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 2911 - 2935 of 3067
Local law enforcement officials are watching a new bill before the legislature very closely. Legislative Bill 412 was introduced by Sen. Paul Schumacher to Nebraska Legislature this Tuesday regarding law enforcement’s use of drones to obtain evidence. The proposed bill, also known as the Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act, states that, “a law enforcement agency shall not use a drone to gather evidence or other information.” The act defines a drone as a powered aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, can fly by itself while... Full story
WASHINGTON — They seem right out of a Hollywood fantasy, and they are: Cars that drive themselves have appeared in movies like “I, Robot” and the television show “Knight Rider.” Now, three years after Google invented one, automated cars could be on their way to a freeway near you. In the U.S., California and other states are rewriting the rules of the road to make way for driverless cars. Just one problem: What happens to the millions of people who make a living driving cars and trucks — jobs that always have seemed sheltered from the onslaug...
HASTINGS – Nebraska astronaut Clayton Anderson said plans for his future were up in the air after his retirement from a 30-year career with NASA. Over his time with the agency, Anderson spent almost 170 days in space, including nearly 40 hours on spacewalks. Anderson confirmed to the Hastings Tribune what he posted on his Twitter account: he’s leaving the national space agency. “Anything is a possibility,” the 53-year-old Anderson said. “No doors are closed.” He and his family will remain in Houston for now, he said, but they could move back t...
Thursday evening at approximately 6 p.m. a driver mistook his car accelerator for his break petal causing an accident when he collided with a pillar outside of the front of the Sidney Safeway, according to Safeway store manager, Steve Lowry. The driver sustained no injuries from the accident....
The Sidney Public Library has undergone many changes since the first library was introduced to Sidney in 1914 and the library continues to keep getting better and better, said Doris Jensen the librarys director. According to Jensen the first library was built in the summer of 1914 and was in the building that now houses the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce. The library was funded by a gracias grant from the Carnegie Foundation. In 1965 the current 7,900 square foot library building was... Full story
At about 2 a.m., Thurs., Jan. 24, Jeff Teague, an independent owner operator leased to Adams & Sons Trucking located in Sidney Nebraska, was passing through Bowman when he observed what he thought was a subject laying up in the yard. Bowman Police and Ambulance Services were called to the scene of the 300 block of 1st Ave SW, US Highway #85, on a report of an OTR Truck Driver finding a 62 year-old-man, barely conscious and laying in a residential yard about 15 feet off the roadway. With outside...
LINCOLN — A National Rifle Association lobbyist and gun owners on Wednesday came out in opposition to a Nebraska bill designed to keep firearms away from unsupervised juveniles. Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford’s proposal was met with criticism in a Legislature Judiciary Committee hearing at the Capitol. Members of the public were invited to share their opinions on two bills that would impose stricter state regulations on guns. The most opposition was against a bill that would hold adults civilly liable for “unreasonable placement” of firearms or leav...
A new skills building class determined to equip teenagers with the skills they need to succeed in life kicked-off last night at the Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska Sidney location. Class coordinator and primary teacher, Brenda Dickinson said that the class will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the center and teenagers ages 14 and older are invited to partake. She hopes that the class will be an ongoing learning tool for teens around the area. “It’s working on skill building and there is a little quiz that we give them at the beg...
WASHINGTON — Art Liscano knows he’s an endangered species in the job market: He’s a meter reader in Fresno, Calif. For 26 years, he’s driven from house to house, checking how much electricity Pacific Gas & Electric customers have used. But PG&E doesn’t need many people like Liscano making rounds anymore. Every day, the utility replaces 1,200 old-fashioned meters with digital versions that can collect information without human help, generate more accurate power bills, even send an alert if the po...
The second hearing of the City of Sidney’s property nuisance abatement case against Marvin O. Filsinger of Filsinger Excavating and Filsinger Emergency Services drew much interrogation of both Police Chief Mike Brown as well as Filsinger himself. The case continued before Cheyenne County District Judge Derek Weimer on Wednesday at 1 p.m. within the county courthouse. Representing the city was Ft. Collins, Colo. Attorney Charlie Cuypers with City of Sidney City Manager Gary Person and Sidney C... Full story
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, at times emotional and fierce, insisted on Wednesday that the department is moving swiftly and aggressively to strengthen security at U.S. missions worldwide after the deadly Sept. 11 raid on the consulate in Libya. In her last formal testimony on Capitol Hill as America’s top diplomat — but perhaps not her last time on the political stage — Clinton once again took full responsibility for the department’s missteps leading up to an assault at the U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, that kill...
A Sidney man has pleaded guilty to two felony charges Tuesday before Cheyenne County District Judge Derek Weimer. Donald M. Schlieker, 50,will be sentenced March 6 at 10 a.m. on separate counts of Class III delivery of marijuana and Class IV attempted possession of a defaced firearm. Schlieker’s first of two recent run-ins with the law occurred on the evening of July 18. Acting on information surrounding the shooting death of Mandy Kershman earlier that evening, authorities served a search w...
WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday to permit the government to borrow enough money to avoid a first-time default for at least four months, defusing a looming crisis setting up a springtime debate over taxes, spending and the deficit. The House passed the measure on a bipartisan 285-144 vote as majority Republicans back away from their previous demand that any increase in the government’s borrowing cap be paired with an equivalent level of spending cuts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the chamber wou...
Two major items were discussed in depth at the Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners and Cheyenne County Board of Equalization meeting Tuesday at the Cheyenne County Courthouse. The issues dealt with an agreement regarding a mutual aid service between counties and the removal of a Medicaid discount for county prisoners. The proposed County Sheriffs Inter-local Agreement with Cheyenne County, Deuel County and Garden County was passed during the meeting, while the proposed SWAT Agreement with...
At the City of Sidney Council meeting last night City of Sidney Attorney J. Leef presented the council with revisions of two different proposed city residential laws. After taking feedback from both the previous council meeting and the city’s planning commission meeting Monday night, Leef gave recommendations based on the teams’ inputs regarding the definition of accessory buildings in residential zones. Also discussed was the continued consideration of an ordinance related to the parking of recreational vehicles and trailers in town. “Th... Full story
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama devoted one word — “deficit” — to the issue that brought Washington to the brink of fiscal crises time and again during his first term. But it was the paragraph that followed in his inaugural address that foreshadowed what’s to come — more hard bargaining and more last-minute deals driven by Obama’s own conviction that he now wields an upper hand. “We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring fo...
Debate that has been passed back and forth between city council members and planning commission members continues regarding the definition and restrictions of accessory buildings in residential zones at the City of Sidney Planning Commission meeting Monday night. City council members present consisted of Aaron Barnes, Chris Gay and Joe Arterburn. At the Sidney City Council meeting two weeks previous city attorney J. Leef had inserted language into the proposed statute and the council had asked... Full story
LINCOLN – Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman approved a new route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline on Tuesday that avoids the state’s environmentally sensitive Sandhills region. Heineman sent a letter to President Barack Obama confirming that he would allow the controversial, Canada-to-Texas pipeline to proceed through his state. The project has faced some of its strongest resistance in Nebraska from a coalition of landowners and environmental groups who say it would contaminate the Ogallala aquifer, a massive groundwater supply. Canadian pip...
The first of many public meetings between Sidney residents and Doug Whiteaker from Water Technology, Inc. and Jeff King with Ballard*King and Associates regarding their creation of Sidney’s new swimming pool or aquatics center commenced at City Hall yesterday afternoon. In attendance were city representatives, city council members, members of the community, as well as representatives from the Cheyenne County Community Center. Community Center officials have been working with the city on the p...
With every new year comes a flood of New Year’s resolutions. Some of these resolutions involve promises to become healthier and to attend the gym more. At the Cheyenne County Community Center 11 workout classes are offered for those who want to take their personal workout to the next level. One of those classes is step aerobics. The class is held every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the center and Carla Orr, the class instructor, encourages members of the community to join the class at any time. L...
WASHINGTON — Supporters of President Barack Obama’s gun-control proposals are planning a methodical, state-by-state campaign to try to persuade key lawmakers that it’s in their political interest to back his sweeping effort to crack down on firearms and ammunition sales and expand criminal background checks. To succeed will require overturning two decades of conventional wisdom that gun control is bad politics. The National Rifle Association is confident that argument won’t sell. But with polls showing majorities supporting new gun laws a...
OMAHA (AP) — An Omaha woman serving a life sentence for strangling her landlord has died in prison. The Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York says Monique Lee died Friday morning. The cause of death has not been determined. Officials say Lee collapsed in the center’s medical unit after complaining last night that she did not feel well. Lee was convicted in August of first-degree murder in the death of Karen Jenkins. Prosecutors say Lee used a vacuum cleaner cord to kill Jenkins, who had evicted Lee. Jenkins’ body was found near an ab...
LINCOLN (AP) — A Nebraska man must register as a sex offender despite never being convicted of a sex crime, the Nebraska Supreme Court said Friday in upholding a lower court’s ruling. The state’s high court asked the Buffalo County District Court in January 2012 to review all evidence from a hearing to decide whether 33-year-old Chad Norman’s crime involved sexual contact with his ex-girlfriend’s 11-year-old son. The high court said the district court found clear and convincing evidence that Norman’s crime involved sexual contact with the bo...
LINCOLN (AP) — Farmers, manufacturers and shipping companies could lose millions of dollars’ worth of sales tax breaks under plans announced Friday by Gov. Dave Heineman, but their income tax burden would also vanish. The Republican governor unveiled two possible tax-reform packages, both of which would eliminate corporate income taxes and make up the lost revenue by ending the state sales-tax exemptions. But the two measures differ in both their scope and who would benefit. Heineman said he submitted both to initiate a public discussion wit...
As the Nebraska State Legislature returned to session this January there were many proposed bills attracting statewide attention. The proposed tax relief bill is one of them. However, there are some bills being proposed that are less known to the public, such as one dealing with the question of where tax dollars for schools are being spent. Senator Jeremy Nordquist introduced the Education Compensation Transparency Act, LB 274, to the legislature this Wednesday. According to a press release by Nordquist, the proposed bill “will require full d...
