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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WATERTOWN, Mass. — A 19-year-old college student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombings was taken into custody Friday evening after a manhunt that left the city virtually paralyzed and his older brother and accomplice dead. Police announced via Twitter that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was in custody. His brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan, was killed Friday in a furious attempt to escape police. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been holed up in a boat in a Watertown neighborhood. The crowd gathered near the scene let out a cheer when spectators saw officers clapping. ...
BOSTON (AP) — Moments after investigators went before television cameras to broadcast photos of the two men in ball caps wanted for the Boston Marathon bombing, queries from viewers started cascading in — 300,000 hits a minute that overwhelmed the FBI’s website. It marked a key turning point in a search that, for all the intensity of its first 72 hours, had failed to locate the suspects. While it’s unclear how much the tips that resulted helped investigators zero in, experts say it instantly turned up already intense pressure on the two men...
On Wednesday the U.S. Senate voted down a vital amendment in the gun bill – the expansion of background checks on gun buyers. Amendments regarding the purchasing of assault rifles and high capacity magazine clips also failed to pass. “All and all this was a pretty shameful day for Washington,” was President Obama’s response at a White House press conference following the decision. While some cities and states are looking into stricter gun policies, a few are taking the opposite approach: debatin...
The Sidney High School prom will be held on Saturday at the Holiday Inn. The dinner begins at 6:00 p.m. and the prom starts at 9:00 p.m. This year, however, the school decided to break from tradition. Students did not select presiding royalty. as Principal Chris Arent says, “Everyone is a king and queen on this prom night.” Their decision is in line with current trends. More students and schools seem to be focusing on equality, hoping to avoid hurt feelings, jealousy or other issues. A school in Waterbury, Conn., WF Kaynor Technical High School...
The Cheyenne County Art Guild’s Artist of the Month for April is Sidney’s very own, Ben Ramsey. Ramsey said that he has been painting ever since he was a kid and that his passion has carried on throughout his life. Although as a child he favored drawing “airplanes and Army guys,” he admitted, one of his main focuses as an artist has always been landscapes and wildlife. “He had the good fortune in having parents who encouraged him and who later augmented a scholarship to the Art Instructi...
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s preliminary March unemployment rate of 3.8 percent matched the revised rates for the three previous months, state officials said in a report released Friday. The rate was two-tenths of a point lower than in March 2012 and half the national March rate of 7.6 percent for this year, the Nebraska Labor Department said in a news release. The 3.8 percent was the second-lowest figure in the country, trailing only North Dakota’s 3.3 percent for March. Nonfarm employment rose by nearly 4,000 jobs in March. According to the state...
BOSTON — The Red Sox and the Bruins both scrapped their games. The famous Bull Market at Faneuil Hall was closed, and there were more pigeons than tourists on City Hall Plaza. Even the Starbucks at Government Center was shuttered. The killing of one suspected Boston Marathon bomber and the manhunt for another brought life in large swaths of the notoriously gridlocked Beantown to a screeching halt, leaving residents and tourists alike frustrated and angry. “It took me an hour and a half to find a coffee this morning,” Daniel Miller, a finan...
WATERTOWN, Mass. — With Boston virtually paralyzed, thousands of officers with rifles and armored vehicles swarmed the streets in and around the city on Friday, hunting for a 19-year-old college student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombing after his older brother and alleged accomplice was killed in a furious getaway attempt overnight. During the long night of violence, the brothers killed an MIT police officer, severely wounded another lawman and hurled explosives at police in a car chase a...
City of Sidney staff may be closer to hiring a new police chief than some might expect. According to City Manager Gary Person applications for the position were due April 15 at 5 p.m. “With two days of mail now passing since the deadline, we believe we have received all of the applications that we are going to receive,” said Person. “But should there be one that comes in with a proper postmark we would still honor it.” The city has received nine applications to date. Six of the applica...
LINCOLN (AP) — Some University of Nebraska-Lincoln students have joined a NASA competition in Huntsville Ala., where they will launch a rocket they built. The UNL Rocket Team is competing in its second University Student Launch Initiative contest. The Nebraska team is vying against more than 30 college and university teams. Last year the team placed third for altitude closest to the goal. Launch day is Saturday. NASA plans to provide live coverage on the social web service UStream, including embedded Twitter feed (hashtag (hash)1MileHigh) s...
GRAND ISLAND (AP) — Opponents of a massive Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline converged on a snowy Nebraska town Thursday for a critical hearing on the project, but they already were preparing possible acts of civil disobedience should President Barack Obama ultimately approve it. Despite a spring storm that brought sleet and snow to Nebraska, the U.S. State Department hearing in Grand Island drew more than 1,000 people from the around state, as well as activists from outside the region who consider Nebraska a key battleground over the Keystone XL pi...
