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 mis-step on a sidewalk, or unseen ice, can land a pedestrian on the sidewalk with injuries. Witnessing an accident on the highway quickly leads to the question of where is the nearest medical professional. What if more people were trained in basic response to an injury or illness. Several Cheyenne County employees completed a program in December that could answer that question. The majority of Cheyenne County employees along with various State of Nebraska employees, completed the nationally...
Jeremy Nesbitt, of Nexgen Outfitters, is pictured with children of the founders of Nexgen. The new company had an open house Thursday celebrating their official opening for business. Nexgen Outfitters offers camping and hunting supplies for sale online....
Walking a downtown sidewalk, or a hallway at a school, a person is greeted by laughter, business seriousness, and a host of emotions between. The question is if what you see is what is truly dominating that person, or is it the version that person wants the public to see. A program is returning to Sidney High School designed to help students see each other for who they truly are, and in the process develop a level of respect sometimes missing in schools. In 2018, Sidney High School hosted a...
LINCOLN - With the nation’s seventh-highest property tax rates, many Nebraskans are looking for any sort of relief. And according to Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, farmers are feeling the burden more than others. On Feb. 21, Groene presented LB 530 in front of the unicameral’s Revenue Committee, explaining that the bill would drop the valuation at which agricultural property is taxed from 75 percent to 65 percent. The last time the tax valuation on Nebraska agricultural land decreased was in 2006, when LB 968 dropped it from 80 percent to...
Toni Rasmussen is a former farm kid who knows the pride of donning an FFA jacket. Thanks to support from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she's using her life experience and education to share that pride with high school students, too. As a high schooler in Albion, Rasmussen was inspired by her ag education class, which propelled her to organize a goat enterprise for her family farm. Naturally, a career in ag education was a perfect next step for her. Today, she's one of 200 instructors...
LINCOLN--A bill that would ban advertising of plant-based, insect-based or lab-based food as “meat” was discussed by the Agriculture Committee in a two-hour long hearing Feb. 19 that included a disagreement between two senators. LB 594, presented by committee member Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, had its origins in LB 14, which was presented by Blood earlier this session and withdrawn last month. The new bill would act as an amendment to the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. “There are now additional consumers that will be protected and t...
Counties and municipalities in Nebraska are required by the State to submit one-year and six-year road work plans. This year’s plans could be in conflict with State highway department plans. The Sidney City Council had decided to save toward prioritized street projects. Those discussions addressed what streets to work on, how extensive the projects would be and setting a budget for the cost of the work. The council and Street Superintendent Hank Radtke agreed that 13th Street would be one of t...
CHADRON -- Bighorn sheep in the Panhandle are sporting some new hardware this week thanks to the work of a helicopter capture crew, wildlife professionals and volunteers. South Dakota State University joined the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in capturing and processing a total of 48 sheep Monday and Tuesday -- 22 in the Wildcat Hills near McGrew and 26 at three locations in the Pine Ridge near Chadron and Crawford. Wildlife professionals have ramped up monitoring efforts in recent years to...
William Jennings Bryan once said “Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.” In Peetz, “the city” and country are uniting. One of the values of a small community is its family-like atmosphere. When there is a need, neighbors step up. They pull on the work boots and jacket, fill the donation jar at the cafe and start up the trucks and combines when a...
GRAND ISLAND - Eleven vehicles were involved in multiple crashes that occurred this morning on Interstate 80 between Giltner and Aurora. At approximately 9:10 a.m., Hamilton County received a 911 call that two semi-tractor/trailers had crashed and jackknifed, blocking eastbound traffic on I-80 near mile marker 328. As troopers and officers were en route to the scene, additional vehicles became involved in a chain reaction crash. The first crash scene involved four semis and one passenger vehicle...
The Upper Niobrara White Natural Resources District (UNWNRD) coordinated the 2019 Western Regional Envirothon Contest on February 13, 2019. The contest was held at the Gordon City Hall with five schools from around the panhandle participating: Crawford, Creek Valley, Garden County, Gordon-Rushville and Sidney. The Envirothon Contest is a series of timed, written tests pertaining to seven environmental topics. The seven topics include: Aquatics, Forestry, Policy, Range, Soils, Wildlife and a Special Topic, that changes each year; this year’s t...
An outdoor enthusiast, be it hunting, fishing, camping or just a well-prepared day-hiker, learns the importance of each piece of equipment working at its top level, doing what it is designed to, when it is needed. When a product doesn't do as needed, the situation could determine the success of the experience. The lesson is if you want to get the right equipment the first time, talk with someone who uses it. That is part of the motivation behind a new company due to open in Sidney. Nexgen...
The landscape around Sidney is changing. The number of utility poles is decreasing as lines are going underground. Sidney's Electrical Superintendent Mike Palmer Tuesday presented the city council a request to purchase an horizontal directional drill (HDD). “We have been contracting out for about 12 years,” Palmer said. “We just it would be prudent and should save us a fair amount of money.” In his memo to the city council, Palmer said the Council considered purchasing an HDD in 2014. The mem...
