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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My friend Stephen Bazzell posted on his Facebook on Monday, “If you are in this life for the money, or the fame ... All you will have left is a pretty grave.” Bazzell was in a regionally well-known band in Atlanta until he recently relocated to the Baltimore area where he joined another band. He posted this from a truck stop restaurant on Memorial Day where he noticed that all of the other diners, like he, were alone. He assumed they were all thinking the same as he was: How did we get here, 1,000 miles away from our families on a holiday. Assu... Full story
Benny Hochman was a prominent member of the Sidney community for many years. He made sauerkraut in the garage for the yearly Oktoberfest “because his wife said it stayed in the house for months,” according to Dr. C.J. Cornelius, M.D., a long-time friend of Hochman’s. Hochman was also active in the Kiwanis Club, a member of the city council at one time and the Jaycees and he was also president of the band parent’s organization at Sidney High School. Hochman was also on the board of directo... Full story
Sidney's 2013-14 budget is so dense, the City Council had to first weigh when to discuss the matter before turning to the actual details. At the council's May 27 meeting City Manager Gary Person said that this budget is going to have “a lot of pretty major projects already incorporated into it. Some carry over from this year, then those major projects we have to plan for. In addition to that, if there are things you want to see accomplished that will affect the budget we should identify those early on before our staff put their respective p... Full story
Two Big Springs’ dogs recent "walk about" nearly ended in disaster. The dogs were reunited with their family after four days thanks to caring neighbors, Sam and Doug Rose and Wheat Belt Oshkosh area foreman, Kevin Coss. Late Thursday afternoon, a concerned neighbor and Wheat Belt customer contacted the Wheat Belt office. Sam Rose noticed two dogs in the Big Springs Substation while farming nearby. The substations are locked and highly protected. Knowing that they wouldn't last long without water, and unable to release the dogs, he took the t...
The Sidney Chief Building Official Brad Rowan appeared before the members of the city council on May 28 for the second reading of the proposal to adopt the 2012 edition building, plumbing and mechanical/international fuel and gas codes 1694, 1695 and 1696. Rowan said during the May 28 meeting that he has received only positive responses from people about raising the fees and some people even asked why it hadn’t been done before. He added that “everybody thinks that we ought to raise them, also thinking we didn’t raise them enough.” At the May... Full story
Annexation with Potter of the old Sioux Army Depot was the topic of conversation at Tuesday evening's City Council meeting—in between bouts of thunder and tornado warnings. Eventually the council approved an interlocal agreement between the communities. City Manager Gary Person explained that Potter was the only city in Cheyenne County that had completed a comprehensive plan, one of the items that must be in place in order to start the redevelopment project. He went on to say that as a result, there will be an area at the site that is d...
Local quilter Diana Larson won a prestigious Rookie Quilter of the Year award for her piece named “Hannah’s Delight” at the Machine Quilter’s Showcase in Wichita, Kans. recently. The quilt, a beautiful purple design made to fit a queen-sized bed, is based on one that was featured in Quilter’s Newsletter in 1980. This quilt was first made by Hannah Hayes in 1930. Larson says that the major difference between hers and Hayes’ quilt is the modern “machine quilting.” Hayes never showed her quil... Full story
This week’s devastating events in Oklahoma have shaken many people nationwide. Tornadoes, to me, are one of the most frightening things that I can imagine ever going through. I have outrun a couple while I was driving down the road, but I have never been in a building while a funnel was passing over. Georgia has seen quite a few tornadoes in the past couple of years. I nearly missed being in the middle of an EF3 on January 30, a few weeks before I moved here. Luckily, I had planned my route differently that day, or I would have been in the c...
Rachel Forster, Director of Pharmacy at Sidney Regional Medical Center, has organized a relief effort for the victims of the Oklahoma tornados. Donations are being accepted from now through Tuesday, May 28 at 5:00 p.m. The donated items will be delivered to Oklahoma next week. Items for donations can include hygiene/sanitary products, bandages, non-perishable food, clothing, diapers and wipes, baby formula, children’s toys (such as coloring books, crayons, stuffed animals, books), pain relieve products, tents, sleeping bags, pillows, paper p... Full story
In a Cheyenne County District court appearance on May 20, defendant Justin J. Warren and his attorney Kelly S. Breen, made a motion to suppress evidence at a trial of the case against him “of any and all items of evidence taken from the defendant’s living quarters or any other place in which he had an expectation of privacy on or about March 22 of this year.” The records go on to state that the foregoing motion will be heard on June 12 in the District Court of Cheyenne County at 8:30 a.m. The search and seizure of items from Warren’s residen... Full story
Local dentists are currently performing pre-screenings for the Panhandle Health District Dental Day, scheduled at area schools May 31 and June 1. All children who plan to attend the Dental Days must be pre-screened. Sandy Goble, of Summit Dental in Sidney, says that there is a waiting list, but interested parties should go ahead and call to be added at Summit Dental or any local dentist’s office. Goble said that the Dental Days event is for children who don’t have dental insurance and might otherwise not be able to have dental check-ups. Dr.... Full story
The Tenth Annual Gold Rush Days weekend begins on Friday, June 7 at Legion Park with a campfire kick-off at 5:00 p.m. People are encouraged to bring marshmallows and hot dogs to roast around the campfire. At 5:30, re-enactments will begin with the Colorado Trailblazers followed by entertainment by the Carr Family Cowboy Band. At 7:00, Way out West presents “Blazing Guns at Roaring Gulch.” The Sidney Chamber’s 5K run will begin at 8:00. The rest of Friday evening will be filled with storytelling and more cooking out around the campfire. Satur...
