Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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South Platte Natural Resource District is gearing up for the recreation season at Oliver Lake. The SPNRD usually has a public meeting to explain and clarify rule changes and upcoming enhancements, but with COVID-19 they have to rely on other means to get information to the interested public. A simple and painless change in registration has been made and will require that both the vehicle and the camping unit be registered; therefore they know how many campers there are and where they are...
Highway Superintendent Randy Bymer reported at the Kimball County Commissioners meeting Tuesday that some people were upset that the county road graders weren’t out on Sunday or Monday after the snow. Bymer said it was a “bad call on his part,” but weather reports indicated that it was supposed to be minus 40 degrees. One grader is down, according to Bymer, and repairs appear to be on their way. When not grading the road crews are working on equipment repairs. The One/Six Road plan has been completed and a public hearing is scheduled for March...
At 5:15 p.m. Sunday, the Kimball Sheriff’s Office 911 dispatch received a call reporting that an individual had fallen through the ice at Oliver Lake. According to Sheriff Harry Gilway, the reporting individual may not have seen the entirety of events that led to the call. Apparently, three teenage boys were on the ice, which was covered by snow. They were “playing around” in the snow and one fell and then, according to other accounts, he rushed to their pickup. The reporting individual then just saw two individuals and therefore called 911,...
The long awaited veterans bricks have arrived and the VFW #2243 is moving forward with their Gotte Park project. Although Brian Howard said the brick project took longer than they expected and they encountered some pricing issues, it is happening. In August, the VFW received 60 bricks and more are coming. If you missed out on the original order period for bricks, the VFW will send in one more brick order and they must receive the information by March 15. Forms to order veterans bricks are...
Cases in Kimball County decreased significantly in the past week with four new cases of COVID-19 being reported to Panhandle Public Health District. Most of the cases in the area, 68%, are contacted through community spread, according to the data from PPHD. The COVID-19 Risk Dial has remain unchanged but still is in the orange or high category. Vaccines continue to hit the Panhandle with 2,200 doses plus the required second doses to arrive this week. As of Monday, 8,604 people have received the COVID-19 vaccine in the PPHD area. The Federal...
After five years of no boys basketball, Banner County has put seven young guys on the court this season to re-start their program. The team consists of five freshman, one sophomore and one junior. They have played throughout the pandemic, but Coach Charles Jones said that practices are interesting because they cannot scrimmage and the players have a big learning curve. The team will complete its season on Feb. 19. In its first 10 games, the young team had a 2-8 record with wins over Garden...
“It sold. The transaction has been accomplished, but the buyer is not ready to disclose on what he is going to do there.” Words straight from the mouth of Red Diamond Realty broker Jeanine Perry, who handled the sale. She told the Observer the news Tuesday. “You are going to like the business,” Perry said. “I think everyone will enjoy it.” In the next few weeks, the buyer will be coming to Kimball to check things out in town....
COVID-19 cases for the past week in Kimball County have increased from 9 the previous week to 23 with a majority of the cases considered to be community spread. Kimball County has one more COVID-19 related death reported, a female in their 90s. The state must verify the deaths in order for it to be considered a COVID-19 related death. Panhandle Public Health District reported that the the Panhandle will be receiving 1,500 doses this week and its hoping to finish up vaccinating the 75 and up age...
Keep Kimball Beautiful received a share – a nice share – of the $6.69 million in grants that support 144 projects across the state of Nebraska, according to Nebraska Department of environment and energy Director Jim Macy. In total, KKB received $115,342. Keep Kimball Beautiful received a $24,532 grant for public education for Kimball and Banner County schools focusing on litter prevention and proper waste management. In addition for recycling, KKB received a grant of $73,216 to continue to operate the Kimball Recycling Center, which serves Kim...
He always had it in his possession, but he never felt the need to use it. For 62 years, Todd Baliman had the key to his adoption, his original sealed birth certificate. It lay in that sealed envelope until his adoptive mother, Mary Conger, died in April of 2020. He just never wanted to hurt his mother. "I didn't feel I was missing anything," he said, speaking about his family that adopted him. "I just couldn't live with myself to do that to my mother when she was still alive," he said. "That's...
Brendan Halligan, 10, goes after the number 5 calf as he participates in last Saturday's ranch sorting event north of Kimball. This was Brendan's second ranch sorting event. Cinch RSNC Ranch Sorting made its debut in the Kimball area with rounds for beginners, rookies, novices and above. Halligan Agency LLC sponsored the event with 189 first-round teams at the Y3 Indoor Area....
Three seniors from Kimball High School testified last week during a Legislative Hearing in the State Capitol in Lincoln. They are Corey Gardner, Izaak Rohde, and Melai Casimiro. All three students were proponents of LB 327. LB 327 was introduced by state Sen. Julie Slama from Peru. It would make one semester of financial literacy or personal finance a requirement for high school graduation beginning in the 2022-23 school year. The Kimball students expressed that they are unprepared for the...
