Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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On Saturday, Jan. 21, James Eatmon Masonic Lodge #294 in Kimball conducted its installation of officers for 2023. Bottom row, from left, are John Rahl (senior warden), Tommy Yung (master), Josh Gillming (junior warden) and Dustin Kasserloer. Top row: John Ferguson, Grand Senior Warden of the Grand Lodge of A. F. and A. M., Dillion Hatfield, Kevin Wynne, Kevin Sherman and Blake Bourdreaux....
The music program at Banner County School brings our entire community together twice a year for the Christmas and Spring concerts. Our band and choir students also enrich programs such as our Veterans Day program, Commencement, Homecoming, and Pep Rallies! With the return of our varsity sports, our Pep Band helped warm the chilly night air at our home football games! Sandy Wounded Arrow has directed the Banner County School Band and Chorus since 2005. In addition to the regular music classes in...
Good morning and man do we have the snow. And the COLD, and hopefully some moisture! It is February in Nebraska after all. With two years of really nice winters the cold and snow are welcome reminders for the most part, the snow anyway! This evening, February 2nd, the third season episodes 7 and 8 of the series “Chosen” will be shown at the Midwest Theater at 7 p.m. and again the following day at 1 p.m. Also on February 2nd, there will be an open house at the Western Nebraska Arts Center for the new showing titled “Images 2023 Photo Exhib...
Bob Pinkerton, a giant in the world of community newspapering and a pillar of his own community in Kimball, has died. The former Western Nebraska Observer editor and publisher died at the age of 90 in Anthem, Ariz., where he lived in retirement. Mr. Pinkerton owned the Observer from 1962 to 1993, when he sold the Kimball paper to his daughter, Sherry. Under his direction, the Observer was a force in the glory days of print journalism, winning seven national newspaper awards and 71 state...
In late October, a petition was filed in the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court against Kimball County Sheriff’s Office and NIRMA II (Its Workers’ Compensation Self Insurance Pool). The petition by sheriff’s deputy Marla Knigge alleged that an “injury was caused to the plaintiff by accident or occupational disease, occurred or manifested on or about June 1, 2022, in Kimball County, Nebraska, arising out of and in the course of the plaintiff’s employment by the defendant, Kimball County Sheriff’s Office, and for which injury the plaintiff is...
The Sagebrush in Kimball was the site Tuesday for the Sentinel real estate town hall meeting related to the Sentinel missile system project. The Air Force set up stations to explain the real estate acquisitions as well as the timeline and the method of acquisition. Experts in the field were available for questions from landowners. Information was available to public and landowners about real estate for temporary construction and new permanent easements for utility corridors and tower sites. Groundbreaking is supposed to occur in the fall of...
In 1966, according to the Western Nebraska Observer's Feb. 24 edition, senior Joe Culek, at 145 pounds "took a state wrestling crown in Class B at Lincoln, leading the Kimball team to sixth in the state with a total of 31 points, collected by seven grapplers qualifying for the meet." After an illustrious career wrestling in high school, Culek went on to wrestle at Chadron State College. Then he coached youth freestyle and high school wrestling in Kimball. His coaching career has spanned 30...
With great honor, the proud family of Stan A. McKnight, would like to officially announce his retirement after serving 47 years as a lawman. His bittersweet, last day in office was January 5th, 2023. McKnight was born and raised in Osceola, Iowa to the parents of Eldon and Mary McKnight. He later met his wife of 58 years, Sherry Johnson, in the same community in which he retired. McKnight's career began in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, as a patrolman in 1968. It was there that he was fortunate enough t...
Hello everyone, I hope that you are having a great week. We are quickly approaching the last few days of January. I flat do not know where the time goes, I am definitely not having that much fun! There is not a whole lot going on in the Valley or surrounding areas but here at home we have sports and the Spelling Bee, which is today, Thursday the 26th at 12:30 p.m. Sports wise there is high school wrestling at Mitchell the 27th at 8:30 a.m. and a home high school boys basketball game at 4 p..m. The opponent will be the Guernsey junior varsity....
Two public hearing will be held on Feb. 7, 2023, at the next Kimball County Commissioners meeting. At 9:30 a.m., a public hearing is scheduled for comment on the adoption of Ordinance 2023-1 concerning Snow Emergency and Abandoned Vehicles on county roads. This appears to be a problem because when the interstate and state roads are shut down due to the weather conditions, then GPS will take travelers on the county roads, and those roads have not been cleared. Hence abandoned and stuck vehicles end up blocking the county roads, making them...
Th Observer is presenting free, full version of all stories posted on its website Jan. 19 due to severe winter weather that closed roadways and delayed delivery of the Jan. 19 print edition. We hope you enjoy these stories, we appreciate all of you readers, and we thank you for understanding....