Sidney finished first as a team in their division at the Chadron State Scholastic Contest on Friday, April 5, with 20 participants earning top 25 percent placements. The 2013 Scholastic Contest is a proud and honored tradition at Chadron State College. For the 53rd year, the Scholastic Contest recognized the academic achievement and talents of high school students from throughout Nebraska and the surrounding states. A student’s selection to participate in the contest is an indication of his o...
Coinciding with the Health and Wellness Fair at the Cheyenne County Community Center this Saturday, members of the Frank Welch Masonic Lodge are teaming up with law enforcement officials to provide the Nebraska Freemasons Child Identification Program, also known as CHIP. The program will be offered from 8 a.m. to noon or until the last group has gone through at the center, according to lodge member Scott McDaniel. The program is endorsed by the State Troopers Association of Nebraska, the Nebraska Sheriff’s Association, the Nebraska Dental A...
Sidney has been pelted with snow and ice recently, leaving some to wonder when spring will ever make its lasting appearance. This morning, Public Services Director John Hehnke and Police Chief Joseph Aikens kept watch over the main intersection as semi trucks made their way back onto the now open interstate. Hehnke said that the interstate opened back up at approximately 6 a.m. this morning and it appears that it will stay open. “They have given us information that the winds are going to pick u...
The following winter safety reminders were provided by the Nebraska Department of Roads and highly advised when driving in dangerous winter conditions: • When traveling outside of a business or residential district, it is unlawful to follow a highway maintenance vehicle (snowplow, truck or grader) more closely than 100 feet when it is plowing snow, spreading salt or sand, or displaying a flashing amber or blue light. If conditions permit however, drivers may pass a maintenance vehicle. • Snowplows cause soft snow to swirl. It can become dif...
LINCOLN – Nebraska lawmakers debated Tuesday about expanding Medicaid to a particular group of low-income adults and adopted an amendment allowing lawmakers to review the policy if federal funds decrease. The bill (LB577), introduced by Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln, would allow adults between the ages of 19 and 64 who fall between 0 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level to qualify for Medicaid, which provides health care for certain low income people. Expanding access to Medicaid was authorized under the federal Affordable Care Act, c...
At their April meeting, the Sidney Public Schools Board of Education selected Randy Miller to fill the seat left vacant by Jeff Wernsman. Miller was nominated by board member Tom Vanseggern and a motion was made and approved unanimously by the board members to make Miller the next board member. Vanseggern explained that the board is in charge of filling the seat with the person who they feel will best serve the public interest. This appointment will be in effect until the November 2014 elections...
An initial hearing was held yesterday morning in the State of Nebraska case against Theodore Medina, charged with issuing terroristic threats, a class IV felony. At the hearing, Medina’s defense attorney Joel Jay requested the court to lower Medina’s bond (which was currently set at $10,000 at 10 percent) so that Medina could help take care of his child while his ex-wife is at work. Jay also asked for a continuance on the preliminary hearing. On April 4 around 10 p.m. Sidney Police Officer Sco...
Sidney Public Library officials are midway through their National Library Week celebration, and they said they welcome anybody in the community to come by the library to indulge in cookies, coffee and a cold beverage. National Library Week is a national observance that was first sponsored in 1958 by the American Library Association. Libraries across the country celebrate it each April. National Library Week is celebrated in Sidney during the week of April 14-20 this year, and Sidney Public...
LINCOLN — Experts have checked out and cleared a suspicious bag that was found outside U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer’s office in Lincoln. A passer-by in the Haymarket district on the west edge of downtown reported the package Wednesday morning. Bomb experts say the bag contained only trash. Chief fire inspector Bill Moody told the Lincoln Journal Star that such reports multiply “after a major incident in the country,” referring to the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday. Moody has no problem responding to calls about suspicious packages. He says he’d ra...
BOSTON — The bombs that ripped through the crowd at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding more than 170, were fashioned out of pressure cookers and packed with shards of metal, nails and ball bearings to inflict maximum carnage, a person briefed on the investigation said Tuesday. The details on the apparently crude but deadly explosives emerged as investigators appealed to the public for amateur video and photos that might yield clues. The chief FBI agent in Boston vowed ...
LINCOLN — Gov. Dave Heineman said Monday that a $2.2 million budget request to buy an airplane from the University of Nebraska Foundation is needed to reach rural parts of the state quickly. Heineman said the plane ensures he and other state officials are accessible to residents when needed. He argued that a state-owned plane is more cost-efficient than relying on a charter service. “This is about having access to the governor for every citizen of the state of Nebraska,” Heineman said during a news conference on an unrelated subject. “It’s...
Timothy Tscharner asked for counsel to be appointed for him yesterday afternoon at the Cheyenne County Courthouse regarding a class IV felony charge against him of violating sex offender laws and failing to inform the sheriff of his new address in writing within five working days of his location change. The case of the State of Nebraska against Tscharner started with the disappearance of an iPhone and tablet, according to Cheyenne County Court records. Court documents stated that Dale and Emily...
