Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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The Kimball School Board began tackling a sensitive issue or, as board President Travis Cook put it, "a heavy topic" at its July 8 meeting – whether school employees should carry firearms. With state Sen. Brian Hardin in attendance, Hardin explained that the Unicameral passed legislation allowing school employees to carry a firearm, either concealed or open carry. The discussion addressed Board Policy 702.11 as it pertains to firearms in schools. The board, along with local law enforcement, d...
The Kimball City Council voted unanimously to add a second K-9 unit to the Kimball Police Department at the council meeting on Tuesday, July 2. The unit’s dog, a Belgian Malinois named Trudy, will cost $7,000, significantly less than the going rate of $25,000, Police Chief Jose Ruiz said. Trudy will be trained along with the city’s other police dog, Lucy, at Ragnar Defense in Casper, Wyoming. Trudy will be trained as a dual purpose dog, detecting narcotics and performing apprehension or bite work. A loan has been secured from a local bank to...
The Kimball City/County Park and Recreation Executive Board met on July 1 with one item to discuss – 200 new sprinklers for the Four Winds Golf Course. Chairman of the Park and Recreation Operating Board Henry Heeg and course Superintendent Jeremy Williams explained the problem. The current sprinklers are 25 years old and at the end of their life and still working, but parts are difficult or impossible to find for them. Last summer when the big water well went down, gravel and rocks were p...
Carla Gorenson and Greg Robinson know the impact and understand the legacy of Larsen's Jewelry Store and its 98-year history in Kimball. Carla and Greg are the great-grandchildren of store founder O.C. Larsen. They are emotional and reflective about the end of the 98-year-old business. This coming Christmas will be the first time in a long time that either Carla or Greg have been able to do much of anything as far as Christmas with their families. Greg said, "It will be difficult because they wi...
About 50 shoppers wait patiently for the doors to open last Thursday for the going out of business sale at Larsen's Jewelry Store in Kimball. Greg Robinson opened the doors at noon so the crowd could check out sale items. As Kimball resident Susie Abramson waited outside for the opening, she said, "We are so lucky to have had the store as long as we did. Congratulations on retirement." Below: Store owners Greg Robinson and Carla Gorenson take time during the busy sale week to pose for a photo...
Lt. Cmdr. Dr. Kali Autrey, a Kimball High School graduate, was presented with the Junior Pharmacist of the Year Award on June 26. Autrey serves as a pharmacotherapy subject matter expert and reimbursement lead at the Center for Disease Control Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. She graduated from Kimball High School in 2009 and attended the University of Wyoming, where she received her doctorate in pharmacy. She moved to Farmington, N.M., and joined the U.S. Public Health...
KCTS and the City of Kimball have joined forces to provide rides throughout town for the summer months. There are 10 bus stops that will be serviced on a 30-minute loop and five stops used on request. The stops run from 7 am to 5 pm. KCTS Administrator Christy Warner said, "We will still pick people up at their door if they have a situation that doesn't allow them to get to a stop, such as age or disability." Warner stressed that KCTS still does reservation rides in town before 7 a.m. and after...
Four Winds Golf Course pro Edward Tamsett has given 30 days notice of his resignation, the Observer learned Monday. Kimball Park and Recreation Board Chairman Henry Heeg on Monday confirmed that Tamsett resigned. Tamsett, a professional golfer in his native Australia before arriving at the Kimball golf course, was in the second year of his contract with the Park and Rec Board....
After two public hearings, the Kimball City Council voted to approve and adopt the new zoning ordinance and the new comprehensive plan at the June 18 meeting. John Shepherd from Marvin Planning said they had been working with the City of Kimball and the planning commission for over a year, updating the comprehensive plan and zoning regulations. Marvin Planning held a town hall meeting, conducted surveys and got people’s opinions to develop the plans. According to Shepherd, the comprehensive plan is the strategic plan for the city, and it is the...
The grand finale is nearing for a Kimball institution, Larsen's Jewelry, after 98 years of business that defied the fate of closing at an earlier age that so many neighboring businesses experienced over the years. A going out of business sale with deep discounts is planned from today, June 27, through Sunday, June 30, for the iconic store that has been true to its name as a jewel of downtown Kimball's Chestnut Street since 1926. It has been a family operation from when O.C. Larsen opened up...
What did you do for the Fourth of July? Family picnic, swimming, baseball, horse racing, horseshoe throwing? In Kimball, there are many things folks have done – and still do – to enjoy this nice day. It was not unusual for the homesteaders to pack up their wagons with food, games and other things that were to be enjoyed. The day usually started with a parade, with people enjoying seeing different things. They had a chance to visit with the people in the area, catching up on all the happenings of...
Two bids were accepted by the Kimball City Council on June 18 for a chip seal project and concrete repair projects. Areas affected include the site of the new Clean Harbors apartments. The chip seal project includes parts of High School, Marion and Cedar streets, while the concrete repair projects include the 7th and Vista intersection, 6th Street pavement repair near Chestnut, and Evergreen pavement repairs near 8th Street. Timing was perfect for the 7th and Vista intersection project because the sewer and water lines for the Clean Harbor...
