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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The city of Sidney and the South Platte Natural Resources District are working together for grants to fund storm water management projects. Galen Wittrock with the South Platte NRD spoke with the city council Tuesday night about grants that could possibly pay for a large portion of future storm water solutions. "This is a continuing project that the NRD and the city of Sidney has been working on," Wittrock said, “addressing the east Sidney watershed drainage issues." The NRD presented grant applications through the Nebraska Environmental T...
Cabela's is planning expansions to its corporate Sidney campus in the near future, but wants tax dollars to fund surrounding infrastructure. Before last night's city council meeting, Ralph Castner, Chief Financial Officer at Cabela's, presented the company's corporate campus expansion plans during a meeting of the Community Development Agency. "I'm here tonight to discuss maybe one of the most exciting projects happening between Cabela's and Sidney in the last decade," Castner said. In phase...
Sidney's City Council is searching for some consistency, perhaps. At Tuesday night's meeting, the body discussed concerns over uniformity between law enforcement agences and funding issues regarding the Cheyenne County Emergency Communications Center. Sidney mayor Wendall Gaston wondered how percentages for communications center funding from the county and city were decided. "When the system was put together, the volume of calls, because this also affects our utility departments and public transportation system, it was 65 percent city and 35 pe...
A charity more than a century old is still going strong in Sidney. The Wide Awake Circle of the King's Daughter's in Sidney, which was founded in 1891, is gearing up for its annual donation drive. "We're a philanthropic organization," reported Ann Schaaf, a current member and former president of the group. "It's a good Christian organization." The group provides various types of assistance for those in the Sidney area. The King's Daughters might contribute to rent, utilities or medical bills....
Sidney police received around a half dozen reports of an attempted phone scam from area businesses last week. Both Shamrock and Conoco gas stations in Sidney answered calls from a person claiming to be with the city of Sidney. This person told those at the stations that they were late on electric payments. These businesses were told that power would be shut off if they didn't pay $2,700 to the caller. When alerted by the businesses, Sidney police called this number. A person answered as Sidney Public Power District, an entity that doesn't...
Nebraska state standardized testing results from last school year are in, and Sidney fared better than the rest of the state. "In all areas we are above the state average," said Sheri Ehler, west elementary principal and director of curriculum and assessment at Sidney schools. "We're very excited about that. That's something, of course that you strive for." The Nebraska State Accountability or NeSA tests measure proficiency in state standards annually. In science, an average of 83 percent of...
The Western Nebraska Intelligence and Narcotics group is making more arrests for methamphetamine this year. This chart covers all controlled buys and methamphetamine arrests during the past three years for Nebraska State Patrol's Troop E and the WING task force. Troop E serves the 11 counties that make up the Nebraska panhandle. A controlled purchase is when an undercover law enforcement official or an informant purchases an illegal substance in order in incriminate the seller. Total drug activity has gone up year by year, although the...
Nebraska products, agricultural and otherwise, are reaching customers all over the world, and Nebraska representative to the U.S. Congress Adrian Smith thinks the state can export even more if regulations and tariffs are changed. State exports totaled $7.5 billion in 2012, Smith claimed during his visit to Sidney on Thursday. "I tell you what, great things are happening with trade," Smith said. "With U.S. products, more specifically Nebraska products heading overseas." Smith thinks the answer...
A local program which teaches teens life skills and tries to make them feel a part of the community is gearing up for another year of fun and learning. Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska's Teen Outreach Program follows the teens enrolled in this program through high school. "We help their own growth and develop their goals for the future," said Brenda Dickinson facilitator for TOP. The outcome of this programs is generally reduced teen pregnancy and drop out rates. "It does have some stuff in the sessions about sexuality and...
The sheriff's department and the county treasurer's office are working together to collect thousands of dollars in unpaid property taxes from 2012 and 2013. The county treasurer's office turned over around $25,600 in unpaid taxes last year to the Sheriff, in the form of 74 warrants. The Cheyenne County sheriff's office collected on 67 of the warrants. This left eight of the warrants uncollected as of August 1. The cost of these unpaid taxes including interest and fees was around $7,000. On the...
Concerns about liability and supervision caused Cheyenne County commissioners to consider a new policy concerning court mandated community service on government land. Commissioners could not come to a decision, preferring to seek legal advice on the matter. The county previously had an issue with a juvenile sent to the court house to mow the lawn as part of his community service. No one was sure who would supervise him or what would happen if he was injured while working on county property. "That's the part that bothers me," said county clerk...
The grand vision for Sidney involves curving streets and wide walkways framing new housing developments to allieviate the city's chronic shortage. Last night, a special meeting of Sidney's planning commission and city council convened to view the initial plans for east Sidney. As outlined, the grassland east of Ft. Sidney Rd. will feature a large housing tract and a new location for Sidney Regional Medical Center, as well as the consolidated K-4 elementary school, if approved. Much of the land b...
A new Sciences Education Complex in Kearney promises to supply panhandle residents with more health professionals and to give them a location closer to home in which to study. Construction is set to begin in January 2014 on the $19 million University of Nebraska Medical Center-University of Nebraska-Kearney complex. The significance of this campus to those in the panhandle is that students who want to get an education in health professions through University of Nebraska won't have to travel all...
