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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There certain occupations in life that are defined as service, interactive with the community. Others, it takes a little looking outside of the box, or deeper in the heart. For some people, working in a service industry doesn't quite fill the niche. Filling that is about following the passion that involves passions outside of the business. When a cause is personal, it also become passionate. When the passion translates to community involvement, things get done, and sometimes people receive...
Today, Friday, August 21, the South Platte Natural Resources District (SPNRD) was notified by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) that the water sample for Oliver Reservoir meets or exceeds the threshold of the toxin, Microcystin, which is associated with the presence of harmful algal blooms. Oliver Reservoir will remain on Health Alert until a new sample tests below 8 parts-per-billion (ppb). Samples are taken weekly. When a health alert is issued, signs are posted to advise the public to use caution. Swimming beaches are...
Daniel G. “Danny” Shaw, age 74 of Dalton, NE passed away into his forever fishing hole with his family by his side, Monday, August 17, 2020 in Dalton. Funeral services will be held at 10 A.M., Saturday, August 22nd in the United Church of the Plains in Dalton with Pastor Leon “Bud” Gillespie officiating. Burial will follow in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Broadwater. Friends may stop at the Gehrig-Stitt Chapel on Friday from 1-7 P.M. Memorial contributions may be made in Danny’s name to the Camp...
A Sidney High School student was identified recently as positive with the COVID-19 virus. The announcement was made in a press release issued by the Sidney School District 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18. The press release states the Sidney Public Schools received confirmation of high school student positive with COVID-19. The press release says the student was last in the building on Monday, Aug. 17. Jessica Davies, Assistant Health Director and Wellness Coordinator of Panhandle Public Health...
The Sidney Public Library will be closed to the public on Thursday, August 20, for maintenance. The HVAC unit near the front doors is being replaced. The library will continue to have material checkout and pick-up available via the back door for patrons....
In 1962, the historian Barbara Tuchman published her work, The Guns of August. In it, she described the thirty days in August of 1914, when Europe's governments prodded their countries into a Great War. Germany and Austria-Hungary vs. the Allies: France, Great Britain, Russian, and the U.S. One of Tuchman's book reviewers wrote, “The holocaust of August was the prelude to four bitter years of deadlocked war that cost a generation of European lives.” Indeed, the Great War was horrific, and cau...
The Sidney City Council approved increasing funding for the Sidney Municipal Airport. On Tuesday, Aug. 11, the Sidney City Council debated a proposal for reinstating funding for the airport. For the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the Sidney Airport Authority requested $169,350.44. Also during that period, the city's valuation decreased by 12 percent. The council approved reducing the airport authority's funding by the same rate as all other departments in the City, resulting in a decrease to...
Lulu Cane Handley, 95, daughter of Ross and Gladys Handley, passed away on July 27, 2020, in Oak Harbor, Wash. She was born in Gurley, Ne., on Aug. 11, 1924 in a family of 11 sisters and brothers. Lulu graduated from Gurley High School in 1943 and then went into the military. After her service, she moved to Denver and worked for Gates Rubber Co. for several years, then later moved to Seattle, Wash., where she met the love of her life. They were married for 67 years. Lulu had a passion for...
Jackie Leroy Watts went home to be with the Lord on Aug 11, 2020 in Greeley, CO. Jack was born on May 8, 1946 in Bentonville, AR., to William Jay and Floe Ann (Taylor) Watts. Jack attended Sidney Public Schools and graduated in 1964. He worked for Sidney Parks and Recreation Department and Egging Tractor Cab Factory in Gurley, NE prior to going to college. On January 15, 1966, he married Kathy Thompson and from this union two daughters were born Jacqueline Ann Watts and Nicole Marie Watts. He...
While no one knows precisely how many Americans own guns, the figure that is most consistent in surveys is 30 percent. The number is likely higher because there are citizens such as myself who choose not to discuss personal armaments, or lack thereof, with people we don’t know. So let’s say a third of Americans, or roughly 110 million, own guns. The Small Arms Survey produced a study in 2018 that concluded Americans own more than 40 percent of the estimated one billion small arms in civ...
