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 2378 - 2402 of 3088
Many people who work 9 to 5 have trouble racing downtown in time, when most shops close their doors at or shortly after 5:00 p.m. Starting last week, however, some of Sidney's downtown stores joined together, staying open until 7 p.m. on Thursday nights. The city is helping to promote these idea with advertising in print, radio spots and social media. Community Development Director Megan McGown said, "We want to create a buzz as well as help generate traffic downtown,” observed Sidney's C... Full story
Plans for the new hospital are going so smoothly that city officials consider it something to brag about. "I just think you need to be out there tooting your horn a little bit," Sidney Mayor Wendall Gaston told hospital CEO Jason Petik during Tuesday night's City Council meeting. "This is a pretty impressive looking facility." Still, while the initial design process for the medical center is already complete, architects and hospital officials are ironing out some kinks and are open to changes. "I know we are still working on some concepts and s... Full story
The city found itself in a difficult lie on Wednesday and the long planned golf course project appeared to stall. After lengthy planning with city officials and Project One, Staples Golf Design only received one contractor bid for municipal course improvements, set to start this fall. Both Staples Golf and the city council deemed this bid unsatisfactory. The city contracted Staples Golf to design, plan and coordinate the irrigation project at Hillside Golf Course. This project includes an... Full story
Harvest is in full swing and at the Scoular elevator trucks have been rolling in steadily. But this season has a distinct character. “It's been a different type of year with the late rains that we had,” reported Scoular Merchandiser Logan Snyder. “There is a lot of wet stuff out there right now.” As every farmer knows, weather is a big factor in determining when to harvest, as well as the quality of a crop. While trucks loaded with grain arrive at Scoular's elevator day and night, Snyder...
Cuffed at the hands and ankles, Dale Robertson was escorted into the Cheyenne County District Court by a deputy. Dressed in orange he sat quietly at the table, waiting for Judge Derek Weimer to enter the room. His lawyer, William Madelung, said in an aside that Robertson's life had been “tainted with drug abuse.” Judge Wiemer sentenced the defendant to two to four years in jail, with a possible chance for probation after one year. This sentence runs consecutively with a term of one year in the county jail. Robertson was charged with sel... Full story
Nebraska farmers who've been dealing with drought for the past few years now have a new pest new pest to worry about. Wheat stem sawfly is a small wasp that lays eggs in the growing plant. The sawfly's feeding reduces crop yield, but the real damage is done when the larva scores a line in the stem. When this happens, wind can easily knock flatten damaged crop, an event called lodging. Once the wheat is knocked over, combines generally skim over the grain, without picking it up. "It's been a growing problem in the last three years," said Jeff... Full story
A state bill's affect on budgets and a last minute hire were cause for a special school board meeting on Monday. Nebraska Legislative Bill 407, the major school finance bill in front of the Unicameral this year, restricts the amount that public school districts can increase their budgets on an annual basis. "This is really the reason for the special budget meeting," said Sidney Schools Superintendent Jay Ehler. School board member Tom Von Seggern and Ehler learned about a helpful provision in this bill at a Nebraska Association of School...
On Monday, the Cheyenne County Court sentenced Leland Blake to intensive probation for 60 months for distribution of a controlled substance. As part of the decision, he must testify in a case against Larry Martinez. In August Blake witnessed Martinez shoot and kill Mandy Kerschman, age 30 of Sidney, according to court documents. The incident took place at Blake's home. Kerschman was reportedly a friend of Blake. Charges against Blake step from a WING Task Force investigation that culminated in his arrest. On June 29, 2012, WING officer Justin L... Full story
Harvest crews travels hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles over the course of a summer. Their journey often begins in the south, where crops mature with the early warmth. They eventually make their way to Nebraska. Minnesota native Reed Lundy and his crew of five started cutting in June, somewhere in Oklahoma. Before reaching the panhandle, they worked fields in Kansas. The end of their road will come in North Dakota, up near the Canadian border. Theirs is a life of hotel rooms, wide open spaces...
James Russell of Sidney was caught with some sweet evidence after allegedly stealing candy from the Legion Park concession stand. Sergeant Joe Rieken of Sidney Police was called to Legion Park on the morning of July 16 after a burglary was reported at the concession stand, the second in as many months. Bonita Dickinson told police that someone apparently climbed in the window and took candy and soda, according to the arrest affidavit. Rieken deduced from evidence found at the scene that the burglars pried open metal plates around the concession... Full story
The Illinois Street construction project recently hit a few snags. "It's progressing," Sidney Public Services Director John Hehnke assured. "There have been a few twists along the way." The construction crew discovered some underground utilities that weren't in their expected location. These extra shallow gas mains have to be placed more deeply underground so the road can be properly installed. So far, the crew has the curb and gutter in place on Illinois and have replaced the storm drain. They... Full story
Every year a hundred or more abandoned bicycles are found by city and law enforcement officials. On any summer day, the Sidney Police Department stores 50 to 75 bicycles in their bike rack, outside of the station. The majority—90 percent—go unclaimed. “We get bikes that are left leaning against the swimming pool fence, just laying out in the open,” interim Chief of Police Joseph Aikens reported. “We chain them up where we find them.” Some of these may have been left behind after an unreported th... Full story
After reports of rabies in northeastern Colorado over the past few weeks, the virus has now been confirmed in the panhandle of Nebraska As of July 15, 25 Nebraska animals have tested positive for rabies, according to officials at the Panhandle Public Health District. This number includes seven skunks. Across the entire state, the virus has been discovered in bats, cattle, cats, one llama, one horse, and a dog. In Nebraska, skunks and bats most commonly carry and spread the disease, according to the health district. "Some humans in the... Full story
Probation officers working out of Cheyenne County are revving up services and trying to find more space. The state government passed Legislative Bill 561 in June, a new juvenile probation plan being piloted in Omaha and Nebraska probation districts 11 and 12. This law will expand the organization's current juvenile services. "We'll need more employees," said Linda Buehler, chief probation officer for district 12. Probation district 12 encompasses all of the counties in the panhandle. At this point, Buehler is trying to put together...
