Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 628
With the addition of 20 preschool students, the entire enrollment at Sidney public schools rose from 1,260 in September 2013 to 1,342 as of Monday, an increase of 82 from last year. Sidney’s pre-school is full with 40 students. On the first day of school in the fall of 2013, there were 111 kindergarten students enrolled. As of Monday there were 120. “I think it’s some good news for us,” said Brent Jeffers, principal of Central Elementary. The numbers could increase over the next few days leading up to the beginning of school as well as on the...
Local law enforcement officials want residents to know they should only call 911 during a real emergency. When some Sidney residents experienced multiple power outages on July 19 and 20 due to a car wreck that took down a power pole and a separate power pole fire, the Cheyenne County Emergency Communications Center received dozens of 911 calls from citizens without power. The communications center, which handles all 911 calls in the city and county, receives many calls of a non-emergency nature on a regular basis. “Probably 60 percent of the 9...
The trucking division of local business Adams Industries is striving to make its employees safer all the time. Adams Industries, which is headquartered in Sidney and has another location in Texas, improved its average compliance, safety and accountability scores by 68 percent over the past two years. Because of its improved safety rating, Adams trucking division was recently given a platinum safety award by the nation's leading provider of property and casualty insurance for the trucking...
Donors who want their blood to stay local should donate at the Regional West blood drive on Aug. 14. This drive, coordinated by the Cheyenne County Ladies Chamber will take place at the Cheyenne County Community Center from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Regional West is only able to hold these drives during limited hours. “They’re a small center and the ladies that do the actual drawing of the blood have to go back and work the blood so they can’t change their hours,” said Diane Scott, Ladies Chamber blood drive coordinator. Because many communi...
The local Kiwanis club awarded $500 scholarships to two recent Sidney graduates. The winners are Amber Arellano (right), who attends Tabor College in Kansas and Jaide Wachtel, who attends University of Wyoming in Laramie. The Kiwanis club used money collected at Oktoberfest as well as from its downtown flag display contract to fund the scholarships.... Full story
Jobs are abundant in Sidney. The Cheyenne County Community of Employers is attempting to help area businesses in search of employees with its new event, The Happening, a career fair as well as a way to promote area businesses and clubs. The community of employers hopes to attract potential employees from all over the panhandle to this event. When the community of employers, a Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce committee held a meeting in the spring it decided there were four major issues facing Sidney employers. They were education, housing,...
People are dying in the middle east. It’s news, but sadly, it’s not surprising. Our views on world events are shaped by our experiences. Because of that, I’m sure mine are different than yours. I am very far removed from the second world war. I was not alive when six million Jews were being slaughtered in the Holocaust and neither were my parents. Although watching footage and seeing photos of Holocaust survivors being liberated gives me a deep sense of shock and sorrow, I will never feel the same as those who saw those images in real time....
Sometimes its hard to develop a social circle when moving to a new place. Sharon Bieganski solved this problem by forming Cycle Sidney, a community bike ride. Although Bieganski grew up in Potter, she moved back to Sidney from Colorado Springs last October. "I didn't know a lot of people and thought this would be a great way to meet new people," she said. When Bieganski and her husband lived in Colorado Springs they had access to a variety of outdoor clubs for those interested in running and bik...
People in Cheyenne County care about what happens at their fairgrounds. “We’ve been having conversations for over a year about the fairgrounds,” said Connie Hancock, UNL extension educator in Sidney. Extension staff in conjunction with a group of volunteers who call themselves the Dream Team are working to determine how to improve the grounds. The Dream Team came to a fork in the road and decided it needed some community involvement to decide where to take its plans. Public input is critical, in Hancock’s opinion. In order to gather the com...
The Cycle Sidney group treks down the trail led by Deanna Flamig in orange.... Full story
Workers have now poured the west section of street between Newton and Linden St. on 10th Ave. Traffic is rerouted onto 13th Ave. while this main thoroughfare is replaced.... Full story
Cheyenne County will issue $32 million in conduit bonds on behalf of Sidney Regional Medical Center in order to fund its new building project. The public hearing in this matter, held on Monday, was moved from the commissioner meeting room to the district courtroom to accommodate all of the community members and hospital representatives in attendance. “We got off previously on the wrong foot when we were talking about this originally a month or two ago,” said Jason Petik, CEO of SRMC. Some of the commissioners were irked when SRMC asked the cou...
After dealing with angry neighbors and dust problems due to the high traffic near gravel pits within the city’s zone of influence, Sidney began charging a road fee to area operators. So far, the city has charged Croell Redi Mix, the company which moved into what was formerly the Kielian pit, $1,000 per month for road maintenance for its first three months of operations. Croell’s operation is located a half mile south of the intersection of County Roads 20 and 117, east of Sidney. Another gravel pit within the city’s two mile zoning juris...
