Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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Here are Potter-Dix's students of the month for March. In the front row, from left, are Emily Barker, MiCayla McConnell and Scarlette Taylor. Back row: Jaxen Buettenback, Luke Kasten and Linken Hottell....
The trial for William Shane Serrano continues this week in the Kimball County Courthouse. Serrano is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend, Tessa Ghering, in Kimball last year. Other charges against Serrano include terroristic threats, attempted first-degree murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The Tuesday morning trial session ended with the testimony of the 10-year-old son of Serrano and Sheena Erickson. The boy appeared to be mature beyond his years, confident, well-spoken and...
Tiffany LaBeau, the organizer of the feral cats program in Kimball, has provided an update on the March trapping and fixing of cats. The Northern Colorado Friends of Ferals have Saturday evening, March 25, set aside to trap 50 area feral cats, and the ferals will be returned to Kimball on March 26 after being spayed or neutered in Colorado. LaBeau and the Northern Colorado Friends of Ferals are asking for people to refrain from feeding the strays for two days before the 26th. This enables the volunteers to trap the cats much more effortlessly....
On Tuesday at the regular Kimball City Council meeting, the council held two public hearings and approved the special election to place Resolutions 2023-01 and 2023-07 on the special election ballot to be held on June 13. Resolution 2023-01 approved the placing of the City of Kimball Economics Development Sales and Use Tax on a special election ballot and Resolution 2023-07 places the matter of an infrastructure project local sales and use tax on the special election ballot with an increase of an additional 1/2% from the current rate of 1.5% to...
The City of Kimball has decided to move forward with a special election for the City of Kimball Economic Development Sale and Use Tax and an additional one-half percent sales tax increase. A reader posed the question: “How much is the special election going to cost?” Only voters from Wards 1 and 2 will be allowed to participate in the special election, and Kimball County Clerk Cathy Sibal is, as always, in charge of overseeing this local election. According to Sibal, the last city special election was in 2007, and the final bill was $3,094. Sib...
More than 150 guests, including parents and grandparents, attended the annual parents breakfast at Mary Lynch Elementary School on Friday, March 10. It's a Kimball tradition that's worth getting in line for....
The Kimball School Board met in regular session on Monday evening, March 13. During the recognition of visitors, resident Michelle Barret addressed the board about starting a local beef donation for the school lunch program. Barrett cited that Bridgeport has such a program, and they receive nine culled cows a year that are made into hamburger. The animal has to be taken to a USDA packing plant, but the program is helpful for lunch finances, and local beef is being used. Superintendent Trevor...
On Tuesday, March 7, the Banner County Speech Team competed in Arthur at the D2 District Meet. Four students qualified to compete at State Speech in Kearney on March 17. Qualifying for State, Karleigh Leslie and Amanda Montelongo earned third place in Duet Acting. Isaac Olsen earned third place in Informative Speaking. Conrad Kaminski earned second place in Humorous Prose. Also medaling was Abby Jones in fifth place for Humorous Prose. "I'm very proud of all the speech kids," said Rick...
Good morning, here we are talking about the middle of March, seems unreal. Maybe at least in part because of the lingering snow. I am seeing some green grass and spots of green in the fields, so yeah!! Speaking of green, Happy St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th, tomorrow, Friday. Last week in my reminder of the upcoming commissioners meeting I had the right day but the wrong date and was told about it. So just to be sure, I’ll say it again: St. Paddy’s Day is this Friday, March 17th! In celebration of that day, the Leid Public Library in Scott...
The FFA District competition was March 1 in Kimball. In Jr. Livestock Judging, Isaac Olsen 6th place overall individually and received a blue ribbon. Micah Dittbenner placed 20th and received a white ribbon. In Sr. Livestock Judging, Andie West placed 11th and received a blue ribbon. The Banner County Meats Judging – Team was the runner-up and will compete at the state competition March 30. Individually, Adam Knaub placed 4th and was awarded a purple ribbon. Jacob Parsons was 10th and r...
Kimball Health Services still expects its new $43.5 million hospital to be completed in late 2023, but this winter's severe weather has slowed construction work that's now past the halfway point, KHS told the Observer. "Due to extreme cold and snow, construction crews were unable to work for seven to 10 days in the last few months, said Troy Kurz, KHS facilities director and project manager. The new structure fills much of the city block that was home to West Elementary School for so many...
After all these years, more than 50, the Kimball Ministerial Association Food Pantry still provides much-needed support to Kimball County residents in need of food and non-food items. The first official food bank in the United States was established in 1967 by John van Hengel, when he observed a mother of 10 children trying to provide food after her husband was sentenced to death row. Because she had nowhere to store the food that others were willing to waste, he had the idea to create a...
Nebraska State Patrol troopers arrested two men after locating more than 100 pounds of suspected marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in Kimball County, the patrol said. The incident report states that at approximately 1:25 p.m. March 2, a trooper performed a traffic stop on an eastbound Chrysler 300 for speeding on I-80 near mile marker 18. During the traffic stop, the trooper said he detected the odor of marijuana. As the trooper was preparing to search the vehicle, the driver attempted to flee on foot. The trooper pursued on...
