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 1978 - 2002 of 3067
The Nebraska State Patrol will be conducting high visibility enforcement efforts over the St. Patrick’s Day holiday in an effort to crack down on impaired driving and reduce the potential for alcohol related crashes. Troopers and communication specialists for the Nebraska State Patrol will be putting in overtime hours beginning Thursday, March 13 through Monday, March 17. The overtime funding is provided thanks in part to a $15,620 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS). Special enforcement efforts will include high v... Full story
KIMBALL, Neb. (AP) - Local flooding and washed-out roads have prompted travel warnings from officials in Kimball County and other parts of the Nebraska Panhandle. Kimble County highway superintendent Dave Hottell blamed the mess on runoff from melting snow in his county and adjacent parts of Wyoming. "Most of the roads are a mess," Hottell said. "Roughly half of them are washed out and the other half are not in good shape." Some stretches of U.S. Highway 30 have been closed as well. Two teenage... Full story
Last week Cheyenne County District court ordered Pine Bluffs Gravel & Excavation to cease all gravel mining operations at property owned by Raymond and Teresa Kuehn on County Rd. 99 about seven miles west of Sidney. The gravel firm and the county have been at odds for around a year now over the company’s work on agriculturally zoned land where it operates a gravel mine. The case of Cheyenne County vs. Pine Bluffs Gravel & Excavating Inc. was tried on Jan. 16. The court issued its judgment on Feb. 28. In this civil case, Cheyenne County sought t...
Gubernatorial candidate Bryan Slone thinks his experience with tax reform and passion for small town Nebraska make him stand out from the crowd of Republican candidates hoping to succeed current Gov. Dave Heineman. "We need fundamental tax reform," Slone said. "I have the background and experience to make that happen." Slone decided to run because knows that his constituents are most concerned about tax reform. Slone worked in the Reagan administration for two years, laboring to draft Reagan's...
Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad introduced a bill to the Nebraska legislature that would lower student loan repayment obligations for attorneys who serve low earning clients in rural parts of the state. LB808 could provide public service attorneys working in communities with a population lower than 15,0000 with $6,000 a year in loan forgiveness, according to the Unicameral Update, the Nebraska Legislature’s official news source. The judiciary committee heard this bill on Feb. 21. Behind the proposal is a growing shortage of legal support in r...
After living through six gunshot wounds and a rocket propelled grenade attack in Afghanistan, Col. Tom Brewer, a 36-year veteran of the armed services, plans to take on Congress. Brewer hopes to bring a new perspective to the U.S. House of Representatives, by representing Nebraska's third district. An abundance of downtime due to an injury launched Brewer's interest in politics and ultimately his decision to run against Adrian Smith, who currently represents the third district. After Brewer was...
Not too spicy, not too sweet-just Knicely Done. It was a warmhearted roast, fitting for Omaha television's Mr. Nice Guy, John Knicely. And nice guys finish first in friendships. A sellout crowd-including college classmates, golf buddies, fellow church members and professional colleagues – filled the Press Club on Feb. 21 to see the longtime WOWT anchor honored as the OPC's 140th Face on the Barroom floor. Knicely is a 1970 graduate of Sidney High School and is the son of Jack and Jan Knicely o...
The city of Sidney would not be what it is today without the contributions of Dick Cabela, co-founder of Cabela's, who died at his home on Monday morning. The company has undoubtedly been a major contributor to Sidney's continued success. Cabela's was founded in 1961 when Cabela bought $45 worth of fishing flies to sell in his father's furniture store in Chappell. Customers at the store had little interest in the flies, so Cabela decided to sell them by mail order. Cabela's wife, Mary Cabela...
Cabela’s expects to begin construction on The Ranch, its local housing development as well as a headquarters expansion this year. At the same time, the corporation also plans to expand its retail presence nationwide. Last week Cabela’s announced plans to build three new stores. Cabela’s expects to open a store in Ammon, Idaho in spring 2015. This 42,000 square foot store is the company’s third in the state and will serve the Idaho Falls area. The store is expected to employ around 90 workers. Customers at this store will be able to make on...
Four suspects wanted in connection with several rural burglaries in Cheyenne County were arrested Thursday in Edgewater, Colo. Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for a home in Dalton where it was known that two of the suspects, Sean Gdowski and Martika Biggart, were residing. Authorities sought the warrant after allegedly finding some items linked to at least one recent rural burglary in trash from their residence. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on their residence on Jan. 29, according arrest warrant affidavits. Officials repo...
Vorachit Luexayachak, 40 of Iowa, was sentenced in Deuel County District Court last week for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver or distribute, a class three felony and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, a class four felony. Judge Derek Weimer sentenced Luexayachak to 48-72 months incarceration. Luexayachak took Nebraska State patrol on a 40 mile chase through Cheyenne and Deuel counties in November of last year. This chase ended in his arrest and the discovery of almost 60 pounds of marijuana in his possession. When a...
SIDNEY (BUSINESS WIRE) – Cabela’s Incorporated (NYSE:CAB) announced that Richard N. Cabela, Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, passed away today at his home in Sidney. He was 77. Dick, along with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim, founded Cabela’s somewhat inadvertently in 1961 when he purchased $45 worth of hand-tied fishing flies while in Chicago on a furniture and housewares buying trip with his father for the family’s Chappell, Neb., furniture store. With the flies not moving off the store shelf, Dick came upon the idea of selling them th... Full story
Bridgeport – A team from Sidney High School will represent the Panhandle for the Nebraska Envirothon Contest near Alda, Nebraska on May 3. The first place team comprised of Karson Langley, Jessica Campbell and Logan Uhlir earned the state berth on Tuesday, February 4 at the contest held in the Prairie Winds Community Center. Fifty nine students competed in the split regional contest. Schools represented included Sidney, Gering, Bayard, Gordon-Rushville, Creek Valley, Garden County and Chadron a...
