The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

The local community, and Western Nebraska Community College’s Sidney aviation program specifically, was struck hard recently. Make no mistake. This will be a difficult journey.

The aviation program is a tight-knit crew of students fascinated with the many skills associated with flight. Visiting one of their fly-in breakfasts for pilots, I felt like I was invited to a community gathering, something almost family-like.

Even those who bordered on “dysfunctional” put fun in the word. They were students under a common curriculum, but they are also close-knit. They were under the kind of...