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 1 - 15 of 15
A large group of residents gathered at Lodgepole Community Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 24 to examine the available options for preventing the closure of their town's middle school. Closure of the Lodgepole middle school, which is part of the Creek Valley School District, is being discussed by the district's school board. The board held two work sessions in early January where it talked about a proposal to consolidate the district's middle school into the Chappell high school as a cost-saving measure....
Posted up at the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce are several conceptual renderings of proposed renovations to Hickory Square. Conceptual and proposed are the key words, because City Manager Ed Sadler wants community buy-in before moving forward with the project. The upgrades would provide a variety of amenities, including a covered stage, a water feature and children's play area. In the conceptual designs, a main gathering area would sit south of the flagpole currently at Hickory Square....
Next time you pass by a Sidney police officer, take note of the shining gold star pinned to their uniform. The Sidney Police Department is sporting new badges to commemorate the city's establishment 150 years ago. "We are proud to be a part of the community, and this is how we are showing it," Chief of Police Joe Aikens said. Aikens said the police are actively involved with the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce in preparing for the upcoming sesquicentennial celebrations, planning parade...
How many dollars are Cheyenne County shoppers sending outside the region? Depending on the industry, the amount might be significant. The Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce is holding a Lunch and Learn over a retail leakage study which shows the breakdown of money spent by local residents inside and outside the area. The seminar will be led by Sean Overeynder, of Twin Cities Development Association, Inc. Overeynder will explain how the data in the report was compiled, and give tips on how dollars may be kept in the region. The lunch and learn...
Cabela’s announced that it will release fourth quarter and full year 2016 financial results on Thursday, Feb. 16. The company will not host a conference call with analysts or investors, or provide guidance in connection with the results, and will not do so in future quarters while the company’s acquisition by Bass Pro Shops is pending. The acquisition was announced in October 2016. The companies stated they had entered into an agreement where Bass Pro Shops would acquire Cabela’s for $65.50 per share, in a transaction costing appro...
After working on the Sinful Sidney Sesquicentennial Celebration for almost ten months, joint efforts between the city of Sidney, the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce and the Cheyenne County Visitors Center continue pushing the event towards preparedness. At its Jan. 17 meeting, the Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners made a successful motion to support the sesquicentennial – which will take place in fall 2017 – and waive fees for the event’s use of the fairgrounds. At that meeting, Chamber President-CEO Denise Wilkinson presented the c...
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts flew into the Sidney Municipal Airport on Wednesday, Jan. 18 as part of a string of stops around the state. After disembarking his plane and spending a few minutes mingling with the crowd, the governor delivered a speech to a group of local residents and city officials. The address focused on several issues that Ricketts had recently put before the Nebraska Legislature, many of them related to the state budget and taxes. Two weeks ago, Ricketts proposed budget...
Numbers comparing the new and old are in. In late December, the Sidney City Council received a presentation that set the 2015 and 2016 expenses, revenues and attendance numbers for the Sidney Aquatic Center side-by-side, showing the shift in cost and use of the new facility versus the old. In 2016, the facility saw an increased patronage of 41 people per day, for an average of 141 people using the facility daily. Along with attendance, both revenues and expenses for the pool jumped up in 2016. Subscribe to the Sidney Sun-Telegraph to read the...
In response to demand for job-ready workers in the agricultural field, Western Nebraska Community College will roll out a new Applied Agriculture Technologies program in the fall semester. Jason Stratman, WNCC dean of instruction and workforce development, said in recent years the college started seeing a need for practical, “hands-on” training in the area. In WNCC’s proposal to the state, in which the need for the program was outlined, data collected by Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc. indicated 68 annual job openings in the agricultural fi...
Sidney City Council recently received a target market strategy study, which provides several likely avenues and industries for the city to pursue to spur economic growth. Tim Feemster from Foremost Quality Logistics, a consulting group that helped prepare the study, presented the results to council at its Jan. 10 meeting. The study identifies the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of Sidney. It lays out several significant threats to further economic development, and also addresses the elephant in the room almost immediately. “We are n...
Sidney’s City Council is considering an amendment to the city’s liquor laws, including one change regarding consumption of liquor on city-owned property. An ordinance to alter the code was introduced on first reading at the Jan. 10 council meeting, and will come back before the council for a second look Jan. 24. Sidney Chief of Police Joe Aikens said the proposed legislation would clean up the current code regarding alcohol. “Our purpose is to clean up the ordinances; some of them are outdated, don’t apply anymore, so we are trying to bring tho...
The Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce is planning a retail leakage lunch and learn for Thursday, Feb. 2 at noon. The meeting will be at Dude’s Steakhouse. Chamber president-CEO Denise Wilkinson said a retail leakage report will be discussed during the lunch and learn. The document details statistics that show spending patterns for different categories of goods outside of Cheyenne County. “It’s a good indicator of what we need here,” Wilkinson said. The report may help businesses plan new hours or strategies, according to Wilkinson, and may...
On Tuesday, Jan. 3 the Creek Valley School Board held an open work session to discuss the numbers, and talk about potentially closing the school in Lodgepole as a cost-saving measure. Board President Jason Phillips said a focus of the Tuesday meeting was to share the financial data and facts that had led the board to this juncture. As they ran through a number of Power Point slides, board members painted the picture of declining state and federal aid, as well as increasing costs. According to...
On the cusp of the 2017 Nebraska legislative session, Senator-elect Steve Erdman of the 47th District has taxes on the brain, and he is not alone. When interviewed prior to being sworn into office on Jan. 4, Erdman – whose district includes Cheyenne County – said property taxes present the largest issue for both residents of his district and the state at large. Erdman said property tax currently pays 48 percent of funding for counties, cities and schools; while sales tax contributes 19 percent and income tax pays for 33 percent. Erdman sai...
The Sidney Sun-Telegraph has hired Dan Fox as its new community reporter. Fox worked previously as the associate editor for West Newsmagazine in St. Louis, Missouri. He will take up the task of covering Sidney's city government and the local school districts, as well as other beats for the paper. Fox covered local news and politics for several municipalities in the St. Louis area, and focused on writing stories that were relevant and impactful to residents. With his focus on community-based...
