Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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At approximately 3:15 p.m. Monday, Nebraska State Patrol troopers received a report of a single-vehicle crash approximately four miles west of Highway 71 on County Road 52 in Kimball County, troopers told the Observer on Tuesday. Upon arrival, troopers located a Ford Explorer on its roof. The driver of the vehicle, identified as Erin Dixon, 51, of Deer Trail, Colorado, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The woman is believed to have moved recently to Kimball County, a Dix resident told the Observer. The 16-year-old passenger was transported...
A few days after the July 4 holiday in 2021, Hometown Hardware in Kimball opened its doors and celebrated June as a "super" financial month. They had made it through COVID and were looking forward to the summer months. "We were never going to get rich," Marilyn Patterson said. "You just hope you can pay your wages and pay your bills. We always paid our bills." The building at 212 S. Chestnut has been a centerpiece of the downtown area for generations, but the future of Hometown Hardware and the...
On Monday evening, the Kimball School Board accepted the resignation of FFA Advisor/Ag Instructor Sally Wheeler. Wheeler had been with the Kimball Schools for nine years and accepted a position with the Pine Bluffs High School. Emily Sowards will replace her. Britni Toth took the oath of office as the newest Kimball School Board member. Board member Ken Smith was elected to the office of treasurer. Superintendent Trevor Anderson updated the board about ongoing projects, including repairs and...
In a few weeks, County Road 59 South, otherwise known as the Dix road, will receive two coats of chip seal. At the present time, the tubes or culverts have been installed, and there are about 3½ miles left to patch before the chip seal project begins. The badly needed repairs will help improve the life of the blacktop and hopefully repair potholes. Randy Bymer, road superintendent, said the packer price is set to increase for the chip seal project. In other news discussed at Tuesday’s Kimball County Commissioners meeting, Bymer said the Ro...
Kimball firefighters and their little buddies enjoy a ride atop a fire truck during Fourth of July festivities at Gotte Park. Nebraska State Patrol troopers also were on hand, along with local families. At Kimball Swimming Pool, this year's party surpassed last year's in awards for kids and adults....
Eileen M. Dudney's yard, home and retaining wall at 501 S. Washington received Yard of the Week. For some time, Eileen wanted to do something to her retaining wall. She considered a religious painting but settled on a Huskers theme. Carlos De La Cruz from Scottsbluff did the artwork for Eileen. In her younger days, Eileen had more than 135 varieties of flowers throughout her flower beds, but at 93 years old Eileen has given up on the flower beds....
Kimball Mary Lynch third grader Able Kuhns, 9, has been playing pool for more than half his life, and his experience is showing. The left-hander began playing when he could just sit on the table and hold the shaft of the cue, but more recently Able has entered the competitive ranks. With tons of tournaments already under his cue, Able is off to play in the VNEA Junior National Championships in Sioux City, Neb., and will compete against 45 pool players in the youth division. The tournament is Jul...
Speculation on the location of the Northrup Grumman Work-Force-Hub site continues in the Kimball community. Northrup Grumman has yet to release the location, but representative Matt Dillow detailed a timeline at a June 28 community meeting in Kimball and gave an update on the Sentinel missile project. The Hub, much like a man camp, is expected to be operational in 2025. The Hub will be preceded by a preliminary camp known as the “Pioneer Camp.” Those at the Pioneer Camp will construct the Hub. Dillow gave a generalized timeline and thought the...
LINCOLN – Gov. Jim Pillen and the Nebraska Department of Education recognized a select number of students from across Nebraska – one from none other than Kimball – who earned the top score of 36 on the American College Testing (ACT) exam. Among those achieving the top score was 2023 Kimball High School graduate Xavier Thomas-Lewis. He was an honor roll student, active in activities, and a member of the track, cross country and cheer teams. Only one quarter of 1 percent of U.S. students earn the perfect score. The ceremony was in the Rotunda of...
On Wednesday, June 28, a massive tornado touched down 12 miles south of Kimball near the home of Justin and Hilary Cook. Justin took this photo outside their back door, then rushed back into the basement for cover. Hilary said that witnesses believed that the twister was on the ground about 10 miles but did not cause great damange in the rural area. It came just two days after a tornado touched down near south Kimball. In the upper photo, a tornado Monday was believed to have blown down power...
A large crowd gathered in Kimball Monday morning to see a piece of history and a showpiece of the Union Pacific, the Big Boy No. 4014. The steam locomotive was returning to its home base in Cheyenne after a trip to the College World Series. The Big Boy No. 4014 was built in 1941 and restored in 2013 to travel to special events. Onlookers included young and old, first-time viewers, Kimball residents, and train enthusiasts from across the nation. One young man carried around a miniature model Big...
Here's a portion of the 150 acres that the City of Kimball annexed on the west side of Highway 71 on the south end of the city. Clean Harbors has acquired a 60-acre, 120-lot section of the land for housing to help accommodate new employees as it expands....
Good morning and here is hoping you had a blast on the 4th, celebrating our great country! I was with friends at the rodeo, something that my family has done for over 40 years, seldom missing an attendance on one night or the other. Many have been "doing" fireworks for several days and now that is over for another year, I am OK with that. We start off this week with lots of music in lots of different local areas. In Scottsbluff at the 18th Street Plaza the New Wave Machine and Loaded Dice will p...
