Years Ago

January 2012

When an electrical component fails to do what it is supposed to do, trouble inevitably follows.

Kimball’s city administrator Harold Farrar and Bob Selzer of the Nebraska Municipal Power Pool (NMPP) know this fact well--as does anyone driving past the stilled wind farm outside of town.

Recently a recloser attached to the turbines malfunctioned. As the purpose of a recloser is to shut faulty circuit breakers and ensure continued flow of power, the incident allowed a surge that blew a city breaker. When that went down it caused an outage to the turbines.

As a result, Selzer reported, the wind turbines have not been in operation and will remain still until the problem is solved.

Currently they are waiting for a replacement part. The recloser had been leaking fluid, as well--and crews from the City of Kimball are keeping an eye on the issue. N-Line, out of Cheyenne, Wyoming, is tasked with installing the new part when it arrives.

Selzer explained that teams will investigate the source of the problem fully before they restart the turbines.

While not currently functioning or distributing power, the recloser malfunction will not affect residents of Kimball directly.

January 2008

Longhorn wrestling Coach Tom Perlinski reports that three teams finished the Jan. 3 WTC tourney with identical 4-1 scores. Place order was then decided by a criteria review and Kimball was placed third behind criteria tourney winner Gordon-Rushville and second place Mitchell. Kimball beat Hemingford 43-24, Bridgeport 60-18 and then lost to Mitchell 39-31. Coach Perlinski said that in the Championship pool, the Longhorns beat Gordon-Rushville 36-34 and Bayard 45-24.

Longhorn wrestlers Shawn Nagel, Scott Noah, Ryan Gregory and Anthony Belgum won all five of their matches. Perlinski highlighted Tyson Reuter’s defeat of Mitchell’s Garza and Anthony Belgum’s win over Krotz of Gordon-Rushville. Garza had beaten Reuter twice before so Reuter’s win was particularly sweet. The Gordon-Rushville wrestler had been the state runner-up in Class B last season. Perlinski called it an exciting day at the WTC dual tournament.

The Longhorns will wrestle at Chadron on Jan. 10 and be at the Gibbon Invite on Jan. 12.

January 2003

Police Chief Bill Shank said there was some vandalism at the Kimball Jr./Sr. high school over the weekend. The vandals uprooted new trees planted at the school and pushed sue football equipment out to the parking lot over the weekend.

An accident Dec. 23 resulted in no injuries, but two vehicles were damaged. Donna McEntee failed to yield to traffic at Locust and Second St. in Kimball and her vehicle collided with a car driven by Donald Bates. McEntee’s 1989 Plymouth Sundance received an estimated $1,000 damage and Bates’ 1985 $400 in damages. No citations were issued.

Shank said he had not received any reports of stolen property as of Monday, although the Observer received several letters to the editor this week from people whose decorations were taken.

January 1978

A 7-month-old Cheyenne boy, John Nephi Olson, was killed and his parents injured in an auto accident early Monday 8 miles west of Pine Bluffs on Interstate 80. The baby reportedly suffered head injuries when thrown from the vehicle. John Olson, 19 and his wife Barbara, 20, were hospitalized at Laramie County Memorial Hospital in Cheyenne.

The accident was investigated by the Wyoming State Patrol.

January 1958

Completed plans for the new addition to the Mary Lynch school were being studied this week by members of the District 3 School Board.

From the exterior, the addition will be the same as the east wing of the present building. It will be an eastward extension of the wing.

Inside, it will have classrooms that are deeper but not quite so wide with less room used for the hallway. Rest rooms will be in two units between classrooms, since the new rooms will primarily be for older children. The entrance panel at the east end will be moved intact to the east end of the new addition.

Bids will be sought soon on construction of the building so that it can be completed for the fall term.

January 1942

Fined on two counts of parking his truck on a highway without placing flags or flares, Howard R. Glerup, 19, of Martin, S.D., is being held in the Dawes county jail at Chadron on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident in which three persons were injured seriously enough to require hospitalization. County Judge Ernest Johnson yesterday ordered Glerup held on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident after he failed to post bond of $2,500. He fined Glerup $25 and costs on each of two counts of failing to put out flares.

January 1923

John C. Marts, for a number of years a resident of Banner county, father of Mrs. Ed Osborne and Mrs. Richard Buckles of that county and a cousin of W. D. and S. A. Shaul, was found dead near Douglas, Wyoming, where all indications showed that he had been murdered at a lonely spot and an effort made to destroy his body by piling up his tent and camping outfit over the body and burning it. Marts had, according to the Free Press at Minatare, to which place the remains were brought for burial, been missing since some time in November. The body was found by a rancher on December 3. His head had been crushed by a heavy blow. No substantiated motive for the murder is advanced.

January 1913

Friday evening Dec. 27th, 1912, at 5:30 o’clock, Melvin L. Brown and Ethel Pester were married at the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Pester, Rev. Rush reading the marriage ceremony.

At the hour appointed Miss Elsie Mairs began playing the wedding march and the bridal couple accompanied by the bridesmaid’s, Misses Edith Pester and Mary Brown, and the groomsmen, Messrs. Albert Pester and Bert Green, with the minister leading the way, entered the prettily decorated parlor, and took their places beneath a bell of mistletoe and holly, and were pledged to each other for life.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown left Tuesday evening of this week for North Platte where they will go to house-keeping, the groom being a fireman on the U. P.