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 1845 - 1869 of 3090
LINCOLN - Beginning November 1, the Nebraska Public Service Commission’s (PSC) cold weather rule will provide financially strapped customers of Nebraska’s jurisdictional natural gas utilities a little extra time to pay their bills. The PSC’s cold weather rule applies only to customers of the state’s jurisdictional utilities, Black Hills Energy, which now includes both Black Hills and legacy SourceGas Distribution service territories, and Northwestern Energy. From November 1-through-March 31, Black Hills and Northwestern may not shut off ser...
Changes to the interlocal cooperation agreement between Cheyenne County and City of Sidney for the Emergency Communications Center created a dispute between city and county officials serving on the CCECC authority board. Sidney City Council asked for board members to serve as chairperson on a rotating basis. County Commissioners argued this will affect the board’s independence. Authority board bylaws currently have the representing commissioner serve as chair. “It spells out in the bylaws the re...
Concrete poured this week on a north side project, long in the making, that will make a big difference for those driving in the Sioux Villa area. Construction crews spent the week preparing for and pouring three blocks of new concrete street on 18th Ave. from Cedar St. to Ash St., the housing project's main north-south thoroughfare . For a number of years the Sidney Housing Authority has been working to improve conditions at its properties, which include the Sioux Villa complex and Western...
Nebraska’s rural school districts are struggling to find substitute teachers. Sidney Public Schools faces the same challenge, Jay Ehler, SPS superintendent, said. “We have had struggles in the past having enough substitute teachers,” Ehler said. “We’re doing a little better this year. There’s a few more people available to sub, and are coming in and filling out applications.” Not having enough substitute teachers means administrators have to step away from their duties to cover classes, Ehle...
Trailers to be removed from streets The City of Sidney reminds citizens that starting Oct. 15 all types of trailers, boats and recreational vehicles are not allowed to be parked on city streets. The restricted parking is enforced on all side streets inside the city limits and lasts six months, until April 15, 2018 per city ordinance #460.06. -------------------------------------------------------- County officials attend legislative conference Three Cheyenne County officials attended a legislative conference conducted by the Nebraska...
Cheyenne County Commissioners Monday expressed concerns over amendments to its interlocal cooperation agreement with City of Sidney for the Emergency Communications Center. The city pays 65 percent of the CCECC’s expenses and the county 35 percent. The communications center provides services for all Cheyenne County public entities. Its affairs are overseen by an independent authority board comprising one county commissioner, the county sheriff, city chief of police, city manager and a C...
The day likely started like any other. Bike to work. Work his shift at the Mariott Hotel, and bike home as the sun starts to set. That is where the story changes. Dustin Calkins planned to meet a friend in Legion Park and chose to take a shortcut down the canal toward the bike path on Sept. 18 when his bicycle collided with rocks on the hillside. He was ejected from the bike, striking his head and injuring his spine. According to his mother, Betsy Gordon, the grass was too tall to see the...
A 53 year old Sidney woman remains hospitalized after a weekend dog attack which sent her and an year old female to the hospital. Sidney police responded to the scene in the 1300 block of Osage after receiving a report that a dog had made an attack. Upon arrival, officers tazed the animal, which escaped the home and went into the neighborhood. Police Chief Joe Aikens said when the officers made contact with the animal again, they were forced to euthanize it due to its continued aggressive...
A Potter teen escaped injury when the vehicle he was driving went off the road Wednesday, Oct. 11 Joshua Hutchinson, 16, of Potter, was driving a 1996 Ford Explorer north on Cheyenne County Road 83 when it went off the road and entered a west ditch at about 5:10 p.m. The front right corner of the Explorer collided with three trees, resulting in damage to the trees and to the vehicle. The accident occurred near Cheyenne County Road 34 three miles east and two miles north of Potter. According to the accident report, neighter alcohol nor drugs...
Isidro Alvarado, 28, of Sidney, appeared in Cheyenne County Court for a status hearing Friday on a charge of distribution of meth, a class II felony, and another case of second degree assault, a class II-A felony. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Alvarado pled no contest to a charge of attempted distribution of meth, a class II-A felony. The other case was dismissed with prejudice following the entry of plea. Sentencing is scheduled for November 1 at 11:00 a.m....
Sidney's economic development efforts are "kicking into high gear." Melissa Norgard, economic development director, reported to the Sidney City Council Tuesday on current efforts to promote the city's assets and workforce. "We have a lot of good stuff going on," Norgard said. Agri-Plastics of Ontario, Canada, last week officially announced it was expanding its operations to Sidney. The manufacturer is closing a deal with Lukjan Metal Products LLC to purchase roughly half of its 1 Greenwood Road...
A tow-truck lost its brakes and struck a fire hydrant at 10th Avenue and Forrest Street on Oct. 6. Sidney Water Department crews spent the cold, moist Friday repairing the hydrant and the series of leaks along the street that followed. "The new (hydrants) are break-away," Ed Sadler, city manager, said. "They shut themselves off. They break at the top and there's a valve down below. This is one of the older ones, so when it broke (the truck) went over the top of it, it not only broke off the fire...
