Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Sorted by date Results 976 - 1000 of 4073
Panhandle Public Health District reported on Monday that Kimball County has two new cases of the coronavirus. Both cases are individuals in their 60s. One of them, a male, was exposed through travel. The other, a female, was exposed through close contact. Kimball County now has three active cases. Twelve people once diagnosed from the virus has recovered. Scotts Bluff County had the most new cases in the region with nine positives reported on Monday. According to statistics, 283 people have recovered while currently there are 71 active cases...
More than 30 people packed into the two-hour Kimball School Board meeting on Monday, July 13, at the Kimball Jr/Sr High School. Five of the six board members were present with Lynn Vogel absent but on a phone connection, although unable to vote on agenda items. Due to a conflict, Carrie Tabor, also a school district employee, was unable to vote on approval of the board bills and on the treasurer’s report. The board bills were approved for payment, 4-0, but the motion to approve the treasurer’s report failed with Cook voting nay and Vogel abs...
What do you do when COVID-19 hits and your freshman year at college is cut short? Seth Varner and Austin Schneider decided to visit incorporated Nebraska towns and cities – all 531 of them. Seth explained how the visit began. "It is something to do, we had nothing else to do in March, so after we got sent home from college, I said, 'Hey, Austin, you want to go visit every town in the state.' " Austin said he was all for it. They just finished their final trip, an eight-day adventure to the P...
What a Great weekend of watching some outstanding golf! I put in several hours following golfers involved in the 11th annual Vince's Corner ABCD Double Draw Scramble out at the Four Winds Golf Course, breathing good fresh, Hot air, but finding lots of shady spots where I could watch golfers come in and go out, with lots of exciting approach shots, pets, and long drives. On top of that I got to see and talk with a lot of people I haven't seen since at least last year, or longer. Many good...
With the Nebraska fall sports still a huge question mark, Kimball High Junior Payton Wise at least got to see some competitive action on the golf course this past week by playing in the Nebraska Amateur Golf Tournament held at the Scottsbluff Country Club. The two-day event attracted 48 girls and Payton finished tied for 17th overall with her rounds of 88-82=170. Wise is staying active, though, and attended both basketball and volleyball camps in the last couple of weeks....
Our Kimball guy, Mike Daum, had two more good showings in The Basketball Tournament being played in Columbus, Ohio, that was shown on ESPN. You hopefully caught the story last week of him being named Player of the Game in their opening week over War Tampa 76-53, when he led his House of Paign team with 21 points and 13 rebounds. This past week he repeated in game two as Player of the Game in the 76-68 win over the hosting Carmen’s Crew, an Ohio State team playing on their own stomping ground, and they were the number one seed and defending c...
The 11th annual Vince’s Corner ABCD Double Draw Golf Scramble is in the books and the 132 golfers who made up the 33 four man teams enjoyed two days of hot, but calm weather, with no storms, and a golf course that brought raves from many of the out of town golfers. It all started with a Friday night get together at the Wind Break Restaurant where the drawing for Saturday’s play took place, and was repeated Saturday evening for Sunday play. In the two day final results, the top honor went to A golfer Andrew Brown as the hometown guy fin...
Herb Stevens has been the Potter fire chief for 27 years, but he said, "This is one that you remember." He was talking about a huge bale fire south of Potter, just two miles from the Colorado state line. Stevens said they received the call at 6:30 Wednesday morning and at 3 Saturday morning he was finally able to send his men home. "My guys were so tired," he said. They had 70-plus hours fighting a fire at the Johnson farm and ranch in the southwest corner of Cheyenne County. Stevens said his...
On Monday, July 6, the Panhandle Public Health District announced 13 more cases of COVID-19 in the Panhandle of Nebraska. PPHD reported one case in Kimball County – a female in her 40s. The method of exposure was close contact. Kimball County has 12 recovered cases of COVID-19 and one case which is active, that being the latest. Neighboring Banner County has one recovered case and one active case as of July 6. Nebraska doctors are urging residents to wear a mask to slow the spread of COVID-19. Mask-wearing can be summed up in three points: C...
Alexander Romero appeared with his attorney Tuesday, July 7, in District Court for sentencing in a child abuse case in which his daughter died. In March, Romero was tried on intentional child abuse charges and it resulted in a hung jury. In May, Romero pleaded no contest to two counts of Child Abuse, Class IIA felonies. On Tuesday, Judge Derek Weimer sentenced Romero to 15-20 years for count one and 15-20 years for count two, those being consecutive terms to be severed by Romero. Romero’s family members looked on from the first row of the c...
July 4th was a busy day for the Kimball Volunteer Department. Their day began at Gotte Park with fire truck rides and kids spraying fire hoses. Later in the day the firemen set up the fireworks on Horseshoe Hill and finally, at about 10 p.m., they set off the fireworks but in between all that, they put their skills to work by fighting a grass fire. On July 5, Monday, the fireman will "pull all the mortars and clean up after the fireworks display," fireman Taylor Brown said. The $7,000 fireworks...
Lookout Bill Gates, here comes Giorgetta Varra! Giorgetta had her inaugural showing of her crafts, "Created by G" at the Potter CarBowl craft fair, and it couldn't have gone better. The Kimball County 10-year-old, daughter of Matt and Mia Varra, has the entrepreneurial spirit. The young business girl said there was a "very big turnout and my booth was very diverse." She also credited her big sales with the fact that she stayed in her booth and told people her story. Her story is a result of a...
