Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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At the Nov. 15 Board of Equalization meeting, County Assessor, Sherri Winstrom reported that Stanard Appraisal Services, Inc. is now half way finished with their reappraisal of Kimball county. They had completed their portion of the rural residential work several weeks ago. Completion of their list of Dix and Bushnell properties, both commercial and residential was finished the end of last week. Stanard representatives and county employees will move into Kimball to complete both commercial and residential reappraisals in the coming weeks....
During the regular meeting of the Kimball County Board of Commissioners meeting on Nov. 15, the board approved two purchases for the road department. Notice had been placed in the Observer for the purchase of one used pickup and a used tractor. A 2008, F-150 Ford super cab XLT, 4x4 with 141,807 miles from Bogart Auto Sales won the bid for $10,995. 4Rivers won the bid on the tractor with a 2014 John Deere 5085, 85 hp for the price of $49,756. The tractor comes with a standard two year warranty and comes with rock guards on the back...
Sixty-two people attended the fundraising event sponsored by the Kimball Longhorn Booster Club on Nov. 19. at the Windbreak Bar and Grill. Proceeds from the event will go towards a new speaker system in the Kimball High School gymnasium. People of all ages, from elementary school to retired enjoyed the creative night out with Nikole Leonard, instructor, who hails from Scottsbluff. Two sessions were offered- the first started at 2 o'clock featured a cutout reindeer doorhanger. The second session...
Generations of Kimballites gathered together in the Harry McNees Auditorium on Nov. 9 to celebrate the observance of Veterans Day put on by the 2016 Kimball High School Civics class. According to Jeri Ferguson, it was the 15th year that the KHS Civics class had, under her direction, put on the program for local veterans and the community. Ferguson has always had a "passion for patriotism" as she calls it. When she first started the Veterans Day program, fifteen years ago, she did so because she...
It is that time of year when people are dealing with the dreaded flu and other illnesses. When you are sick, tired and weak, it makes everything in your life more difficult not to mention, emotionally stressful. Thank goodness for the good and competent healthcare professionals at Kimball Health Services. Many of them are indeed amazing people with true compassion for their fellow humans who are dealing with anything from the common cold to cancer. I want to RAVE about an experience I had at KHS this earlier this year. I had not been feeling...
County and city residents alike pay a fee for trash services. The last time that the city raised the landfill fees was in April of 2014 at which time, they raised the price $3.00, from $12.00 to $15.00. Currently, those rates are: $7.00 for collection, $1.00 for yard waste and $15.00 landfill fees for city residents, but those rates are expected to increase as of January 1 to $8.00 for collection, $2.50 for yard waste disposal and $17.25 landfill charges for a total of $27.75 per month. All county residents living outside the city limits and in...
The physical review of all 451 rural residential properties set for reappraisal is now complete with the long process of data entry still in the process of wrapping up. As of this week, more than half of the rural residential properties reappraisal valuations have been entered into the county’s computer system. For the past few months, Stanard Appraisal Services Inc., (Stanard) has been working in conjunction with the Kimball County Assessor’s (Assessor) office to photograph, inspect and review all of the rural residential properties in the...
The Lady Longhorns 2016 varsity season ended with 11 wins and 21 losses. It may have been a disappointing season in comparison to the previous year's record of 17-10 but they did prove that they could work together as a team despite changing from a 6-2 format to 5-1 mid-season. Junior Hannah Biesecker led the Lady Horns in all around stats both offensively and defensively. This season she served up 45 aces, only 10 less than her older sister who served 55 the previous year as a senior, and is...
When walking down main street, many people complain that there isn't much of a retail presence in Kimball, and yet Amy and Terry Sorensen have been quietly operating a store front for more than twenty years. Over the years they've sold everything from refurnished antique furniture to original and unique crafts. Today their shop is filled with antiques, refinished furnishings and unique crafts made by the couple. Amy (Schwindt) Sorensen was born in Kimball and graduated from Kimball High School...
Every week it is my responsibility to collect the information for the courthouse news. While I was in the courthouse this week I decided I might as well vote early because I had already done my research and as we put the paper together on Tuesdays, I didn’t want to take the time to vote on our busiest day of the week, here at the Observer. As I was casting my presidential vote I was momentarily sidetracked by a flash of a Facebook post I’d seen the night before between my oldest brother and sister. Although that post was tame in comparison to...
The Lady Longhorns fell in three close sets to the Sidney Lady Raiders leaving Kimball with a 10-20 record entering Sub-Districts. The challenging battle was held on home court, Tuesday, Oct. 25 but was possibly the best game of the year for the Longhorns as their teamwork was obvious. Seniors Raelynn Hinton, Jannel Fiehtner and Shauntae Daily led in points earning 7, 5 and 2 respectively. Juniors Justine Heeg took 4 points followed by Hannah Biesecker with 3 points. Sophomore Kate Reader secured 2 points for the Longhorns. The Lady Raiders...
A new mural supporting the Kimball Longhorns has been painted on the east side of the A&L building across the street from Firstier Bank. The idea started last fall when A&L contacted the school that they wanted to make the east wall of their building available for a school mural project. The owners, Allen and Lindsey Chavez, felt that making the bare space into a mural would be, "a cool way to support the school and give students a chance to be creative," and contacted superintendent, Marshall...