The internet network at Sidney Public Schools is top of the line thanks to donations from several companies, including Cabela's. “Cabela's has always been a good partner for the schools,” said Superintendent of Sidney Public Schools, Jay Ehler. Cabela’s donated about $250,000 in equipment for infrastructure updates to the school's network. Additionally, Cabela's employees donated more than 1,800 of their personal time to this project. Ehler acknowledged that the Cabela's IT department put a lot of time into the project, while the Sidney Publi...
A Texas man was transported to Sidney Regional Medical Center on Friday after he lost control of his motorcycle on Interstate 80, according to a press release from the Nebraska State Patrol. Stanley Everly, 55, of Tarrant, Texas was traveling west on the interstate in the construction zone three miles east of Sunol when he hit the rumble bars, lost control and went into a ditch. Everly’s motorcycle was totaled.... Full story
Ramon Fischer, 7 and Felix Fischer, 4 swing around on Thursday night at the Cheyenne County fair.... Full story
A 19-year-old Chappell woman was killed in a collision late Thursday night four miles east of Sidney. The head-on crash occurred on Highway 30 just after 11:30 p.m. when a car driven by a juvenile male from Sidney, heading west, and the vehicle driven by the woman, heading east, collided. The Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office, Sidney Fire Department and Emergency Response Care all responded to the accident. The woman was flown to Scottsbluff Regional Medical Center after being extricated from her vehicle. She later died of her injuries. The j... Full story
A partnership of arts and education benefits Sidney children and adults thanks to the High Plains Arts Council. HPAC is a group of local volunteers who select professional entertainment and educational groups to come into Sidney. This year’s season, which begins Aug. 23 with Mike Adams Pilgrim Country Classics features seven shows including Dallas Brass on Sept. 15. “When Dallas Brass comes in they do three educational workshops with the high school band and middle school band,” said Carrie Pilger, president and executive director of HPAC....
A crowd of fair-goers roared with laughter on Wednesday night as ventriloquist Greg Claassen poked fun at everything from audience footwear to local law enforcement. Claassen, who's touring Nebraska this summer on the fair circuit, grew up on a farm outside Wichita and was involved in 4-H himself as a kid. His introduction to ventriloquism occurred at a national pork producer's convention when he was in junior high school. A performer at the convention drew customers into his booth with his...
Local kids will get a chance to learn the risks involved in food production at the Commodity Carnival during this year’s fair. The Commodity Carnival, which will be available at the Cheyenne County fair on Aug. 1, is an interactive, educational game that teaches kids ages seven to 14 about the risks and costs involved in producing and bringing animals to market, according to a press release from CME Group. “This idea really came out of wanting to reach the next generation of farmers and ranchers,” said Chris Grams, director of corporate commu...
After receiving no response for its Stuff the Bus campaign in Sidney, Wolf Automotive took the situation into its own hands. "We were really disappointed," said JaCee Pilkington, a representative from Wolf. Wolf held the campaign to collect school supplies for area kids who can't afford them in several panhandle towns over the past few weeks. Efforts in the other towns received much more support than the one in Sidney. While the company had some calls from interested parents in need of school...
I think everyone wants some acknowledgement for a job well done. It’s nice to hear praise, whether it’s for your exceptional flower bed this summer or a project that kept you late at the office last month. Everyone needs positive reinforcement once in a while, but I think sometimes people feel they deserve their own personal cheerleader, when that would be a little impractical. How awkward would that conversation be if she starts cheering while you’re on the phone? We’re not all basketball players and we don’t deserve an entire fan section just...
The national Jaycees President, Chrystal Ramsay-Dyess paid a visit to Sidney on Tuesday to speak with local Jaycees members at Book and Coffee corner. She encouraged local members to fight for causes they believe in and to be more active in the community. Although Jaycees isn't a political organization it can take part in campaigns against texting and driving or making sure local merchants ask for identification when selling cigarettes, for example, she explained. She encouraged members to...
Panhandle Public Health District reminds those enjoying the festivities this week to stay healthy during the county fair. Because many events take place near dusk when mosquitos are most active, PPHD wants the public to remember to protect themselves against the bugs. Mosquito pools in multiple areas of the panhandle have tested positive for West Nile virus. There have been more than 33 positive tests across the state. “We’re seeing a huge increase in West Nile virus,” said Tabi Prochazka, environmental health coordinator at PPHD. She predi...
As Sidney grows, its services, including dentistry, must expand to meet resident need. Summit Dental Group added Dr. Tony George, who recently graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Dentistry, to its team a few weeks ago to help remedy growing demand for dentists. "We're extremely busy,"said Dr. Michael Neal, who founded Summit Dental Group in 2002. Neal decided to add another dentist to the practice because he predicts that Sidney will continue to grow. "Two dentists can provide...
