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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This could be a record year for corn harvest, according to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture. The Nov. 8 report stated that national corn production is up one percent from last month’s forecast and is now predicted at almost 14 billion bushels, which represents a 30 percent increase from last year. If correct, this will mean a record production year for the United States. This would be the highest yield in the U.S since 2009, according to the report. Officials at USDA predict an average of 160.4 bushels per acre n...
Last year alcohol-related traffic fatalities in Nebraska reached the highest total in two decades, according to the state’s 2012 annual traffic crash facts report. This was the only statistic in the report that worried Nebraska Office of Highway Safety administrator, Fred Zwonechek. “The alcohol numbers were a bit disturbing,” he said. In 2012, 43 percent of fatal crashes in the state involved alcohol. The big jump in alcohol-related fatalities, the highest numbers in 20 years, could possibly be an anomaly that will drop back to the usual... Full story
Those strolling down Illinois Street enjoying the fine weather last weekend might have noticed military uniforms gracing many of the store windows downtown. These displays, meant to remind citizens to take a moment to think about servicemen and women past and present, are the effort of local man Larry Nelson in conjunction with the American Legion and the Disabled American Veterans. The uniforms come from locals, living and dead, who participated in World War II, Korea and Vietnam all the way up to current conflicts. There are about 40...
When a city grows, its medical needs do the same. At this week’s economic development briefing at Sidney’s Holiday Inn Jason Petik, Sidney Regional Medical Center’s CEO, expressed excitement about the hospital’s role in the city’s bright future. Petik has lived in Sidney for three years and is pleased that the city’s biggest problem is growth. This unique issue is one of the reasons Petik decided to move here. “You see rural communities that are just circling the drain and they’re going down hill,” Petik said. “This one is expanding. It’s the... Full story
A man who exposed at least one child to illegal drugs was sentenced to 20-60 months in prison on Wednesday for methamphetamine possession and 30-60 months for child abuse. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively. On Sept. 6 Justin Warren, 30, of Kimball pled no contest to possession of methamphetamine, a class IV felony and child abuse, a class IIA felony. The Cheyenne County court accepted these pleas. Warren entered into an agreement with the state, pleading no contest to possession of methamphetamine and child abuse in place of...
Over the past few days, Bart McLeay’s campaign for U.S. Senate took him through western Nebraska where he spoke to locals in favor of tax reform. “I have heard from them that they want to see a financial fix that they want done, even if it’s imperfect and I agree with that,” he said. This lawyer, who was raised in Omaha, hopes that a committee led by Paul Ryan will formulate some positive recommendations to share with congress this December. He expects that Ryan will have a plan to keep the government open for another year and get the U.S. ba...
Local business is booming. Among the many millions of dollars worth of projects discussed at Tuesday's economic development meeting at Sidney's Holiday Inn were many upcoming changes and improvements at the Adams Industries site northwest of Sidney. These projects include new site development, a rail expansion project, an increase to the Adams truck fleet and a new maintenance shop. "We are excited to see this growth and we're excited to see what this will bring to the community," said Sabra...
An economic development briefing at Sidney's Holiday Inn, meant to inform area business people and contractors about the millions of dollars worth of projects in store for the community's near future achieved an unexpectedly high turnout of 175 people. "Sidney, Nebraska, has worked very hard to set the table over the past 25 years as we've kind of reinvented ourselves, reinvented our economic development efforts," said city manager Gary Person. The city addressed all its long term... Full story
Matthew Emerzian made his first court appearance this week after being arrested by deputies from the Deuel County Sheriff's Office last month for domestic assault, first degree false imprisonment and strangulation which are all felonies as well as carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor. The 30-year-old Emerzian engaged in a domestic dispute, witnessed by several people at the Big Springs truck stop in Deuel County in October. Law enforcement spoke with many who said they witnessed the assault at the truck stop. All of them told very...
Theodore Medina, 23, of Sidney was charged last weekend with first degree assault, a felony after an altercation between he and 51-year-old Ernest Ward, also of Sidney. Ward died on Saturday night at Sidney Regional Medical Center. Yesterday, Cheyenne County attorney Paul Schaub filed an additional charge of manslaughter, also a felony, based on what he learned from the preliminary autopsy findings. “My decision to file additional charges was motivated by the added information,” Schaub said. On Nov. 2, Sidney police received a call just bef... Full story
Representative Adrian Smith touted the benefits of small government yesterday during his visit to the Cheyenne County Community Center. Some of his policy concerns relating to big government were passage of the Farm Bill and worry about the Affordable Care Act. Smith, as well as some of those in the small crowd of area residents gathered at the center voiced concern about Obamacare. "It's a mess," Smith said. It worries the congressman that some Americans who thought they'd be able to keep...
From the beginning of time, humans have been concerned with their water supply. The purpose of Nebraska’s Water Funding Task Force, which met in Sidney at the end of last month, is to find long term funding for the state’s water projects to help maintain water sustainability, according to a press release from the group. The city of Sidney already dealt with some major water issues before the rest of the state got on board. “We had an early start on water issues because we didn’t have water at times so we’re basically ahead of the race,” said Ke...
