Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Sorted by date Results 1 - 17 of 17
The holiday season is coming to a close and the year's Santa's Helpers finale included a chili cook-off, cookie exchange and wreath auction with plenty of time for friends to gather and enjoy the festivities. The final event for the grassroots group was held on Sunday, Dec. 18 at the Eagles Club #3389 in Kimball. Dave Klinkhammer was awarded first place in the traditional chili cook-off and Steve Pinkerton took first in the non-traditional category with his pork green chili. An abundance of...
Will the upcoming changes to the current ambulance service and the money needed to accomplish this, be worth it for Kimball county residents? That is a question that has been on the minds of many Kimball residents in recent weeks. In the past, the Kimball Ambulance Service was a basic life support service. Carla Goranson took over the ambulance service in November 2011. Among the many changes made, upgrading the crew became a priority. Currently, the Kimball County Ambulance employs a staff of three drivers, eight EMRs, seven EMTs, one A-EMT...
Several weeks ago when I was arranging the Observer's Letters to Santa, the elf whom I'd been speaking with had to put me on hold while she found the contract to email me. As I was on hold, a sweet lady picked up and after a minute of confusion, I realized I was talking with Mrs. Claus. After my initial shock wore off and I was able to compose myself, I hurriedly asked if she would be willing to give me a short interview over the phone. The following is my once in a lifetime interview with the...
Representatives from the Kimball City Council, Board of Public Works and City of Kimball staff were present to interview two candidates for the City Administrator position left open when former administrator, Daniel Ortiz, resigned on Oct. 21. The two candidates, interviewed at the Kimball Event Center on Monday, Dec. 19, were narrowed down from a field of more than a dozen applications. While City of Kimball representatives were present, the interview was facilitated by Bill Podraza, a...
The Banner County Board of Education held a quick and efficient meeting, ending both the semester and the year. On Dec. 12, during their regular meeting, the board approved Lana Side’s superintendent’s contract, extending it through the end of 2019 and approving her 2017-18 salary of $103,000 plus an additional $270 per month for transportation supervisor duties. Congratulations went out to the One-Act play cast, crew and coaches Rebecca Lashmett and Brandi Tallmage for the amount of time and dedication that went into the production. Three stu...
Kimball students have become active members of the Kimball Prevention Coalition (KPC) and have focused on keeping themselves and others tobacco free. Several student leaders have taken the initiative to enforce tobacco-free public school properties by posting signs, making announcements at events, distributing printed material and using the school’s all-call system to remind patrons that “Kimball Public Schools are proud to be tobacco-free.” Three of these students spoke at the most recent Board of Education meeting, on Monday, Dec. 12. Junio...
The evolution of Christmas is a natural progression for millions across the world, and I find that I am no exception. Though Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, has the reason I enjoy this season progressed as I age or has it remained steadily always the same? When I was young, of course, it was the magic of Santa Claus’ annual visit. As a curious youngster I had so many questions! How did he know just what I wanted? How could he possibly monitor the behavior of all the children in the world? How did he travel to every home in every...
This time of year has always been incredibly magical for me. It’s not just Christmas that makes me feel this way, as it is also the month of my birthday, as well as, the month my first child was born. Even if you were to take away all of those momentous occasions, there is still something about this time of year that just mystifies me. It starts off with the ba-zillions of individual snowflakes falling from the sky, twinkling and glistening with their unique happiness despite the cold temperatures that accompany them. Who can be a grinch w...
A full room of attentive people shared lunch and learned more about the Kimball Area Foundation (KAF) and the Nebraska Community Foundation (NCF) at the Kimball Library on December 14. Several KAF board members and NFC representatives were on hand to share their passion and knowledge of helping Nebraskans take their dreams and turn them into reality. KAF is a local non-profit organization designed to help build community abundance, preventing small towns from disappearing by building up the leaders, skills and confidence of residents. Partnersh...
With unanimous approval on Monday, Dec. 12, from the Kimball Board of Education, the local district will repair the air handler that is housed in a small room off the band room at the junior/senior high school. Though the aged unit is currently functioning, the ongoing issue can only be repaired by rebuilding a shaft and bearings, which cannot be replaced with newer parts. Additionally, the pulleys will be replaced. “The shaft is no longer made, it will have to be custom-built,” Building and Grounds Director Gregg Fossand said. “It is just...
New Dimension, Kimball High School’s show choir, will once again have the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at a Denver Nuggets game in March. Because the group attended last year, and many expressed interest in doing so again, according to choir teacher and show choir coach, Jacob Hoffman, he budgeted much of the expense into his classroom budget. “The kids pay for their own tickets to the game,” band teacher and show choir coach Kristi-Hiles Smith said. “If the kids have money in their individual account, they can use that to help de...
Kimball FFA celebrated the 2016-17 Greenhand ceremony on Friday, Dec. 15 at the Harry E. McNees Auditorium and in the school's agriculture building. The ceremony is called the Greenhand Ceremony as it marks a member's first year with the leadership organization. These members get their greenhand pins and mark their year with a painted hand on the agriculture building wall along with their name. This year the following students received this award: Nicole Delaplane, Carli Wurdeman, Lane...
Though the Potter-Dix girls are still missing teammate Audrey Juelfs, and were also missing starting guard Payge Hoffman during the rivalry game against Leyton, they added another win to their season, bringing them to 3-2. According to coach Jeff Einspahr, the Lady Coyotes played very well against the Lady Warriors on Tuesday, Dec. 13. "We had to adjust to playing against a defense designed to take away one of our strengths, our inside presence of Alexus Rozelle and Trinity Langley," Einspahr...
The Potter-Dix Coyotes hosted their rival team, the Layton Warriors on Tuesday, Dec. 13 for a 62-32 loss. The Coyotes varsity team was outnumbered and outscored, but not for a lack of effort. Leading the Coyotes on the board was junior Connor Williams, who bucketed four out of five treys totaling 12 points. Dylan Nielsen hit one trey out of seven attempts and added three two-point field goals and two from the line, adding 11 to the board. Senior Tyrus Gawith added seven points and Michael Steele contributed two. The Potter-Dix boys struggled ag...
Thanks to Mother Nature, no school sports to report on this week. The terrible cold and nasty weather forced most all of the area schools to call off the scheduled activities although most will be re-scheduled for a later date. I do have a date for the Kimball-Hershey basketball games that were post-poned last Friday evening and will now be played on February 11, 2017. The Saturday night game with Bayard that was also called off has not been re-scheduled as of yet. Kimball also chose not to travel to Sidney on Saturday for wrestling, although...
