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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The numbers on the COVID Risk Dial continue to improve, maintaining the halfway point while reporting no hospitalizations as of March 1. The report of Friday, Feb. 26, include three hospitalizations in the Panhandle. The previous week's positivity rate was 7.5 percent. As of February 26, the COVID Risk Dial maintained by the Panhandle Public Health District shows a steady improvement. The dial has moved from 2.5 last week to 2.0, exactly the half-way point between low and severe risk of...
Prairie fires and floods are nothing new to the plains of western Nebraska, northeast Colorado and eastern Wyoming. Neither is a neighbor coming to the aid when nature strikes with a fury. Sidney Volunteer Fire Department Chief LaVern Bown presented the Sidney City Council a mutual aid agreement involving departments from Crook, CO., to as far northwest as Harrisburg, NE. The Tri-State Mutual Aid Association Interlocal Agreement is “for the purpose of better ensuring the safety of the lives a...
The Sidney City Council approved bids for street work during its Feb. 23 meeting. Bids were opened 2 p.m. Feb. 16 at City Hall with three bids received for each project. The City sought bids on the Elm Street water and street improvement project from 13th Avenue to 17th Avenue, and 13th Avenue from Illinois Street to Pine Street. The engineer's estimate for Elm Street water and street improvements from 13th Avenue to 17th Avenue included $150,250 for Schedule A Water, $675,925 for Schedule B...
Recovering from changes in the Sidney economy over the last few years requires promotion, teamwork and vision of community growth. It also includes a downtown business association, according to the updated Master Plan approved in 2020. The Master Plan includes a section on “Tactical Strategies.” “A complete downtown plan includes both tactical and development components. Tactical strategies are relatively low-cost actions that promote existing businesses and help attract customers through such...
The building at the corner of 12th Avenue and Illinois Street has a history dating almost a century in Sidney. The building has been the location of the latest Dodge automobiles, flags and aprons, home-cooked lunch and breakfast and the latest news. Soon the list will include servicing music lovers. The building at the corner of 12th Avenue and Illinois Street has been sold to Chris Dyson, owner of Aliens and Strangers Music Store in Sidney. Dyson and owner Gary Stevenson closed on the sale...
Congressman Don Bacon, Republican U.S. Representative representing Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, toured Western Nebraska recently. On the tour, he stopped in Sidney to meet with local Republicans and businesses, including the Sidney Sun-Telegraph newspaper. In his visit at the Sun-Telegraph, Bacon stressed the importance of diversity in agriculture, for example the difference between producing soybeans and and dry beans. He talked about issues in Nebraska including the workforce, i...
The Sidney Airport Authority Board is looking to tighten security at the airport. The focus follows a recent incident when a person was found on the premises without permission. Jon Leever, a partner in L & L Aviation, said while no vandalism or ill intent was found after the person left, “it is a wake-up call.” L & L Aviation presented two options with the board during the Feb. 11 meeting. One option includes keypad entry and is programmable. One option is wireless and the second will har...
The Sidney City Council met Feb. 9 with councilman Joe Arterburn meeting via Zoom. The agenda included a public hearing on the City's One and Six-year Street Improvement Plan. Street Superintendent Hank Radke said one of the projects is 13th Avenue from the new concrete south to north of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad crossing. The City's road plans also include the 17J link park of US Highway 385 work. The City's share of the cost is about $2.4 million, 20 percent of the cost. The...
Sidney's Historic Preservation Board met on Feb. 9 at the Sidney City Hall. The agenda included three projects: renovation of the apartment complex at 631 Illinois St, a Facade Enhancement Grant for Jerry Steffens at 1001 10th Ave., and a change of sign by UST Global at 812 13th Ave. JG Capital LLC , a husband and wife partnership of Gill, Colo., purchased the building at 631 Illinois St. with the goal of renovating it. The three-story building was originally built in 1925 and comprises of...
The COVID-19 Risk Dial, a summary of conditions in the Panhandle Public Health District, was updated Monday, Feb. 8, to reflect a slight increase in the coronavirus impact. In the February 1 report, the risk level was at 2.17. The number increased to 2.5 as of February 8. As of February 8, there were 14 active hospitalizations, a total of 33,765 tests completed with 8,486 returning positive, 7,090 people vaccinated and 180 deaths related to the coronavirus. As of Feb. 1, the COVID-19 positivity...
LINCOLN – On Friday, Feb. 5, Gov. Pete Ricketts gave an update on coronavirus vaccination across the state. He noted that Nebraska administered over 14,000 vaccinations yesterday—the highest daily total so far. Nebraskans can register for vaccination at vaccinate.ne.gov or by calling 531-249-1873. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Incident Commander Angie Ling provided information on the upcoming allocations of vaccines the state is expected to receive. She also talked abo...
LINCOLN — For decades, tax policy has been a controversial topic in the Nebraska Legislature. This year, two bills propose solutions to bring tax relief to the state. On Feb. 3, Sen. Tom Briese of Albion and Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard presented new tax policy bills to the Revenue Committee. While both bills aim to modernize Nebraska’s tax system, they each take different approaches. LB422: Decrease sales tax rate and impose sales tax on additional services Briese introduced LB422 to lower Nebraska’s sales tax rate from 5.5 percent to 5 perce...
