Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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Dar Gardner of Kimball received the traditional Green Jacket when she was inducted into the RV/MH Hall of Fame on Aug. 21 in Elkhart, Ind. Gardner has been in the manufactured home business for 50 years. Elkhart is the home of the RV Manufactured Home Museum....
Good morning, Banner County, here is a little News, Notes and Nonsense. Local news is still centered around harvest as we are in need of rain for the next crop planting and the harvesting of the remaining summer crops. School, of course, has started and that means fall sports. Volleyball and football games got underway last week. The next county commissioners meeting is on Tuesday, September 5th at 8:30 a.m. and everyone is welcome. We are sorry to hear of the passing away of lifelong Banner County resident, John Jones. Our sympathy goes out to...
Banner County School opened the new academic year with a number of new staff members and the distinction of being the first Panhandle school to establish the JAG NE program for students to explore career options. Superintendent Evelyn Browne told the Observer on Tuesday that JAG NE, which stands for Jobs for American Graduates Nebraska, is a program supported by United Way of the Midlands. Browne said JAG NE students in grades 7-12 take part in problem-based learning activities to help them explore career options, identify interests, and...
The Lincoln Highway has a special place in Kimball history. Now two crosswalks have been painted on Chestnut Street at the corner with 2nd Street to commemorate the highway's original route through town. The Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental highway across the United States. It officially opened in 1913, even though it wasn't completely paved until years later. Initially, it went through the downtown area of most of the towns it intersected, but it has since changed course slightly...
Kimball School Food Service Director Danessa Terrill shows off a freezer full of local beef. On Thursday, Aug. 24, students received their first meal of local beef, which was spaghetti and meatballs. Three beef have been donated, which equates to about 1,000 pounds of beef, while the school pays for the processing. In September, hamburger patties will be on the menu and Superintendent Trevor Anderson will help grill the burgers. Donations of beef have come from JMKJ Reich, T & B Cook Farms and...
Kimball Health Services CEO Ken Hunter, RN-BSN, plans to retire in January, KHS announced Monday. Hunter, who turned 74 on Aug. 19, has served as CEO at the Kimball hospital and rural health clinic since January of 2011. He served two years as director of nursing at KHS after joining the staff as a night nurse in 2006. Hunter received the prestigious Nebraska Hospital Association's "Caring Kind" award in 2013. The award honors outstanding health care employees who have demonstrated compassion...
The Kimball City Council last Tuesday unanimously approved a four-way stop at 2nd and Chestnut streets downtown following a discussion on traffic, speed and the dangers of the intersection at 2nd and Chestnut streets. Warning signs will be installed to begin preparing cars and trucks for the change, which will add stop signs on Chestnut. The four-way stop will be one block from Kimball’s only stoplight at the corner of Chestnut and 3rd streets. In other business, a public hearing on Ordinance 824 – interfering with a peace officer – was held....
The first day of school for Kimball students and staff was unique and fun. School spirit was everywhere. At the Kimball Jr./Sr. High School, Superintendent Trevor Anderson had agreed to have his head shaved if grades 7-12 achieved their testing goals for the spring of 2023, and they did! Julia Winstrom, Aspyn Kiefer and Grace Anderson did the shaving. Anderson said he had not received a haircut all summer and won't have to get another haircut for a few months. The first day was filled with...
On the closing day of the season for the Kimball swimming pool on Sunday, the tradition continued to open up the pool to the dogs. Lifeguard Jasmine Gawith and Riggs jumped in, swam and chased his ball....
Even though it is hard work and long hours in the hot sun, Tracy Gifford, with the help of his daughter, Megan, loves his days in the fields, planting, tending to, harvesting and selling his produce. Gifford said he went broke farming in 2005 but "hung on for a couple more years," and then, due to medical reasons, he was unable to continue teaching math, so they began with a little garden by the house – but now they have expanded to acres of vegetables. He built a machine to plant the produce a...
FirsTier Bank announced Monday that Nan (Nancy Prince) Garrett has been added to the board of directors of the bank. Along with her responsibilities as bank director, Garrett has been promoted to branch manager for the bank. She will continue her responsibilities of oversight of all day-to-day operations at the Kimball branch of FirsTier. "Nancy has long been our go-to person in Kimball. She has been with the bank for many years and is a natural addition to the board of directors" Executive...
What an incredible day we had on Bushnell Day! Even though the temperature was higher than I would have liked, it was a great day. We had a wonderful turnout and it seemed that everyone enjoyed the day! The first annual cow tongue football was a success thanks to all the people willing to participate, Jovan Mays for stepping in to officiate and to Twin City Packing out of Gering for the donation of the cow tongues. Thank you also to Gene Russum for the new event idea! It was quite entertaining...
The aging process for Kimball's old water system is showing again. This time it happened when a small leak in a 1-inch waterline under 2nd Street, which goes to the fire hall, became a big problem. City crews tried to turn off a water valve Friday at 2nd and Chestnut streets so they could make repairs, but the valve broke and started spewing water, Mayor John Morrision told the Observer. He said since all the water was going into a sewer and not damaging businesses, the decision was made to not...
