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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"We can't bring them back, but we can honor their sacrifice," said John Sanna, Disrict 4 American Legion Commander during his address to Sidney's Memorial Day audience Monday. Sanna used the story of Major Brent Taylor of Ogden, Utah as an example of the typical soldier who died for his country. Taylor, on his third deployment, was killed in Afghanistan as he served in the U.S. Army. Taylor, like many veterans, said Sanna, served by choice. Prior to leaving for what proved to be his last...
Adjustments to the state’s tax tables, coupled with updates to county valuations resulted in a wide swing of property values reviewed by the Cheyenne County Commissioners, sitting as the County Board of Equalization Monday. During the Board of Equalization meeting, the Commissioners heard a report from Cheyenne County Assessor Melody Keller, who told the Board that due to the updates county valuations have dropped $729,378 since they were sent to the state in March. The change was due in part t...
Friday brought the first severe summer-type weather to the area with high winds and hail. The storm forced the relocation of the season’s first Downtown Sounds concert, and out on the highway, cars west of Sidney suddenly found themselves plowing through inches of hail on the roadway....
Fourth grade students at North Elementary have been learning about other cultures this week, part of a program sponsored by the Nebraska and High Plains Arts Councils. Steve Tamayo, a Lakota Sioux who serves the Omaha Public School system as a cultural consultant, spent the week teaching students about indigenous ways that have been passed down for many years. Tamayo said as part of the lesson, he opened with teaching students how the Sioux lived at Blue Water Creek (Ash Hollow) 150 years ago. B...
Sidney volunteer firefighters honored their own during their annual awards banquet Saturday night - including two long-time leaders who stepped down from their officer positions in the past year. Firemen rose to their feet to applaud the special recognition of Keith Stone, former chief, and former assistant chief Larry Chaon. Between them, the pair amassed more than 50 years leading the Sidney volunteers. Stone announced at last year's banquet he would step down after 32 years, while Chaon was a...
What started as a fill-in assignment ended in one of the state's top coaching awards for a Sidney High School teacher. Due to a late staff resignation, Carrie Nesbitt was asked if she would coach the Sidney High School cheer squad this year. She didn't know a lot about cheer and its competitions, but Nesbitt said "yes" to the request so students could have a supervisor in their endeavour. That "yes" resulted in a letter last week informing Nesbitt that she had been chosen as the 2019 Nebraska...
More than 50 Sidney residents turned out Saturday for the annual City of Sidney Tree Give-Away held at the Lodgepole Valley Youth Camp. The event, held by the Sidney Tree Board, provides ornamental and shade trees at no cost to Sidney homeowners. The event was part of this year's Arbor Day Celebration. Hosted by the Lodgepole Valley Youth Camp Board, attendees learned about the types of trees being given away - along with a tree planting demonstration. As part of the program, Arborist Galen...
A Sidney nurse has started a memorial fund after her friend and co-worker lost a family member in a tragic accident this week. Joni Peters, a nurse at Sidney Regional Medical Center started the fund after the death of 25 year old Tyson Herrera on a Wyoming highway. In addition, Tyson’s sister, Jasmine, was also injured in the accident. Peters knew Herrera herself for many years, as Tyson and her son played baseball together. To help fill potential needs and start the memorial, Peters took her b...
Census figures released last week show Cheyenne County's growth rate reversed to net losses in the last decade. For a number of years Cheyenne County had been one of the areas in the state that had regularly shown growth. But according to the latest figures, the area is now in decline, while Banner County is the lone Panhandle county to show slight growth. According to the report, Cheyenne County is estimated to have had a population decline of 347 people in the latest year, the largest loss for...
A year and a half in the making, Western Nebraska Community College held an open house and ribbon cutting for its Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center Wednesday. The center is testiment, said Sidney Campus Executive Director Paula Abbott, to what can be accomplished when people put their heads together to find a solution to a problem. Abbott reviewed how members of the chamber of commerce and Sidney's economic development director got together to see what could be done to help people displaced b...
A man convicted of a 2012 murder in Sidney has been denied postconviction relief by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Larry Martinez was convicted in July 2012 in the shooting death of Mandy Kersham and was later sentenced to life in prison. Martinez later appealed the conviction, which was denied. This time around, Martinez filed for postconviction relief, claiming his council was ineffective for not raising his mental capacity in support of an argument that his statements to law enforcement should...
Who says learning can't be fun? Certainly not Rick Meyer, principal at Sidney's South Elementary. Meyer delighted students and parents alike Friday when he opened the day in a fun and unusual way, wearing a dinosaur costume as he greeted his first and second graders as they came to school. The activity was payoff for students' achievements this school year. Since the beginning of the year, students have worked hard to earn "Raider Badges" when they reach certain levels of performance. From...
While the southern Panhandle didn’t take the severe damage and losses of those in eastern Nebraska, local entities, in particular cattlemen, still suffered hardship from the cyclone blizzard that struck the area in mid-March. Cold, wet conditions came with extremely high winds, subjecting cattle - particularly new-borns - to dangerous conditions. With warnings of the pending severity of the storm going out days before it actually hit, cattlemen with the facilities were able to shelter their a...