The Salvation Army Thrift Store on 10th Avenue was the target of cash-seeking thieves who broke in sometime after closing on Tuesday evening may 21. Sherry Torres said that when she arrived at the location to open the store on Wednesday morning, she noticed that “the door was ajar and thought this was unusual because we always lock everything up tightly.” Upon entering, she noticed that there was debris on bags in the backroom. After realizing that the door had been kicked in, she called the police. When Torres checked the rest of the sto... Full story
Perhaps the lack of rain over the past year just made it seem like more, but 1.25 inches fell from the skies over Sidney from May 17 through May 20—an amount verified by Vernon Florke of the High Plains Ag Lab. Don Ogle, Information and Education Coordinator at the Sidney office of the Natural Resource District, said that it is “too early to tell if the rain helped. Every bit that comes from the sky is water that we don’t have to pump from the ground. It could turn hot, but at least now we have moisture to turn up a good crop.” Ogle went on...
A geranium plant owned by Ioan Childers has been growing in the same pot while basking in sunlight by its favorite window for 12 years. All that she has done to the geranium is water and fertilize it. She has never repotted the flower. Every morning, Childers said that she shifts the flower one-quarter turn Childers said that she trims the stalks down before she puts it outside on the deck once the weather warms enough but brings the flower in when it is too cool outside and it stays inside all... Full story
The Success for Learning program and teacher collaboration times were topics of discussion by Potter-Dix Board of Education members at their May meeting. President Claire Smith said that the SFL program “ties into the idea about the sort of improvement programs that maybe work better in a shorter time frame.” She went on to say that SFL “seems to be working some of the time for some of the kids not all of the time for all of the kids.” Smith pointed out that sometimes transportation issues prevent parents from getting children to the program. T...
May is High Blood Pressure Awareness Month. Community Health Nurse Tammy Meier has advice for everyone concerning high blood pressure. “High blood pressure is sometimes called the silent killer, with good reason, too,” she said. “It has few symptoms, but left untreated can dramatically increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.” Around 30 percent of the adult population suffers from high blood pressure - or hypertension- yet many do not even realize it. “It sounds obvious, but the only way of knowing if there’s a problem in the first place is...
Much to the dismay of city council member Joe Arterburn, Sidney’s public swimming pool will not open until the first week of June. Crews have been busy preparing the facility but, according to Public Services Director John Hehnke, weather—including the snow storms of April and May—played havoc with the schedule. Memorial Day is often considered the target date for community pool openings. Hehnke explained for paint to adhere and patchwork be completed, temperatures must reach a certain level...
John Hehnke, Sidney’s Public Services Director, informed the council members that repairs to the south sub power station will be made from May 29 through June 2. The south sub-station will be completely down for those days. During that time all Sidney residents will be asked to conserve electricity. The repairs must be completed before summer hits its stride or a transformer could be completely lost due to a gas build-up issue. The community cannot be supported by one sub-station through the heat of summer, so it is imperative that the r...
Sidney Chief Building Official Brad Rowen proposed a new fee schedule to the City Council at the May 14 meeting. The plan would mean increases for those affected. Rowen explained that the hike in fees will generate $75,000--a little less than half the department’s budget when figured at 100 houses and $200,000 value. He went on to say that with the new fee schedule his department would be self-sustaining within the first year. If so, they would not have to pull funds from the general budget. The new codes Rowen has proposed to the council w...
Ways to improve the 83 acre Hillside Golf Course were discussed at the city council meeting on May 14. Andy Staples of the Staples Group made a presentation about the golf irrigation project to the council members that showed various options to update the lake and pump system. The presentation included the irrigation system in four areas: The water delivery system, lake size and location, head layout/final acreage and master plan items. Staples said that the majority “of our work was spent tryin... Full story
Construction of a new elementary school building was the featured topic at Sidney’s Public Schools Board of Education’s May meeting on Monday night. Superintendent Jay Ehler said that this has been discussed off and on throughout the year, as far as how they are going to do it, when they are going to do it, where is it going to be located. He went on to say that he thinks that “we are getting to the point now where we need to decide if we are going to have a special election or do we want to have it during the general election.” Ehler added t...
I am a minimalist in some way. I believe in living simply while living life to its fullest. When I travel, I camp or stay in hostels to save money. While I am sightseeing, I realize I won’t be cooped up in a motel room for the duration of the trip, so why spend loads of money on a room to sleep in? I have numerous times also slept in my car in places like New Orleans (before I lived nearby). No one cares if you sleep in a car they; the meter maids will tap on your window to remind you to feed the meter every now and then. Sleeping in a car w...
Last year’s drought conditions across Nebraska forced irrigators, municipalities, industry and other users to pump heavily from groundwater wells. Just how much water they used is beginning to show up in spring readings from observation wells that are maintained by natural resource districts. Don Ogle, Information and Education Coordinator at the Sidney Natural Resource District (NRD), explained that last year was not only severe with little or no rain, but also hot and dry for so long that farmers required significant amounts of pumped w... Full story
After riders take off from Kimball on the morning of June 1, the first overnight stop for the participants in the Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska (BRAN) will be in Chappell. The Creek Valley Board of Education (BOE) approved the request by BRAN to use the high school stadium for the stop in Chappell during their March BOE meeting. As the big day and night approaches, coordinators in the community are finishing preparations. Co-chairman of Chappell events for the BRAN stop Connie Loos said that they have an “Awful lot going on. They will be on f...
