Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Articles from the March 16, 2017 edition


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  • Mike Daum and SDSU begin NCAA tournament™ today

    Tom Southard|Mar 16, 2017

    Talk of the town, or of the state and maybe of the nation right now in college basketball is none other than our very own Mike Daum of Kimball. The Kimball High grad is really drawing the attention of all the so-called experts who are raving about his abilities and his accomplishments. His latest top achievement was leading his South Dakota State University team to the Summit League Conference Tournament title, which puts the Jack Rabbits back into the Big Dance. I hope you fans got to watch...

  • Gravel a recurring county concern

    Aleta Pearson|Mar 16, 2017

    Dave Hottell, County Road Superintendent, voiced his concerns about roads frequently traveled by the Air Force during the March 7 Kimball County Commissioner's meeting. In the past, the Nebraska Department of Roads was in charge of how and when the roads were repaired and they did a good job, according to Hottell. Now it is handled by the Federal Highway Administration and he has some concerns. Hottell recently received a report that named roads were scheduled for additional gravel this year and...

  • Banner County considers four day school schedule

    Tonia Copeland|Mar 16, 2017

    With more rural schools in the tri-state area opting to move to a four-day school week, the Banner County School Board hosted a community meeting on Thursday, March 9, to examine the potential benefits and pitfalls of the same, though this decision solely falls on the school board, as a vote is not required. “I would like to thank you all for coming. We appreciate your time,” board president Charity May said. “I would like to remind you that we are simply here to listen; we don’t have the answers.” Dozens of residents showed up for the meeti...

  • Friends and Neighbors: Liz Williams

    Tonia Copeland|Mar 16, 2017

    Though she is a new face in town, Liz Williams, Peer Specialist with Panhandle Health Group, is busy meeting new people in her quest to help consumers in Kimball and the surrounding areas. Williams, who prefers the term Peer Navigator, uses her own life experiences to assist others. While this is a newer concept here in the Nebraska Panhandle, peer specialists have long been used for military veterans and those in support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Though some clients are referrals...

  • Ambulance transition proceeds despite local resistance

    Aleta Pearson|Mar 16, 2017

    Despite resistance from locals, the Kimball Board of commissioners moved forward on the plan to transition local emergency services from a county-managed service to a hybrid model. To allow members of the public time to voice concerns about the new hybrid model ambulance service, the Kimball County Commissioners extended their bi-monthly meeting on March 7, 2017, reconvening in the afternoon to dozens of citizens. Although none of the agenda items were unusual, many in opposition of the imminent changes had taken to social media and posted...

  • Police fleet in disrepair

    Tonia Copeland|Mar 16, 2017

    During the Feb. 21 City Council meeting, council heard a request for Keno funds from the Kimball Police Department for the purchase of a police vehicle. “Our fleet is pretty worn out,” Kimball Police Chief Andy Bremer said, “We have three Crown Victorias that are in various stages of disrepair. Also, our Durango and Explorer are pretty worn out.” One unit, a Crown Victoria, is mechanically sound but the lights and siren are non-functional. “I have set up a regiment with Wolf Automotive for all of our cars now,” he added. “Every time I take t...

  • Jenner approved as Veterans Service Officer

    Aleta Pearson|Mar 16, 2017

    Bob Abramson, Don Olsen, Joe Hernandez and Kimball Police Chief Andy Bremer attended the March 7, Kimball County Board of Commissioners morning meeting, representing the County Veterans Service Committee that interviewed five applicants and recommended Robert Jenner for the position of VSO. Jenner is a veteran of the Air Force, has a good rapport with people and has decades of experience in the business world. He has also been approved by the State of Nebraska VSO. Jenner's wife, Mary Kay is...

  • Merceda Dietz

    Mar 16, 2017

    Merceda Dietz, 79, of Kimball, died at Kimball Health Services on Tuesday March 7, 2017. Services for Merceda will be Saturday March 18, 2017. Inurnment will be held at the Kimball Cemetery at 10:00 a.m. and Celebration of Life Services will be at Trinity United Methodist Church at 11:00 a.m. Pastor Carla Gunn will be officiating. Friends may visit www.cantrellfh.com to view Merceda's Tribute Wall and leave condolences for the family. Memorials may be given to St. Labre Indian School, Trinity...