Starting a business is seldom as easy as hanging a shingle on Main Street with the resulting crowds of customers beating down the door. It is the process of developing a vision, a product or service, a market approach, learning all of the skills and finding the resources to make the dream a reality. On Friday, Feb. 15, Western Nebraska Community College in Sidney hosted a lunch meeting for people starting the own business and for people interested but not ready to start their own business. At...
LINCOLN--Society is going through a massive digital revolution, which has brought its upsides and downsides, but is starting to divide it as well, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse told the crowd during a panel discussion Feb. 11. “I think what’s happening now is we’re hollowing out traditional tribes, tribes in place, and we’re trying to replace them with tribes of ideology that are probably not going to satisfy people,” he said. “Republicans and Democrats, they’re crappy tribes.” Sasse and three students from the University of Nebraska-Lincol...
LINCOLN – The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) is reminding farmers, ranchers and other pesticide applicators that it’s time to renew or obtain a private pesticide applicator license if you plan to purchase or use restricted-use pesticide products this year. As part of the licensing process, applicants are required to complete state-approved training prior to purchasing or applying restricted-use pesticide products. NDA’s Pesticide Program is responsible for regulating the distribution, storage and use of all pesticides in Nebra...
The Sidney City Council Tuesday approved continuing its public transportation program. The decision will mean the City will need to find $25,000 to cover the loss of support from the Cheyenne County Visitors Committee. The Visitors Committee withdrew its support of the bus system at the end of 2018, citing the funds do not fit in the parameters of tourism. Transportation Supervisor Dave Doty said the agreement traces back to 2010 with the Visitors Committee agreeing to $25,000 annual support....
The Sidney City Council Tuesday approved the rezoning of a 3.73 acre parcel on south 11th Avenue. The change allows limited agricultural use, up to one animal per acre and up to 30 percent of the acreage used for buildings besides the primary house. The decision did not come without extensive discussion among council members. At issue was what is the proper zoning for the acreage and how would the council's decision affect the neighboring landowners. Vice-Mayor Joe Arterburn said as the hearing...
The Cheyenne County School District No. 1 Board of Education Monday discussed the possible trend in funding for the next few years. The board met for its regular meeting Monday. Among the agenda items were the financial reports where Superintendent Jay Ehler said the district is in the anticipated $635,000 shortfall, a result of the loss in valuation in Sidney real estate. He said while revenue is down, expenditures are very close, only about a half percent higher than last year. He added that...
For the first time in more than 150 years, "American" is no longer part of the name of one of Sidney's oldest businesses. Last Friday, sign workers removed the last American Bank sign from the corner of 10th and Illinois, replacing it with signage of Platte Valley Bank, which acquired the local bank last fall. The bank is the longest running Sidney business in one location, having opened in 1889....
Friday morning, Plains West CASA expanded its volunteer staff, adding eight new names to the list of volunteers passionate about children. CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, is a program that matches adults with children who are within the court system. According to the website CASA For Children, "CASA and guardian ad litem (GAL) volunteers are appointed by judges to advocate for abused or neglected children, to make sure they don't get lost in the overburdened legal and social services...
To make good students, a school needs good, or better, teachers. To have quality teachers, you need good students of teaching. The Cheyenne County School District No. 1 has four examples of both, student teachers through the Chadron State College teacher education program. The program has been modified to provide more in depth experience for student teachers, according to Supt. Jay Ehler. He said student teachers get experience in the lower and upper elementary grades. The program is also design...
LINCOLN — Lawmakers last week debated bills dealing with income tax credit, unemployment benefits, slavery as punishment and scholarships for students, among others. A proposed amendment to allow Nebraskans to receive a state income tax credit to offset part of their property tax bill was discussed Feb. 7. LR 3CA, introduced by Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, would provide a refundable state income tax credit. Erdman said this amendment would produce about $1.3 billion in income tax credit each year. There was no immediate action taken on the p...
Sidney Public Schools' top students were recognized at the board of education meeting Monday. The student recognitions were through the Sidney Middle/Senior High School Monthly Performance Award Program. The Monthly Perfor-mance Award acknowledges other criteria as well as achievement. These criteria are: Superior academic performance, (or), dramatic improvement of classroom work, G.P.A. or attitude toward learning. Exceptional work effort toward a particular class project. Outstanding...
Farm operators and agronomists are invited to attend the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network research results update meeting Feb. 27 at Alliance. The meeting will run from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., including lunch, at Knight Museum & Sandhills Center, 908 Yellowstone Ave. The program is free and includes lunch, but preregistration is requested for meal planning purposes. To preregister call Box Butte County Extension office at 308-762-5616, or the On-Farm Research Network’s office in Lincoln at 402-624-8030 (or e-mail [email protected]). Registration che...