Cheyenne County Fair Board members held an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss an unexpected problem that arose with fair entertainment. The problem arose at the end of March when a fair board member, perusing the Cheyenne Frontier Days lineup, stumbled across an entry that showed the musical lineup of Walker Hayes opening for Keith Urban. A good combination, no doubt, but the problem laid in the fact that at the same time on the same night, Walker Hayes was supposed to be the headline show...
More than 40 people "gave their all" during a special rollout of a new workout program held Saturday at the Cheyenne County Community Center. By participating in the event, they became part of an elite club. Transform :20 Live is a high energy step workout based on a program developed by nationally known trainer, Shawn T. The original program, Transform :20 gives participants access to taped workout and additional materials. The program held at Sidney Saturday, Transform :20 Live, puts the...
A Sidney teacher is among those being recognized for their outstanding contributions to sports as members of the 26th induction class selected by the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame Foundation. Jennifer (Warner) Ramsey, a media specialist with Sidney Public Schools, is being recognized for her achievements while at St. Paul and Greeley High Schools. While at the schools, she led each school to a state basketball championship. As a freshman (Warner) Ramsey led her team in Greeley to the...
Agricultural producers and their supporters filled the hall last week at the Cheyenne County’s Ag Social, one of the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce’s most popular events each year. Highlighting the event was the presentation of the Chamber’s Agribusiness Scholarships. Each year the Chamber presents two scholarships to deserving high school students who plan to further their education in agriculture. The scholarships, one for $1,000 and one for $500 are awarded by the Chamber’s Ag Committ...
A number of long-term drug investigations culminated with the arrests of five people Wednesday. Members of the Western Intelligence Narcotics Group, or WING, made the arrests. Members of the taskforce include local officers from the Cheyenne County Sheriff's Office, Sidney Police Department and Nebraska State Patrol, as well as other agencies in the Panhandle. Arrested were Jerry R. Roa, 21, of Sidney for Delivery or Distribution of Marijuana, a Class II Felony; Jose Hernandez, 35, of Gurley...
Chamber Reports Progress Sidney’s City Council on Tuesday approved a public hearing for April 9, at which time members will obtain information for the proposed purchase of an office building at 812 13th Ave. in Sidney. The building, which originally housed Sidney’s John Deere dealership, became the original retail store for Cabela’s, and later was used by the company for office space. The city proposes to purchase the property for $1 million and to lease the space to UST Global, a company planni...
Sidney school children from kindergarten on up threw their “hats” into the ring, so to speak, joining together to raise more than $1,600 to help with flood victims in eastern Nebraska. The idea came about last week when school councelor Carla Brauer read an email from Nebraska children’s author Julia Cook of Fremont. Cook, taking an idea from Freemont school children, who held a “Kids Helping Kids- Wear a Hat for Fremont Day!” Cook spread the idea across her platforms to help raise funds to...
Potter-Dix came out on top of the competition last Friday, earning the championship in Class D-2 at the Nebraska School Activities Association Speech Championships. Potter-Dix scored in five of nine events on the way to winning the D-2 team sweepstake crown, with six Coyote individuals or groups earning medals. Duet Acting was Potter-Dix' best arena, where CC George and Ana Manning finished in second, while teammates Erica Bogert and Reagan Williams were third. Ginny Herboldsheimer was a double...
While last week’s blizzard was fast and ferocious, it didn’t result in a lot of calls for service by local emergency personnel. “In 16 years this was the most uneventful blizzard we’ve ever had,” said Cheyenne County Sheriff Adam Frerichs. Frerichs, and Region 21 Emergency Management Director Ron Leal, both agree that the state’s action to close the interstate early, before the storm was actually on top of the area, was the biggest reason it was so quiet. Last April was just the opposite, when l...
While Sidney and Cheyenne County fared pretty well during last week's blizzard, its affects on the state have been devastating. With many of the state's rivers already being watched for flooding due to the buildup of ice, the storm's added moisture and wind resulted in severe flooding across nearly two-thirds of the state. As of Monday, 65 of the state's counties had declared emergencies due to flooding, with more than 70 towns or cities affected. Some, like Niobrara, no longer exist. Others,...
Snowmageddon. Bomb Cyclone. Winter Storm Ulmer. No matter how it was referred to in the various forecasts and weather reports, this week's winter storm lived up to the predictions as it brought severe weather to the region. As predicted, the storm first made its appearance late Wednesday night, with the first band of rain sweeping over Sidney around 10:30 p.m. After a few hours of reprieve, the larger body rolled in during the early morning hours, bringing with it light rain and fog to go with...
With last week's announcement that Bass Pro/Cabela's would be closing the Sidney product distribution center, local officials are already preparing to assist the workers displaced by the action. "These are good people who have been in our community for a long time, and we're going to do what we can to help them," Sidney Mayor Roger Gallaway told the Sun-Telegraph. "It's disturbing to see the dismantling of a company that for so many years was the fabric of our community," Gallaway said. "But...