The prospect of funding a new and modern elementary school with higher property taxes is cause for debate among Sidney residents. A bond election wherein residents will decide whether or not to fund the school is scheduled for Sept. 10. The bond is set at nearly $16 million and would raise property taxes by around $125 per year for every $100,000 worth of property, according to Sidney schools superintendent Jay Ehler. The exact cost cannot be finalized until the interest rates are determined,...
One of the projects is on County Road 139 or Weyerts Road one mile north of Highway 30 near Lodgepole for the construction of a box culvert. This road had a temporary culvert in place since 2010 when it was washed out by a storm. The road will not be closed off during the construction. Construction on this project will take around 40 working days. This is a federally funded project at a price of $277,000. The second project will replace a culvert on County Road 79 between County Road 8 and County Road 12, southwest of Sidney. This road will be...
Bringing the rest of the nation to the Nebraska point of view is Bart McLeay's first priority in his bid for U.S. Senate in 2014. McLeay in running for many of the same reason as his fellow Republicans. "I was concerned about where our country was going," McLeay said. "And what we would be leaving our children and grandchildren." McLeay thinks that the answer to turning the country in the right direction is fixing the budget. "I have an accounting degree and a business background and believe I...
The Cheyenne County Community Center is offering more services and serving more people than ever. So Mike Namuth, Director of CCCC, spoke with the Sidney city council on Tuesday about future needs, recreation enrollment and services. Namuth is reviewing possible expansion plans for the CCCC. The center is considering the costs of possible growth to the north and east, or moving into the old hospital once the new one is completed. "I can't tell you any way anyone would be leaning," Namuth said....
General Daryl Bohac, the Nebraska National Guard's new Adjutant General knows the importance of small transportation units like the one based in Sidney. Bohac, who was sworn in on July 14, oversees three large divisions. These include the Army National Guard which currently consists of 3,800 soldiers, the Air National Guard which lists slightly less than 1,000 airmen and the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. "It is responsible for coordinating and managing disaster response," Bohac said....
A combination of creativity and technology won a $5000 grant for the Sidney High School art department. Sidney was one of seven Nebraska schools awarded the Century Link Nebraska Educational Technology Association Classroom Technology Integration Grant this year. "We get to do the happy dance today because we got a grant proposal of $5000," said Ann Darling of the Sidney High School art department. The purpose of the grant was to recognize Nebraska elementary and high school teachers who are using technology in innovative ways as well as to...
Tom Carlson loves the campaign trail. After announcing his candidacy as a Republican for Nebraska's 2014 gubernatorial race, Carlson and his wife, Margo have been traveling the state, meeting people and hearing their concerns. "That's the thing that we do best," Margo said. "We could not wait to get out here." While touring the panhandle this week, the Carlsons visited with shoppers in the grocery store in Dalton and attended the Greek Festival in Bridgeport. "We had so much fun and talked to...
West Nile has spread from mosquitoes to humans in the panhandle. Four human cases of the disease have been confirmed so far in Nebraska, as of July 26. One human case was found in Scottsbluff within the past few weeks. The other three cases were in north central Nebraska, central Nebraska and Douglas county. “We’ve had four clinical positives,” said Tabi Prochazka, Environmental Health Coordinator for Panhandle Public Health District She recommends that Nebraskans take extra precautions when going out during dawn or dusk and that they wear...
This summer ’s wheat harvest was a mixed bag— low on yield, high on quality. And recent rain has spurred optimistism about fall crops. Farmers were cutting wheat for a more extended time period than is usual and fields yielded less than an average crop, said Dave Secrest of Cross Roads Cooperative. There were a few reasons for a prolonged harvest. “It was stretched out because of hail damage,” said Logan Snyder, merchandiser at Scoular Grain. “And it took a lot longer to get the moisture out.” The crop brought in about 30 percent less in vol...
Methamphetamine continues to be a problem in Cheyenne County, but marijuana is by far the most commonly used and trafficked drug in the area. "Our number one drug is marijuana, but that leads to other drug use," said Cheyenne County Sheriff John Jenson. After arriving in Sidney, Police Chief B.J. Wilkinson was briefed at a staff meeting earlier this week about the most pressing issues facing Sidney Police. Officers informed Wilkinson that the top three drugs causing problems in this area are marijuana, methamphetamine and prescription drug...
Closure of the underpass, the gateway to the north side of town, has again been delayed. Following many schedule changes due to shallow utilities in the way of construction at the intersection of Illinois St. and 13th Ave., the underpass will finally be closed to traffic next week. After tests on the concrete on the south side or eastbound lanes of Illinois Street, it was determined that the pavement was not yet strong enough to hold the weight of traffic. The concrete will continue to be tested, but the underpass closure has been pushed back...
It's hard to imagine that a little sand could be so important, but according to preschool teacher April Misegadis, a sandbox can be the key to preparing Sidney children for successful lives. "We build the future engineers in there," Misegadis said. Sidney Community Preschool moved to its new location at Central Elementary School in May. The facility did not have a sandbox. To the rescue, those in the Cabela's Emerging Leaders program, who resolved to help with the move—and to fix the problem of...
