The Banner County News Is Here; Make Yourself At Home

Welcome to “The Banner County News!”

This page, at least the upper portion of it, is meant to look like a newspaper’s front page. There’s a story behind this that I’d like to share with you.

During my time as editor at the Harvey County Independent in Kansas, that paper actually featured three “front pages” on inside pages.

To me, this was – and is – one of the greatest features I’ve ever seen in a newspaper for both how the pages look and what they contain.

You see, the Independent was the product of three papers that merged – the Halstead Independent, Sedgwick Pantagraph and Burrton Graphic. After they merged under the name Independent, the newspaper’s previous owners retained the old Sedgwick and Burrton front pages inside.

I liked this concept so much that I added a fourth “front page” inside for another town in our circulation area, Bentley.

The Bentley News was born.

Well, now it’s Banner County’s turn, 528 miles away, here in the Panhandle.

“The Banner County News” page debuts this week – a “front page” within the Observer’s inside pages.

While the Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory shows that Harrisburg was home to a few newspapers long ago – Early Day (1889-1892), Banner County Republican (1895-1896) and Banner County News (1893-1955) – the model for this new page actually comes from the Western Nebraska Observer itself – specifically the Oct. 6, 2005, edition.

I recently explored this edition, printed during Sherry Blanche’s time as Observer publisher, in search of an old article that Banner County School Superintendent Dr. Evelyn Browne requested.

“The Banner County News” title across the top of today’s page resembles the title’s font across the top of the Observer’s Banner County page back in the 2005.

Another throwback to 2005 is the presence of public notices on the Banner County page. While the 2005 Observer ran full Banner County area public notices on the page, the 2022 Observer will present a list of Banner County area public notices on this page that refers readers to where the notices appear in the paper. This is being done to try and keep all public notices in one part of the paper and not complicate things.

Meanwhile, the “Banner County News, Notes & Nonsense” column by Barb Cross remains a familiar friend on this page.

In addition, Dr. Browne has agreed to write a monthly column for “The Banner County News,” and the Observer will aim to give Banner County photos a regular presence on the page.

Finally, if any of you readers have local news or photos to pass along, please do.

Welcome to “The Banner County News!”