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 2794 - 2818 of 3076
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — An 18-year-old told a 911 dispatcher last fall that he kidnapped and killed a missing suburban Denver school girl and had hidden her remains in a crawl space at his mother’s home, according to a recording played by a prosecutor in court Friday. The recording was played at a preliminary hearing at which a judge decided there’s enough evidence for Austin Sigg to stand trial in both the death of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway in October and an attack on a jogger at nearby Ketner Lake in May. Sigg is charged with murder, kidna...
Landon Ferris was honored as the January 2013 Cool Kids, No Limits after school hours program student of the month at Sidney’s North Elementary School this past Monday, Feb. 18. Ferris, a kindergartner at the school, was awarded the honor in front of classmates, school staff and his family. Ferris is the son of proud parents Garth and Krista Ferris. The award is sponsored by American National Bank and is given on account of a child’s attendance, citizenship, fairness and attitude. Ferris als...
A Wednesday traffic stop resulted in the arrest of two Colorado individuals on felony drug and weapons charges in Deuel County. Adam Tuttle, 24, and Laura Goldmann, 23, no address listed, have already appeared for presentment on four charges each: Class II felony possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute and Class II possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, along with two Class IV counts of possession of a controlled substance, more than a pound; and possession of a...
At the Kids Plus Organization’s annual meeting in January the members discussed their upcoming yearly activities and elected their officers for this year. Diana Sonnie was elected president, Curtis Hofrock vice president, Jordon Sukup secretary, Mary Kay Brauer treasurer and Cassie Challburg was elected director of the organization. “Our board is comprised of approximately 15 board members that serve as volunteers,” said Brauer. “We are glad to have all the help that we can get.” According...
U.S. Senator Mike Johanns and his wife Stephanie announced Monday Feb. 18 that he will not be running for reelection in 2014. Johanns and his wife wrote a message addressed to all Nebraskans after announcing their decision for him to not run for a seat in the U.S. Senate again. “Words are inadequate to fully express our appreciation for the friendship and support you have given to us over the past three decades,” they wrote. “With everything in life, there is a time and a season. At the end of this term we will have been in public servi...
LINCOLN – The number of new irrigation wells registered in drought-stricken Nebraska last year surged past 1,000 for the first time in seven years, according to preliminary state figures. The Department of Natural Resources reported earlier this week that the 1,105 new wells were the most registered with the state since 2005 and more than 350 more than registered in 2011. Why the jump? “It’s a combination of drought and record commodity prices,” Dave Aiken said Thursday. The agriculture and water law specialist at the University of Nebrask...
Trasyn Uhrig was honored as the December 2012 Cool Kids, No Limits after school hours program student of the month at Sidney’s North Elementary School this past Friday, Feb. 15. Uhrig was awarded the honor in front of classmates, school staff and his family. Uhrig is the son of proud parents Cody and Jenni Uhrig. Also present to congratulate him on his award was his brother Connor and sister Alora. The award is sponsored by American National Bank and is given on account of a child’s att...
A contest was recently held by Sidney Regional Medical Center for a local high school art class to create a logo using the motto “Making a Difference.” The contest was in preparation for the 2013 Health and Wellness Fair and the winning logo will be used to promote the health fair. Jonah Greene submitted the winning piece. Congratulations Jonah! Pictured are Tammy Meier RN and health fair coordinator, and Jonah Greene with his parents Marie and Scott Greene....
Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners members not only discussed the application for a conditional use permit for Pine Bluffs Gravel and Excavation Inc. this Tuesday, but they also discussed the lack of Cheyenne County Keno funds, the successful installation of County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and the need for additional office space in the Court House for the District 12 Probation Office. Rich Fahey addressed commissioners regarding the change in the Keno pay table from the 72 percent that it was changed to 7 years ago back to...
After being in business for two weeks, owner and operator of New To You, Steve Blume. celebrated his business’ opening by holding a Business After Hours open house and a ribbon cutting ceremony which included Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors. “It’s like naming a baby,” said Blume of trying to figure out a name for his consignment shop. He said that he had looked through consignment book after consignment book, just as one would a baby name book. After looking at hundreds of name...
Wintry weather dropped several inches on the Panhandle overnight Wednesday, and Sidney city employees were busy scraping and piling snow off the streets. Above, motorists negotiate snow barriers along Illinois Avenue Thursday morning....
NORTH PLATTE (AP) – Nebraska has been installing colorful new tourism signs along Interstate 80 to replace old signs that had weathered, becoming hard to read. The Nebraska Tourism Commission and Department of Roads are coordinating the project, which began with the unveiling of a sign directing travelers to Scouts Rest Ranch in North Platte at Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park. William “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Victorian house, built in 1886, and barn sit on 25 acres of what originally was Cody’s 4,000-acre ranch. The sign includes...
Wednesday night’s City of Sidney City Council meeting served as the last meeting attended by council member Aaron Barnes, who announced his resignation Jan. 25. “I would like to thank the citizens for the opportunity to serve. I’m going to miss you guys and I’m going to miss this town,” said Barnes. “It has been a pleasure having you here, and I appreciate someone who comes being totally prepared. We will miss you,” said Major Wendall Gaston following the council’s regretful motion to pass...
