Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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The High Point Welcome Center is scheduled to reopen on April 1, but a bid was opened as part of Kimball County's process to sell the property. The County Commissioners rejected the one and only bid. Stephanie Risk McElroy and Ryan McElroy of Antelope Ridge, LLC submitted a bid of $300,000. The bid was rejected since it did not abide by all the requirements, mainly required starting and completion time restrictions for projects on the site. Jeanine Perry from Red Diamond Realty told the...
Good morning, through gloomy skies wanting snow, off to another week we go. Here we are in the last week of March and heading into April, already! My how the time does fly, whether we are having fun or not. However, try for the “fun” if at all possible. That’s what some of these events encourage over the next few days. The folks at Zion Evangelical Church in Scottsbluff will have their annual “Coffee and Grebel” sale on Saturday, April 1st. Pre- order by noon on March 31st by calling 632-8125. Pickup will be on the 1st between 8-10 a.m. The...
A Nebraska Arts Council creative district is in the works for the community of Potter. The announcement came at a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday evening. Over 50 people attended the meeting, with two items on the agenda – a creative district and the American Legion Hall plans and finances. In Nebraska, six communities have been designated creative districts: North Platte, Benson, Ashland, Cozad, Norfork, and Brownville. Sidney is also applying for this economic driver. Voting by the group c...
The public hearing for Kimball County's one-and-six year plan for roads opened to a packed room. The main concern on the road improvement plan was Road 59, otherwise known as the Dix road. The county's plan included grinding up seven miles of pavement and returning that part of the road to gravel. County Road Superintendent Randy Bymer explained that there was an additional plan not to tear up the road and do a chip seal project on it. A number of area residents spoke on the issue, including...
The Kimball City Council approved over $36,000 in grant money March 21 to local businesses through the Business Improvement Grant program. Lil Bit of Country, Joe Mejia Insurance, and Ondori Ramen & Sushi were businesses receiving grants. An LB 840 loan was approved to the Friends of the Goodhand Theater for $25,000 to purchase 300 black/red leather reclining/rocking theater chairs. Interviews are being conducted for the open position of the city clerk, and Creg Pike was appointed to serve on the interview committee. Interviews were planned...
Residents and business owners in Kimball are encouraged to attend one of two upcoming Town Hall public meetings on the City of Kimball Comprehensive Plan update. The meetings will be held on April 19 and 20. Each event will offer a brief presentation and opportunities to mark up maps and comment on growth in the community. The meetings will be held at the at Kimball County Transit Services Building: • Wednesday April 19, 5:30 p.m • Thursday April 20, 5:30 p.m Both Town Hall meetings will offer the same process, so that members of the pub...
Found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of terrorists threats, and the commission of a felony with a firearm, William Shane Serrano will be back in Kimball County Court on May 2 for sentencing. A pre-sentence investigation is being conducted by the probation office. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Serrano is no longer being held in the Kimball County Jail. It took an hour and 20 minutes for the five women and seven men to reach guilty verdicts on four of the five charges in the trial of Serrano, which followed the shooting death...
Dr. James Broomfield, a familiar name in Kimball healthcare circles, is recovering after suffering a medical emergency while on vacation in Mexico, according to a statement from his clinic. Broomfield most recently has practiced at Hometown Medical Group in Kimball, formerly known as Arrow Medical before a recent change of direction, and before that he was at Kimball Health Services. In a statement provided to the Observer, Hometown Medical said Broomfield would be “out of clinic for an u...
Mayor John Morrison explained to the Observer the plans that Clean Harbors Inc. has to create a subdivision on 60 acres of land just across Highway 71 from Kimball Ace Hardware and to the west. The division, if it gains needed approvals, would be called "Project Lighthouse" because the term lighthouse is sometime described as being the beginning of a bay. The northeast corner of the subdivision would include Howard Street. Tuesday night, Clean Harbors executive Paul Whiting showed plans for the...
The Unicameral’s Revenue Committee heard testimony March 16 from Kimball city and county officials in support of Legislature Bill 100. LB 100 was introduced by Sen. Steve Erdman, District 47, who used to represent the Kimball area. The bill would amend the ImagiNE Act to allow certain waste treatment and disposal businesses to qualify for tax incentives. Qualifying businesses receive credits based on construction and the number of employees hired. Other available incentives include sales/use tax direct refunds and exemptions and personal p...
On a cool yet beautiful first day of spring this past Monday, Eliza, 5, Audrey, 9, Silas, 7, and mom Jill Ferguson enjoy the playground at Gotte Park. But this is early spring, and it will feel like winter at times. The weekend forecast is for highs in the mid-30s and lows around 20 on Saturday and Sunday....
Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank are more than a thousand miles from Kimball County’s FirsTier Bank, Points West Community Bank and Kimball State Bank, and their practices and depositors remain as distant as their location. But the question arises here and across the nation: Could the troubles at those distant banks spread elsewhere? These two banks on both coasts have succumbed to financial failure recently; Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York closed their doors on March 10 and March 12, respectively. T...
Good morning. I hope this finds you all doing well. St. Paddy’s Day is over and the first day of Spring was officially the 20th of March, a few short days ago. I don’t know if Mother Nature got the memo, so we will just leave it at that. The wind has been living up to its reputation for the month of March and kite flying – and making some of those beautiful days quite uncomfortable. There are a few events in the area that seem to be season related. The folks at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center in Alliance will be hosting a book signi...
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...