Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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Discussions continue in Washington, D.C., on the modernization of weapon systems for the United States. The Air Force Sentinel project is destined for F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne and bases in North Dakota and Montana. The Sentinel is the ICBM replacement package for the current outdated Minuteman III missiles, and the program is often discussed by Air Force officials and think tanks in Washington, D.C. The Sentinel is the land-based leg of the United States nuclear triad on air, land and sea. Recently, when the Sentinel project came...
Not many candidates have filed for open offices for Kimball County or the City of Kimball, County Clerk Cathy Sibal told the Observer. But as of early Tuesday, she said four individuals have filed for Kimball County commissioner on the Republican side. They are incumbent Carl Stander files and challengers Dave Hottell (former Kimball County highway superintendent), Matt Bright and Sarah Weisbrook. The winner of the primary election on May 14 will move forward to the general ballot. No Democrats have announced their intentions for the...
Officials from Kimball Health Services and Kimball County Commissioner Carl Stander met on Jan. 4 to make preparations for the transition of the old hospital building back to county control. Although the county always owned the property, a quit claim deed will "wipe the slate clean" and solidify the fact that Kimball Health Services has no interest or claim on the building, officials said. The hospital property was acquired on Dec. 29, 1948, for a sum of $1,200 from the Alfred Forsling estate....
Kimball City Council met for their January monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 16, and council President Don Muench conducted the meeting due to the absence of Mayor John Morrison. Others in attendance included Christy Warner and Gabe Ingram. City administrator Annette Brower was absent, as was Councilman Creg Pike. Council approved a $25,000 business grant for Patriot Carwash, LLC to be paid when the project is completed. In the big news at the meeting, the long awaited Road Safety Assessment...
Sidney police have obtained an arrest warrant for a Dix man, Nathan James Robinson. The 23-year-old is being sought for the assault of an 84-year-old Sidney female. The incident happened on Jan. 17 in Sidney. According to the Sidney Police Department, Robinson has yet to be apprehended as of Monday evening, but no other information was provided. Robinson's charges include three Class 2 felonies, which include robbery, theft/shoplifting, and abuse of a vulnerable adult. In addition to the...
The good news is that average gas prices in Nebraska this week are $2.74 a gallon for regular unleaded – 17.2 cents lower than a month ago and 51.5 cents lower than a year ago, according to gasbuddy.com The bad news is that avearage prices in Kimball on Tuesday were at $2.94, 20 cents above the state average. FVC was the lowest locally at about $2.88. Diesel was selling here at an avearge of $3.67....
Gen. Frank Kendall, secretary of the Air Force, spoke candidly in an online interview about the Sentinel missile project destined for Kimball, the tri-state area, Montana and North Dakota. Kendall’s words could be a cause for concern in the Kimball area. He spent about four minutes of the hour long interview voicing his own concerns about the Sentinel project. The interview was hosted by a Washington, D.C., think tank, the Center for New American Security, on November 13, 2023, and is available on YouTube. Dr. Staci Pettyjohn, senior fellow a...
Three Kimball residents remained in jail as of Tuesday after the Kimball County Sheriff’s Office conducted a bond search at 713 Oak St. Bond conditions set by the judge required the individuals to submit to a search of person, property, any vehicles owned, any vehicles located in, and residence upon request of law enforcement. In addition, the defendants shall submit to testing of blood, breath or urine for presence of alcohol or drugs upon the request of law enforcement. On Friday morning, Jan. 12, the sheriff’s office conducted a bond search...
The deep freeze that put Kimball on ice last weekend and early this week with temperatures way below zero is giving way to milder, yet still wintery, temperatures. Highs and lows this weekend are forecast to be 18 and 8 degrees on Friday, 31 and 20 on Saturday, and 42 and 24 on Sunday. Above is the minus-14 temperature reading at Points West Community Bank late last Saturday afternoon....
Roger Gillming, director of the local Salvation Army, said he was “very pleased” with how well the area did with the Christmas bell ringing campaign. This year was much better than the past few years. Gillming said they collected about $2,800 in the weekends prior to Christmas. Six different area churches provided the bell ringers. Gillming thought the pleasant weather before Christmas helped with donations. In addition to the local individuals who put money in the Salvation Army pot, the Bushnell Lions Club and the Kimball Ministerial Ass...
The blizzard started Sunday, January 2, 1949. The morning was a cold chilly morning. By Sunday night the blizzard was raging in full force. On Monday morning the temperature had dropped to five below zero and had stayed there all day, On Monday, January 3, the wind was raging up to 60 miles an hour, blowing snow into tremendous drifts. The snow was so heavy that you could only see up to ten yards in town and a few feet in the country. About 11 p. m. on Tuesday, the storm was beginning to...
Patients from Cheyenne and Kimball were the last surgery patients at Kimball's old hospital on Friday, marking the end of an era at the 73-year-old facility and a new beginning at Kimball's new hospital next month. Bob Mason of Cheyenne and Larry Snyder of Kimball underwent procedures on the last day surgeries were performed in the hospital's old operating room. Mason, a Cheyenne firefighter and patient of KHS plastic and hand surgeon Dr. Bill Wyatt, underwent an amputation revision procedure...
