Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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An increase in high speed internet access is key to Nebraska’s future, according Gerald Vap of the Nebraska Public Service Commission. Vap, the NPSC’s fifth district commissioner, toured the panhandle recently to promote the commission’s use of the universal service fund for the broadband pilot program. Over the last three years, about three-fourths of Kimball County and more than a third of Banner County have been impacted by the program. “If we’re not providing high speed internet to customers, they’re not going to be customers in the futu...
Potter-Dix had some strong showings against mostly larger schools Saturday at the E. Lee Todd Invitational held at Grant. The Lady Coyotes finished sixth and the Coyotes took seventh in the nine-team field. Ogallala won both the boys and girls events. "I was pleased with the way the girls and boys competed against the larger schools," Potter-Dix coach Bob Hilpert said. "We had a few ineligibles that hurt us, and Regyn Hicks sprained her ankle Friday night at practice and she was only able to...
Randy Roscoe is on a mission. The El Paso, Texas, resident is riding his bicycle across the country to bring awareness to the Wounded Warrior Project. He has ridden more than 12,000 miles in the last two years, going from California to Florida and many states in between. Roscoe made his way through Kimball County Monday afternoon after starting the day in Stoneham, Colo. "I'm not a veteran, but it's my way of saying thank you to all veterans, especially Vietnam veterans," he said. "I grew up...
The Potter-Dix boys 4x800 meter relay team broke the Class D meet record at the Bayard meet held last Thursday. The team of Jake Johnson, Samuel Bogert, Cameron Purcell and Cooper Hicks won the event with a time of 8:40.92. The old record of 8:49.6 was set by Southeast (Wyoming) in 2000. The Coyotes also came close to beating the overall meet record in the event, which is 8:40.8. "The boys 4x800 relay team themselves have set the bar very high this year, in that they want to return to state and...
After they called her name, the emotion was overwhelming for Rebekah Hutchinson last Friday. "I almost cried. I was shaking so bad. I couldn't stop shaking and I felt like I was going to cry," she said. "This is the first year I've even made it to finals, let alone, win. It was completely unexpected." The Potter-Dix senior won the poetry interpretation category at the state speech meet held late last week in Kearney. Potter-Dix also tied for second as a team in the two-day event. Individuals...
The Potter-Dix track teams opened up the season strong as the girls finished second and the boys took fourth place at the Kimball Invite held Saturday. "I was pleased with the performances of both the girls and boys teams, and pleasantly surprised with the high finish of the girls team," Potter-Dix track coach Bob Hilpert said. "Athletes on both the girls and boys teams realized that there were some points left on the track, and there were some missed opportunities if they might have extended...
The Banner County track team kicked off the 2015 Saturday with some strong performances at the Kimball Invite. "Saturday's meet went well," Banner coach Kari Gifford said. "It was good to see our seniors start out with some good performances. The newcomers performed at about where we thought they might for the first meet of the season. "Regardless of how they performed, we have a mark to improve on, so that will be our goal for this week - improvement on last week's performances." Leading the...
Medicine and giving a helping hand came naturally for Jonna Beyer. The Donnelly, Minn., native was just 5 or 6 years old when she was pouring hydrogen peroxide on her father's hands after he came home from work in the autobody field. Beyer recently joined the staff at Kimball Health Services as a certified physicians assistant. "He used to come home with cuts all over his fingers, and I used to pour hydrogen peroxide on them," she said. "There was something about just helping and healing a perso...
The Banner County track team returns some experience on the boys side but has little varsity experience on the girls side as the 2015 season begins. Banner begins the season with 14 competitors - seven boys and seven girls. "Our numbers are down a little bit, but I think we've got a good, solid group of kids to work with," Banner track coach Kari Gifford said. Although the Wildcats are down in numbers, Gifford is pleased with what she has seen from her team to this point. "So far, the kids have...
Potter-Dix has plenty of experience to begin the 2015 track season. The Coyotes track team returns four boys and three girls who competed at state a year ago, and the girls also gained a transfer with state experience. Potter-Dix coach Bob Hilpert looks for that talent and experience to help make up for a lack of numbers. There are 15 on the boys team and 13 on the girls team. "We don't have a lot of numbers, we don't have a lot of depth, but we do have some people that are going to score some...
The Lone Ranger golfs again. For the second straight year, Austin Lewis will be the lone member of the Potter-Dix boys golf squad. Lewis, a junior, is in his third year golfing for the Coyotes. Coach Kevin Thomas said one goal for this year is helping Lewis to shoot under 100, and hopes to see him improve in each area of the game. "There's room for improvement everywhere, across the board," Thomas said. "Hopefully I can get him where he can shoot under 100. He's gotten better since he was a...
Kimball County Sheriff Harry Gillway said the biggest problem with marijuana is that it is a segue drug, and he knows first-hand the sorrows that can come from its use. Gillway’s nephew used marijuana and eventually tried methamphetamines. He died from a methamphetamine overdose. “My older half brother, he grew up in the ‘60s, the late ‘60s, the countercultural revolution, and he smoked marijuana. He tried LSD, he used speed,” Gillway said. “And he grew up, and he was older, he was married, had children. He told his children that marijuana i...
The Kimball County Commissioners unanimously approved an increase in fees for the county's ambulance service at Tuesday's regularly scheduled meeting. Carla Goranson, county ambulance director, said the increase was needed to cover the cost of operating the service. She said the cost of an average call to the ambulance service is $938.20. However, Medicare only reimburses the service $260 per call, leaving the county to lose money if paid for through that program. Goranson said 58 percent of...
