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 1208 - 1232 of 1718
Dear Editor, I see that the city is having trouble finding funds for the aquatic center, which now is being called the new swimming pool. Before they float a bond or go in debt $4 million by borrowing the money and wanting the tax payers to pay the bill, they need to see if any laws are involved. There are some things that can’t be done without voter approval. I know a lot of taxpayers don’t want their taxes to go up over council mistakes. If council does not have the money to pay for the water park, they need to cut their losses and stop const... Full story
“What can you say about a 25 old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.” So begins Oliver Barrett IV in Erich Segal’s novel, Love Story. Oliver is a rich, white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, pre-law student at Harvard who plays ice hockey for the Crimson. Jennifer Cavilleri is an Italian-American Radcliffe student, who plays music. She is from Cranston, R.I., where her father, makes pastries. She works in Radcliffe’s library, wh...
Dear Editor, In the “interest of shareholders,” Cabela’s seems ready to destroy a vibrant town and negatively impact the lives of thousands of hard working residents. Always sad to see what can happen when a great company goes public. The Cabela family and board should review the impact on Sidney from the closing of the Sioux Ordnance Depot. Jim Northup Raleigh, North Carolina Former Sidney resident and 1956 SHS graduate... Full story
In the book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, the book’s author Nassim Nicholas Taleb describes the people in Lebanon, his native country. It was, he writes, “an example of coexistence,” “a mosaic of cultures and religions,” a place where “people learned to be tolerant” of others, and where “the terms balance and equilibrium were often used.” The Lebanese people believed themselves blessed. Their climate was Mediterranean, of course, and their citizens were sophisticated, re...
Dear Editor: I was totally appalled by the self back patting article in Thursday’s paper (Sidney mayor highlights success of city and business partnerships). The statement by the mayor, “Regardless of what happens in our near future, we’ve got a positive foundation in place,” sounds pretty close to what City Manager Tom Coffey said just before the Sioux Army Depot closed years ago. All the talk about street improvements, utility upgrades, recreational amenities, housing developments and business developments over the years and not a word ab... Full story
My wife and I were traveling from the San Francisco Bay Area to Omaha for Thanksgiving. We stopped in the Safeway Starbucks on our way to Omaha and we struck up a conversation with a random customer and her two kids. They were the nicest family and were so enjoyable. At random, she and the two kids bought us a Starbucks gift card and wished us safe travels and a happy holiday. I have never witnessed such generosity – and it happened in Sidney, Nebraska. Bryan Krajeski San Francisco... Full story
The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped 19-year-old Patty Hearst, a sophomore at the University of California, Berkley, on Feb. 4, 1974. For the next 57 days, this small-time urban guerrilla organization detained Patty in a studio apartment’s closet, dressed only in her bathrobe. They beat her, abused her, changed her name to Tania, and brainwashed her. She helped with a bank heist. When given a chance to flee, she chose to stay. Long after the core SLA members perished in a gunfight with p...
Dear Editor: I have watched the city’s boom and bust cycles since the closing of the Army depot but am not liking the trend that currently exists. We have lost the best city manager we have ever had, the most qualified police chief in memory, the disapproval of the Keystone-XL pipeline and now the prospect of losing Cabela’s would seem to be more than we deserve. Let us pray that our largest employer will remain in the city. If not, our prospects for a replacement does not appear likely. I wish that I had reason to think otherwise, don’t you?... Full story
The Chinese people felt an immediate sense of relief last Thursday when their government stated that it will permit married couples now to have two children. The government’s one-child policy has created “a demographic nightmare,” and its leaders now must address the glaring side-effects of that policy: a diminished work force, an aging population, and a shortage of marriageable women. It was on September 25, 1980, thirty-five years ago, that China’s leaders tried to rein in China’s galloping...
Dear Editor, I have read the letters from Larry Nelson and Rita Hart and agree with both of them. I have heard the walking trails along 11th Avenue (which nobody knows how that got approved) and around Cabela’s new pond was paid for with tax dollars. If that is the case why does Cabela’s benefit from our tax dollars? I heard that the road that connects road 20 and Ft. Sidney Road and the new bridge is being paid for with the half-cent sales tax money. That is not what the money is supposed to be used for; it is to repair our deteriorating stree... Full story
Hollywood just released two biographical movies. The first was on Bobby Fischer entitled Pawn Sacrifice, and the other was on Steve Jobs, entitled Steve Jobs. Fischer’s passion was chess, but Jobs’ was computers and marketing. Chess experts now consider Fischer one of the three greatest chess players ever, and Jobs revolutionized the personal computer industry. A certain level of mystery surrounds both Jobs’ and Fischer’s births. Fischer was the older, born in March 1943 in Chicago. His mother,...
Dear Editor, Disclaimer: I am not a bridge builder nor do I claim to be one, but I’ve worked in manufacturing long enough to know when I see progress, or lack thereof. Since I am unemployable, I’ve had plenty of time to walk the dog past the Fort Sidney Road Bridge down the walking trail. I’ve also had the inconvenience of finding an alternative route when I want to go to Bomgaar’s. I read in the newspaper where construction had to be halted on the bridge because of unforeseen fiber optics cables. I’m not an expert, but when I want to do som...
