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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A little more than a year ago, we were introduced to the concern of the coronavirus. It was also a little more than a year ago that Western Nebraska Community College and ESU13 announced a collaborative effort, a goal toward building a new complex for ESU13. WNCC’s role was to provide a location for the new complex. In exchange, both the college and educational service unit benefitted. The benefit to ESU13 and WNCC is complimentary services and staff. During the transitional period, ESU13 s...
The Cheyenne County School District No. 1 school board approved several resignations and staff contracts during the April 12 meeting. The board approved five resignations and eight teaching contracts. Technology teacher Steve Raymond will retire at the end of the school year, completing more than 20 years in Sidney. “I have enjoyed my 22 years of teaching in this district and have spent some time in every building except Middle School,” Raymond said in his resignation letter. “I have proba...
The Leyton School District board of education met Monday, April 12, at the high school. The board tabled action on its complaint policy until the May meeting. The board also further discussed the posting of meeting notices. The issue was legal posting, and how to do all possible to ensure the community knows when a meeting is held and what is on the agenda. The board agreed to change the wording of the policy requiring posting of meeting notices. The meeting notices will also be posted at the...
“These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” — Thomas Paine from “The American Crisis.” These words were written during a time of crisis. The colonists would either be patriots or rebels. According to History.com, Paine wrote this during a time when Gen. Washington was experiencing defeat after defeat, thousands o...
In December 2020, Madison “Madi” Wilkinson and Ally Benzel presented an idea to the Sidney City Council. The concept was simple although the goal might seem a little lofty: redesign the play area to welcome children, and adults, with varying levels of mobility. In the December 8 meeting, Wilkinson and Benzel said the goal is to not use tax funds and to update the equipment for children of all ages. The concept is to make the play area safer for children and therefore less of a worry for par...
Sidney Economic Development Director Melissa Norgard announced in an email Tuesday, April 13, that she is resigning her position with the City. After working for Cabela’s for nearly 4 ½ years, she was hired by Sidney’s previous city manager Ed Sadler as the new economic development director. She maintained that position from March 2017. In her letter to the Sidney Sun-Telegraph, she said she will continue her position through the end of April and then transition to part-time for the month of M...
The Cheyenne County Board also approved changes to the Emergency Communications Center bylaws, and the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement. Emergency Communications Director Heidi Gillespie said the interlocal agreement will be adjusted as of July 1, reflecting the percent each agency serviced pays. Gillespie said the changes to the agreement include adding the Deuel County Sheriff to a voting member of the communications board. Previously, the Deuel County Sheriff served as an ex-oficio member of...
The COVID-19 Risk Dial shows steady improvement for the Panhandle region. As of April 5, the Risk Dial was at 1.38, down from 1.53 the week before. The Risk Dial is a summary of conditions for the Panhandle Public Health District (PPHD) jurisdiction. It is divided into four levels from low to severe. PPHD stresses the Risk Dial is only a guide. It does not replace federal, state or locally directed health measures. The PPHD continues to advise at-risk and vulnerable individuals to practice strin...
Fresh out of college, Mike Leininger went to work in Hastings, Neb. Little did he know at the time, he would be offered an opportunity that would last 34 years. On Friday, April 9, Platte Valley Bank and its Sidney customers wished Leininger a happy retirement, completing 34 ½ years in Sidney. “One of the great things about Mike is he is a community banker,” said Hod Kosman, Director/Chairman andCEO/President of Platte Valley Bank Friday. Kosman presented Leininger and his wife Rita a retirement...
The local community, and Western Nebraska Community College’s Sidney aviation program specifically, was struck hard recently. Make no mistake. This will be a difficult journey. The aviation program is a tight-knit crew of students fascinated with the many skills associated with flight. Visiting one of their fly-in breakfasts for pilots, I felt like I was invited to a community gathering, something almost family-like. Even those who bordered on “dysfunctional” put fun in the word. They were...
Teenagers have views of life being wide open, quietly and not so quietly thinking themselves indestructible and spend their time proving how right, or wrong, they are. That all sounds good until life suddenly changes for no apparent reason. What started as minor deformity quickly became a journey that is just getting started. Kobe Peterson is a 15-year-old freshman at Sidney High School. He is also a young man facing a rare disease that has symptoms a teen doesn't want to face, symptoms that...
Sometimes life changes in slow motion. Other times it is like erasing the whiteboard and surrendering the marker. The Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce is losing its director to a new adventure, and Sidney High School is losing a coach and teacher. Eamonn and Hope Feeney are following new adventures and opportunities they didn't expect. They have both been accepted to teach in the Maxwell School District. Eamonn has been accepted to teach and coach at Maxwell High School. Hope will be...
I remember the time when the Easter season meant the television media would overload viewers with visions of artificial green grass, the sound of clucking, colorful eggs and the camera panning to the sight of a rabbit sitting contently, appearing to be chewing on grass. It is such a disjointed scene few could forget it. There’s the sound of a hen, the view of an egg — artistically overdone — and the rabbit laying in field of green plastic. I’m thinking of the awkward collision of concepts. I kno...
