Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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With the recent tragedies and shootings around the nation, I find myself like most of you wondering "Why?". I do not wonder why it happens, because most of the time there is no good reason or even a reason that will in any way soothe the pain inflicted or make enough sense so that we can point to it and say "Oh, that's why." I wonder why we blame the people who we blame for the act itself. Take the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut for example. Residents of Newtown were quick to offer sympathy to the families that had...
With winter upon us and the changing weather conditions, it is important to remember safe driving habits to avoid potential dangers on the roads, dangers such as rollover accidents. According to Kimball County Sheriff Harry Gillway, there are on average 12 rollover accidents each year here in Kimball County with speed being the most consistent contributing factor. “Two years ago we had a woman who had lived here all of her life, and she got caught in the gravel to the right. Her speed was so great that when she corrected herself, she swerved c...
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Lincoln Highway that stretches from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, California passing right through Kimball along the way. The 100th anniversary celebration will consist of automobile tours that will depart from Times Square and Lincoln Park on June 22 to follow the original Lincoln Highway route to Kearney, Nebraska where they will meet for the official centennial celebration events to take place June 30 through July 1. Though the official...
Keep Kimball Beautiful has received two grants from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. The first of the grants was for $40,362 for the litter reduction and recycling with the second being $13,702 for the public education grant. According to Keep Kimball Beautiful Director Larissa Binod the litter reduction grant will mostly be used to pay personnel and help sustain the recycle center. "I write the grants to help fund the personnel and the supplies needed and the operating expenses to offset the cost of running the recycle...
David Ford, Water Superintendent for the city of Kimball, was sentenced to 12 months probation by Judge Randin Roland on January 23, in the Kimball County court. Ford sat with his attorney Kristine R. Cecava who spoke on her client’s behalf before Judge Roland pronounced his sentence. “Mr. Ford stands here ready to accept responsibility for his actions. He is sorry for his momentary lapse in judgement. He felt threatened, and that is when the incident happened,” Cecava said. The incident Cecava was referring to was the August 3 confr...
A potential site for the oil derrick to be erected on has been picked out, according to Bob Abramson. The site picked is near the Four Winds Golf Course. “It’s just west of the golf course by the west well,” Abramson said. However, though a site has been picked out, the group still needs to go through a process of getting the site approved before any action can be taken on moving the derrick to that spot. “We have to ask the Department of Roads to approve us putting it there, and if the Department of Roads approves it, then we have to get the...
The County Commissioners recently approved the creation of a Kimball County Ambulance Advisory Committee. The committee was put together by Kimball County Ambulance Service Director Carla Goranson. “My goal for the committee is to help them to understand more about how the Kimball Volunteer Ambulance Service functions so that when there are questions in the community, they will be able to answer them,” Goranson said. The committee consists of Trevor Bush, MD, Richard Harriger, Virginia Halligan, Jordan Aurtey, and Michele Daum. Members of the...
The downtown area has undergone some remodeling in the past year with the street lights being changed to LED. The reason for the change was one of necessity, according to Bill Hinton, Superintendent of the Electric Department. “The old ones that were out there were all worn out and broken at the bases. There were two heads to a fixture which weren’t doing much good. These LED lights are much more crisp,” Hinton said. The project of converting the downtown lights to LED has been two years in the making with the process of changing out the light...
Don and Connie Onigkeit prove that one does not have to run into burning buildings or serve in the military to be a hero and save a life, but rather one can be a hero to someone by simply donating blood. The Kimball couple has been donating blood for approximately 25 years with Connie reaching the 100 donation mark, which adds up to 12 and a half gallons of blood, the day after Christmas this past year. “They say you save three lives with each unit, and one time they did tell me it was for a baby so that made me feel good,” Connie said. The...
The Banner County Wildcats gave the Potter-Dix Coyotes quite a run in their meeting January 25 at Potter-Dix’s home court. The Wildcats started the game strong with Ben Hostetler hitting a 3 pointer at the top of the key off a pass from Kadan Huber putting the Wildcats on the board 3-0 just five seconds into the first quarter. The Wildcats were able to get a five point lead before the Coyotes were able to get on the board with Bryant Knigge hitting a shot with 6:50 to go in the quarter l...
The Potter-Dix Coyotes were able to come out with a win in their match against the Banner County Wildcats January 25. The win comes off the heels of another loss to their rivals, the Leyton Warriors. “I feel pretty good. This was a good win,” Potter Dix player Taylor Juelfs said. The Coyotes pulled away from the Wildcats early in the first quarter with a seven point run before the Wildcats were able to get on the board with Amanda Harrison hitting a shot off a pass from Haleigh White with 2:54 left to go in the quarter putting the score at 7-2....
Mad Dog’s, the erstwhile downtown sports bar, re-opened its doors January 7, under the ownership of Bob Hinton, who also runs the Kimball Bakery. The establishment kicked off its new run participating in a pool tournament between the downtown bars January 12. Hinton says that the atmosphere has changed since the previous ownership. “You go in there and there’s a football game in there now,” Hinton said. Under his ownership of Mad Dog’s, Hinton plans on offering specials throughout the year. The first will fall on Super Bowl Sunday, and there...