Mary Lynch Elementary School recently upgraded its playground equipment to replace old equipment that had deteriorated, especially the slides and swings. The purchase of the equipment from Creative Sites LLC was approved by the Kimball School Board in October and includes a zip line, climbing structure, a spinning comet, and a large play structure with slides and climbing apparatus. Included in the installation cost of the new equipment was removal of the old equipment. Superintendent Trevor...
Karen Hewitt achieved her dream when she opened Karen’s Kitchen in September 2019, but her husband’s health motivated her to sell her restaurant and take care of him. “I was not ready to give it up, but, you know, I have to,” she said. Now the business is sold. The new owners, all family members from Colorado, will begin making some changes as soon as this week, she said. Reflecting on her time at the restaurant, Karen said, “I loved my time here, I loved all my people, I loved all my customers. The main reason I opened the restauran...
On Friday, June 21, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission met in Ogallala and agreed to approve the staff recommendations for a 2025 mountain lion hunting season. The commission endorsed a first time hunting season in the Wildcat Hills. The commissioner created the Wildcat Hills Unit joining the existing Pine Ridge Unit and Niobrara Unit. The Wildcat Hills Unit will include parts of Scotts Bluff, Morrill, Cheyenne, Garden, Kimball and Banner counties. An additional change was the Niobrara Unit...
A garage sale is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 29, at 807 S. Washington St. in Kimball. The wide variety of items includes a Blackstone Grill. corn hold boards, a snowplow for a Craftsman mower and more....
While a world-wide pandemic raged in 2020, towns, cities and countries were shut down and borders were closed. Yet a simple comment on a Facebook photography group from a young woman in Argentina – "I'm bored" – would eventually lead to a connection across continents, an online marriage and her eventual relocation from Argentina to a rural Nebraska community. It was July 2020 and Argentina was experiencing its longest pandemic shutdown, 10 months. At 1 in the morning, Daiana Congett was sim...
The appraisal for the former Kimball Health Services hospital building was accepted at the June 18 county commissioners meeting. Brandt Appraisal Co. determined that the former hospital building and parking lot adjacent to the property should be appraised at $395,000. The commissioners held a public hearing to allow comments from any interested parties to speak for or against the sale of the former hospital at 505 South Burg St. Sheriff Dave Hottell talked about the possibility of the county keeping the generator that is located at the former...
For the next week, the first National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in 83 years will travel through Nebraska on the way to meet up with three other pilgrimage routes in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress. The St. Junipero Serra Route, which passed through Kimball and St. Joseph's Catholic Church last week, began in San Francisco on Pentecost Sunday. When those on the journey reach Indianapolis, they will have traveled for 60 days spreading the word of the Eucharist. The route from the...
In 1966 and 1967, Australian foreign exchange student Ewan Vickery called Kimball his home, and it appears that after almost 60 years Kimball is still very much home to Ewan. "The people were lovely, and the town was just a fantastic place," he recalled. "I was a novelty in the town." Ewan made quite an impression on Kimball and vice versa. During his visit last week, he estimated that this was his 12th or 13th return trip to Kimball to see friends and attend many class reunions. On Friday,...
A construction bid from Anderson-Shaw Construction totaling $473,569 for two sewer extension projects on Nadine Street (a duplex) and 7th Street (Clean Harbors apartments) was denied by the City Council due to concerns about the cost at the June 4 Kimball City Council meeting. Olson Engineering, the city’s engineering firm, recommended that the council deny the bid for the sewer extensions. It was decided that the City of Kimball could handle the project internally at a much lower cost. Estimates of the costs for doing it internally were e...
Kimball’s first-year agricultural education teacher’s resignation letter was accepted at the June 10 Kimball School Board meeting. After accepting Emily Sowards’s resignation, the following action item was the approval of Monica Jenson’s contract as the agricultural education teacher for the 2024-25 school year. Jenson, formerly Monica Wasielewski, is a Kimball Public Schools graduate. With finances always a concern, it was noted that they saw an increase in receipts from the courthouse, SPED money and state aid that helped the June budget...
After visiting St. Joseph Catholic Church in Kimball on Wednesday this week, the National Eucharistic Procession planned to travel through Nebraska. On Thursday, June 13, the procession will stop in Sidney at St. Patrick’s Church for Mass at 10 a.m. From Sidney, they will stop in Colton, then Ogallala, and move on to North Platte. As part of the procession’s western route, the pilgrimage stopped at St. Joseph’s Church in Kimball from 6-7 p.m. June 12 for a procession followed by a potluck supper. The journey began on May 17 and will end July...
The imminent resignation of long-time Kimball County Attorney Dave Wilson surprised many June 4 at the regular county commissioners meeting. His resignation will become effective July 31. Wilson has served as Kimball County attorney for 37½ years – and according to one of his sons’ calculations, Wilson has served as county attorney for 27% of the time that the county has existed. Wilson said he would like to slow down and move closer to family, and “that it had been an honor to serve.” He said has met a lot of great people. He advised the commi...
Officials at the Kimball city-county joint meeting Tuesday voted to move forward with plans to form a committee to study and research countywide economic development. The discussion focused on learning from Keith and Dawes counties. The future of the Windbreak restaurant property at Four Winds Golf Course was the other item up for discussion. No decision was made whether to purchase the Windbreak for use as a golf pro shop, as has been discussed as a possibility, but a committee was formed to investigate purchasing the property. Mayor John...