The Sidney City Council and City Manager David Scott discussed findings on a recent traffic study regarding the Fort Sidney Road and Pole Creek Crossing intersection recently. The City contracted with MC Schaff & Associates of Scottsbluff to conduct a traffic study of the intersection. The process started when the City received a request for traffic signals at the intersection in response to accidents that have occurred there. In a January 14 letter from Donald J. Dye, P.E., of MC. Schaff & Asso...
The Leyton Board of Education met before a packed house Friday. The agenda focused on filling the district superintendent’s seat, and making plans to fill to board positions. Leyton School District Superintendent Chris Leary was put on administrative leave recently. During the same period, two board members resigned. Friday’s meeting was held with four board members present: board chairman Susan Ernest, Dave Wiedeman, Ryan Borges and Roland Rushman. The board accepted a proposed contract for...
Growing a community's economy involves recruiting businesses from outside of the area, “selling” them on what the local downtown has to offer. It also involves supporting the entrepreneur whose name is not yet in a few states and several cities. The Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce and the City of Sidney Economic Development Office are working together toward developing a Downtown Business Association. In the January 26 city council meeting, Sidney's Economic Development Director Melissa Nor...
The railroad and Sidney have parallel histories to say the least. Sidney was a stopping point for the westward movement and the gold seekers west and north migration. The Union Pacific was part of that settling process. More than 150 years since the community and UP were helping each other grow, some Cheyenne County residents see the transportation company as more of a distant cousin, one that doesn't talk much. In the January 19 meeting of the Cheyenne County Commissioners, Jim Pelster, who...
Two Leyton School Board members resigned and Superintendent Chris Geary is on administrative leave following a special meeting. A special meeting was held Friday evening, Jan. 22, when the board accepted the resignation of two school board members. In accepting the resignations, the resignations of board members Galen Bartling and Anne Rexroth. Board President Susan Ernest said she wished discussion could have taken place. She then referred to the District policy on board vacancies. Friday the...
The Cheyenne County Commissioners heard two requests for vacation of county roads in their January 19 meeting. Randy Mathewson met with the commissioners regarding closure of County Road 24 between County Roads 77 and 79. He said the land adjacent to the road was bought more than 40 years ago. “It's an attractive nuisance. Nobody lives there,” he said. Commissioner Phil Sanders asked about access to pastures for fire protection. “Access to that area, there's just not a lot of it,” Sanders...
The COVID-19 risk dial continues to improve for the Panhandle region. The current risk level is defined at 2.50, about the midpoint of the high risk range, the third highest of the four-point dial. Cheyenne County’s risk assessment is at 2.7. The city of Sidney is also assigned a risk level of 2.7. As of the January 18 update, there have been 32,122 tests administered. Of that number, 8,238 returned positive. There have been 173 deaths attributed to COVID since records started. More than half o...
The Nebraska Department of Revenue (DOR) has approved a sales tax refund claim that will impact the City of Sidney by about $275,000. In the Jan. 12 meeting of the Sidney City Council, City Manager David Scott presented a letter from the DOR regarding a request for sales tax refund from Sidney businesses. “It is a big hit,” Scott said. “We're going to lose a lot of money.” The bill comes to the amount of $275.177.84. The City has the option of allowing the DOR to deduct the full amount in one...
Lincoln — Senator Wendy DeBoer introduced LB485 to make affordable child care available to more low-income workers in our state. The Child Care Subsidy program, also called Title XX, provides child care assistance for low income workers by distributing funds directly to child care providers. Currently, families whose income is less than one-hundred thirty percent of the federal poverty level, or approximately $22,412 per year or $1,868 per month for a single parent with one child, are eligible to receive assistance through the program. LB485 wo...
The Sidney Airport Authority Board spent most of its Jan. 14 meeting discussing how many improvements to schedule, and with whose money. The Airport Authority board has been working with Jeff Wolfe of MC Schaff Engineering from Scottsbluff on an improvement project that would include new striping and crack sealing. The Authority Board is seeking repairs on the cement approaching hangars. The conflict is, according to Wolfe, the Federal Aviation Administration will not help with the cost of hangar approaches. During the Jan. 14 meeting, board...
COVID conditions in Cheyenne County are improving, according to Sidney Public Schools Superintendent Jay Ehler. The Sidney Public Schools Board of Education met in the Sidney High School Performing Arts Center on Jan.11. Much of the meeting was spent assigning roles to board members. As the meeting began, the night was recognized as the first meeting in several years with Steve Mattoon not an active part of the board. Newly elected member Matt Wallace was absent that night, and Kathy Nienhueser...
LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts discussed Nebraska's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in his State of the State Address Jan. 14. He also outlined his proposed budget including a property tax relief initiative. "Even as we've had to overcome the challenge of the pandemic, the work of Nebraskans everywhere has kept the state of the state strong," Ricketts said after welcoming and congratulating new members of the Nebraska Legislature. Before discussing the plans for the budget, Ricketts commended N...
A little more than a year ago, the state of Nebraska had challenges of filling employment needs. With the announcement of COVID-19, the need is multiplied. Members of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce held a virtual conference meeting January 7 entitled “Back to Business.” Mike Boyle, chairman of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, said the goals for 2021 include keeping people safe, keeping businesses open and planning for the post-pandemic economy. Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska Cha...
