Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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In 20 minutes, almost all of the 250 bags of candy were gone. The Kimball County Manor provided the bags, while Main Street Market provided apples for the tricksters during the 2nd annual Trick-n-Trunk at Kimball Jr/Sr High School. George Risk Industries, Greg and Penny Stull and Angie Solis also added candy to the bags. The crowd of kids and adults started with a bag of candy and then continued to visit the other 20 businesses and individuals who set up a trick-or-treat trunk or station. The...
When the Kimball City Council meeting was all said and done Oct. 19, a year and a half after former city administrator Dan Dean retired, the City of Kimball had a new city administrator, Annette Brower. Brower's city employment began in March 2018, as city treasurer and deputy clerk. Then, in January 2021, she began doing both city clerk/city treasurer duties, rounding out her experience in Kimball city government. From May 2020 to January 2021, Brower served as interim City Utilities Administrator, and now she is the Kimball city...
The Kimball City Council last week discussed and approved a $10,000 Economic Development Demolition and Reclamation Grant for KIM5 LLC, also known as Family Dollar/Dollar Tree. In its grant proposal, KIM5 LLC reported that it “will build-brand (a) new 10,500 square foot retail building for a combo store. We are on a very tight timeline to deliver the building, so we have started the tank removal process. Finding fuel in the tanks has increased the cost and delayed the project.” They began the project on Oct. 5, and want to have it com...
The 2nd annual Trick or Trunk event is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 31, from 4 to 6 p.m., according to organizers Sarah Stull, Dawn Hinton and Amira Moore. The event will take place on the east parking lot of the Kimball Jr/Sr High, and if you're interested in decorating a trunk the setup begins at 3 p.m. Candy donations will be accepted and the Kimball County Manor will be providing bags for all the kids at the start of the Trunk-or-Treat. Last year's Truck-or-Trunk was extremely well attended....
"Be the person you needed when you were little" is the motto of Jennifer Thomas at the Potter Art Loft. Jennifer had wished she had had a creative spot to go to when she was little, and now area children have that creative outlet. Some years ago, a professional artist had a studio above the Collective Gathering in Potter. When the area was vacated, Thomas decided that would be a perfect spot for a community art space. Before the pandemic, she taught all day, then opened the art loft for kids to...
UPDATE: Kimball has a City Administrator now. At the city council meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Keith Prunty asked for a motion, the motion was made to appoint Annette Brower as Kimball City Administrator, but when the Kimball City Council voted it was a 2-2 tie. Matt Bright and Gabe Ingram voted no while Christy Warner and Creg Pike were the yes votes. Mayor Keith Prunty broke the tie with a yes vote for Brower to become the city administrator. Following is a report on the city administrator... Full story
Members of the Kimball School Board heard from the principals and the food service director for updates during their meeting last week. Danessa Terrill told the board that the number of families applying for free or reduced lunches was down from 51% to 41%. Still, Terrill attributed this to the fact that all students receive free lunches, so some families didn't feel a need to apply, but but Terrill said it "ties into other funding." According to Terrill, the school district received an $11,000 grant for disposable products last year, but they...
Here's another installment of the Observer's series on community newcomers. You might recognize this newcomer to the Kimball area – Tammie Schlueter. Tammie works at Main Street Market as a cashier. A little over a year and two months ago, Tammie arrived in Kimball, displaced due to COVID. She and a friend owned a childcare facility in Greeley, Colo., and when COVID hit, it hit the childcare industry hard. She lost her business, but has landed on her feet in Kimball. Ironically, 22 years ago, T... Full story
District cross country was Thursday, Oct. 14, at Courthouse & Jail Rock Golf Course in Bridgeport, and for the fourth year in a row, Kimball Longhorns runner Chantel Malson qualified for the state cross country meet. Coach Tiffany Johnson told the Observer, "We are very proud of Chantel for being a four-time state qualifier. She ran a great race, and we look forward to seeing her compete in Kearney on Friday." Malson placed 12th with her season best time of 22:09. Peyton Paxton, a freshman from... Full story
After a series of challenges and setbacks, and three years in the making, the Porters have finally pushed forward and will soon have an RV park located on the east edge of Kimball. The old Ridgewood or Boeing Trailer Park will now be known as Rook RV Park. By next week, 34-36 sites should be ready for the "traveling workers." The infrastructure for the 34-36 sites in the park is all-new – from water to sewer to electricity. Sonny Porter did say with a chuckle, "It is a little spendy." The o... Full story
“COVID cases and hospitalization continue to increase in the Panhandle,” according to Jessica Davies, assistant health director for Panhandle Public Health District. They are rising significantly. On Monday in a COVID-19 update, United Command confirmed 441 more cases of COVID in the Panhandle since the last reporting Oct. 11. The update reported Cheyenne County has 81 cases and Scotts Bluff County 152 cases. Kimball County has nine cases. There are 34 activate hospitalizations in the Panhandle. Reported numbers vary. On Tuesday, the Neb...
Kimball resident Tiffany LaBeau addressed the Kimball City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 5, to ask for financial support to assist in a program to spay/neuter feral cats. LaBeau said that she has at least 25 feral cats near her residence on North Elm. A presentation by LaBeau explained that her proposal to spay/neuter feral cats would use the Cheyenne Animal Shelter for sterilization and core vaccinations for a nominal fee of $40 per cat. Once the animals have been treated they are returned. The...
