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 2206 - 2230 of 3067
It has been a busy year for the Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, as there has been quite a bit of activity in the state, according to Deputy Director Stan Belieu—although search and drilling operations have not been consistent across Nebraska. “There’s not much activity around Sidney,” Belieu explained. “Production has increased in the state, but decreased locally.” Two large wells were drilled near Potter and one west in Lorenzo. The wells have not been offset, meaning oil companies have not drilled more around them. In 2012, Ne...
CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — A wintry storm carrying blustery winds and heavy snow has been forecast for the Nebraska Panhandle. The storm is expected to move from Wyoming into Nebraska sometime Thursday night. The National Weather Service says the snow will limit visibility and fall mostly in higher elevations, with rain possible elsewhere. A snow accumulation of up to 9 inches is forecast for Chadron, compared with 2 inches in Sidney. Wind gusts of 50 mph could hit whip through some parts of the Panhandle. Snow has been falling in the mountains of ce...
This weekend marks the ninth annual Rocktoberfest in Cheyenne County. Rocktoberfest is an event for youths in 7th through 12th grades and will take place at the Youth Center on October 4 and 5 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Kids Plus is putting on the event, and they have been catering to families and young people in Cheyenne County for more than 20 years. Rocktoberfest will charge guests $3 per night, but they give 50 percent of the admission fees to SMAC. Last year, Kids Plus donated $744 to the program. The first year the event was put on, 100...
Sidney's 39th annual Oktoberfest promises a plethora of food options, foot stamping music and of course, free flowing suds—despite the predicted cold weather. Featured inside the 16,000 square foot tent at the fair grounds will be 15 food vendors, which is about the same amount as last year, according to Becky Rezac, member of the Oktoberfest committee. The shooter's club will have a booth for the first time this year, offering rocky mountain oysters. The beer gardens on the East and West e...
The Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” was signed into law in March of 2010, with the first major provision going into effect on October 1. The ACA's individual mandate requires millions of uninsured Americans to sign up for quality health coverage, with subsidies to help cover the expense for some. Those that visit the Health Insurance Marketplace and sign up now will begin to receive coverage in January. Although studies reveal that many people are not aware about the changes that acc...
The Nebraska State Bar Association hopes that changes to the juvenile justice system in this state will lead youth toward more positive actions instead of deeper into the corrections system. LB 561 was passed by the Nebraska Legislature in May of this year. This bill and the associated legislation bring extensive reform to the juvenile justice system in an effort to expand services and allow alternatives to detention for youth in Nebraska, according to the NSBA. The bill states that, "...the services available for the treatment and...
NEW YORK (AP) — The partial government shutdown that began Tuesday threw into turmoil the household finances of some federal workers, with many facing unpaid furloughs or delays in paychecks. Park ranger and father-to-be Darquez Smith said he already lives paycheck to paycheck while putting himself through college and worried how he'll fare if the checks stop coming. "I've got a lot on my plate right now — tuition, my daughter, bills," said Smith, 23, a ranger at Dayton Aviation Heritage Nat...
Two locals were charged and arrested last month in a case involving sexual assault of a child and extortion. Jason Frei, a 55 year old Potter man, was arrested in August for third degree sexual assault of a child, a felony, while Kristie Keenan, mother of the child involved in the case was arrested for theft by extortion, also a felony. Keenan met with a member of the Cheyenne County Sheriff's department on Aug. 16 to discuss the incident between Frei and her daughter. Keenan, 29, allegedly told law enforcement that Frei had inappropriately...
Three local ladies want to spread the news about breast cancer awareness and to celebrate breast cancer survivors as part of the Sidney Oktoberfest parade. All breast cancer survivors are welcome to walk alongside or ride on the float in recognition of October which is breast cancer awareness month. These women wish to raise awareness about breast cancer detection and think that if only one person gets a mammogram as a result of seeing the float that it's worth it. Those who want to walk with the float and anyone who would like to support...
Local law enforcement already claim that medical marijuana legalization in Colorado led to an influx of the drug in surrounding areas, but with the upcoming switch to sales of legal marijuana to those over 21, agencies are worried the problem will grow. "Colorado is becoming the new source state," said Cheyenne County Sheriff John Jenson. In 2012 there were 274 reported seizures of marijuana coming from Colorado on its way to other states. This compares to 54 in 2005—a 407 percent i...
The Dorwart Cancer Care Center reopened on Monday for the first time since the Sept. 9 storm, which caused flooding damage and knocked out power. Patient care services were temporarily moved to the Memorial Health Center. “It definitely helped out. Moving treatment was better than not receiving any at all,” Regional West Director of Cancer Services, Jeff Kriewald said. Carpet and dry wall had to be replaced in the cancer care center. After thorough inspection of the outpatient area of the building to make sure there were no contaminants tha...
A semi, driven by 22-year-old Taylor Covalt rolled over on county road 93 earlier this month near Gurley, spilling 2000 gallons of fertilizer. The semi was attempting to turn onto county road 93 from county road 52, when the trailer ran off the road to the right, causing both the tractor and trailer to roll onto their sides, spilling the load onto ground alongside the route. The county called the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to take steps to remove the contaminated ground where the spill occurred. This caused damage to the...
Plans are under way to reconstruct the county's shooting range, which was battered by the Sept. 9 storm. The building, which is located in a rural part of Cheyenne County, was destroyed due to wind damage. The highest recorded wind speed in the storm earlier this month was 78 miles per hour, although some speculate that unrecorded gusts may have exceeded this mark. The Cheyenne County Sheriff John Jenson does not disclose the exact location of the building because SWAT exercises are sometimes carried out there. He estimates that it will cost...
