Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 145
Restoration work carries on at the new Kimball County Transit Service building – a $1.16 million project at Chestnut and 3rd streets hoped to give downtown a needed pick-me-up once it opens this spring. Transit service administrator Christy Warner updated the county commissioners on the project at their Jan. 21 meeting. There’s lots going on at the former auto dealership. Warner said: • Floor demolotion for plumbing and the loading dock is done. The floor has been removed where drainage lines will run. Wet dirt under the north side near the was...
The Kimball County Board of Commissioners at their Jan. 7 annual reorganizational meeting moved unanimously to keep the 2020 structure of county government status quo with 2019. Ryan Stearns of the architectural firm Joseph R. Hewgley and Associates also updated the commissioners on restoration work at the new county transit building. The downtown facility remains on schedule for May completion with a new roof and temporary indoor heating for interior work this winter. Starting at the top in the reorganization, Larry Engstrom returns as board...
Now it's not a question of if, but when, Kimball County Transit Service moves into its new home at the corner of 3rd and Chestnut streets in downtown Kimball. The county commissioners voted, 3-0, on Tuesday to enter into a $1.16 million contract with Anderson-Shaw Construction of Scottsbluff to begin extensive renovations to make the structure viable. The county's 20 percent share of the cost is projected to be $247,918 thanks to federal grant money. After months of talk, the project appears to...
The Veterans Day ceremony at Harry McNees Auditorium in Kimball is a wholehearted display of respect for America and the soldiers who serve it. For many, it is unconditional. Kimball Mayor Keith Prunty explained that feeling in his remarks. "We honor all veterans irrespective of the war they served in," he said. He called it a day for reflection to honor veterans and active military personnel who have been "defending us 365 days a year from the Revolution to the War on Terrorism." One such...
The Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child effort, which provides shoeboxes filled with toys and other fun items for needy children around the world, is underway at Trinity United Methodist Church in Kimball. If you’d like to help out, the time has arrived to take home a box from the church and pack it or bring items to be packed to the church at 305. E. 4th St. Packed boxes should be returned to the church from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday during the week beginning Monday, Nov. 18, and ending Monday, Nov. 25. The church als...
Plans are moving forward to revitalize one of downtown Kimball's busiest intersections and give a new home to growing Kimball County Transit Service. The county commissioners on Tuesday accepted the lowest construction bid to renovate the vacant commercial building at 3rd and Chestnut streets. If all goes well, county officials hope the extensive work can be completed in time for the transit service to occupy the former auto dealership by summer. Federal grant money will pay for most of the...
A significant moment in plans to give the growing Kimball County Transit Service a bigger, better home and downtown Kimball a shot in the arm arrives Tuesday, Nov. 5. Sealed construction bids for the project are to be opened at 10 a.m. during the county commissioners meeting. The intent is to award a contract for all construction to the lowest responsible bidder. The project involves extensive repairs – from the roof on down – at the commercial building on the northeast corner of 3rd and Che...
More than 200 people took a shot last weekend to avoid the flu or just stay healthy this winter. They attended the Kimball Community Health Fair and Flu Clinic at the Kimball Health Services north campus. They walked in. They drove through outside for flu shots in their vehicles. Either way, they were tested or received a vaccination. "We had 220 people come through the health fair to receive low-cost blood testing over the two days, and gave 159 flu shots in the drive-through and walk-in flu...
When Mountain Standard Time returns 2 a.m Sunday, it’s time to turn back any clocks one hour that aren’t on digital devices that do it automatically. As for the vintage Larsen’s Jewelry clock pictured with this story, it most certainly requires human hands to turn back the clock hands. This electronic Kimball classic, 14 inches in diameter, has been telling time on Western Nebraska Observer office walls for many years....
The Farmers' Almanac might be onto something with its forecast for a frigid and snowy winter in these parts. It already started. The first winter-like storm of the season, which blasted the Panhandle last Thursday, knocked out electrical power for about 80 percent of Kimball and dropped temperatures from 64 to 21 degrees days over the previous 20 hours. Old Man Winter unleashed less than an inch of snow locally during the storm, but he still flashed that mean streak that local folks remember...
The theme for the 2019 Kimball Farmer's Day celebration was "Sowing Seeds of Success." That phrase may apply to the event itself. Some new events this year, such as the bike race and cornhole tournament, worked out well and are worthy of growing, Farmer's Day chairperson Assunta Nelson told the Observer. Nelson said the Farmer's Day Committee held its wrap-up meeting last week. She said the committee did a "bang-up job" this time around. "I think things went really good," she said. "I mean,...
Kimball County’s early blast of winter-like weather this week was expected to bring 3 to 4 inches of snow, icy roads and hazardous travel conditions through Friday morning, the National Weather Service in Cheyenne warned. All of which followed a temperature free fall on Wednesday that was forecast to nosedive from about 80 to 20 degrees and cause pre-snow rainfall to freeze. Good news for the Kimball area is that it was expected to escape considerably more severe weather to the north and west, and that more seasonal autumn weather was anticipat...