A lot of golf to be played this weekend at the Kimball Four Winds Golf Course as a lot of golfers will tee it up in the Vince's Corner 2-day 4-person scramble. Saturday start time is 12 noon and Sunday start time will be either 9 or 9:30 a.m. Four Winds Pro Chad Wise said, "We will have open golf both days also but you need to call for tee times." This annual tournament started by Henry Heeg 11 years ago attracts so many former Kimball residents who live elsewhere now but return for the golf...
Kimball County Manor had a "Drive by Parade" for their residents on Friday, June 26. The manor encouraged people to decorate their cars and have signs for the residents. The parade was led by the Kimball Volunteer Fire Department and families and friends of residents followed the fire trucks. The sign on the manor windows says: "Nothing Can Rain on Our Parade," but the rain and the lightning forced residents inside instead of enjoying the parade from the sidewalk. The original plan had included...
Kimball County is currently faring better than other area counties with COVID-19 cases, and this is good for the health of residents and the economy. One positive case was identified in Kimball County last week, a woman in her 50s, and a man in his 60s was confirmed to have the virus June 30, but other counties in the Panhandle Public Health District have seen a rapid increase in their positive cases. Morrill County has had a total of 36 cases, and 22 of those cases are still active. Scotts Bluf...
At certain times throughout our history, patriotism has been stronger than at other times but since 911, patriotism has skyrocketed. Memorial Day, Flag Day and July 4 are perfect examples and ways to show your love of country. "Flags are a reminder of the freedoms we enjoy as American citizens and Nebraskans," Nebraska Secretary of State Robert B. Evnen stated, "a symbol of ourselves." Flag Day originated in 1885 and of course July 4 has been around since the inception of our country in 1776....
The annual Kimball Chapter of the Team Mates fundraising Golf Tournament was held this past Saturday at the Four Winds Golf Course and, according to Stephanie Kitchens, the program coordinator, it was a huge success. “This was one of our best tournaments we have had by a long shot,” she said. A total of 24 four-person teams participated and enjoyed the beautiful Four Winds course on a near perfect weather day. This year’s winning team that shot 57 to walk away with the top prize was Vicky Brown, Andrew Brown, Aaron Osborn and Terry Osbor...
Judy Daum hauled in low gross with a 44 and low net with a 30, in Week 3 of the Kimball Women’s Golf Association league play at Four Winds. Jean Barrett continued with her excellent putting, only using the putter 14 times. Flag prizes were divided by handicap with longest putt on #2 Daria Faden, #4 longest putt Sharon O’Hare, and longest putt on #9 Donna Loyd. Week four saw Pattie Klinginsmith return from vacation and shoot a low gross of 43 and Donna Loyd and her partner Alice Theobald, both with a low net of 35. Sixteen putts was popular as...
The Kimball City Council voted 4-0 to proceed with the opening of the swimming pool. The Health Directives from the Governor's Office have complicated matters with the pool, but it appears that by June 22 they will be able to operate at 75% capacity, which is pretty a pretty normal level of activity, according to Carson Sisk, water superintendent. The council vote came at its June 16 meeting. The pool's opening date is set for June 25. The pool staff of lifeguards will be limited because no one...
Reports throughout the community have indicated that two employees in the Kimball Public Schools’ district office at Kimball Jr/Sr High School are no longer employed in the district. Those reports have been confirmed. School board member Carrie Tabor, now working on the office staff, said by phone from the office that district business manager Harold Farrar was no longer working with the school system. In addition, according to Tabor, an administration assistant position in the office also has been eliminated. The Observer has not confirmed w...
The Kimball County Sheriff's Office has a new deputy as of last Tuesday. Joseph Leitza was sworn in and began his career in law enforcement. After a week on the job, Deputy Leitza said he has "really been enjoying himself." Leitza is from Pine Bluffs, graduated from Pine Bluffs High School in 2014 and worked in the area for the last few years. He said, "It's something I always wanted to do. Helping people and making a connection with people." He continued, "Actually, my friend told me about the...
Gotte Park is the location for fire truck rides on the 4th of July, according to Kimball Fire Chief Andrew Bohac. The rides will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. The firemen will also have additional trucks set up so children can spray the fire hose. Unfortunately, due to Phase III of the Governor's Directed Health Measures which prohibit carnivals and parades, the Kiwanis will not have their normal July 4th activities. President of the Kiwanis Jay Fennell said, "We plan to continue doing our 4th...
Banner County High School held graduation for the 2020 seniors on Saturday, June 20. In addition to graduation, scholarships were handed out and additional awards and honors were presented to the seniors. In the outdoor ceremony, Luke Lindberg gave his salutatorian address and valedictorian Deven Sullivan summarized the plans for each of the six seniors. He also shared with the crowd the disappointment of missing key activities, such as state FFA and state track. In a touch of normalcy, the...
Organizers Peg Musil and Jennifer Thomas didn't let COVID-19 interfere with the group Youth Involved in Potter. According to organizers, indoors the kids have to wear masks but outside they can take the mask off. Jennifer Thomas said, "The kids were troopers and never complained about wearing a mask." Their theme is peacocks. The young citizens are painting feathers, and their group project is a large peacock, all in time for the Potter Car Bowl this weekend. During the three-day camp, young...
The three-man team of Mitch-Preston-Taylor Brown captured the championship of the 2020 Father's Day Golf Classic winning by 3 strokes over the defending team of Kenny-Jeff-Jordon Greenwood. The Brown team was trailing by 3 strokes after the opening Saturday round with the Greenwoods leading the field with their round of 58 on Saturday while the Brown's shot 61. On Sunday, the Brown's shot an amazing round of 55, 17 under par, and the Greenwood team slipped to 261 leaving the winners with a...