Theodore Medina, 23, of Sidney was arrested Saturday for first degree assault, a felony after an altercation between he and a man identified as Ernest Ward. Ward was taken to Sidney Regional Medical Center, where he died Saturday night. The investigation into this matter is ongoing, according to the Cheyenne County attorney's office. An autopsy was ordered.... Full story
Sidney residents Jennifer Cartwright and Walter Fischer were arrested last week and charged with possession of methamphetamine, a felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. This arrest occurred as the result of coordinated work between the Western Intelligence Narcotics Group task force and Sidney police. “This is a classic example of having team members that don’t recognize zip codes because the bad guys certainly don’t recognize them,” said Sidney police chief B.J. Wilkinson. On October 23, a WING investigator receive...
The first year of the Sidney Police Department's Trunk or Treat event at Hickory Street Square in coordination with Trick or Treating at downtown businesses was a success, said Sidney police chief B.J. Wilkinson. Sidney's police estimate that between 750 and 1,000 kids showed up to the event yesterday and that between the officers, Cabela's, the Sidney Volunteer Fire Department and the library, local entities gave away around 300 pounds of candy. Points West Bank and Wal-Mart both donated money...
When Dale Robertson gets out of prison, he’ll have to start his life over at 50, with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back. Robertson, a 49-year-old Sidney native is headed to prison for his second felony drug conviction after around 35 years of drug and alcohol abuse. “I’ve been around the drug scene my whole life,” Robertson said. His introduction to drugs occurred when he was in 7th grade. At 13 he started smoking marijuana, drinking and skipping school. Robertson spent his time with older kids and ended up dropping out of scho...
After much debate over the storage of asphalt millings at Kielian pit last month, the Sidney planning commission issued a conditional use permit last week to Werner Construction to do work out of the pit. A conditional use permit is needed when a business or individual wants to perform activities on ground that isn’t zoned for those activities, but prefers to avoid the process of re-zoning that ground. Usually, conditional use permits are issued for temporary work. Werner will be operating a hot mix plant for local projects out of the pit, a... Full story
Widespread power outages occurred across an area covered by the Wheat Belt Public Power District on Tuesday. The outages extended from the North Platte River south to the Colorado state line between 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. This included the areas of Lodgepole and Chappell. The combination of damage to an insulator, which is the glass equipment that holds the line, believed to be hit by a shotgun paired with wet, icy weather caused the line to fail, according to a press statement from Wheat Belt. Finding the problem in the dark was very difficult due...
Although direct sales and firearms sales were somewhat disappointing, Cabela’s still saw revenue increases in the third quarter of this year. Cabela’s boasted a total revenue increase of almost 15 percent to around $850 million during 2013’s third quarter. Retail store revenue increased about 20 percent to around $550 million. But direct revenue climbed a little less than one percent to around $199 million, which fell short of expectations, according to a press statement from the company. “While pleased with many aspects of our busines... Full story
For some area hunters passing on the tradition and giving back to veterans are just as important as bagging a bird. The local chapter of Pheasants Forever, a national grassroots, nonprofit organization devoted to conservation and habitat preservation held two free hunts earlier this month, one for local kids and another for Nebraska veterans. First time pheasant hunter Morley Haley, 14, of Leyton High School said the youth hunt was a success. "It went pretty good," he said. "I got one of two phe... Full story
Plans are continuing forward for more development at the Glover Business park by Comfort Inn. The planning commission held a public hearing in September which accepted the initial re-platting of land owned by John and Jacqueline Wieser. This re-plat divides what was one lot into two separate lots. These plots of land are located in the area north of the Comfort Inn and west of link 17J. A frontage street to the property already exists, called Gregory Drive, which the owner plans to extend. After the preliminary plat, public services director...
So many new project are going on around Sidney right now, they might be hard to keep track of. Anyone interested in updates on the big projects happening in the area can attend a briefing next month. Sidney’s economic development team worked with Cabela’s to coordinate an economic development briefing from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on Nov. 5. “The whole idea is to educate everybody to where we’re at with the different projects and the time lines and the exciting opportunities that are coming forward,” said city manager Gary Person. R...
For those looking for a Halloween night that’s not so scary, Hickory Square is the place to be. The police will host Trunk or Treat the night of Halloween, Thursday Oct. 31 at the Hickory Street Square. “We wanted to create a safe environment for the kids right after school, especially for the little guys to come and trick or treat,” said police chief B.J. Wilkinson. “It’s in conjunction with the downtown merchants who stay open late on Thursday evenings.” Police will be in the area to keep the streets safe for little ones and city employees w...
At Tuesday's city council meeting members voted to allocate occupational tax funds to a new street in hopes of opening up an area for new development. However, the decision did not come without lengthy debate. "We are here to seek funding to create Jennifer Lane," said Manmohan Patel of Krishna management. Patel's company wishes to extend Jennifer Lane to its intersection with Highway 17 J in order to meet with the planned extension of Silverberg Drive, creating an access point for the hotel it... Full story
Some damaged city streets will soon received a little face lift. The city received bids for the 2013-2014 crack sealing contract last week. The city budgeted $75,000 for the process this year. Sidney received bid from four companies for the project this year, which is more than the city generally received in the past. Bid prices ranged from 34 cents per foot to 96 cents per foot. The low bid came from Bader's Highway and Street. Bader completed crack sealing for the city in the past and did high quality work. "They have done the contract for...