For 2019 Farmer's Day grand marshals Susan and Dave Haack, their big day turned out to be 45 years in the making. They were married 45 years to the day – on a long-ago Farmer's Day – before serving as grand marshals of their community's 93rd annual local celebration. "Oh, my gosh," Susan said. " We were so surprised and honored by the award and to be chosen as grand marshals." The inscription on that award, a silver plate, is simple and meaningful to them: "Grand Marshals. Dave and Susan Haa...
Daria Anderson-Faden, the Kimball County Commissioner and Observer staff writer, continues recovering from serious injuries suffered during her Sept. 23 head-on collision in Banner County with a pickup driven by a Colorado man cited for driving under the influence of drugs. Anderson-Faden told the Observer on Tuesday that she awaits replacement surgery on her crushed right ankle next week at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff, which had been scheduled for Wednesday this week but was...
The winner of the inaugural Kimball Fill the Food Pantry Cart Challenge is Kimball Health Services. The final score was KHS 490, Kimball Public Public Schools 201. That's how many food items each side collected in the friendly battle to help the local food bank. Stephanie Pedersen of KHS human resources said the competition evolved after she read an article about the food bank being low on food. She thought about a challenge between KHS departments. Then she talked with her husband, Chauncey....
Daria Anderson-Faden, a Kimball County commissioner and Western Nebraska Observer staff writer, was among four people injured in a two-vehicle Monday morning accident in Banner County. She was listed in good condition at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff early Wednesday after suffering serious injuries. The rural Kimball resident told the Observer that she was being treated for a dislocated right leg with a compound fracture and crushed ankle, and for a broken right arm and wrist. She...
Spending is down a bit and the tax rate up nearly 2 cents for every $100 of property valuation under the $32.45 million Kimball County budget that the board of commissioners approved Sept. 4. For the owner of a $100,000 home, annual county property taxes will increase from about $426 to $445. Board members Daria Anderson-Faden, Larry Engstrom and Brandon Mossberg voted unanimously to pass the spending plan. County budget officer Josi Morgan told the Observer that the county found itself in the position of needing to raise taxes although...
Kimball has received a $10,212 slice of Nebraska's funding pie for recycling and waste reduction. The grant money will go to the "Keep Kimball Beautiful" campaign. Some funds will be for increasing recycling by providing collection services to rural residents and business. Other money will be for residential alley recycling collection and recycling trailers for local towns and events. Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Director Jim Macy announced this week that the department awarded...
Kimball County Manor is appealing a disciplinary action notice by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services following the May 30 death of manor resident Marllene Goodon due to an accident there. The appeal enables the nursing home and assisted living facility to operate normally with no sanctions during an appeal process that could last a year or more, manor social services coordinator Michelle Daum told the Observer on Tuesday. Daum said the manor disputes the accuracy of DHHS...
A newly formed Girl Scouts troop has bloomed in Kimball, and they're off to a good start. Say hello to Troop 18412. "Throughout the year, these girls have chosen to learn about topics including engineering, responsibility, drawing, Girl Scout history, financial literacy and more through activities and field trips where girls learn by doing," troop co-leader Kayla Fennell told the Observer. As part of the discovery process, the girls toured the Kimball Recycling Center to learn about what can be...
Daria Anderson-Faden has returned to the Kimball County Board of Commissioners. She was sworn into office May 21. She filled the vacancy that opened with the resignation of former Commissioner Timothy Nolting. "I am excited to have the chance to be involved with our local government again, and to be able to help people with their needs," she said. "It is different this time with all of the new boards I am serving on." It was Nolting who served on the boards that Anderson-Faden inherited. These...
Nothing like some late May snowfall to delay preparations for the annual Kimball County Memorial Day Service at Kimball Cemetery. But organizers hope to have everything in order for the star-spangled ceremony next Monday, May 27. Kimball Mayor Keith Prunty told The Observer early this week that the city wanted to get the cemetery looking nice but the weather was making it difficult. Specifically, the unseasonably cold, snowy and wet conditions slowed down the city’s annual pre-Memorial Day cleanup at the cemetery. That, in turn, pushed back e...
Reasons for the demise of Kimball’s Shopko Hometown store extend far beyond the local store’s business performance alone. “It’s a company issue,” Kimball City Administrator Dan Dean told the Observer on Tuesday. It most certainly is. Shopko said Monday, March 18, that it was closing its remaining stores because it was unable to find a buyer. The statement followed a U.S. bankruptcy court decision to cancel an ownership auction for the retail chain in favor of a bankruptcy consultant overseeing a liquidation under which the stores will clos...
The Blizzard of 2019 walloped the Kimball area with wicked sustained winds, freezing rain and heavy snow as forecast – forcing the closure of schools, businesses, government offices and highways across the Nebraska Panhandle. The historic late-winter storm also postponed on-time delivery of the Thursday, March 14, print edition of the Western Nebraska Observer. The shutdown of Interstate 80 and Highway 30 on March 13 and 14 due to hazardous conditions made it impossible for copies of the O...
Kimball Hospital Foundation hit the jackpot with its Casino Night fundraiser. That's in terms of community support and money raised. More than 200 charitable gamblers filled Kimball Event Center on Saturday for Casino Night, raising about $10,500 for the organization that champions Kimball Health Services, foundation director Kerry Ferguson told the Observer. "We couldn't be happier with the support and turnout of folks in the community and the sponsors," Ferguson said. "The people had fun."...