Gov. Pete Ricketts visited Sidney Thursday to tour Lukjan Metal Products LLC as part of his week-long Nebraska Manufacturing Month tour. Ricketts had welcoming words for owner Elena Lukjanczuk-Kelly, and Gary Ring, vice president of sales and marketing. "We're very excited to have you here, and really appreciate your investment in our state," Ricketts said. "You're not going to find better people anywhere else in the country than right here in Nebraska. Nebraskans are just awesome."...
John Jensen, Cheyenne County Sheriff, Mark Overman, Scottsbluff County Sheriff, and Kevin Spencer, Scottsbluff Police Chief, are being sued for harassment by Nebraska Crime Commission members Lisa Stamm and Vaness Humaran. According to a complaint filed in Lancaster County District Court on Oct. 2, Jensen, Overman and Spencer were acting both in individual and official capacities when they violated Stamm and Humaran’s right to privacy, right against unlawful search and seizure, right to equal p...
Agri-Plastics if officially coming to Sidney. The Ontario, Canada, based plastics manufacturer will join Lukjan Metal Products LLC at One Greenwood Road, a $4.5 million investment. Sidney City Council approved the facility sub-division at its Sept. 26 meeting. Agri-Plastics will close on its deal with Lukjan at the end of this month, Melissa Norgard, economic development director, said. "They are going to initially hire around 20 people and hope to start operations late January or February,"...
Sidney is pursing federal and state grant opportunities to create a revolving loan fund for new and start-up businesses. "In the last few months a couple of newer start-up type companies have approached myself and the city wanting to know what we could do to help them out in terms of either growing a new business, purchasing an existing business, or starting up a new company from scratch," Melissa Norgard, city economic development director, said. Such businesses, though, don't meet the...
Jackson G. Feddersen, 18, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Cheyenne County District Court to six felony charges related to an Aug. 31 incident. Feddersen is charged with robbery, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, second degree assault and burglary, all Class II felonies, and strangulation and terroristic threats, both Class III felonies. With the charges of robbery and use of a deadly weapon, Feddersen faces 50 years in jail maximum for each charge and a minimum one year each. For the...
Chaos erupted as endless shots from a powerful rifle fired down on the crowd. Thaddeus Oliverius, a Lodgepole native and current resident of Scottsbluff, was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival with his wife and her family, eight people total. “We were there and everything was going good and everybody was having fun,” Oliverius said. On the event’s third day, musician Jason Aldean took the stage. And Stephen Paddock, from the Mandalay Bay Hotel began shooting at the crowd. “Some people...
The levels of naturally occurring arsenic in Lodgepole’s water are below state standards again. “It’s a great relief for us,” R.J. Savely, Lodgepole Board of Trustees vice chair, said. “We also know arsenic fluctuates throughout the panhandle, and it doesn’t get us out of the woods permanently, but it gives us the chance to continue to explore and work on water options for the village.” Quarterly tests are performed by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The state standar...
A community liaison for U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith visited with the Cheyenne County Commissioners Monday to provide an update on Smith’s legislative efforts in Washington D.C. “This has been a very interesting year,” Phillip Black said. Smith’s major agenda items, shared by fellow House of Representative Republicans, Black said, are health care reform and tax reform. House Republicans passed a health care reform bill, though further efforts foundered in the Senate during the summer. The focus n...
Christian Media Inc. in Scottsbluff has announced that the long-running effort to be reimbursed for expenses surrounding the 2016 KCMI frequency change has been resolved. Scottsbluff-based KCMI radio recently received payment for the expenses, which totaled nearly $40,000. The costs included engineering and consulting fees, promotions, office supplies, advertising, legal fees, and licensing costs. In 2007, Appaloosa Broadcasting Corp. petitioned the FCC for FM frequency 96.9, to be used for a station in Nunn, Colorado, as 96.9 was the only...
LINCOLN – Today, Governor Pete Ricketts proclaimed October as “Manufacturing Month” and announced a statewide tour in celebration of Nebraska’s second largest industry. At the ceremony, Governor Ricketts was joined by Department of Economic Development (DED) Director Courtney Dentlinger, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, and the Nebraska Manufacturing Advisory Council. “Nebraska is a state known for growing things and making things,” said Governor Ricketts. “Throughout the month we’ll be celebrating our manufacturers who are making world-cl...
Fifty years ago a young Sidney man found his way into the Navy. A week ago today, that man retired as a highly respected man of God and of the Navy, who would remain serving both capacities if he could. Lieutenant Commander William Dorwart stood in the hangar bay of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt at the Naval Base San Diego, honored by Navy friends and family, plus members of his own family who could make the trip. When Dorwart left Nebraska, he became an aviation electronic technician. When his...
Sidney City Council Tuesday approved a subdivision for Lukjan Metal LLC's facility on Greenwood Drive. Dividing the property is among the steps necessary to bring another company to Sidney, Robert Stefka, Commercial Investment Services of North Platte, representing Korda & Kelly, Lukjan's ownership entity, explained to council members. "When they purchased that building," Stefka said, "they looked at marketing the other half of the property because, quite frankly, it was a much larger property...