  • No utility cap for event center

    Aleta Pearson|Mar 16, 2017

    Last week’s meeting of the Board of Public Works witnessed the board working through several small items quickly before spending the majority of the meeting discussing whether or not to cap the utility bills for the Kimball Event Center. They chose not to at this time but may be open to revisiting the issue in a few months. Christy Warner, representing the Kimball Event Center committee, addressed the board concerning the electrical portion of the event center’s city bill. She explained that after a review of past utility costs, they found tha...

  • Consequences and compassion

    Aleta Pearson|Mar 16, 2017

    Once again for the record, this article is my opinion.This means that whatever I write here is written from my own perspective and not the opinion of the Western Nebraska Observer. If you would like to share your own opinions, you may submit a letter to the editor for publication. Please refer to the bottom right corner of this page, “Letter to the editor policy,” for more information. I want to clarify that my opinion piece from last week entitled, “Shame on us,” was not about the ambulance service. It was in reference to a lesser known i...

  • Randomly Tonia

    Tonia Copeland|Mar 16, 2017

    Positivity is a word that is not recognized by my spell check. Weird, right?! It is, however, in the dictionary, and it means exactly what we would think: 1.the practice of being or tendency to be positive or optimistic in attitude The tendency to be positive, or optimistic in attitude. Well, that suggests that it is almost innate, really. A tendency is something one leans towards or tends to be. That makes it easy! It is easy to be positive when surrounded by people behaving in a generally positive way. It isn’t hard at all to be positive w...

  • Veterans History Project

    Larry Nelson|Mar 16, 2017

    The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Tom Paul Lindsey had graduated from high school and had a job at a grocery store in Iowa Park, Texas. He knew the Selective Service System (draft board) was highly active at that time and his name was sure to be called. Until that day, he went with...

  • Potter-Dix and the "President"

    Tonia Copeland|Mar 16, 2017

    Third grade teacher at Potter-Dix Elementary school, Kristen Kasten, paired with Potter-Dix High School social studies teacher, Ryan Coffey to present youngsters with a lesson in the Legislature that they won't soon forget. When thinking of third-grade appropriate lessons on American government, one might question how much is too much, but these two teachers taught just such a lesson easily, by enacting the branches of government. According to Kasten, the third grade students were the...

  • City to add new position

    Tonia Copeland|Mar 16, 2017

    The City of Kimball plans to hire a Community Service Officer to assist the Kimball Police Department with tasks such as abatement processes and stray dog calls. “We are going to ramp up our abatement processes,” Kimball Mayor Keith Prunty said. “This officer will be responsible for making abatement letters and tracking them.” The CSO will be a part-time position, according to Kimball City Administrator Dan Dean. The force, with four full-time and three part-time officers, finds that much of their time is needed for higher priority calls....

  • Springs sports practice begins

    Mar 16, 2017

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  • An injury plays havoc with Kimball girl's season

    Tom Southard|Mar 16, 2017

    The 2016-17 basketball season started out just like Kimball High girl’s coach Chauncey Pedersen envisioned, with three wins in their first four games, but an injury to a key player helped to shatter those visions. The Lady Longhorns showed lots of promise with a pair of early wins over a very good Morrill ball club and a win over Perkins County in those first four contests, and a lone loss to a Dundy County team that went into the state tournament undefeated. Then, in the second meeting with Morrill, junior Alex Reader went down right at the e...

  • Junior High boys close out basketball season

    Tom Southard|Mar 16, 2017

    Coach Dane Wurdeman was kind enough to furnish me with some final junior high boy’s basketball results for the Kimball teams. Not a lot of wins this season but there were some individual highlights and some promising young players will be advancing into the High School program next year. Since our last report, the Kimball eighth grade team played in a Morrill tournament, losing to Morrill 47-22 with Javon Coyle high for Kimball with 14, Jared Barnes had three, Cole Henton and Christian Van Pelt had two each. In the second game at Morrill, Kimba...

  • Jock Talk

    Tom Southard|Mar 16, 2017

    Talk of the town, or of the state and maybe of the nation right now in college basketball is none other than our very own Mike Daum of Kimball. The Kimball High grad is really drawing the attention of all the so-called experts who are raving about his abilities and his accomplishments. His latest top achievement was leading his South Dakota State University team to the Summit League Conference Tournament title, which puts the Jack Rabbits back into the Big Dance. I hope you fans got to watch him in action in that conference title game where he...