Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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Kimball County’s Welcome Center doesn’t feel as welcoming as High Point Welcome Center’s Tourism Director, Jo Caskey, would like it to. Caskey requested three phases of improvements to the building at the April 19 Kimball County Commissioner’s meeting, beginning with multiple outdated HVAC systems. She added that she was grateful that the City of Kimball capped the electricity expenses for the Welcome Center at $500. “Our utilities bills are out of control and we had better do something to rein those in,” she said. “With the rate increase, we h...
Joe Hernandez, the father of two daughters, a grandfather to six and a great grandfather to two is happy to have spent most of his life in Kimball, the place he has always called home. It is where he said he has met some great people and is content to be living. Joe's parents, Cesario and Petra (Patricia) and their oldest son, Lance, first arrived from San Julian, Jaleco, Old Mexico, in the United States in the early 1920s according to the Kimball man. Joe, the fourth child born to the...
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The Kimball County Board of Commissioners opened their latest meeting, Tuesday, April 19 to a packed board room, with dozens of citizens and interested parties on hand to hear and discuss the Kimball County Ambulance and the regional ambulance service option. "The ambulance services that have become regional with you guys," came a question from Kimball County Ambulance Service employee Kim Schildhauer to the CEO of Regional West Medical Center, John Mentgen and Randy Meininger, owner of the...
Roger Gillming is a nonconformist when it comes to his role as retired after spending a total of forty years in homiletics, the study of composing and delivering a sermon, and helping with the American Red Cross. Once serving as the pastor for both Methodist churches, here and in Bushnell for more than a decade, Gillming thought he would like to have more free time with his wife, Schatzie, and their two grandsons, Aaron and Kip, who live in close proximity to the couple. Real retirement didn't...
Audrey Hepburn once said, "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." That very sentiment is echoed in the FFA Creed, "I believe in the future of agriculture," and enacted in the Kimball High School's Ag Greenhouse. This greenhouse enclosure was purchased in 2004 from Stuppy Manufacturing, according to Kimball's previous Ag Instructor, Alan Held, for around $38,000. It was then erected by local contractors in 2005, at an approximate cost of $26,000. Currently, as it was when first built, is...
Substance abuse prevention is the focus of a newly formed coalition in Kimball County. Five representatives from Kimball County, Region 1 Behavioral Health Authority and Kimball Public Schools met last month to discuss youth substance abuse prevention, according to Faith Mills, Youth Network and Prevention System Coordinator at the Region 1 Behavioral Health Authority. Marshall Lewis is also part of the conversation of beginning a coalition group for this area. “I don’t really know that much about it, but I have been willing to listen,” he st...
"Every limbo boy and girl, All around the limbo world, Gonna do the limbo rock, All around the limbo clock." Chubby Checker - "Limbo Rock" Once upon a time these lyrics could be heard as youngsters in Kimball skated under the limbo stick at The Skate House – a place where many may have spent Friday and Saturday nights, as well as the occasional Sunday afternoon. Recent activity to restore and re-open The Goodhand Theater may have some Kimball citizens reminiscing of other now gone businesses, s...
After nearly 17 years as the superintendent of the custodial crew at the Kimball County Courthouse, Pat Sibal is preparing for retirement. Sibal said he is somewhat trepidatious about his journey into retirement, but none the less is looking forward to his new role. "I'm excited, but it's scary at the same time," he explained. "I've seen a lot of changes over the years. We have gone a long way in security at the courthouse as we now have sixteen security cameras and just this last fall we put...
Matthew Pellegrini, 34, of Fairbanks, Alaska spent last weekend at Oliver Reservoir because of the storm. He has spent the last five months traveling from his hometown of Fairbanks to the farthest point south in Keywest, Fla. This may not seem like a big deal, but Pellegrini's trip is projected to take 14 months because he is traveling by bicycle. Pellegrini said that he has always been somewhat adventurous and his first long trip on his bike took place the year he graduated from high school,...
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Most are familiar with the member-owned electric co-op located in Pine Bluffs. The company serves customers in Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado. According to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the company, Lindsay Forepaugh, Kimball County owes the company $99,634.01 in a refund on the 2015 taxes paid. Kimball County Assessor, Sherry Winstrom, addressed the commissioners about the issue, during last week’s meeting. “I have rejected the claim (from High West Energy) on my part, but it’s up to you guys now as to what you are going to do,...
