Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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One Tuesday, Sept. 13, Cub Scout Troop #31 recognized local scouts, their parents and leaders among other family members and friends, with an awards ceremony and dinner. The ceremony began with an enthusiastic, energetic skit performed by the scouts. Scouts acted out a camping trip in a forest, with bears and only one tent for protection from the bears. The youngsters performed the skit with the enthusiasm and energy befitting their age, to the delight of leaders, parents and friends. According...
Kimball leaders, focused on substance abuse prevention, met on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to devise a 3-5 year vision for prevention efforts in Kimball County. The group's most recent meeting saw 18 members of the community come together as the Kimball Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, an increase in numbers since the initiative first began in April, 2016. Volunteers include leaders from Kimball Public Schools, Kimball Police Department, as well as County Attorney Dave Wilson and Commissioner Daria A...
Previously a Kimball student, Mark Schnell recently coordinated the world's largest movement of F-35s to date – and loosely compared it to scheduling a trip to watch the Huskers play. Following his 2002 graduation from Kimball High School, Schnell, son of James and Julie Schnell, joined the United States Air Force through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Kansas State University, where he was attending college. "I initially entered the service through ROTC for two primary r...
Health conscious members of the Potter Cross-Fit club sought continued use of the Potter High School from board members during the Sept. 12 Board of Education meeting. Potter resident Amy Jones addressed the board requesting that the school be kept available for Cross-Fit training. She explained that she had seen it on the agenda, listed as item #H.6. that the school’s facility usage guidelines would be discussed and she wanted to be present, along with other residents who are active in the Cross-Fit Training program. “What is being rev...
The Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in the world, marijuana was sold in pharmacies and doctors prescribed heroin, women were not yet guaranteed the right to vote and the population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30 the year that Maxine James was born – 1916. This Saturday, Sept. 10, Maxine joins a select group of Kimball citizens, the centenarians, as she celebrates her 100th birthday. The public is invited to join Maxine's family in celebrating this incredible milestone at the Eagles from 2 t...
The community of Potter celebrated the 85th Annual Potter Days event last weekend - "It's All About the Bling" in the close knit and proud village. The event began on Friday with games, such as "hungry hippo" and the GlowRun, which doubled in attendance from previous years, according to event volunteer, Drew Enevoldsen. Friday evening ended with a large display of fireworks to add to the "bling" of the weekend's events, and the fireworks display was "off the hook," according to Enevoldsen. "We h...
With the 25th Anniversary of the program nearing, the local TeamMates chapter hosted a bowling party to kick off the new year last Saturday, Aug. 27. The group hopes to add 25 new mentors to the local chapter by the end of this school year to commemorate the anniversary, according to Stephanie Kitchens, who serves as the program coordinator, and the program is well on its way to realizing that goal. Currently there are 26 active matches in the Kimball mentoring program and as the program...
"My job is to look at policy," stated United States Senator Deb Fischer to a group of nearly 20 Kimball citizens at an informal get-together at the Java Blend on Monday of this week. "How does this (policy) affect people?" Fischer spoke about recent bills that she helped to pass, as well as some of her passions regarding the state and it's people and to answer questions from the public in attendance. Many vets struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) when they return from serving in...
What does a Chamber of Commerce do? Every chamber’s missions may vary, according to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, but they all tend to focus to some degree on five primary goals: building communities; promoting those communities; striving to ensure future prosperity; representing the unified voice of the employer community; and reducing transactional friction through well-functioning networks. Chambers have other features in common as well. Most are led by private-sector employers, self-funded, organized around boards/committees of v...
The Honorable Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court, Michael G. Heavican met with Kimball County officials at the Kimball County Courthouse on Tuesday, July 19 for refreshments and conversation during a short stop on the way to the Scotts Bluff County courthouse for a similar meet and greet. Heavican, a University of Nebraska – Lincoln graduate, began serving on the Nebraska Supreme Court in 2006. Before this, the Chief Justice served for five years as the U.S. Attorney for the district o...
Kimball County Zoning Administrator Sheila Newell questioned the validity of assessments made on several Kimball County properties when the Kimball County Board of Equalization heard tax valuation protests. A total of 18 protests were heard, many with multiple properties, beginning on Monday, July 11 through Wednesday, July 13, regarding agricultural, rural residential and single family properties. One such protest came from Klent Schnell, on Monday, July 11, regarding several properties owned and operated by his family’s company, WJD Ranch, C...
A love for books goes beyond a career for Kimball's newest librarian, as when she has a day off from the Kimball Public Library, Cadence Temple will wander around books stores "just to be around them." Temple and her husband, Richard, both grew up and graduated in Minden, La., located just a hop and a jump from Shreveport. Following graduation, the couple both attended LSU in Baton Rouge, where Temple studied English and Mass Communications. The couple chose Kimball for Richard's job...
Kimball students may not yet be ready for the beginning of the school year, but Kimball Public Schools is already preparing, having hired eight new teachers and a new school nurse with a great mix of familiar and new faces. The one non-teaching position open in the district was that of the school nurse which has been filled by Kimball native Emily Stull. Stull graduated from Kimball High in 2008 and from WNCC Scottsbluff with her Associates in Nursing in 2012. “I finished my Bachelors from Nursing in 2014, and am currently working on a M...