We recently celebrated a nephew’s wedding. It required travel to a metro area, more than many COVID restrictions encourage. Fortunately, most everything I was led to believe about the weekend was in error. The experience reminded me of a another place and time when tunnel vision missed the real event of the night. Years ago in a different part of the region, I had a discussion with an editor about a previous reporter who was on his way to a high school sports game. He was late for the game b...
The Nebraska Legislature has now adjourned for the year. I have now completed my fourth session in the Legislature. This was the first time since I have been elected that we completed the full session. In previous years we adjourned three or four days early. Perhaps we should have adjourned early again this year as well, except for the passage of the bill to ban dismemberment abortions. That bill passed on the last day of the session. Concerning dismemberment abortion, I can’t believe anyone w...
The COVID-19 pandemic has unsettled the country’s employment picture for months and will likely continue to do so for a while. However, the nature and terminology of this disruption varies greatly among individuals – some have seen their jobs disappear, others have been “furloughed” and still others have been offered an early retirement. If you’re in this final group – those either offered, or feeling forced to accept, an early retirement, how should you respond? Try to look at your situation holistically, rather than strictly in a short-term...
Imagine for a few moments what your life was like approximately one year ago. Whatever you imagine, never would you have believed that a year later you, along with others, would be where we are today. The world is a different place altogether. We can obviously identify any number of personal and social issues, but it is, of course, this global health crisis which has paralyzed us in any number of ways. The physical, emotional, social, economic, and yes, spiritual challenges have placed us into a life position in which we find ourselves unable...
As a child my family and I would make an annual trek to Las Vegas to visit my grandparents. My Grandma Dorothy was a really, really tough woman. Her husband died at the young age of 45 of a heart attack, leaving her to raise five children by herself. )She smoked, drank, ate with her feet on the table, ran a daycare out of her home (clearly there were less regulations at this time) and was one of my very favorite people in the whole world. A couple of the boys in the daycare were actually my...
The annual county fair with the rodeos, craft fairs, and children's events was drastically trimmed this year in response to COVID-19. However, not everyone was satisfied with the lack of public interaction with the viewing of farm-raised animals. Since they couldn't take the children to the fair, they brought a fair to the children. Here We Grow Child Development Center in Sidney recently held their own variety of a county fair. Children did artwork displaying animals in pens, face-painting and...
Nebraska’s Cornhusker Football team, led by Head Coach Scott Frost and Athletic Director Bill Moos, tried their best, but were ultimately shut down by the Big 10 and have “postponed” the football season until at least the Spring of 2021. Nebraska had entertained the notion of playing non-conference opponents, but again the Big 10 quashed the idea, and demanded the sports schedule be entirely “locked down.” This overreaction to a strain of flu that is far less deadly than advertised is doing inc...
There's been some modification to the Fall Sports schedules due to the government's reaction to COVID-19, but for the most part our area schools will continue with their normal sports schedule. Except for Peetz being forced to move back their Football and Volleyball seasons until the spring of 2012 due to Colorado's elected officials, the other area teams will start their schedules at the end of August. Please check social media for any last minute changes to these events. Sidney Scrimmages Cros...
Almeta Jean Hardenbergh, age 86, passed away July 21, 2020. She was born April 17, 1934 to Homer and Evelyn Longmore in Grover, CO. A large portion of her life was spent living in Kimball, North Platte, and Omaha, Nebraska; and Ogden, UT. But she also lived in Broken Bow, Grand Island, Hastings and McCook, NE. She married Lewis Hardenbergh in 1952 and had six children: Rod (Kathy) Hardenbergh, Vance (Vickie) Hardenbergh, LuAnn Finnegan, Celeste Smith-Meadows, Dennis (Lori) Hardenbergh, and...
The Sidney Housing Authority wants to thank everyone for their support as resident concerns at Western Heritage are evaluated. Both the Board of Commissioners and the management have always been responsive to the resident concerns. The Western Heritage administration is pleased to find the root cause of the plumbing issue at Western Heritage in several adjoining apartments and worked diligently with our contractors and staff to resolve the issue. The Western Heritage administration also wants to set the record straight for those who might have...
