Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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Hyannis rallied late to upend Potter-Dix in the District D2-6 finals on Friday by a 44-39 score. The Lady Coyotes led for much of the game, but foul trouble hurt them down the stretch. Three Potter-Dix players fouled out in the final six and a half minutes of the game. A pair of Hyannis players also fouled out, but one of those came in the final minute after the game was in hand. Things went the Lady Coyotes' way early as they held a 9-7 lead after the first quarter. They opened the second...
Potter-Dix advanced to the championship game of the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament for the second consecutive year with a 53-38 win over Bayard on Thursday at the Sidney Middle School Gym. The top-seeded Lady Coyotes, last year's champions, will now face third-seeded Creek Valley in the tournament title game at 8 p.m. Saturday in the SMS Gym. Against Bayard, Potter-Dix (11-1) took control early en route to the win. The Lady Coyotes outscored the Lady Tigers (4-11) 26-13 in the first...
Cross-county rivals Potter-Dix and Leyton matched up Monday night, Jan. 18, for the second time in four days. The Warriors took the first stanza Friday night by a 54-41 score. The second verse, however, played out a bit different. Edward Barnes' trey with 2:43 left turned out to be the deciding note as the homestanding Coyotes avenged their earlier loss to the Warriors, 49-45, Monday night in the first round of the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament. The fourth-seeded Coyotes (5-6) move...
Sometimes it pays off to get a little WYNE. The Wyoming-Nebraska (WYNE) state line committee has helped Emergency Medical Services (EMS) groups on both sides of the state line and improved patient care since its inception over two years ago, according to Kimball County Ambulance Director Carla Goranson. The group formed at the urging of the Albin, Wyo., fire chief, in order to work through issues near the Nebraska-Wyoming border, Goranson said. The group has met monthly since it started, and its focus is how best to serve the patient – d...
The monthly movie at the Kimball Presbyterian Church will honor veterans a bit early. This Sunday’s 60-minute movie will tell the story of a Nebraska decorated veteran who served as a gunner in 58 missions during World War II. The Most Honorable Son: Ben Kuroki, is a Nebraska Educational Television production on the life of the Hershey native and will be shown at 3 p.m. at the church. Popcorn will be provided, and anyone who wants to bring soft drinks is encouraged to do so. Bev Atkins, who served on the NET Foundation board at the time the m...
Taxes and agriculture land valuations were the hot topic at last Thursday's annual meeting of the Kimball-Banner County Farm Bureau. Keynote speaker Jay Farris, director of grassroots programs at Nebraska Farm Bureau, said the organization thought there was a perfect storm that would bring change to lower property taxes and valuations through legislation, but instead ended up disappointed. "We thought we had that perfect storm scenario where we had a newly elected governor that heard property...
The Kimball County Commissioners appointed Austin Garner as the new veterans service officer at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting. Garner recently returned to Nebraska after spending time in the Army overseas, where he was a flight paramedic. He was discharged in July. Prior to his time in the Army, Garner served the LaVista Fire Department as a firefighter and paramedic. Since his return to Kimball, he recently joined the Kimball County Ambulance Service. Garner is also a graduate of the University of Nebraska. The new VSO said he o...
POTTER - Potter-Dix found three different ways to win Thursday night. The Lady Coyotes (12-2) won a nip and tuck battle in game one, roared back from a 7-1 deficit in game two and jumped out to the early lead in game three to sweep visiting Creek Valley 25-20, 25-19 and 25-16. Potter-Dix coach Sarah Dvorak said her team started a bit slow, but eventually got rolling by game three. "It took us two full sets to get where we needed to be," she said. "The third set was where we usually start out....
Kimball roared back from a 12-0 fourth quarter deficit to take a 13-12 advantage, but the lead did not last long as Bayard came back to defeat the Longhorns, 24-13, last Friday at Keith Staehr Field. Bayard (2-3) led 12-0 as Kimball began its last drive of the third quarter, with 4:21 on the clock. Quarterback Tyler Magninie gained three yards on the ground to start the drive, which received a blow when Dakota Flores was tossed for a loss of five yards on the very next play. Magninie found...
The Kimball County Veterans Service Committee is one step closer to recommending a candidate as the next veterans service officer after a meeting last Thursday. The committee had received two applications for the position as of the Sept. 8 deadline, before extending that deadline to Thursday to receive at least one more application. The committee meets again Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. in the county courthouse to formally interview at least three candidates. The committee will send a recommendation to the county commissioners, who will have the final...
The Kimball County Commissioners approved a lengthy set of specifications for the potential purchase of an ambulance at last week’s meeting. The specifications approved number more than 80 pages and may be viewed by contacting the county clerk’s office. The specifications are so long because of the amount of detail in them, according to county ambulance director Carla Goranson. “Of course these are down to the measurement of how many inches from here to this cabinet,” she said. “It tells you exactly where each flashing light is going to be, it...
Banner County fought down to the wire in all three games Thursday night against Guernsey-Sunrise. The Lady Wildcats had the lead or were tied in all three games before ultimately falling to the Lady Vikings by scores of 25-22, 28-26 and 25-22. "Close games like (Thursday) are always tough to lose. Both teams obviously fought hard in every set, point by point," Banner coach Bethany Cooper said. "Of course, I wish we had come away with the win, but I cannot be more proud of how far my girls have...