Waning interest in the local Veteran’s of Foreign War (VFW) Chapter has officials questioning whether it should remain open. Post 2243 Commander, Joe Hernandez, an 86 year old Korean War veteran, informed the Nebraska State VFW Quartermaster, John Lebsack, of attendance difficulties the local post faces. In addition to Lebsack, the letter was received by State Recruiter Larry Geralt who, like Lebsack, resides in Omaha. Although the Kimball roster lists 41 members, many of those do not attend meetings and functions regularly. Lebsack, Geralt a...
There’s a new sheriff in town, or rather, a new Certified Deputy Investigator. Anthony Osborn began working for the Kimball Sheriff’s Department in August of 2015. He attended the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center in Grand Island from March 28 through July 15. According to Osborn, his class is deemed one of the largest on record, with a beginning number of 63 students and 55 graduating officers. The class subjects included Criminal Law, Traffic, Constitution Law, Accident Investigations and Ethics, just to name a few. Osborn stated tha...
For eight years the Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure organization has gathered hundreds of people throughout the country in groups of volunteers who come to ride bikes together and help change lives together in a positive way – by building homes. These groups are made up of persons from different cities and states throughout the nation who are motivated to make a difference home by home along their journey. This group's journey began in Seattle, Wash., and will end in Washington, D.C. One such g...
Vandals spent some time in the early morning hours on Tuesday, July 5, spray painting vulgarity on public and personal property, according to Kimball Police Captain Andy Bremer. The villain(s) left their offensive artwork on the east side of the Kimball Public Swimming Pool's building, as well as on a personal vehicle located on South Burg Street. The "artwork" was promptly removed from the public pool building, according to Officer Bremer. Bremer added that he would like the community to come...
Drew Enevoldsen has a face nearly as familiar in Kimball as it is in his hometown of Potter, unless he is in full make-up, that is. Currently the Assistant Vice President of the Potter State Bank, Enevoldsen is the fourth generation to be involved in the family business – banking. His great-grandfather, Fred Enevoldsen, was a share holder in the Potter bank in the 1930s and in 1945 he bought out the other shareholders. Born and raised in Potter, Enevoldsen graduated in 2003 after being h...
Bemis Drug, owned and operated by Mike Bemis, is once again participating in the Nebraska Statewide Pharmaceutical Disposal Project, as it has since the inception of the project in 2012, according to pharmacist Jordan Autrey. According to a recent news release, the Nebraska Pharmacists Association was awarded a $280,000 grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for “Preventing Poisoning, Pollution and Prescription Drug Overdose for a Healthier Nebraska.” The project is one of the 118 projects receiving $18,799,900 in grant awards from the...
Updated overtime regulations are meant to make the rules easy enough for everyone to understand and the final rule, announced on May 18, aims to put more money in the pockets of middle class workers or give them more free time. These new rules will automatically extend overtime pay guards for more than four million American workers within the first year and positions that are currently exempt from overtime pay will be converted to non-exempt positions and become eligible for overtime pay. To what end? “This will have a negative impact on (...
“If you happen see the C.E.O. (John Mentgen) of Regional West,” Kimball County Commissioner, Daria Faden said during last week’s commissioners meeting, “you might ask him, why are you (RWMC) on diversion?” As a commissioner, Faden serves on the Region 1 board and voiced concern for some issues the county faces when Regional West Medical Center’s mental health facility is on diversion. She expressed further concern about the amount of time the facility spends on diversion. When a Kimball County Sheriff’s Office deputy or a Kimball Police Officer...
Editor's note: This new weekly feature, titled 'Where are they now?,' will serve as a weekly look at the current lives of former residents of the area who have moved on. From the halls of Kimball County High School to big band halls with the United States Air Force, former Kimball resident, Cristina Moore, granddaughter of Mary Moore of Kimball, has made quite the impression. Moore Urrutia was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force, on April 1, 2016 – her t...
Burglars and vandals have broken into at least two Kimball businesses this past week. "This is a very sensitive case and we are not at a point to comment in detail at this time," Kimball Chief of Police, Darren Huff said. "However, I can tell you there were two businesses that were burglarized either late Monday (June 20) or early Tuesday (June 21) morning. The Kimball Police Department is presently investigating leads and processing evidence to bring the individual(s) responsible to justice."...
Kimball County Assessor Sherry Winstrom again proposed a county-wide third-party reassessment of all Kimball County properties to the Board of Equalization on Tuesday, June 21. At a previous BOE meeting Winstrom noted that as she worked on the market depreciation for the new cost tables she found that the market depreciation was “off-the-wall with all of the homes that were in town.” Following the first request for the revaluation, and citing that she was under a deadline to complete the new cost tables for Kimball County, the board req...
Tiny houses are a trend sweeping the nation, according to thetinylife.com, this is a social movement where people choose to downsize the space they live in, often for the obvious long-term financial benefits, but also due to the freedom gained by diminished home-owner responsibilities. While the typical American home is approximately 2,600 square feet, tiny houses typically range between 100 and 400 square feet, according to the website. These tiny homes come in many designs and can be purchased in a kit. The Kimball Planning Commission met on...