No, seemed to be the message in the March 23 discussion on enhancing the medians in the 17J Link road project. The Sidney City Council meeting included a line item for public input on upgrading the center median of the Link 17J project. The Link 17J will be undergoing major work from Old Post Road north to Highway 30/Illinois Street, then west to where work ended in the last work project. Council members have been discussing the option of upgrading the new medians with red-stamped brick in the...
On January 28, Cheyenne County's spellers met at West Elementary School in Sidney to determine who was the best of the local field. The contest was unique this year with contestants limited to a classroom and wearing masks, part of the COVID-19 health directives. Judges were at the front of the room with plexi-glas shields between themselves and individual contestants. The January contest came down to three finalists — Aastha Chaudhari and Aadhav Krishna came in first and second places r...
The shooting at a Colorado grocery store is tragic. That we should all agree on. It is tragic to start with because any violent loss of life has more than one victim, for a time at least. It is socially tragic because assaults in public places continue to strip away the sense of safety in society. We can dissect the situation by gender, political ideology, race, anger issues, religion, or even gun availability. Any one of these issues leaves many questions unanswered. Maybe incidents like this...
The location has the image of an historic filling station when cars were fueled by staff and the latest news could be shared over a glass-bottle of carbonated soda from the Coca-Cola cooler. The location at 9th and Illinois now serves bicyclists and cycling fans. Pedaler’s Corner officially opened Friday, March 26, the culmination of a long journey for Doug and Vicky Loghry. The Loghrys moved to Sidney from the Denver area. Vicky talks about growing up in a neighborhood of mom and pop shops. H...
The ceremony was small but the importance of the duties were just as clear. Two more people stood up for children in the court systems. Deanna Aurich and Jacobi Popp were sworn in by Judge Randin Roland Thursday, March 18, at the Cheyenne County District Court Room as the newest members of PlainsWest CASA. “I taught school for more than 30 years,” said Aurich. “I thought this is something I could do to help kids.” She said she has always had a soft spot for children who “had a strike against t...
Several years ago I read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, the first in The Chronicles of Narnia series. Actually, that is probably when I reread the classic tale. Later I watched the movie. It is the kind of story that is overwhelmed with imagination and fantasy, and a handful of life lessons. I was struck by the imagination of the story line and of the children. A whole world of fantasy and adventure lie within the grey world of the rainy London estate where they were residing. All they...
There's a cliché meant as motivation and good planning that also applies for major projects: “There's no time like the present!” Likewise, contractors and building project managers will say the cost “will never be any cheaper than it is today.” That is what concerns the Leyton Schools community. In the February 8 school board meeting, the board discussed why bids were coming in significantly higher than a year earlier. Board members discussed options including renovating the science room in...
The Cheyenne County School District No. 1 Board of Education accepted three resignations and approved five teaching contracts Monday. The board met Monday, March 8, at the Sidney High School auditorium. Tomi Rodak, Shannon Wilde and Zach Banzhaf each submitted resignations. Rodak, who teaches at West Elementary School, has accepted a position in the Bridgeport Public Schools. “After much reflection and consideration, I have accepted a position with Bridgeport Public Schools beginning with the 2...
The Sidney Airport Authority Board approved an agreement to locally fund concrete repair. “We're trying to do this on our own, save some money,” said Airport Authority Board Chairman Ron Meyer. In the March 11 meeting of the Airport Authority Board, George Lapaseotes, manager of Sidney Municipal Airport and partner in L & L Aviation, said he contacted three local companies for bids on repair work at the airport. The work will include about 25 feet of area in front of hangars, near the Wes...
Dr. Seuss, at least some of his published work, has been added to the academic hit list. It seems 21st century critics have discovered he was not always a nice guy by today's standards, some of his stories don't fit evolving social morality. His stories weren't balanced in racial representation, among other charges. The critic did admit some of the books were written in the 1920s. The publisher of the books cited racial implications and inuendos that are not comfortable with today's culture. I...
The distance between electronic files and a responding officer just got shorter. Cheyenne County Sheriff Adam Frerichs met with the Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners on March 1. Part of his report updated the commissioners on a new computer system. Each department vehicle will have a mobile computer. There will also be a camera in each vehicle and deputies will be wearing body cams. The digital body cams will be linked to the in-car camera, Frerichs said. The car camera will automatically...
A little more than a year ago, an effort was started to memorialize one of Sidney's youth and community athletics supporters. The effort has resulted in nearly reaching the goal of financing a regulation basketball court in memory of Alan Hartzler. The Alan Hartzler Community Fund is pleased to announce it has received a $5,000 grant from the Oregon Trail Community Foundation. These funds will support the construction of the Alan Hartzler Memorial Basketball Court in Sidney's Legion Park. Alan...