Step after step, mile after mile brings Rolla Joyce closer to Washington D.C. His zeal pushes closer to his destination, day after day. Joyce, from Richland, Wash., passed through Sidney Thursday afternoon on a near cross country walk. Earlier this summer he felt a calling to leave his family, catch a ride to Salt Lake City, Utah and begin his trek across the heartland for the sake, he says, of his country. As Joyce sees it, Americans are in a state of isolation. The thought of individuals helpi... Full story
Balancing planned construction against the current needs of Sioux Villa residents caused Sidney's Housing Authority to reconsider their schedule and workload. The board spent part of Wednesday's meeting discussing a proposed cut in their meeting time, but an increase in their commitment. Rather than gather once a month, debate centered around a bi-monthly meeting schedule, with a lot of work in between. Executive Director of Sidney Housing Authority Nancy Bentley will need more time in the future, if the authority ever finds funding for a... Full story
Drought, late winter storms and vicious summer heat makes for an uncertain harvest. Even among local farmers, there is some disagreement about expected quality and yield of this year's winter wheat crop. Logan Snyder, merchandiser at Scoular Grain, thinks it's still too early to speculate about the quality. "The stuff coming off right now is from drier areas," he said. Once the portions still containing moisture are cut, then farmers might have a better idea about the specifics of this year's crop. "It'll be interesting to see what the wetter a...
One trip to the concession stand apparently couldn't satisfy an alledged burglar with a sweet tooth. James Russell, a 20 year old Sidney man, was arrested in connection with a break in that apparently took place sometime on the night of July 15 at the Legion Park concession stand. Russell was previously arrested and charged with theft of candy and soft drinks from the same location in June. At around 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Sidney Police responded to a report of a burglary at the Legion Park baseball... Full story
Nebraska ranks in the country's top five states in two polls for quality of life and business-friendliness. Nebraska was named second most business friendly state by Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc., a national leader in corporate site selection. The state was also named number four for quality of life by CNBC because of its low crime, clean air and stress free lifestyle. "I think we're one of the leading business-friendly communities in a leading state," said City Manager Gary Person. Sidney and the state of Nebraska work in conjunction to... Full story
The board of commissioners met on Monday with Cheyenne County Treasurer Diane Scott to compare the county's current fiscal situation to figures from a year ago. "2012 tax collections are at 62 percent, and last year at this time they were at 60 percent," Diane Scott said. The biggest concern in Scott's mind was a drop in inheritance tax collections which were $32,000 less than last year and seems to be on a downward trend, she said. Last year collections were $46,000 less than the year before. "... Full story
The county is looking for some help, in the form of community donations, to make the fairgrounds more hospitable. Connie Hancock of the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds Association spoke with county commissioners at yesterday's meeting about potential upcoming fairgrounds projects. The plans call for new facilities and upgrades, perhaps even a catering set up. Hancock assured the commissioners that there were no final plans and reminded the group that everything was still up for discussion. "As we think of the future of the fairgrounds and the... Full story
Budget cuts in Washington may again affect funding of the Western Nebraska Intelligence and Narcotics Group (WING). In 2005, the interagency task force received $229,546 in grant funds. A year ago, that amount had been slashed to $70,000. With current cutbacks on the federal level, some fear this year's allocation may fall short even of that mark. “It’s petty tough—we have to buy equipment and pay the salary for an officer,” said Joseph Aikens, Sidney's acting police chief. A significant portion of the funds used by local departments to inve...
On an overcast summer day, with a cool breeze—rare of late—blowing through their windows, 200 tourists in 80 old cars pulled into Sidney on Saturday. The group is from Norway, Denmark and Sweden. They are driving across the U.S. on the Lincoln Highway, in celebration of the storied road and its centennial. The column of American and foreign makes left New York's Times Square on July 1, bound for San Francisco. Norwegian Morten Ruud, traveling with his wife Annstine and his father Jan-Erik transp...
On July 7, 41 year old Draven Watson of Hudson, North Carolina was charged with second degree assault and disturbing the peace for a fight that took place in the Sidney McDonald's parking lot. Around 3 a.m., Sidney Police Officer Scott Tobler witnessed two men fighting near a Semi truck with its lights on in the lot. He observed a younger male he later identified as Tory Stacy punching an older male, later identified as Draven Watson, to the ground. Tobler then witnessed Watson get up and hit Stacy on the side of the head, according to the arre... Full story
There's more than one reason to scurry from a nearby skunk. At Tuesday's city council meeting, Sidney Mayor Wendall Gaston announced reports of rabies in towns close to Sidney. Communities in northern Colorado have discovered the disease in their feral cat and skunk populations, Gaston said. With the number of people and animals that travel between Sidney and Sterling, Colo., the mayor expressed concern the issue could spread. No cases have been confirmed so far in Cheyenne or any of the... Full story