Kimball Volunteer firemen received a call to the alley along the 400 block of Monroe Street for a Dumpster fire at about 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, but the quick thinking chief and assistant kept the Dumpster lid down until a truck arrived and extinguished the fire....
The Kimball School Board met for their regular meeting on Feb. 8 with a full agenda. The minutes, board bills and treasurer’s reports resulted in no surprises. After viewing the treasurer’s report Board President Matt Shoup stated that “we are sitting better than we were.” Board member Travis Cook commented that the board should have 3 months of cash on hand and they felt they were moving in the right direction. Cook reported to the rest of the board on a legislative meeting that he attended via Zoom. According to Cook, there are 684 bills intr...
On Tuesday, Feb. 4 after meeting with Highway Road superintendent Randy Bymer, the Kimball County Commissioners meet with other heads of departments. Jessica Rocha, the County Tourism Director, reported that number of visitors stopping at the visitors center continues to be low. Rocha is continuing with grant preparation for AmeriCorps volunteers again. They would help with the Visitors Center, Plains Historical Museum and the Community Trail. The commissioners approved a letter written to the Nebraska Department of Revenue to request a list...
The Kimball City Council has approved the rezoning of this 2.31-acre property just north of the Frenchman Valley Coop gas station to be used for vehicle storage and 60 storage units that will be built. Daniel Acheson and Lori McGuire applied for the rezoning to pursue the project....
Banner County girls basketball played their first season of basketball in four years. They finished the season with a 0-10 record, but new head coach Brandon Avila saw "a lot of improvement in the different areas of the game." With nine girls to reboot their program, they all got valuable experience that will carry over to next year. The three seniors provided a foundation for the years to come and the four freshman played a significant number of minutes to help gain game experience. Two junior...
Panhandle Public Health District confirmed that there have been 110 new cases of COVID-19 in the Panhandle this past week from Jan. 25 to Feb. 1. Kimball has reported nine new cases in that time period, and most of the cases are due to community exposure. PPHD reported that no COVID-19 variants have been identified in Nebraska or the Panhandle. The variants will only be tested and identified if there is a cluster. Vaccinations will increase this week as 1,400 doses will be arriving in the...
After nearly a year, a class art project was finally completed by the arts students at Potter-Dix High School. The 4-foot by 8-foot mosaic is now on display in the party room on the north side of the duck pin bowling alley. The party room had recently been renovated but had no decorations, so according to art teacher Jennifer Thomas, "We made the mosaic to add some color and design to that area. We used stain glass." More than $400 worth of stain glass was used. The project was started by...
COVID-19 has been tough on 30-year-old Blane Millerking of rural Kimball. First, his business came to an abrupt halt as a direct result of COVID, and then his mentor and grandfather died after contracting the nasty virus. Blane's business was raising and selling meat goats to Colorado Indian restaurants. The successful business completely stopped due to COVID regulations and the closure of those restaurants in Colorado. Then he lost his grandfather to COVID, the grandfather that took him to...
The Kimball County Commissioners met on Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. in the Kimball County Courthouse. Randy Bymer, County Highway superintendent, discussed grading and gravel operations on the county roads. According to Bymer, many areas are suffering from washboard roads and this is due to the dry conditions, although they are trying to control them and address some of the complaints. Bymer has had some issues with the GPS units, which have recently been placed on all road graders and some county pickups. The GPS units track where the grader is on a...
Banner County Wrestler Wyatt Reichenberg has been busy with numerous meets and showing improvement. Placing fourth at Chase County, Reichenberg chalked wins over Houchin (Bay), Vitosh (Chase County), O'Brien (Hitchcock County) and Walz (Hershey). On Jan. 22 at Hemingford, Banner County's lone wrestler placed third with a win over Martinez (Minatare), then followed it up with another win over Martinez at Morrill. At the Mitchell meet, Reichenberg placed fourth again with wins over Bayard's...
A new complex of buildings is quite noticeable south of Kimball along Highway 71. The pheasant hunting complex is about 11 miles south of Kimball, close to the Colorado border. The complex includes nine bird houses with large pens, a lodge, rental cabins and numerous other outbuildings. The relatively new business in Kimball County known as Real Western Wings Controlled Shooting Area #290 provides hunting for pheasants and chukar. According to Dale Critchfield, owner and operator of Real Western...
Kimball County resident Jim Cleveland stopped by the Observer on Monday to show the amount of trash he picked up at Oliver Lake – this time around. Cleveland said he takes his dogs out to the lake and has always piled up trash to haul away. Monday's trip show the big items that people dump at the lake. It just a week after vandals damaged facilities at the recreation area with spray paint. He speculated that the "dumpers" probably had to drive right by the Kimball Landfill on Highway 30 b...
Red Dimond Realty owner Jeanine Perry told the Observer on Tuesday that the “old” Shopko building, which is now “under contract” for sale, continues to be in the “status quo” mode. Perry said she had no new information to provide to the Observer on this property located south along Highway 71. The potential buyer is believed to involve a business franchise. The old Shopko building sits on 3 acres and is just 11 years old. Perry told the Observer that the buyer does not want to “release any information until it is a done deal....