Injuries and lack of participation have ended the Banner County High School football season prematurely, and could put its future in doubt. Banner County activities director Kari Gifford confirmed Monday that the school canceled the remaining six games on its 2015 schedule. She said the school would see if the program could continue in the future. “We will reevaluate our numbers and our interest level to see if we can try again,” Gifford said. “Due to participation numbers and injuries, we were unable to continue this year.” Banner opened...
The property tax for Kimball County will see the slightest of increases in the current fiscal year. Property tax for land valued at $100,000 will go up 32 cents in a budget passed Tuesday by the county commissioners. The property tax request from the commissioners went up from $3,155,388 in 2014-15 to $3,373,150 in 2015-16. The property tax rate moved from 0.471095 last year to 0.471416 this year. Of the more than $3.3 million in county funds provided by taxpayers, over $814,000 of that goes to the county road fund. The remaining funds go into...
POTTER - Turnovers haunted Potter-Dix in a 52-34 loss Friday to Morrill. The Coyotes turned the ball over eight times, including six times in the second half, that led to their defeat in the 2015 season opener. They had five interceptions and three fumbles in the game. The Coyotes (0-1) are back in action Friday with a 7 p.m. home contest against Caliche (Colo.) The Buffaloes (1-1) opened the season with a 30-18 win against Soroco (Colo.), and fell 12-6 last week at Kiowa (Colo.). Friday night...
The Kimball County commissioners approved bylaw changes for the county visitors committee at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting. Prior to Tuesday, the bylaws required that two members of the seven-member visitors committee be involved in overnight lodging in the county. The changed added the phrase “if possible” in order to help the board get up to a full seven members. “We’re kind of hanging out there. We have not been able to come up with a full operating board in two years,” said Jo Caskey, county tourism director. The second change in t...
The Kimball County Commissioners inked an agreement with a local landowner for temporary use of a portion of his land while a road is repaired. The commissioners approved an agreement with Troy Carruthers to use a portion of his land surrounding County Road 49 south of Interstate 80 as a detour while the road is repaired. The heavy rains caused flooding on the road earlier this month and made a portion of it unpassable, said County Highway Superintendent Dave Hotell. The agreement was set for 90 days and could be renewed, if necessary. Hottell...
Everyone will likely get plenty of playing time for the Banner County football team in 2015. The Wildcats have just eight players on their six-man football team roster, although three return from last year's squad that finished the season with a 2-6 record. First-year head coach Brady Cross, who was an assistant on last year's team, said things are going well to this point as the Wildcats prepare to open the season at Maywood-Hayes Center on Sept. 4. "We're figuring out that we're out of shape....
First-year coach Bethany Cooper is optimistic about the upcoming volleyball season for Banner County. The Lady Wildcats have a young group even through they return nine players from last year's squad. "Things are going pretty well," Cooper said. "I've actually been pretty excited and impressed with the group I have this year. From our record last year, it definitely does not depict who we are this year as a team. It's a new group of girls, a new approach, a new attitude. As you can hear in the b...
The Kimball County Commissioners fired Veterans Service Officer Shaun Evertson Tuesday after an almost hour-long closed session with members of the county's veterans service committee. Evertson, who was invited to but did not attend the meeting with the commissioners and the VSC, was informed of his dismissal by VSC chairman Bob Abramson during an emergency meeting of the VSC at 4 p.m., Tuesday. When asked if he wanted to say anything or had anything to discuss, Evertson replied, "Nope." "As a...
Charles Jones is looking for a banner year in his new position, and is happy to be closer to home. The veteran educator officially started his job as principal at Banner County School on Aug. 3. "This is kind of like home for me and my family," Jones said. "We're originally from Pine Bluffs, Wyo. This is like home. We're really excited about being here and for the opportunity to be here." Jones comes to Banner County from Maywood, where he spent seven years as a teacher and coach. Prior to...
The Kimball County Commissioners discussed the possibility of moving its weed superintendent services to contract services at its Aug. 4 meeting. Dave Hottell, county highway and weed superintendent, said major changes need to be made in order to control weeds. “With the conditions of the last few years, I think it’s gotten out of control,” he said. “Unless we do something to make some changes, some place, next year is just going to be worse.” Hottell said about 50 to 60 inspections were made annually in the past. With re-inspections, that numb...
As Sam Fox criss-crossed the dirt roads leading to the Nebraska High Point, the 28-year old Rhode Island native said it looked like one giant party was ahead. It was. More than 40 people turned out to greet Fox as he reached the high point shortly after 5 p.m. Monday evening. Fox has been traveling across the country since early June to each state's high point as part of Tour de Fox, part of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, to raise both funds and awareness to help cure Parkinson's disease. The Ne...
The Kimball County Commissioners will evaluate Veterans Service Officer Shaun Evertson’s job performance at their Aug. 18 meeting. The commissioners unanimously voted to send a letter to Evertson and to members of the county veterans service committee to advise them that Evertson will undergo an employee evaluation at the meeting. The letter states the meeting is to “discuss job performance and recent actions of Shaun Evertson.” The letter will also request that Evertson be present for the meeting. The meeting will be held in closed sessi...