The preliminary hearing Monday on the perjury charges against Lylia J. Childs started a minute early in Kimball County Court, with Judge Kris Mickey appearing by video. Due to a conflict of interest, Judge Mickey from Scotts Bluff County and the Cheyenne County clerk conducted the preliminary hearing. David Wilson, Kimball County attorney, represented the state, and Childs sat at the opposing table with no counsel. Childs was arraigned on August 9, and the court had received no affidavit for appointment of counsel. The state’s first witness w...
The brother/sister duo of Aubrey and Britton Culek captured the overall Grand Champion market beef and Reserve Champion market beef at the Kimball-Banner County Fair on Friday, but their fair days aren't over yet as they will continue into September at the Nebraska State Fair. Throughout the summer, the Culek kids have traveled to and participated in eight progress shows from Kearney to Denver and anywhere between. Aubrey will take Tritt, weighing 1,341 pounds, and 131-pound Whiskey to Grand...
The Kimball County Commissioners on Aug. 15 met with a representative of the Nebraska Association of County Officials to discuss and consider a cost savings option concerning health insurance coverage. More than 50 counties in the state offer this incentive to not have people double covered, and it could save the county around $100,000 in insurance premiums. Individuals must be on a group insurance plan, but if they are covered by another plan they could opt out of the county plan and receive a stipend. In other business, Deputy Treasurer...
The youth pie eating contest at the Antelope Stampede Bicycle Race party Saturday in Gotte Park was won by Damien Van Dewater (white shirt). Also competing were Braden Fuss (front left), Jax Anderson (back left) and Kalli Shoup. The winner of the pie eating contest received a homemade pie made and donated by Steve Pinkerton. See story, Page B1....
Good morning! Boy, oh boy, has the summer flown by! Although it is the middle of August, I am going to push it for as long as I can. A few cooler days at the beginning of this week felt good but also gave us a little taste of what is to come. School has started this past week for most of us and that always changes the tempo for a lot of things. Somewhat of a less play and down to serious business attitude, maybe. Flowerfield School will begin before long, yeah! The folks in Alliance are gearing up for a Rubber Duck Draw with a 2024 Chevrolet Tr...
The Indian Plate will replace the restaurant formerly known as The Diner. Amandeep Basra recently purchased the old Diner and the First Interstate Inn from LGK Inc. The new restaurant will be known as the Indian Plate and serve both Indian and American food. The start date for the restaurant opening is Aug. 15. Basra said his goal is to "have good food for everyone." He said his five star cook from California will be here Aug. 14. He said he has cooks and employees on staff, and he will remain...
A public hearing was opened at 5:03 p.m. during the Kimball City Council meeting Aug. 1 for public comment on Ordinance 823, which authorizes the city to borrow not more than $2.5 million for the purposes of financing improvements and expansion of the city’s electric system and other improvements to the city’s combined utilities system. Scott Keene from Piper Sandler, a bonding company for this project, told the council members that the city had “plenty of capacity to take on new debt.” Ordinance 823 was approved by a 4-0 vote. In other b...
The Kimball-Banner County Fair is in full swing, with some events already completed. Archery was held last Wednesday evening, followed by clothing exhibits, a fashion revue and table setting on Thursday. Receiving a variety of Grand Champions in archery were Jace Reich, Luke Olsen, Isaac Olsen, Jalanna Krakow and Giacomo Varra. The dog show and static exhibits were on the agenda for Monday, and the results are in the books. With a change of the schedule from previous years, animals began... Full story
The Potter-Dix FFA served harvest meals to busy farmers last week, about 100 lunches in all. In the top photo, Alex Engstrom picked the right time to bring a load of wheat to the FVC elevator in Kimball and received lunches from Potter-Dix FFA member Micayla McConnell. Engstrom went back to the field with lunches for the whole crew. In the lower photo, the harvest helpers pose as a group. In the front row, from left, are Peyton Rasmussen, Sabrynn Bogert, Micayla McConnell and Sawyer Knoll. Back...
Good morning, nice to have a few cooler days this week. The combines are still all over the place, some fields are finished and some have not started. Be careful out there, the roads are narrow and the harvest equipment is wide! I know of one fellow that went under a header because there was no where for either of the vehicles to go, so up and under! Fairs are coming to a close and boy have the rubber check races seen some bad luck this year. In Bridgeport a few weekends ago an accident with a horse, rider and hay bale was not good. The rider e...
At the July 18 Kimball City Council meeting, a discussion was held on possible improvements to Gotte Park. Improvement topics ranged from the drainage ditch to various park improvements to the removal of the Titan I missile displayed on park grounds. Only the bottom part of the missile remains standing today, and pictures taken by the City of Kimball electric department show areas of the missile that are rotted through. Mayor John Morrison said, "It is actually becoming a hazard to the public."...
After months of negotiations and executive sessions, on Tuesday, Aug. 1, the Kimball County Commissioners voted to sell the High Point Welcome Center of Western Nebraska property located at 204 South Kimball Boulevard and the adjacent land to Big D Oil Co. of Rapid City, S.D. The selling price was $500,000. Big D Oil’s possible plan is to operate a truck stop at the site. It is a family owned business with 39 retail stores in western South Dakota, eastern Wyoming and northern Colorado. As for the welcome center’s future, it was not dis...