Ev Tarrell earned the Cabela's Founder's Award, presented during a Feb. 3 ceremony. Tarrell created the company's industry-changing Zonz Camo line. In attendance at the event were the company's board of directors and executives. The Founder's Award is the most prestigious honor presented by Cabela's.... Full story
Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska is offering Health Insurance Marketplace enrollment assistance in the Sidney area. Trained Certified Application Counselors will be on hand to assist area residents by on Friday, Feb. 14 and Sat., Feb. 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Community Action Partnership facility located at 2241 Illinois Street in Sidney. Assistance is by appointment only. If you have questions about your eligibility or to make an appointment, please call 1-877-977-3906. Please mention you are seeking assistance in...
At Monday’s meeting, the Sidney school board officially approved a resolution for a $16.95 million bond election for a new elementary school to be held during the May 13 primary. In a special bond election held Sept. 10 of last year, a school bond set at nearly $16 million was voted down by a narrow margin of 105 votes. The bond would finance a new K-4 school, consolidating three of the system’s current schools, the oldest of which was originally constructed in 1929. The school board cited difficulty with installing new technology in the old...
Belinda Westfall, principal of North Elementary informed the school board that 2nd and 3rd grade students had improved significantly on standardized tests in vocabulary comprehension and fluency in preparation for NeSA testing. NeSA, or Nebraska State Accountability, tests the proficiency of students in various subjects statewide. “So we’re on our way to our NeSA test and just trying to up the ante on all of those,” Westfall said. Meanwhile 8th grade students recently finished their NeSA writing exam, in which they had to complete a descr...
Earlier this week, the Cheyenne County District Court denied the appeal by Pine Bluffs Gravel and Excavation of a Cheyenne County board of adjustment decision that said the company’s work was in violation of county zoning code. Pine Bluffs Gravel and Excavation and Cheyenne County have been at odds for many months now, over the company’s work on agriculturally zoned land seven miles west of Sidney, where the company operates a gravel mine. The case of Pine Bluffs Gravel and Excavation vs. Cheyenne County Board of Adjustment was heard on Nov...
Judge Paul Wess has been named County Court Presiding Judge of the 12th Judicial District, comprising Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Garden, Grant, Kimball, Morrill, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, and Sioux Counties. He was appointed for the year 2014. The Nebraska Supreme Court approved the nomination of Judge Wess, whose name was submitted by his fellow county court judges for the second consecutive year. Judge Wess has served on the county court bench in the 12th Judicial District since taking the bench in 2013. He currently serves on...
Although “brain drain” afflicts many other non-metropolitan counties in Nebraska, the portion of Cheyenne County’s population with some level of higher education increased significantly over the last 10 years. Brain drain represents the movement of educated people from rural areas to cities. It has been an issue for more than 30 years. In the past decade, however, Cheyenne County gained the highest percentage of college educated residents in the state with an increase of 8.5 percentage points, according to David Drozd, research coord...
Craig Johnson, 48, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Tuesday in Cheyenne County district court for the Dec. 11, 2011 murder of April Smith. During the trial, prosecutors theorized that Johnson killed Smith because of jealousy over her continued relationship with her husband, Ed Smith, from whom she was separated. “Mr. Johnson is a person that has a very checkered criminal history,” said assistant attorney general Corey O’Brien, who prosecuted the case. In the past, Johnson showed an ongoing tendency for violence,...
Panhandle businessman Bruce Evertson, a prominent figure in the state’s oil industry, was killed in a highway accident on Tuesday along with his passenger, Robin Lapaseotes of Bridgeport. Evertson, CEO of Evertson Companies in Kimball, was behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade traveling east on Nebraska Highway 88 in Morrill County. According to the Nebraska State Patrol, he collided head-on with a westbound semitrailer, driven by Dennis Dobrinski of Bridgeport. Dobrinski was taken to Regional West Medical Center with what were described a... Full story
After the county commissioners expressed displeasure last month at the burden placed upon them to find more space for probation offices in Cheyenne County, Linda Buehler, chief probation officer for district 12 attended Monday’s meeting to answer come of their questions. District 12 handles juvenile and adult probation cases for the entire Nebraska panhandle as well as Grant County. As responsibility for underage offenders transitions out of youth rehabilitation and treatment centers is transferred from the Department of Health and Human S...
Jason Custer, 35, was convicted of first degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a felon in Cheyenne County district court Friday following a week-long trial. A jury of seven men and five women deliberated for around five hours before determining Custer’s guilt in the fatal shooting of 36-year-old Adam McCormick just after midnight on Nov. 3, 2012 over a debt of $150. The victim’s family found significance in the fact that the verdict came in on McCormick’s son’s birthday. “This is what we were hopi...
The man accused of shooting 36-year-old Adam McCormick in the early morning hours of Nov. 3, 2012 took the stand yesterday to tell his version of the events that led to McCormick’s death. Jason Custer, 35 is charged with first degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Custer allegedly shot McCormick over a debt of $150. Custer moved to Sidney from California in October 2012 to live with Billy Fields and Amber Davis. Custer first met McCormick in early October at a friend’s apa...