That's a wrap for Kimball Lady Longhorns golfers Payton Wise and Katie Heeg. The senior duo closed out their high school golf careers in fine fashion – together on the course during the NSAA State Tournament at Elks Country Club in Columbus. Wise medaled for a fourth time at State – this time in third place – during her splendid four years on the links representing Longhorn Nation. Heeg, meanwhile, shot two rounds under 100 on the challenging Elks course– an outstanding achievement conside... Full story
Kimball's homecoming game between the Kimball Sharks and the Pine Bluffs Hornets was Friday evening. The fifth- and sixth-graders played the first half while the third- and fourth-graders completed the second half. The Hornets outpaced the Sharks by a score of 36-0 – but 27 young football players got to play under the lights and excitement of a game with lots of spectators. The coaches for the Kimball Sharks were Trevor Anderson, Adrain Fuss, Mitch Brown and Brad Hottell. Anderson told the O... Full story
The Kimball County Commissioners encountered lengthy discussions on several items at their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 5. Topping the list of lengthy discussions was bindweed, which is abundant and located throughout the city and county. Rick Wrangler, county weed superintendent, addressed the commissioners with some information about bindweed. Both Banner and Cheyenne counties have added bindweed to their list of noxious weeds, but the state of Nebraska doesn’t have bindweed on their list of noxious weeds. Wrangler said, “It is out there and in... Full story
"I have the cream of the crop," Dar Gardner stated when referring to the 69 RV trailers parked in Stahla's North Court RV Park. She has 70 total spots and will have that last one filled this week. The people come from dozens of states, including Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Wyoming, Illinois, New York, Louisiana and Missouri. The occupants of the RVs are working on everything from pipelines, wind turbines, and of course, the missile program. Dar said the missile folks have been at her park for...
As the housing market has skyrocketed in neighboring Colorado, the lower home prices, cost of living and relaxed life style in the western part of Nebraska have become appealing to a select number of people that western Nebraska has welcomed. The Potter area seemed like an excellent place to settle down after she retired from the Bayfield, Colo. Cathy Moats has been a Potter resident for two months, and she can't say enough good things about her new choice of a hometown. She said, "I wanted to...
The people who bring Farmers Day to Kimball every year are the volunteers. It takes dozens and dozens of people willing to give their time and energy to make a successful Farmers Day. This includes the chairmen of the committees down to those cleaning up, and it is not just one day of volunteering, it takes months of planning and paperwork. New events, such as the quilt show and the bike race, would not happen without a few dedicated people directing and organizing the events. What a difference...
Kimball Public Library has an educational exhibition of the events and circumstances of Sept. 11, 2001. The poster exhibits from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, titled "September 11, 2001: The Day that Changed the World," is comprised of 14 posters providing a historical view as well as a personal story of those who witnessed and the survived the attacks. Posters provide facts about the planes that flew into the twin towers, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93, the collapse of the twin towers, the...
Heading north out of Kimball on Highway 71, the last thing in late summer that you would expect to see is a group of people picking grapes from a vineyard and rocking to their music. About three weeks ago, that was precisely what you would have seen and heard about seven miles north of Kimball. Kimball's Roger Dohse is the grape grower, and his pickers are local individuals. Local landowner Jim Young agreed to let Roger Dohse try his idea of growing grapes about 22 years ago. So on ¾ of...
The Kimball Longhorn cross county team was in action at the Ogallala Invite on Sept. 23. In the varsity girls division, Chantel Malson competed against the Ogallala, Cozad, Gothenburg, McCook and Chadron girls. She ran in 26th place with a time of 22:44. Participating in the varsity boys division and leading the Kimball team was Braylon Miller in 69th place against some tough competition. Miller ran in 20:51. The winning time was 16:54. Xavier Thomas-Lewis placed 76th with a 21:03 time and Wyatt Cords completed the varsity course in 21:36....
Kimball Health Services officials and Andy Forney, vice president and public finance banker for D.A. Davidson & Co., met Tuesday with the Kimball County Commissioners at their regular bimonthly board meeting where they approved the issuance of limited tax bonds for the county not to exceed $6.5 million. These limited tax bonds are for the Kimball hospital development project. Once the hospital bonds sell, construction and repair crews will be on site to begin certain phases of the project. The completion date for the hospital is projected to...
Have you ever wondered how the area fires receive their names? It is not alphabetical like hurricanes. According to Ron Leal, director of Region 21 Emergency Management, the naming of the fire is up to the incident commander. Leal said all larger wild land fires are named, usually named using the closest landmark. Although sometime they are named after a county road number, departments don’t like that because there could be another fire on that road. In Morrill County, the fire near Angora was called 118 because it started near county road 1...
An excited 14-year-old Ella Kearney-Turner from Colorado rode in her first 25-mile bike race, the Antelope Stampede. Her brother finished first in the 25-mile race, and she finished just behind him on Saturday morning in Kimball. The 25-mile race was the most popular, with a few riders going 50 miles and two individuals riding 100 miles. Director Jon Heidemann and his wife, Anna-Lisa, had hoped for a few more riders, but they were happy to get the first annual Antelope Stampede in the books.... Full story
The Kimball Planning Commission met prior to the City Council meeting last week for public hearings on rezoning and re-plating four different properties in Kimball. The first public hearing dealt with re-plating property currently owned by Kenneth W. Adrian, but under contract to KIM5, LLC. Adrian applied for subdivision to change the current zoning from C-5 Heavy Commercial to C-2 Light Commercial. KIM5, LLC has plans to build a Family Dollar/Dollar Tree on the property located along Highway... Full story