The public hearing for the Kimball County's One- and Six-Year Plan, Highway or Street Improvement Project, is scheduled for March 21 to "hear support, opposition, criticism, suggestions, or observation" on the proposed plan. The One Year Plan has four projects – with the largest located on the asphalt road south of Dix and County Road 24. According to Project C53-279 (Priority #4) is going south of Dix four miles, and the start of the project is located approximately seven miles south to the e...
Good morning, still feeling the chill. About the time the snow and ice are pretty much melted, here comes more snow. Some places are total mud holes and others ( like my driveway ) are completely snowed in. Still waiting on the county plows. Tomorrow, March 10th there will be NO School! However, the annual Bandana Benefit Ball will take place at the Gering Civic Center on that date, beginning at 5 p.m. If you would like more information please call the Legacy of the Plains Museum at 436-1989. Also beginning on the 10th at the Midwest Theater...
A Collective Gathering in Potter is celebrating 19 years in business and the folks there are excited to begin their 20th year. The unique business venture opened April 1, 2004. The sprawling 2,500 square footage building on Chestnut Street that holds the flea market has 30 booths and 22 different vendors. The flea market is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The business model includes a management team of two and eight volunteers to help work the store every day, all women....
Potter-Dix's Coyote boys basketball team had another great year, running up a 19-5 record and going through stretches of the season where they looked unbeatable. There were very few weaknesses on the team, although one proved to be their undoing in the district Final game. The Coyotes have had a tendency to have a "bad quarter," but usually they have the talent and athleticism to overcome that weakness. However, it proved that a team like Falls City Sacred Heart would not let that kind of...
The Unicameral's Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee heard proponents and neutral comments Feb. 23 on LB712, which would allocate a $26 million grant to aid Kimball and the surrounding areas. LB712 was sponsored by Sen. Brian Hardin from the 48th District, which includes Kimball, Banner and Scottsbluff counties. In anticipation of the upgrade of the Minuteman III missiles to the Sentinel system, the funds would be used on infrastructure, water, wastewater system, child care,...
A special election will be held in June for voters to decide on a ½ cent infrastructure sale tax. Kimball City Council members approved in a 3-0 vote to put the ½ cent sales tax on the ballot. Voting for the measure were Gabe Ingram, Creg Pike and Don Muench. The council instructed legal counsel to draft the language and prepare the ballot language for the March meeting. The Kimball County Clerk's Office said that the special election would be held Tuesday, June 13, with...
Kimball High School senior Madison Ebeling has had a senior week to remember. Her cheerleading team placed first in the Class D Non-Tumbling Division at the Nebraska State Cheer and Dance Competition in Grand Island. A week later, Madison was eating lunch with the governor of Nebraska and testifying at a Unicameral committee hearing. Madison said, "The best part of the LB712 trip was having lunch with the governor, Jim Pillen." She explained that Gov. Pillen provided a little history of the...
The Nebraska Homestead Exemption Applications are available from February 1, 2020 to June 30. 2023 in the Kimball County Assessor’s office. According to the office, about 200 people in the Kimball area already take advantage of the tax relief program. The Nebraska homestead exemption was enacted to help certain groups of individuals who may not have a regular income and that may need financial relief. If you or you know someone who may benefit from the Nebraska Homestead Exemption visit the Assessor’s Office in the Kimball County Cou...
Here we are in the month of Green. Let us hope for rain and to ease up on the snow – don’t know for sure how the Leprechauns handle snow. Over the hill and to the north, the Western Arts Center will be opening two new exhibits. Featured in the Main Gallery will be work by Yelena Khanveskaya, titled “One Hundred Western Skies.” The open house will be from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, March 2nd – today! – and the exhibit will run through March 26th. This is Free and open to the public. In the Bronson Gallery The After School Program will begin on March...
High West Energy confirmed that it will be using a drone for inspection purposes in Kimball County in the next few weeks. A pilot on the ground uses drones to inspect lines, insulators, poles, wire breaks and insulator wraps. They visually inspect the lines in the field and take photos of the structures for further review and documentation. Drones are invaluable for hard-to-reach areas where the roads are muddy and provide an overhead view of the utility structure. High West Energy drones fly only in the daytime, and the pilot, according to the...
Kimball Mayor John Morrison explained his absence from Kimball in a recent email. On Nov. 9, John Morrison was elected the new mayor of Kimball. He took office on Dec. 6 at the Kimball City Council meeting. Council meetings were either canceled due to no agenda items or lack of quorum until the Feb. 7 meeting. In reference to his time in Texas, a concern of some residents, Morrison said, “We had this planned before I was elected.” For the Feb. 7 meeting, he said, “I took two days to go back for the council meeting and represented the city...
At the February Kimball School Board meeting, the board approved the calendar changes due to early dismissals and snow days. From March 1 to the end of school, Wednesdays will now be a full day of school with no early dismissal for professional development. This calendar change will give back about 30 hours of classroom time. Superintendent Trevor Anderson explained that in the fall, Kimball Schools had four early dismissals due to heat. This winter, they have had six snow days as of Tuesday and two late starts. Furthermore, March 1 is an FFA...