Surveying as temporary county surveyor at yesterday’s meeting. “What I’m needing is the duties of a county surveyor in Cheyenne County,” Brush told the commissioners. “I’ve had some clients that have requested some surveying.” Most of the time during land survey work, monuments marking the corners of property are in place and there are records which establish the edges of a property. Sometimes the corners of the property aren’t properly marked, Brush explained. “Whe...
Sidney's underpass to the North side was vandalized over the weekend. Graffiti now covers most of the wall accessible from the pedestrian walkway.... Full story
As the state attempts to lower its juvenile incarceration rates, the county is applying for available state aid money to increase its local youth programs and probation services. On Monday, Cheyenne County commissioners approved the 2014 community based juvenile services aid grant application. In 2014, Deuel County would commit all of its funding of $4,300 to additional space for probation. The total allotment available to Cheyenne County, according to the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, is around $26,000. Of these...
Just a few months ago, two-year-old Kyra Eads was a normal toddler, developing quickly and getting into mischief. Now she's spending her days receiving radiation treatments at Children's Hospital in Denver, where her doctors say her condition has no cure. Eads suffers from an inoperable brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Despite her grim diagnosis, her parents describe her basically as a normal child. "She is a two-year-old ornery little girl," said her mother, Kaila Kuhns....
On Friday, at the city offices the Cheyenne County Ladies Chamber presented some $1,200 to the King's Daughters to assist in paying for food baskets and treat sacks given out for the Christmas holiday. Margaret Lienemann from the ladies chamber presented the check to Vice President of the Kings Daughters, Kim Phillips. Lea Wiemers represented the many businesses that participate in Dress Down days the third Friday of each month. The December dress down funds will go to the High Plains Art... Full story
Filing deadlines for upcoming local elections are fast approaching. Up for election this year are Cheyenne County attorney, sheriff, clerk of the district court, treasurer, assessor and county clerk. Cheyenne County commissioner seats in district two and district three are scheduled for election this year, as well. These offices all hold four year terms. This year, there are three four-year term seats up for grabs on the Sidney School Board, as well as one opening for a two-year term due to the previous resignation of Tanya Lewis. Creek...
University of Nebraska at Kearney researchers hope to catch the endangered swift fox in its natural Western Nebraska habitat and to determine how the creatures use the landscape, specifically the Heartland Expressway corridor. Although Sidney is not in the direct line of the Heartland Expressway route, Dr. Marc Albrecht, biologist at UNK, and his graduate student Sara Ray will be visiting Sidney in the near future to speak with residents about their swift fox study. The research will focus on how the expressway, which runs approximately north...
Although Nebraska has fallen behind the rest of the nation in cutting back on youth incarceration numbers, recent policy changes put the state on a path toward significant improvement over the coming years. According to a recent report from the National Juvenile Justice Network and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the number of youths currently detained in state and county facilities nationwide declined sharply in 2011, due to reforms in many states. In the ten years between 2001-2011, the number of young people in detention facilities dropp...
When the Table of Grace food pantry's elevator broke down this week, the Sidney men's basketball team stepped in to load the food at Walmart which donates the items, deliver it to Holy Trinity Lutheran church where the pantry is located and to unload it. Table of Grace is a mobile food pantry that moves throughout the area. The pantry receives food from Walmart two times per week. Table of Grace holds six mobile food pantries every month, which serves the Sidney area as well as Leyton, Dalton... Full story
Many of us take the opportunity for a fresh beginning at the start of the new year. Even though we could make changes in our lives at any point we desire, for some reason, when that calendar roles over we’re inclined to make drastic resolutions to which I’m sure most of us know ourselves well enough to realize that we won’t be keeping. Some of us might have even broken them before coming back to work this morning. I’m sure that wishful alcoholics who made resolutions to stop drinking as much and to be more responsible probably failed miserab...
The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a ruling last week made in the state of Nebraska vs. Nathan Brauer, a sexual assault of a child case originally heard in Cheyenne County. The only issue raised in the appeal was whether there was enough evidence to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the touching that occurred constituted sexual contact. Sexual contact has to be reasonably construed to be for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. The justices were divided in their ruling. Four judges ruled in favor of upholding the district cour...
As housing in Sidney continues to be an issue, city officials and Cabela’s executives are working together to make sure plans for the organization’s housing development aren’t delayed. The planning commission recommended that some of the land for the development be re-zoned from agricultural to residential at last week’s meeting and the city council then set a public hearing for Jan. 14 in the matter. The subdivision will be located between Old Post Road and link 17J, although the first phase will involve only a portion of that. “I’ve been meet...
Continued development is planned in the east Sidney expansion area, including one project anticipated through a partnerships between Cabela’s and a property belonging to Tim and Virginia Reganis. The couple own land adjacent to the area where Cabela’s plans to expand its corporate offices, next to the company’s current corporate headquarters. The Planning Commission held a public hearing last week regarding a preliminary plat of the Reganis land on the 14 acres next to the Cabela’s land on the South side of Old Post Road. The commiss...
Now, we’re right in the midst of the most festive part of the holiday season. Although Christmas is behind us and New Year’s Eve is ahead I’m sure most of our celebrations don’t take place exclusively on those two days. I enjoy spending time with family during this season as much as anyone, though I don’t think I’ll ever understand sitting one’s small child on a bearded stranger’s lap for a photo op. Even though none of my kin are particularly religious, Christmas is a big deal for my mother’s family. My grandma owns an army of festive holida...
Cabela’s continues to its expansion in Sidney on two fronts, not only adding to its corporate campus, but also making certain there is enough housing in the area for its growing workforce. The planning commission held a public hearing last week for the preliminary plat of Cabela’s corporate campus expansion, which will take place in the 27 acres west of its current headquarters. The commission recommended approval to the city council. The body agreed with the plans. Dennis Armstrong, architect for Cabela’s, spoke with the commission. “The...
Plans are moving forward for completion of the new Sidney Regional Medical Center facility. The new facility will be located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Greenwood Road and Virginia Lane. The hospital requested a re-zoning of the area from a mixture of agriculture and heavy commercial to central business district zoning. Last week the planning commission held a public hearing last week concerning both re-zoning of the area where the facility will be built and a preliminary plat. Jason Petik CEO of SRMC spoke with the planning...
All the development planned for the area around Greenwood Road in the upcoming years is attracting even more business interest to the area. The planning commission held a public hearing last week to discuss the re-zoning of a section of Greenwood road from multifamily residential to heavy commercial. Re-zoning was for a portion of the area containing almost three acres located on the east side of the road approximately 300 feet south of Highway 30. This area is where Source Gas wishes to relocate its facility. City manager Gary Person...
Police are searching for persons of interest in a burglary and truck theft at the city street department building earlier this month. City street department employees discovered a break in when they arrived at work on the morning of Dec. 9. The stolen city vehicle was located later in the day on Dec. 9 in a pasture near power lines north of town. On Dec. 11, another vehicle was reported stolen from a residence in Sidney. This second vehicle was located and recovered in an unrelated incident in Greeley, Colo on Dec. 13. Police have identified... Full story