Sidney swimming pool consultants Doug Whiteaker from Water Technology, Inc., Jeff King with Ballard*King and Associates and Chuck Musgrave, an architect with Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture (a partner with Water Technology, Inc.) approached City of Sidney City Council members last night with three different plans and locations for the new pool to be built on. “All three sites are similar in surface area so that we are not judging the site by the amount of water. They are just configured d...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barring any new, damaging information, Chuck Hagel has secured the necessary votes for the Senate to confirm him to be the nation's next defense secretary. A vote ending the bitter fight over President Barack Obama's Cabinet choice is expected next week. Hagel cleared the threshold when five-term Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said he would vote for the former two-term GOP senator from Nebraska after joining other Republicans last week in an unprecedented filibuster of the Pentagon nominee. "He's probably as good a...
OMAHA – Several Nebraska cities and schools are taking actions well ahead of the expected arrival of a powerful snowstorm that could dump up to a foot of snow in some parts of the state. The storm is expected to hit the southwest and south-central parts of the state on Wednesday evening, with the heaviest snowfall on Thursday as the storm moves east-northeast. The city of Grand Island declared a snow emergency beginning at noon Wednesday, forbidding parking along emergency snow routes. In K...
Further discussion took place at the City of Sidney Planning Commission meeting Tuesday night regarding an ordinance on accessory buildings built within Sidney. City of Sidney Interim Chief Building Official Zoning Administrator Ben Dayton and City of Sidney Attorney J. Leef presented the commissioners with a redrafted version of the requirements. It is proposed that homeowners are allowed to build an accessory building beside their house and it is not restricted to only being built behind the residence. However an accessory building is still n...
The district courtroom in the Cheyenne County Courthouse filled with members of the public Tuesday afternoon during a Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners meeting as discussion continued regarding an application for a conditional use permit from Pine Bluffs Gravel and Excavating Inc. for the proposed use of a gravel mine to operate a ready-mix concrete batch plant. The county planning and zoning commission had previously reviewed the application at a hearing Jan. 28 and had unanimously voted t...
LINCOLN (AP) — Officials at the Lincoln Children’s Museum say they have now attracted more than 2.5 million guests to the center. Jerry and Connie Barnett of Lincoln pushed the nearly 25-year-old museum past that mark when they visited Saturday morning with their grandchildren, Coco and Eddie. They were given gifts, including a five-year museum membership, museum store gift certificate and a free week at a museum summer camp. They told the Lincoln Journal Star they were “overwhelmed but excited....
PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) — A Nebraska man has claimed a $1 million jackpot at Pine Ridge’s Prairie Wind Casino, where he’d spent part of Valentine’s Day with his wife of 60 years. Gordon “Bud” Thompson, a retired railroad conductor from Alliance, Neb., said his wife Donna was the one playing at the casino. He decided to try a few spins on a nearby Freedom Rings machine as he waited for her to finish. He put about $9 worth of quarters into the three-reel machine and hit a jackpot worth about $1,037,000. “I didn’t even realize what had happened ri...
LEXINGTON (AP) — A western Nebraska man has pleaded guilty to child abuse for shaking an infant hard enough to cause brain damage. The Kearney Hub reports that Cameron Hovey’s decision to change his plea was part of an agreement with prosecutors. The 23-year-old Hovey is accused of shaking a 41/2-month-old child vigorously last summer. Hovey told police that he shook the child last July because he panicked when it appeared the baby had stopped breathing. Hovey faces up to 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 6....
OMAHA (AP) – A powerful winter storm system is heading for Nebraska and Iowa, promising a foot or more of snow and high winds. The National Weather Service says in a winter storm watch that snow will begin falling in western Nebraska on Wednesday evening and then hamper morning traffic in Omaha and other cities as the system heads east. Accumulations of more than a foot are possible east of a line from Hayes Center in southwest Nebraska north through Valentine in the north. In Iowa, up to a foot is expected in some spots west of Interstate 3...
LINCOLN – More droughts in the Southern plains and floods in the Northern plains are among the scenarios described in new a national climate change draft report. After record high water flowing from the Colorado Rockies to the Missouri River in 2011, the U.S. experienced a significant decline in water flow in 2012, with nearly 65 percent affected by drought, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln. “We’ve never seen that sort of a drastic change,” Svoboda said. Svoboda was one of about 145 peo...
LINCOLN – Supporting foster parents with adequate child care reimbursement was the forefront of discussion during the Health and Human Services Committee meeting Wednesday, Feb. 13. Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton introduced LB530, which if passed, would ensure reimbursement rates would keep up with the cost of fostering children. Dubas said the Foster Care Reimbursement Rate Committee of the Department of Health and Human Services calculated standard daily reimbursement rates to be $20 for children 0-5, $23 for ages 6-11 and $25 for c...
Two Sidney High School students, Madison Malzahn and Paxton Ewing, both achieved positions in the Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP) this winter. RHOP is a cooperative program between Chadron State College and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) for high school seniors who want to dedicate their careers to rural medicine, according to information from officials at Chadron State. “The purpose of the program is to recruit and educate traditional students from rural Nebraska w...
