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LINCOLN--Twenty-four bills were passed before the second session of the 105th Nebraska Legislature adjourned late Wednesday afternoon. Senators unanimously passed a bill that will require payday lenders to provide borrowers with more information. LB 194 will require lenders to notify borrowers in writing about the transaction date and amount, as well as payment due date and total payment due. Under LB 194, payday loans will not be allowed to exceed $500 and borrowers will have the right to rescind a transaction by the end of the next business...
A hard-hitting spring storm that hit the area Friday left more than a hundred motorists stranded around Sidney, and electric customers from Sidney to Lake McConaughy without power for between 24 and 48 hours. The storm began dropping snow mid-morning, and around 11:30 a.m., a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 near mile marker 66 was reported and it went downhill from there. The Nebraska State Patrol reported two major areas where accidents and poor visibility shut down traffic on I-80,...
The Cheyenne County Fair will include the talent of Rodney Atkins and McKenzie JaLynn Band. Atkins is known for songs such as "Farmer's Daughter," "If You're Going Through Hell," and "It's America." "Take a Back Road" (2011) produced his sixth No. 1 in its title track. He has received six nominations from the Academy of Country Music. The McKenzie JaLynn Band is lead by 17-year-old McKenzie JaLynn. She and her band are being considered for three for the fifth annual Nashville Universe Awards...
The Cheyenne County Commissioners and later the Communications Board discussed entering a dispatch service agreement with Deuel County. “Deuel County is in somewhat of a critical position,” Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub said Monday morning. Communications Director Heidi Gillespie met with the Cheyenne County commissioners Monday morning regarding the proposal to dispatch Deuel County services. She said Deuel County will provide the equipment to dispatch its sheriff’s department. Cheye...
SCOTTSBLUFF - Regional West announced today that it is adding the management and oversight of a fixed wing aircraft to its Air Link air ambulance flight program. The new partnership will enhance Air Link’s air medical transport services with the fixed wing aircraft’s capability to travel longer distances, carry larger patient loads, and safely fly in varying weather conditions. Med-Trans Corporation, a leading air medical company, is partnering with Regional West to assist with adding the fixed wing aircraft to its helicopter services. The air...
Nebraska Extension’s Tractor Safety & Hazardous Occupations Courses will be offered at Gering and Gordon in June, as well as and 10 other Nebraska locations this year for teens 14 or 15 years of age who will work on a farm. Federal law prohibits youth under 16 years old from using certain equipment on a farm unless parents or legal guardians own the farm. Certification received through a course provided by Nebraska Extension grants an exemption to the law, allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to drive a tractor and work with certain mechanized e...
Weather permitting, work is scheduled to begin April 23 on US-385 in Dalton, from Reference Post 50.00 to Reference Post 54.00, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation. Simon Contractors Inc., of Cheyenne, Wyoming has the $2.8 million project. Work will include milling, installing new storm water pipes, placing new concrete pavement, and sidewalk repair with ADA curb ramps. One-way traffic will be maintained with temporary traffic signals and a 12-foot width restriction. Some...
High Plains OCIA of Nebraska, Inc. is offering scholarships of up to $1,000 for the 2018/2019 school year. A chapter of OCIA (Organic Crop Improvement Association), High Plains OCIA of Nebraska, Inc. is located in the western part of Nebraska. The chapter includes members from Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and in all areas of the panhandle of Nebraska and parts of the sand hills. Since 1998 High Plains OCIA of Nebraska, Inc. has been active in the education of organic farming, organic...
Nebraska’s Rural Electric Association sponsors a Youth Energy Leadership Camp every year at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp at Halsey. The camp provides leadership and team building activities. The camp will be held July 9-13, 2018. Wheat Belt Public Power District will be selecting area youth to attend the camp. It is at no cost to the students. Campers must be currently a freshman, sophomore or junior in high school, and preference is given to students who are dependents of Wheat Belt PPD customers. Once students have participated in the Youth E...
Cheyenne County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Brad Fraass announced that producers who suffered qualifying livestock losses due to the recent blizzard could be eligible for the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). “LIP provides livestock producers with a vital safety net to help them overcome the damaging financial impact of natural disasters,” said Fraass. LIP compensates livestock owners and contract growers for livestock death losses in excess of normal mortality due to an eligible adverse weather event, including los...
High Plains OCIA of Nebraska chapter of Organic Crop Improvement Association held its annual general membership meeting on Saturday, March 24 in Sidney to elect officers for 2018 and conduct other business. Bernie Fehringer was elected president of the High Plains chapter for 2018. Current and newly elected board members include Mark Jones of Oshkosh, Walt Kallsen of Big Springs, Mike Wiest of Lodgepole, Cliff Johnson of Sidney, and Dennis Demmel of Ogallala. A resolution was adopted to amend the Bylaws. The classification of...
The Nebraska Range Short Course is scheduled for June 18-22 on the campus of Chadron State College. The short course is sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Chadron State College, and the Nebraska Section Society for Range Management. It is designed to provide individuals who have a background in range management, natural resources, or agriculture an opportunity to increase their knowledge in the field of range management. The week-long course taught through a series of classroom and field sessions focuses on underlying principles...