Discussion and action items consumed a majority of the meeting time at the Tuesday, January 16, Kimball County Commissioner meeting. At the last meeting, the commissioner decided not to reappoint Steve Warner, buildings and grounds superintendent, but no action was taken on his termination. The non-appointment turned out to be a gray area and so the termination of Warner was on the agenda. Commissioner Carl Stander stated that Warner has worked for the county for 7-8 years and has built and repaired a number of projects, including most...
When the Kimball School Board voted to approve the negotiated two-year agreement with the Kimball Education Association for the 2004-25 and 2025-26 school years, it cinched the four-day week school year. The deal included a 162-day contract with a $1,000 base increase for both school years and a retention bonus. The agreement was approved in a 5-0 vote, with board member and former athletic director Ken Smith abstaining with conflict. After the approval of the 162-day contract, the board...
Kimball County Court has increased its traffic and criminal caseloads significantly from 2022 to 2023. Traffic cases from 2022 to 2023 rose from 645 in 2022 to 941 in 2023, a 32% increase. Agencies responsible for the traffic cases are the Nebraska State Patrol, the Kimball Police Department and the Kimball County Sheriff’s Office. County Attorney Dave Wilson explained reasons for the increase in cases. Wilson said that the Nebraska State Patrol does a concentrated patrol on certain areas, and in the Kimball area the patrol focuses on I-80. T...
Kimball County Buildings and Ground Superintendent Steve Warner was stripped of his appointment at the first meeting of the year by the Kimball County commissioners. The appointment never came to a vote because when Commissioner Carl Stander made the motion to reappoint Warner, the motion died for lack of a second. This all occurred shortly before the vote when three commissioners, attorney Matthew Turman, County Clerk Cathy Sibal and Warner had an executive closed meeting. Even with the vote to not reappoint Warner as superintendent of...
Kimball Post Office carrier Johnny Martinez, who tranferred here from Sterling, Colo., has some bitter cold work days coming up. This winter has been relatively mild, but its coldest snap so far is forecast to hit in force on Thrusday, Jan. 11, with a string of days with low temperatures plunging into minus degrees. See the Main Street Market forecast below. The City of Kimball advises water customers to keep a small stream of water running from faucets to keep pipes from freezing and breaking...
The Kimball County campaign season is underway at this early date for the May 14 primary. Challenger David R. Hottell (not the sheriff) and incumbent Carl Stander are off and running. They already have filed as Republicans in the election for a seat on the county Board of Commissioners. No other candidate filings were received at the county courthouse as of Monday, but a good many area positions are up for election in 2024. The Kimball County Clerk’s Office provided this list of those positions, the incumbents and term lengths: • Kimball Cou...
Good morning! Baby it’s cold outside, acting like it is January! Here is hoping that all is well with you and that you have your hat and gloves on if you must be outside! This week starts out with our kids having a regular day of school tomorrow, Friday, January 12th. However, there are still sports as the girls and boys varsity teams are off to play basketball at South Platte. The Lady Cats play at 5 p.m. and the Wildcats play at 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, over in the valley, there will be a PFR Insight meeting at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Scottsb...
Jeffrey J. Morgart, 56 of Kimball, died at his home in Kimball on January 2, 2024. Cremation has been held and memorial services will be at 2:00 p.m. in the Kimball Cemetery on Friday, January 12, 2024. Friends may visit www.cantrellfh.com to view Jeff's tribute wall to leave condolences and stories for the family. Memorials may be given to the family. The services for Jeff have been entrusted to the Cantrell Funeral Home. Jeffrey Morgart was born in Sidney, Nebraska on July 17, 1967, the son...
After two long days and nights of working wrecks on the interstate during the Christmas blizzard, Kimball County Sheriff Dave Hottell said he anticipated having a nice, quiet day at home on Wednesday. The relaxing day off did not happen. A county court arrest warrant for nonpayment of a fine would trigger a search warrant and eventually the arrest of a total of seven individuals for felony meth possession. Wednesday began by serving an arrest warrant for fines unpaid from the County Court of...
Josh Holz is moving in a positive direction as the New Year begins. "You have to look forward," he said. "There is no sense in looking backward." These wise words from 33-year-old Josh Holz ring true as he begins 2024 using his first prosthetic hand. Daily, ordinary things have been difficult, but with his new prosthetic, he can hold and grip things. Josh said it is "easier to hold the plate and cut my steak" and "easier to butter toast." His first prosthetic "is a very simple one that uses a...
Contractors are putting the finishing touches on Kimball's new hospital, with a planned completion date of Jan. 12 and a projected opening of Feb. 5. Those dates are pending inspections by several entities and are certainly not "set in stone" according to Troy Kurz, Director of Facilities at KHS and project manager for the $43 million new construction project. Kurz said final inspections by the state fire marshal and state electrical inspector are complete and final reports are expected within...
Pastor Roger Gillming and Kathy Welfl, volunteer leaders with Operation Christmas Child in the Nebraska Panhandle, expressed gratitude to all who helped “this amazing ministry” grow significantly in the region this past Christmas season. Gillming and Welfl said 572 more shoeboxes were filled this year than last year thanks to assistance in the goodwill effort from volunteers, the Observer and other media. “With your help, 3,372 shoeboxes from the Panhandle were filled (with donations) and delivered to our central drop-off site in Allia...
If you're not out and about at 5:30 a.m. this time of year, this is what downtown Kimball looks like. A winter postcard. The city once again did a fine job stringing those lights across the business building roofs....