At the last regular board meeting of the Kimball County Commissioners two separate items were listed that could ultimately affect the Kimball County Ambulance crew members. Items on the agenda for the April 5 meeting included "Discuss/approve financing terms for the new County ambulance", as well as "Discuss potential options regarding the operation of the Kimball County Ambulance." Because of the listed items, many from the local ambulance crew, along with CEO Ken Hunter of the Kimball County H...
Although Doug Provance grew up in Trenton, Missouri and graduated there from Grandview High School in 1981, Kimball is home. Provance met the lady who would later become his wife, Jennifer, when they both worked as military police officers in security for the United States Air Force at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. They married in 1983 and when Jennifer, a Kimball native, was due to have their first child, Zach, she decided to quit the military after two years of service. The young...
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United States founding father Benjamin Franklin, famously said that “the only things certain in this world are death and taxes” If there is any “good news” regarding the annual tax day event, this year we will have until the April, 18 because April, 15 falls on Friday. The nationally dreaded tax deadline still looms less than two weeks from now. Kimball is fortunate to have three certified public accountants to choose from to help with this dreaded chore annually. One of those individuals, Wynema Engstrom, has been available to help since t...
The long-awaited Kimball underpass project is taking small baby steps forward as local residents along chose, and Kimball City Council members voted on, a final design for the historic underpass located on Chestnut Street. The chosen design will feature a welcome sign to greet visitors from the north and a plaza to provide a gathering space on the south side of the underpass, at an estimated cost of $700,000, according to Kimball Mayor Keith Prunty. The project, slated to be completed in 2017, has been in the works for more than a dozen years...
After further investigation into a possible wellness center at the current Kimball Event Center, the Kimball County hospital has decided not to go forward on the combined project with the Kimball City Council and the Kimball County Commissioners. Kimball Health Services CEO, Ken Hunter said that he was very pleased to see so many community leaders come together to consider the possibility of a wellness center as well as community improvements. In January of this year a handful of local leaders m...
Driving along Highways 30 and 71, as well as along, Interstate 80, it is hard to miss the beautiful green color of the local winter wheat in our area, mainly due to the amount of moisture of late. But that moisture can cause damage to this midwest staple. “People need to be looking at their wheat fields now for the possibility of wheat rust on their crops,” said University of Nebraska – Lincoln plant disease specialist, Bob Harveson. Wheat rust is a disease of wheat caused by a fungus, such as ‘Puccinia graminis’, and Harveson states that this...
The Kimball High School FFA Chapter members left yesterday (Wednesday) for the 88th Annual Nebraska State FFA Convention in Lincoln at UNL East Campus, where they will compete and receive honors for their accomplishments on April 6, 7 and 8. According to the group’s advisor and Kimball High’s Ag Instructor, Sally Wheeler, sixteen student members will attend the event this year. Kimball will be represented by teams in Meats Evaluation, Agronomy, Floriculture and Farm Management contests. The students will also have opportunities to listen to...
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“One man’s trash - is another man’s treasure,” will not apply to the properties given the nuisance status in Kimball. According to Mayor Keith Prunty, the City is once again revisiting and reinforcing nuisance ordnances, beginning in April. “It will be enforced again and if anyone has concerns with time frame on abating, they need to contact the city office and we will work with them,” Prunty said. “It will probably begin in April, that we start dealing with these issues. We will try and tie into the ‘spring cleanup’ that we will be doing up...
If working full time, running your own business and raising two healthy and very active sons (Aaron, 10 and Kip, 7) weren't enough, Josh and Jenny Gillming offer this community many hours of service through volunteerism. Jennifer (Cederburg) was born, raised and graduated high school in this community, while Josh, graduated from Burwell, then moved here with his parents in 1999. In August of that same year, Josh began basic training for the U.S. Army in Benning, Ga., and after that, AIT...
The SPVA Music Contest last week in North Platte went “very well over all”, according to Kimball Music Instructor and Choir Leader, Jacob Hoffman. “All of our ensembles, both vocal and instrumental, received either an ‘Excellent’ rating, which is the second highest rating given,” explained Hoffman, “or they received ‘Superior’ ratings which is the highest rating given.” The Kimball students competed against students from seven of the other SPVA schools of the other SPVA schools. “I feel the students were in good spirits regarding the competi...
Spring is near and with it often comes severe weather. March 21-25 is Nebraska Severe Weather Awareness Week, and recently our county has installed the CodeRed system in the Kimball Sheriff’s office to help assure that Kimball residents are “weather-ready”. Sheriff Gillway, along with Kimball County’s General Assistant Coordinator, Linda Williams, were instrumental in gathering the information and ultimately doing most of the leg-work in obtaining the new system. The new CodeRED system will be easier for local authorities and residents to use,...