LINCOLN – The global emergence of climate change should get farmers thinking and acting locally, according to nearly a half-century of data analyzed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The new Nebraska study suggests that climate shifts between 1968 and 2013 drove about 25 percent of the collective fluctuations in corn, soybean and sorghum yields across the Great Plains. “Both temperature and precipitation had their fingerprints on that quarter of the variability, which (itself) varied with location and crop,” said study co-author Meetp...
On the east side of Sidney is an acreage of land that appears as if a project was started, then delayed for an unknown reason. That may soon change with a start-up company wanting to locate in the industrial park east of Sidney. Tuesday night at the Sidney City Council meeting, Economic Development Director Melissa Norgard said a start-up company is launching one of the most technologically advanced online retail businesses focused on hunting, shooting and camping products. The memo to city...
The office is lined with bookcases displaying encyclopedias, law books and records of history symbolic of an historic library. The oak book shelves share space with recognition plaques, family pictures and mementos of more than two years of working with the Sidney community. The desk clutter is indicative of a manager that always has one more project to address. Most of the projects are related to business relationships that have developed since becoming executive director of the Cheyenne...
In just a little more than a week, Ylani Cole will join nine other women from across Nebraska, vying for the title Mrs. Nebraska America and a chance at Mrs. America. As of Monday, she was still looking for that "just right" outfit for the interview portion of the pageant, still practicing for those interviews, and remembered with a start, "I've got to start packing." While it might seem Cole is flustered at the last minute, she says she is really just "a little nervous," with the day she's...
Christina Spaulding, 37, of Potter, died Tuesday, April 10, when the car she was driving was struck by a Union Pacific train at the Cheyenne County Road 91 crossing just north of Highway 30. The accident occurred at about 6:40 a.m., according to Union Pacific Director of Media Relations Kristen South. According to a press release issued April 11 by the Cheyenne County Attorney’s Office, the Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched at 6:41 a.m. Spaulding’s vehicle was struck as she attempted to cross the tracks west of Sidney and east...
Those who work with youth will celebrate Week of the Young Child next week, and in our area, the celebration kicks off tonight. “Celebrating Our Youngest Learners” opens to students and their families from 6-8 p.m. at the Cheyenne County Community Center. Free to the public, there will be a host of activities to challenge and delight. “We’ll be celebrating people who work with, and are in early childhood,” said Cassis Challburg, pre-school teacher at the Learning Corner Pre-School. At the site,...
A Colorado man escaped injury when his home built lightweight airplane lost power and he made a crash landing along Interstate 80 late Saturday afternoon. Ty Witt, 21, of Lamar, Colorado was moving the plane from Lamar to Sidney's Lloyd Carr Field and was approaching the airport just prior to the incident. Witt said as he flew toward the field, another aircraft called on the radio informing local air traffic it was on final approach. Witt said he went around to the west to come in second when...
A recommendation by the Cheyenne County Assessor has been accepted by the Nebraska Department of Revenue to be forwarded to potentially lower the level at which properties are taxed. Cheyenne County Assessor Sybil Prosser last week sent the office’s annual review to the Department of Revenue, proposing value changes based on property sales. Prosser was informed Friday that the Department of Revenue approved the proposal and forwarded it on to the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review C...
The reduction of staff when Cabela’s was sold to Bass Pro lead the Sidney School District to plan cost-saving efforts. The plan included a reduction in staff, primarily by attrition. Between retirements and resignations, the plan has worked. However, Cheyenne County Assessor Sybil Prosser announced a decrease in valuation, resulting in less revenue from property taxes. Monday night, Sidney Schools Superintendent Jay Ehler was asked what the impact will be and if the State will increase it’s sup...
The conflict that started World War 1 occurred overseas, but the impact was felt in the Panhandle of Nebraska as well. “It isn’t something that happened over there,” said Humanities Nebraska Program Officer Kristi Hyaek Carley recently. Organizers for the Sidney Chautauqua are busy planning details, making sure actors and actresses are ready for their part and locations are guaranteed. In just a few weeks, the Sidney community will have the opportunity to revisit the World War 1 time in histo...
LINCOLN--Gov. Pete Ricketts has signed Legislative Bill 42 beefing up state law on the use of child car seats. Under the bill signed Wednesday, toddlers up to age 2 will be required to sit in rear-facing car seats and kids under 8 to use booster seats.The law will take effect in January 2019. Sen. Robert Hilkemann of Omaha sponsored the measure that was passed on March 29 after a 40-2 vote. Violation of the new child restraint law would be considered a secondary offense and would carry a...
Two vehicles collided in Dalton Thursday, April 5, resulting in minor damage. A 2015 Jeep compact utility vehicle driven by Shirley M. Gillespie of Dalton, and a 2013 Honda Fit owned by Clifford Beyer, of Dalton, collided at a residence near the intersection of Wabasha and Main Street in Dalton at 5:15 p.m. The collision occurred when Gillespie’s vehicle backed into Beyer’s Honda. According to the Cheyenne County Sheriff’s report, Gillespie’s Jeep sustained $500 damage and Beyer’s Honda about $2,500....