Colored smoke bombs were a favorite of this group of pre-Independence Day celebrators on Sunday. Elizebeth, 11, was lighting the fireworks while William, 6, and Jameson, 3, look on in their W. 4th Street neighborhood. The early celebrators were under the watchful eye of mom Katie Kaser and grandmother Ruth Knicely....
The Bushnell and Oliver Lake areas were hit especially hard by the severe storm Monday night that pounded the Kimball area. A visitor to Oliver from New Mexico described her experience. Still shaken from the experience the previous night, the visitor, who identified herself as Kaitlynn, said, "It was scary." Road-tripping from New Mexico to Idaho, they stopped at Oliver just minutes before the hail began. She recalled saying, "That looks like a pretty bad thunderstorm. Hopefully, it goes the oth...
Over three days –Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of last week – the Kimball City Council annexed and rezoned 150 acres of land contiguous to the City of Kimball to the south. The council conducted all three readings of the ordinance within the week. On Tuesday evening, the council met for its regular meeting. The first item on the agenda was a public hearing on Ordinance No. 821, the annexation. With no comment from anyone, the council approved the first reading of the ordinance. The planning commission previously approved the annexation. Add...
The Kimball County Commissioners split the vote on the final agenda item on June 20's Kimball County Commissioners meeting, which was to discuss and consider any action to enter into a lease for additional garage parking space for KCTS transit vehicles. Commissioners Elyse Lukassen and Carl Stander approved the contract, while Commissioner Flores voted no and refused to pen his name on the lease agreement as chairman of the board. The commissioners, in the 2-1 vote, approved a five-year lease...
As a prelude to the Fourth of July, the Big Boy No. 4014 will stop in Kimball at 9:15 a.m. on Monday, July 3. After a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, the "Home Run Express Tour" is returning to Cheyenne, the home of the Big Boy No. 4014. Locally, on July 4, Kimball Gotte Park will be the location for the Kimball Volunteer Fire Department fire truck rides from 10 a.m. until noon on the fourth of July. (See Big Boy photo on Page A4.) On Tuesday night, the Fourth, a fireworks display on...
Good morning Banner County, friends near and far! As we all are aware, our weather situation has been pretty violent with destructive rain, wind hail and tornadoes. Several times all at once. According to the weather forecast as of right now (Monday, June 26) we are clear until tonight and Friday. Time will tell, right? (Editor's note: As it turned out, parts of this area endured a tornado watch and hail Monday night.) There are a lot of things in the works for Thursday, June 29th, so lets hope...
Kimball veteran Gary Barker's name was read at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., along with 565 other individuals who died as a result of their injuries during the Vietnam War. It was an emotional few days as Barb Barker and her family traveled to Washington. Nearly 50 years after Gary Barker's death, Barb submitted all the documentation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and received word that he met the qualifications to be honored. Seventeen other Nebraska names were read...
Kimball Police Chief Jose Ruiz asks the public in the area of Marian Street to contact police if they have a ring camera, other surveillance equipment or information about a stolen vehicle. A 2019 Honda CRV was stolen from the 700 block of Marian Street on June 18 at about 11 p.m. Ruiz said police need public help to find the individual responsible for this crime. Other vehicles were broken into and burglarized on the same evening. In another matter, on June 19, the Kimball Police Department...
At its regular board meeting, the Kimball School Board selected former board member Chauncey Pederson’s replacement on June 12. The new member, Britni Toth, will complete the 17 months remaining of Pederson’s term. Toth was selected from four potential candidates who applied for the spot. The Toth family moved to Kimball a little over a year ago. They have three children, two at Mary Lynch and one in the Jr/Sr High School. Toth said the reason she applied for the position was because “I wanted to volunteer for the opportunity to assist in suppo...
A Kimball community meeting is scheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, at The Sagebrush Event Center with a couple of important local issues up for discussion: • The upcoming missile project. • Developing a chamber of commerce in Kimball. Northrop Grumman officials will be available for questions on the missile project, while Cheyenne County chamber leaders will do likewise during the chamber talk. Meeting organizers say it will be an opportunity for all business owners and community members to stay informed and have their voices hea...
Improvements and upgrades to the Kimball County Courthouse continue as the county commissioners’ previous approval for the purchase and installation of the chiller and boiler are currently happening. Last summer, the chiller quit and the boiler had reached the end of life for such equipment. The commissioners voted on Tuesday, June 20, at their regular meeting to move the ADA handicap-accessible ramp from the north entrance of the courthouse to the east entrance. Estimates have been provided for the move. In addition to the ramp, new parking s...
On a budget and in just over a year, the Kasseroler family has transformed this yard and property into a eye-appealing package. Dustin and Viktoria have taken their time to improve the yard and property at 1300 East 3rd St. The front yard has a variety of plants from hibiscus, mint and snap dragons to a rose bush to highlight the yard. But the backyard is their oasis, soon to have a pond and other amenities, complete with an area for the kids to play in behind the six foot safety fence....