Skip Bierman has seen a lot of bowling alleys in his days. The 32-year old Omaha native has visited 825 across the U.S. and Canada, and has bowled in every state except Hawaii. Bierman's latest stop was the duckpin bowling alley in Potter, which means he has now bowled at every bowling alley in Nebraska. "It's been a lot of fun," he said after bowling a couple games Friday night in Potter. "Wherever we travel, at least the bowling shoes always come with, because it saves us on having to rent...
Kimball residents will soon see an increase in electric rates. The Kimball Board of Public Works unanimously passed a 13 percent hike in electric rates at its meeting last Thursday. The rate increase will go into effect April 1. Daniel Ortiz, city administrator, said the changes were necessary due to the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) restructuring its rate system. The system has been unchanged in over a decade. “Much has changed with the wholesale electricity market and regulations at the federal level have altered how wholesale e...
The Kimball County Commissioners on Tuesday approved the purchase of a new shuttle bus for the county. Under the agreement, the county will pay just over $10,000 and the federal government will pay more than $41,000 for the bus. Erika Loy, county shuttle coordinator, said the commissioners budgeted $15,000 for a new bus in the current year’s budget, so no additional funds are needed. The new bus is expected to be in place by July. Loy said the current bus needs minor repairs at this point, including work on the lift, new tires and a new U...
The Kimball Banner County Chamber of Commerce will focus more on its membership in 2015. “One of my main things that I want to focus on is the membership, and how the board and how the director can provide you with more value to your membership,” current chamber president Josh Enevoldsen told members Monday night at the annual chamber banquet. “We want it to be if someone new to town comes up to you and asks, ‘Why do you belong to the chamber?,’ we want to just be able to rattle off they do this and this and this for us and we wouldn’t...
Wilma Lockwood-Sigette has fond memories of the old Bushnell Bar building. Wilma's mother, Virginia Haywood, operated a cafe there many years before it was a bar. Now the building is gone. The old Bushnell Bar and the old warehouse building next to it were torn down Saturday, after the Village of Bushnell deemed them unsafe. They have been unoccupied for at least a couple decades. Wilma, who will turn 86 in July, moved to Bushnell from Pennsylvania with her family when she was a baby. She has li...
Bears and bulls are popular animals among fifth grade students at Mary Lynch Elementary School in Kimball. The animals, which also double as stock market terms for bad and good markets, are just some of the things the students learn as part of the stock market competition sponsored by the Nebraska Economics Council. The school is in its fifth year in the competition, and has done quite well. Mary Lynch teams have received 15 first, second or third place trophies in their first four years in the...
The Kimbots are headed to state. The Kimball Robotics Club, also known as the Kimbots, will compete in the First Lego League State Championships Saturday at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland. They are one of 45 teams throughout the state to qualify, and did so at a meet earlier this year in Sidney. In just the program's second year, the seven-member group scored enough points in four categories to beat 16 other teams and qualify for state. The top two teams in the 4-H sponsored meet...
POTTER - Potter-Dix went downtown to hold off Banner County on Friday night. The Coyotes (6-13) hit seven three-pointers, including four in the third quarter, to take a hard-fought 54-48 win over the Wildcats (5-12). Coby Hicks started the first quarter scoring for Potter-Dix, and Banner's Roby Fonseca answered with a trey from the top of the key. The Coyotes' Kelsey Rozelle came back with a three-pointer to give P-D a 5-3 lead at the 5:14 mark of the first frame, a lead the home team would...
Potter-Dix jumped out to a big first quarter lead and went on to a 48-19 win against visiting Banner County on Friday in the regular season finale for both teams. The Lady Coyotes (15-4) opened sub-district play Tuesday with a 7 p.m. contest versus Sutherland at Ogallala, while the Lady Wildcats (3-16) took on Leyton Tuesday night at Sidney High School. Banner's MaKenna Dahlgrin scored the first point of the game, but it was all Potter-Dix after that. The Lady Coyotes ended the quarter with 17 s...
Preparations are underway for the Kimball High School All-Class Reunion. The twice a decade event will be held July 3-5, and include a cruise night, individual class get togethers, fireworks and more. Kim Baliman, head of the committee organizing the event, said tentative plans include a cruise night and individual class meetings on Friday, a luncheon, all-school band and choir concerts, fireworks, a dance and more on Saturday, and lunch in the park and additional concerts on Sunday. “People need to start planning now,” she said. “If you’r...
Cole Carey still is not sure who nominated him to be a youth delegate to the Washington Youth Summit on the Environment, but he is glad they did. Carey, a junior at Banner County High School, was one of 250 students selected nationwide to attend the summit June 28 through July 3 at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. While there, Carey will get to participate and observe various fieldwork of experts, attend seminars and even check out the sights in nearby Washington, D.C. “It’s pretty cool to get selected,” Carey said. “It seems like a pret...
Banner County sliced and diced its way to an early lead through its transition game, but a fourth quarter comeback by South Platte left the Lady Wildcats heartbroken in a 33-31 loss on Friday. Banner (2-14) led 29-19 with 6:38 left in the game when South Platte outscored the home team 14-2 for the comeback victory. The game was tied at 31-all with 3.3 seconds left when the Lady Blue Knights' Audrey Dickmander hit a pair of free throws that gave the visiting team the win. Banner got the ball with...