Dear Editor: Just have to wonder, is Sidney getting too big for its britches? Seeing and hearing about all of the turmoil that Sidney has been through in the last six months makes me wonder. First we find out that our “new” police chief is getting in trouble over something that happened almost right after he was hired. And the “good ol’ boys” who got him in trouble decide they don’t want to play the game anymore, so they leave their positions and throw him under the bus so that he has no choice other than to leave his position. This man wa... Full story
Dear Editor, Since early July, there has been much concern among the good citizens of Sidney about the treatment of our chief of police, B.J. Wilkinson. He received an outrageous sentence for his plea. The mayor and city council wanted to assure the good people of Sidney that they would conduct a thorough investigation. They would hold executive sessions and get to the bottom of it all. The mayor was sent emails and had public requests to support B.J. Wilkinson. Council members were sent similar emails and had to have taken input from citizens... Full story
Mel Blanc was known as “the man with a thousand voices” because he created voices for numerous cartoon characters. For Warner Brothers, Mel was the voice of Wile Coyote, Speedy Gonzales, Pepe LePew, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. “What’s up, doc?” Then, for Hanna Barbera, he was Barney Rubble and Cosmo Spacely. On occasion, Mel also appeared on Jack Benny’s television program.” In one classic routine, Mel would wear a wide-b...
Dear Editor, In 1979, Tammy Wynette won a Grammy for her fabulous song entitled “Stand By Your Man.” I know that the title of this song applies to the situation regarding Sidney’s Chief of Police. To the good people of Sidney – and to the not-so-good as well – this letter is a request for your support of Chief B.J. Wilkinson. I’ve met so many new folks and friends who have agreed with me regarding this mess that was created by people – two of whom no longer work for our city. There have been many fist-bumps, many handshakes, many more words of... Full story
Dear Editor: Last week, the headline read “Sad Day for Cabela’s.” The article that sparked my attention was “Company reaches settlement to improve the hiring of minorities.” It grabbed my attention, because I graduated from WNCC last year with an Associates of Arts degree in journalism. After my graduation, I applied for somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 jobs with Cabela’s. Most of the jobs I applied for were entry-level positions. I had high hopes about finding a job with Cabela’s, because of all of the awards I earned during my time at WN...
Yogi Berra played catcher for the New York Yankees for 19 years, from 1946 until 1965. Noted for his funny expressions, such as, “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over,” and “I didn’t say everything I said,” his most quoted malapropism is the gem, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Yogi said that when he was giving directions to his house during a conversation he had with Joe Garagiola. Yogi meant that from that fork in the road, either way led to his house, but his words came out funn...
Dear Editor: The City Council will be selecting a new city manager soon. I hope they will pick one who will listen to the people and taxpayers of Sidney and stop this wasteful spending and overspending on projects. In 2012, the voters approved a half-cent sales tax to help pay for our streets, pay for a swimming pool, upgrade the irrigation system and park improvements. So far, the city officials and city council have overspent on every project except for our deteriorating streets. The so-called swimming pool was to get $3 million, and now it... Full story
Two historic events occurred on Sept. 11. The first was at Brandywine Creek, west of Philadelphia, in 1777, and the second was Sept. 11, 2001. In the first, General George Washington’s ragtag army tried to stop General William Howe’s superior troops from taking Philadelphia, the city where the Second Continental Congress convened. Washington’s army failed when Howe outflanked Washington and forced American troops to flee the battlefield. The terrified delegates to the Second Continental Congr...
Dear Editor: Ya know, I’ve been thinking, and I got a question I would like the city attorney to answer. Let’s see, now if I got this right, we have five council members, three who work for Cabela’s, including the mayor. My question is could we have the possibility of collusion here or a threat of repercussion in the workplace if one did not vote for the mayor’s personal agenda? If the city attorney answers “yes,” and with the people wanting up-and-up and straight and narrow government here in Sidney, we would need another resignation...
Dear Editor: I find the Nebraska legislator, Ken Haar’s proposal to dissolve the Nebraska Oil and Gas Commission and spread its responsibilities around to a variety of other organizations very interesting, but baffling. At a time when it’s clear there is too much government and too much government spending, why not dissolve a small, efficient commission that takes nothing from the Nebraska General Fund? Why not ignore the fact that regulating one of the most important industries to our Country requires substantial expertise? And above all, why...
“Life is a lot like jazz,” said George Gershwin. “It is best when you improvise.” During the 2004 political debates, the radio host Don Imus described the two vice presidential candidates Dick Cheney and John Edwards as “Dr. Doom and the Breck Girl,” because Cheney appeared glum, dour, like a bulldog, whereas Edwards appeared well coiffed, “like a pretty girl in a shampoo ad.” A journalist in Florida named Roy Peter Clark then riffed on Don Imus’s comment. Riff is a jazz term that describes im...
Dear Editor: Until this year, Nebraska’s home-grown oil and gas industry has been largely out of sight and out of mind of the public and state policymakers, and for good reason. Nebraska operators are small oil and gas companies, not giant oil companies. We are a well-regulated industry that contributes significantly to the rural economies of southwest Nebraska and the Panhandle. Ever since Nebraska’s first long-term producing oil well was drilled in Richardson County in the 1940s, Nebraska producers have been generating income for inv... Full story
“Miss! Miss! Why do you keep calling this a school?” asked Ashley. “This is not a school!” It was an awkward moment, at an assembly, in November 2002. Because a fight had broken out that morning, the school’s new principal, an angry Linda Cliatt-Wayman, called all the students and staff to the auditorium where she hoped to present her expectations for the students’ behavior and for their achievement. Ashley, a student, interrupted her with the chilling words, “This is not a school!” Fast...