According to the new Kimball county handbook and as of January 1, 2017 when the handbook takes effect, “All Kimball County owned facilities shall be designated as tobacco free and tobacco use shall be prohibited except in designated tobacco areas.” The Kimball County Commissioners (Board) had discussed in previous meetings when to put the ban into effect and it was decided that the first of the year was the best option. As Commissioner Daria Faden said, “we want to give people time.” Commissioner Larry Engstrom voiced his desire to include...
I want to RAVE about my favorite holiday, Halloween. Also known as Samhain and All Hallows’ Eve, this awesome holiday is soon approaching, to the delight of children everywhere. Kids of all ages, myself included, will be happily dressed in costumes, wearing masks or make-up and running around schools, neighborhoods and businesses acting a bit more batty (pun intended) than normal. And why is this? Of course, children will respond with a resounding chorus of, “CANDY” but surely that can’t entirely be the reason. I’m not going to go into the...
The Lady Longhorns fought hard against Gordon Rushville Mustangs in game one of the Western Trails Conference tournament on Oct. 22 but ultimately lost in three close sets. Kimball 25 18 33 Gor/Rush 23 25 33 Hannah Biesecker led with 13 kills followed by Raelynn Hinton with nine and one kill each for Kaitlyn Wurdeman, Shauntae Daily and Justine Heeg. Jannel Fiehtner lead in served points, scoring eight, followed by Biesecker with six, Kate Reader with four, Heeg and Hinton each with one. Aces we...
Dozens arrived at the Kimball County Fairgrounds hog barn to bless the new Kimball County Ambulance on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Refreshments were served and attendees were treated to a tour of the new rig as well as a blessing led by the family of the late Pastor Virgil A. Johnson, Jr., a former Kimball County EMT who also served as a Dix Volunteer Fireman and a Dix First Responder. Shown above, Kimball County Ambulance Director Carla Goranson addresses those in attendance, including Kimball Sheriff...
According to Sherry Winstrom, County Assessor, Stanard Appraisal Services Inc., began reappraising rural residential properties on September 19. Three groups, with each group consisting of both Kimball County and Stanard employees, then went out into three different directions. In their first week they were able to complete 28 of the 35 townships in Kimball County, covering 250 of the 450 parcels that needed reappraisal. Annette Morgan, one of the representatives from the assessors office said, “These farmers are just great. They have no p...
Although normal business was quite typical for the Kimball County Board of Commissioners, discussion and action items for the Board proved to be more diverse during their first bi-monthly meeting of October. The first item up for discussion was the consideration of purchasing new blinds for the entire courthouse. Before discussion began, it was announced throughout the court house that the item was up for discussion. Several court house employees came to the meeting to be present for the deliberation. Three bids were returned and read,...
The second week of October every year marks Fire Prevention Week throughout the country. Originally the event was created to commemorate the 1871 Great Chicago Fire that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless and destroyed 17,400 structures burning over 2,000 acres in the process according to the National Fire Protection Association website. These days, Fire Prevention Week is used to educate on prevention and promote preparedness in case of wildfire. Fire Chief, Rick Wynne says...
We all know there is a lot of farmland in Western Nebraska but what you might not know is that there are at least 16 certified organic farming operations in Kimball County and at least two more in Banner County according to the USDA Organic Integrity database and the Organic Provider Registry. At least two of those in Kimball County have been certified organic since the year 2000. Although the exact number of organic acres in production in Kimball and Banner Counties is unavailable at this...
Although this year’s Presidential election does seem to be on the minds of everyone, there is one issue that will be on all Nebraska ballots come Tuesday, Nov. 8, that you may, or may not know about. It is the Nebraska Death Penalty Referendum, also known as Referendum 426 (Ref. 426) and is the only item of law on the ballots for the entire state. Although Ref. 426 is the only one that made it to the ballots, there were six other initiatives that could have been decided on November 8; the Nebraska Child Custody Initiative, three separate m...
Benjamin Disraeli was a wildly distinguished British politician and novelist who lived through nearly all of the 1800’s. Although it’s likely that most Americans won’t remember him from European history or simply never learned of him at all, you can bet that most of us have quoted him at least once. Disraeli is generally accepted to have been the first to say, “Change is inevitable. Change is constant.” I find that quote both comforting and heartbreaking. I’m incredibly grateful that time does move forward, taking us and every single atom in th...
Although the Friday night of Farmers Day started with a downpour and caused quick rearranging all over town, by the end of the weekend a great deal of fun and excitement had been enjoyed by all. According to Farmer's Day chairperson Assunta Calise, the Friday night soup supper at the Senior Center was well attended and very likely ran out of soup before calling it a night. The Goodhand Theater showed 'Ice Age: Collison Course' and was a nearly packed house giving the kids something to do the nig...
According to the 2015 annual report on traffic crash facts prepared by the Highway Safety and Accident Records Section of the Nebraska Department of Roads, 72 percent of all fatalities on the road in 2015 involved male drivers ranging in age from 15 to 34. When it comes to injuries only, men represented 55.9 percent of the drivers in crashes that did not result in a fatality making non-fatality crashes by men only slightly more common than women drivers. Nevertheless, women still make up the largest percentage (54.4 percent) of injured...
I went to lunch with my father last week and he said something that really stuck with me. He said, “if you can’t trust your doctor, who can you trust” and I was thinking, well, yeah, you sure in the heck can’t trust your doctor. Doctors are humans; doctors are fallible. I believe that people who are naive enough to trust that their doctors are infallible are likely to be severely disappointed in life. If you truly believe that your doctor, judges, police, teacher, parents, friends are one hundred percent accurate one hundred percent of the time...