Sidney's electric department officials are working to bring the city one step closer to a more flexible system offering more power. The city received bids for a new electrical distribution tie line Sept. 11. The low bid was from Ward Electric Company in the amount of around $230,000. Public services director John Hehnke recommended approval for the bid at Tuesday's city council meeting. A few years ago the electricity department placed a larger transformer at the north substation, which has the capability to supply more power to town,...
Environmentally conscious Sidney employees recently gained state-wide recognition. Two city officials were awarded with the Nebraska Outstanding Community Conservation Award at the Nebraska Association of Resources District's annual fall conference Sept. 23. These prizes are awarded to those who take part in outstanding community conservation efforts and promote community conservation projects in Nebraska. Both Bill Taylor, water superintendent and Tom VonSeggern, parks superintendent were...
The city hopes to end its fiscal year in fine health. Sidney's fiscal year ends at the end of September. Tax collections, which were a mixed bag in August this year, might be the only hitch. "The property tax came in a little short, but the sales tax is coming in better than anticipated," said city clerk Geri Anthony. "So that helped a lot." Although property tax collections were lower than anticipated, collections in October are usually pretty substantial, she added. The city is pleased with the sales tax numbers at this point. September...
Anyone in Sidney with a broken-down car in the front yard should expect to hear from police sometime soon. At Tuesday night's city council meeting, Sidney Police Chief B.J. Wilkinson asked the council to accept a bid for a towing contract between the city and Affordable Towing for the removal of abandoned and unlicensed vehicles illegally stored on private property. The police department received only one bid on Sept. 9. "We had lots of interest, we only had one bid returned," Wilkinson said....
The Cheyenne County Commissioners approved the proposed budget for 2013-2014, and some of the line items took a significant jump. Big changes occurred in the communications center and wireless 911 services, shoot from $390,354 to $560,390 and $4,644 to $128,370, respectively. “I think they were just inflationary costs. I don’t know that there was one particular thing that made this huge jump,” Cheyenne County Clerk, Beth Fiegenschuh said. The rules governing allocation of funds are strict, with money directed toward specific projects or categ...
The Tax Increment Finance plan for the Cabela's Corporate Campus Expansion received final approval Tuesday night by the Community Development Agency and the city council. After a referral back from the planning commission with assurance that the master plan for redevelopment of the 27 acre tract of land owned by Cabela's and the 14 acre tract of land owned by Tim Reganis was in line with the city's 2012 comprehensive plan, the CDA and then the city council both approved TIF for the project. This area is considered blighted and Cabela's asked...
A shortage of lawyers means a lack of justice. While in some areas, the legal market is oversaturated, the number of qualified attorneys in rural areas is shrinking rapidly. Many counties are underserved at the moment, according to the Nebraska State Bar Association. When there are few lawyers available, this limits access to justice for rural dwellers. In some cases, people must travel up to 200 miles for legal help. In Nebraska, there are 12 counties that have no lawyers at all. According to the NSBA there were 18 lawyers in Cheyenne County...
Those living in Sidney are constantly told that the populations has grown, is growing and will continue to grow into the future. Sidney's 2012 comprehensive plan predicts a population of 7,800 by 2030, compared to 6,700 in the 2010 census. Predictions topping 10,000 are also heard. The Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce sees this first hand and will be welcoming some of that new population at the annual newcomers picnic later this week. The number city tours given out by the chamber rose quite a bit this year. "The increase was substantial," s...
McCook Cross Country Invite Results @ Heritage HIlls Golf Course Team Scores Girls results 1. Sidney 28 2. Holdrege 61 3. McCook 64 4. North Platte 74 5. St. Pat's 92 6. Dundy County 92 7. Perkins Clounty 105 8. Ogallala 130 9. Chase County 143 10. Sutherland 154 Boys Results 1. Sidney 28 2. North Platte 29 3. Dundy County 59 4. McCook 74 5. Chase County 79 6. Ogallala 99 7. Holdrege 112 8. St. Pat's 118 9. Sutherland 168 10. Perkins County 189 Individual Results Girls 1. Molly Sughroue McCook...
Construction work at the intersections of Illinois St. and 13th and 14th avenues is nearly completed. The entire intersection is now open to through traffic. Construction cones delineate the lanes at this point because lane-stripe painting has not started. Depending upon weather, the city hopes to get the stripes done at the beginning of this week, according to public services director John Hehnke. The new stop light signal controllers are already installed, but the sensors won't be working at full function until the stripe painting is...
Peggy Makey owned a business is Greeley, Colorado, and a customer who had previously met Makey’s father asked if he had been in the war. Makey told the customer what she knew of her father’s time serving during WWII, and the customer mentioned that they should look into the Honor Flight program. Donald Larson, Makey’s father, had mentioned that he wanted to see the memorial about a year ago. Makey underwent two hip replacements and sold her store, so the plan did not start to take shape until tw...
Camp Lookout, one of Sidney's oldest buildings, was once owned by the army and also served as a brothel during the seedier days of Sidney's history, but in the future it will serve as a pictorial museum chronicling the city's past. "It'll be kind of the history of Sidney," said Kathy Wilson, chairperson of the Boot Hill Restoration Committee. The Boot Hill Restoration Committee purchased Camp Lookout in 2010. This building is located on the corner of 10th and Elm on the north side of town....