Kimball Public Schools will be holding a public forum January 30 at 7:00 p.m. in the Kimball High School Auditorium on the subject of the potential closing of West Elementary School. The purpose of the forum is to hear public comments and explain the benefits and reasoning behind consideration of the closure, according to Kimball Superintended of Schools Troy Unzicker. “We’ll present plans on what we would do if the board was to close West Elementary, and what we feel are the pros and cons of closing the building. We’ll try to boil down what... Full story
The City Council approved a request by the local police department to add reserve officers to their roster at their meeting January 15. According to Police Captain Darren Huff, the reserve officers would be used as a support to active officers in the department in times of need. “They would be used specifically for Farmer’s Day parades and things like that where we have a limited staff on hand. They would provide us with a little more coverage,” Huff said. As the reserve officers would not be fully active, fully certified and only worki...
The Kimball Junior High School is currently trying out a new program to help out junior high students with their studies throughout the third quarter of the school year. The Extended Learning Time program was brought to the attention of the school by Kimball junior high teacher Carolyn Montgomery. “I actually got the idea from Sterling Junior High School. I found it when there were concerns that students were struggling. I just brought the program to the attention of the principal and our teachers,” Montgomery said. According to Mon...
A former resident of Kimball, Debra Kolste, was sworn in to the 101st legislative session of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 44th Assembly District Monday, January 7, 2013. Kolste has been assigned to the committees of Health, Transportation, Workforce Development and Small Business Development. Though Kolste, the former Debra Babl, has not been back to Kimball for about 15 years, she still keeps in touch with old classmates and still has fond memories of her time here. “I loved Kimball. I worked at the hospital there. It was amazing. I...
The Coyotes calmed the Creek Valley Storm, taking third place in the MAC Tournament in Sidney January 19. “It was a great win. We played about as best as we had all year. After that loss on Thursday, it felt good to come out and get a win,” Potter-Dix’s Jake Johnson, who scored 8 points for the Coyotes, said. Potter-Dix took the lead in the first half with Bryant Knigge hitting two 3 pointers near the end of the first quarter putting the Coyotes ahead 14-12. These were just two of the five...
The Potter-Dix Coyotes took third place in the MAC Tournament Saturday, January 19, with a win over the Garden County Eagles. “We didn’t want to feel the same as Thursday night. We knew we had to pick it up,” Potter-Dix’s Morgan Wolff said. The game started rough for the Coyotes with Garden County pulling away in the first quarter by nine leaving the score at 11-2. The Coyotes came out swinging in the 2nd quarter with Taylor Juelfs scoring off of a pass by Conner Wolff in their first play out of the gate. Potter Dix kept chipping away at the La...
Debate over a nuisance abatement property at 4152 E. Front Street turned slightly aggressive at the City Council meeting the night of January 15th. Kimball Chief of Police Mark Simpson reported his findings to the council which last discussed the property July 18, 2012. “In my opinion, very little has been done in this property. You instructed these folks to stay in contact with me and tell me what they’re progress is. There has been no movement in that property whatsoever,” Simpson said. Sallie Behnke, one of the residents of the prope... Full story
Kimball Police Chief Simpson addressed the Board of Education about a proposal of a School Resource Officer for Kimball Public Schools at their meeting January 14. “What a School Resource Officer does for you is that it brings an officer to the school. We dress in regular clothes. We get to know the kids, and we get to know their situations,” Simpson said. According to Simpson, the job of a School Resource Officer is to serve as a support to students when they struggle with issues that may leave them feeling backed into a corner on their own...
Economic Development Director Larissa Binod gave a brief update on the rail spur project to the Community Development Agency at their meeting January 15. “I have worked with our new engineering firm CRS and a representative from Union Pacific on a new site plan. Those preliminary engineering plans are all ready to be submitted to Union Pacific Railroad’s system, but there are still a few things we need to decide internally,” Binod said. According to Binod, part of the new plan is increasing the size of the site of the industry park from 67 ac...
Maria Murnahan was sentenced to three years probation for one count of burglary, a class 3 felony, by Judge Derek C. Weimer Thursday, January 10. Murnahan’s attorney, Audrey Elliott, cited to Judge Weimer that Murnahan had had no other contact with law enforcement since the incident that took place May 16 and that she believed her client was a fit candidate for probation. According to Elliott, the crime occurred because of money concerns that Murnanhan had at the time, stating that it was purely an issue of taking money at the time with no v...
The newly founded Oral History Committee of Kimball is looking to revive the discontinued Prairie Rhythms Oral History Project that was started in the early 1990s under the new name of the Prairie Tales Oral History Project. “Several people were talking about getting this going again, and the Visitor’s Committee wants to do some of these things for tours. So amongst all the people, we decided to try to get it going again,” Jan Sears, Director of the Kimball Public Library, said. The committee consists of different members from various group...
The Kimball County Board Commissioners approved a request by Kimball County Ambulance Director Carla Goranson to join the National Emergency Medical Services Association (NEMSA). The request came from a need for coverage by EMTs as they work in the field, and a policy that would cover them if they should get injured, according to Goranson. “The main thing that I like is the insurance policy which covers accidental death, accidental dismemberment. Should we be injured while working as an EMT, we would have a $10,000 insurance policy for each m...
The Banner County Wildcats were able to walk away with their first win of the season in their game against the Minatare Indians Saturday, January 12. “It’s such a relief,” Haleigh White of the Wildcats said of the win which comes on the heels of nine consecutive losses. The Wildcats took the lead early in the game cutting the Minatare press with a succession of passes leading to a layup by Haleigh White putting the Wildcats on the board 2-0 with 6:21 to go in the first quarter. The Wildcats held the lead through the first half pulling away...