The Kimball County Commissioners on Tuesday approved an agreement between Kimball County and Kimball County Transit Service to lease six new transit vehicles. All six vehicles are 2022 Ford 350 EL vans, ranging in price from $190,991.52 to $205,225.92. The total lease payments will amount to $1,185,804 over a period of three years for the six 10-passenger transit vans. While KCTS will lease the vehicles from Kimball County, according to the projected income, the county will reap $343,422.61 over the period of three years. This would be the...
Here we go again. Another midweek dose of severe winter weather was forecast for Kimball County and surrounding areas this week. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning and forecast on Tuesday that 6 to 9 inches of snow could hit the area. Some other forecasts called for more snow. The City of Kimball made changes Tuesday morning in anticipation of the storm, canceling its 5:30 p.m. Tuesday City Council meeting due to the forecast – and also a lack of quorum of council members available to attend the meeting. In p...
Construction carries on as Kimball's new $43.5 million hospital continues to take shape, but this area's harsh winter weather may have slowed the development a bit. "The project has experienced about a week's delay due to the snowy conditions this winter," Kerry Ferguson, Kimball Health Services director of community and foundation, told the Observer on Monday. "Hopes are we can make up this time later in the project." Prior to the weather delay, hospital officials said construction remained on...
Hello! Here we are smack dab in the middle of January. Man is time ever flying, sometimes in a winter mode and sometimes not so much. There has been more ice and my driveway is still blocked. More moisture would be great and to my way of thinking if the ice would melt we would have more moisture! As you know the Dinner Theater and One Act Play was cancelled due to bad weather in December. However, they performed for the entire school one day last week, and if you were able to attend you know...
This week's scheduled Kimball City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 17, was canceled due to the snowstorm forecast and lack of a quorum of council members available to attend. From left at last month's reorganizational meeting are Councilmember Christy Warner, Mayor John Morrison and Councilmember Creg Pike....
Newly elected and re-elected Kimball County officials and deputies were sworn into office before the Kimball County Commissioners meeting Jan 5. At the first meeting, the first order of business for the commissioners was to elect a chairman and vice-chairman. Rich Flores was elected chairman, Carl Stander was elected vice chairman, and new member Elyse Schlake Lukassen joined the board.The appointments of commissioners were made to various regional boards, and contact officials were designated...
The first meeting of the year for the Kimball School Board consisted of reorganization and installing new board members. After the four new or re-elected members took their oath of office and were sworn in, Travis Cook was re-elected president, Jennifer Griebel vice president, Tom O’Brien secretary, and Chauncey Pederson was re-elected treasurer. Community Building Solution’s Jacob Hurla reported the progress on the HVAC project. After a series of supply chain delays, Hurla estimated that the project would be completed by the end of Jan...
While the New Year is still young, and those resolutions are still fresh in your mind, a little motivation from others is always beneficial. Four of the top 10 most common resolutions include healthy living –such as exercising more, losing weight, living life to the fullest and quitting smoking. "In 2016, I began losing some weight," Steve Knigge of rural Kimball recalled. But that was just the beginning of his transformation. Steve was looking to improve his life, and a passion for running w...
New Kimball County Sheriff Dave Hottell signs his oath of office Jan. 5 in the Kimball County Courthouse....
Good morning and here we are in the first month of a New Year. A New Year coming with challenges and changes, some of those which began here last week with the swearing in of newly elected county officials. An estimated 50 plus Banner County residents attended the ceremony and reception which also included a short meeting and district court. We all know that it will take a while for the new officials to get their feet on the ground. However, I for one know that it will happen, and we will be...
A tinge of the red and orange sunset reflects off the Wildcat Hills in Banner County this past week....
Radon, a cancer-causing radioactive gas, is found in homes throughout Nebraska and in Kimball County. The gas is odorless, tasteless, and invisible, but it can pose a danger to you and your family in your safest environment, your home. Testing for radon is easy and takes just minutes. At Panhandle Public Health District, January is Radon Awareness month, and test kits are readily available. The test kits are easy and free. Call 308-487-3600 and request a test kit. Radon is a byproduct of the natural decay of uranium and can seep into homes...
Newly elected Kimball School Board member Ken Smith takes his oath of office on the left. The current member seated is Lanny Little. Others taking their oaths of office on Monday evening are, from left, Jennifer Griebel, Travis Cook and Thomas O’Brien....
Due to no agenda items, the Kimball City Council will not meet on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 3, for its bi-monthly meetings. In December, the council and mayor went through the reorganizational process. Now, in January, the county will reorganize. The county will start the New Year off with a mandated reorganizational meeting. Nebraska Statute 23-156 states that “The board of county commissioners at its regular meeting in January of each year shall elect a chairman of the board to serve for the ensuing year, and such chairman shall sign a...