Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
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The Kimball school board approved an HVAC plan for Mary Lynch Elementary School at a special-called meeting last Wednesday. The board was presented with four different HVAC options for Mary Lynch Elementary School by Specialized Engineering Solutions. The four options varied in overall cost from $187,920 at the lowest cost to $505,440 at the highest cost. The most expensive option includes the furnace being replaced. Also included in that plan would be direct exchange (DX) cooling coils with remote condensing units or air-to-air heat pumps....
Kimball Police Chief Darren Huff hopes the police department will soon have a K9 unit. Huff proposed the establishment of the K9 unit at last Tuesday’s city council meeting. Huff, along with Captain Andy Bremer and Officer Preston Walls, told the council that the unit would be beneficial to the city for a variety of reasons. “Not only will a K9 be a great addition because of their keen senses, but dogs are a big deterrent in crime. Nine times out of 10 a suspect will surrender without a fight when a K9 unit is present on the scene or in pursuit...
Kimball is a place of hidden talents. People with talents big and small inhabit Kimball, and some even share their talents with others. Patricia Randolph is a talent nestled in Kimball and she tries her best to share it with her students. Randolph came to Kimball around 1990, but before that she was playing music and teaching music at several colleges. "I started playing piano at 2. You can start as young as 3 if there is a real talent or a strong influence to practice at home. I was a prodigy....
The Kimball planning commission approved a permit for a cell phone tower at its meeting on Feb. 18. The commission members approved a conditional use permit for a Verizon Wireless cell phone tower. If approved by the city council, the tower will be built just east of Kimball near Hwy. 30 close to the golf course. The cell tower in question would stand 338 feet tall, including the eight-foot lightning rod that will be on the top. Verizon wants to improve its coverage in this area and hopes putting up a tower is a logical solution to the...
Kimball has a long history, and it would not have that history if it was not for the residents that choose to call it home. One of Kimball's longtime residents is Louise M. Perry-Jay, a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, cosmetologist, Avon lady, and all-around hard worker. Louise M. Perry-Jay was six months old in 1926 when she moved with her parents, John C. and Anna F. Schadegg, to live on a farm just northwest Kimball. Louise grew up on the farm with her two sisters and her brother....
The Kimball County commissioners heard a proposal about a phone system at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting. The assessor, district clerk, and sheriff’s offices requested sidecar telephones. These phones are programmable so that they allow a better overall view of who is currently on the phone and whose lines are available. These come in handy when transferring calls, as well as preventing unnecessary interruptions. The cost for an eight-line sidecar phone is roughly $300, and a six-line sidecar phone is $285 in addition to two hours of pro...
Weddings are a time of joy, however, they can also be a time of stress. Not only must a bride take into account her own tastes, she must learn to describe what she wants or collect pictures in order to convey her wants to those she hires. From floral arrangements to bridesmaid dresses and seating arrangements, weddings can seem to overshadow the real reason for the occasion -- lasting love. One thing that many will look into when planning a wedding are the current trends, and this year is...
The Kimball City Council approved a conditional use permit for a cell tower belonging to Viaero Wireless at its Feb. 3 meeting. A public hearing was held before the council approved the request for a cell phone tower from Viaero Wireless. Viaero requested the tower after it identified a need for one in the area to increase its 4G capacity within the City of Kimball. Viaero will install a 60-foot tower on the property. The city council approved Mayor Keith Prunty’s appointment of Randy Gunn to fill Sarah Bouse’s unexpired term on the lib...
A young child breaks his arm, a family wrecks their car, an elderly woman slips and falls, all of these situations have one thing in common, they will be responded to by an emergency service. With an EMT training class currently being offered, those with the will to serve can develop the skills to lend a helping hand. Virgil Johnson has been certified as an EMT for six years, and will be renewing his certification at the upcoming EMT class. He originally took the training as a way to spend time with his daughter. “The EMT class was being o...
At 7:15 p.m. Monday, a jury found Vencil Leo Ash III guilty of first degree murder in the 2003 death of Ryan Guitron. Monday's verdict ended the weeklong trial. Ash will return to court early next month for sentencing. The end of Monday's trial marks the second time Ash has been found guilty in the case. He was found guilty of Guitron's murder by a jury in July 2012. However, the Nebraska Supreme Court overturned the ruling in October 2013, stating that the defense did not have proper time to...
The State of Nebraska versus Vencil Ash trial with jury held its first full day of court on Tuesday. Vencil Ash is charged with the 2003 murder of Ryan Guitron. He was previously found guilty of the murder in July 2012. However, the Nebraska Supreme Court overturned the ruling in October 2013, stating that the defense did not have proper time to prepare for Ash’s wife, Kelly Meehan-Ash, to take the stand. The Supreme Court stated that Ash’s requests to postpone the trial in order to prepare a defense against the testimony should have been gra...
The City of Kimball Planning Commission received an update on the comprehensive housing study at its Jan. 19 meeting. Hanna:Keelan is the firm that is handling Kimball’s comprehensive plan, which includes a housing study. This extensive housing study includes a listing and rating of all the houses in Kimball. Currently, Kimball is lacking in houses for large families, which are houses that have three to four bedroom. The study pointed out that Kimball does have a large number of what some might consider “lock and leave” housing. This type...
Kimball County Commissioners were told a new ambulance was needed at their regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 20. Ambulance Director Carla Goranson brought along Mike Schadegg of Schadegg Motors to help explain that the county ambulances are in need of repair and to be replaced. “One of them needs to be replaced for sure. Even though the one doesn’t have many miles on it, it has made up for that in all the time it has spent idling while on calls,” Schadegg said. Goranson confirmed that the ambulances spend a lot of time on scene idling in or...
The Kimball City Council received an update on the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska from City Administrator Daniel Ortiz at a short meeting held Jan. 20. “I will be attending a meeting for Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, MEAN, this week so I fully anticipate giving an update to the Board of Public Works on the evening of the 27th. I will also be updating the council at your next meeting,” Ortiz said. MEAN is struggling with its financial plan. MEAN plans its prospective budget and has fallen short frequently. This is affecting many mun...
History was made last November in Kimball County when Daria Anderson-Faden became the first-ever female to be elected county commissioner here. She was recently sworn into office. Anderson-Faden is a teacher at Potter-Dix High School. She will retire from the school in May. She grew up in Kimball, first attending school here when she was in the second grade. Her family has been a part of the businesses in Kimball and she remembers the wonder of the oil boom. "We moved here when I was about in...
The Kimball Public School board of education heard various updates on students’ accomplishments at its Jan. 12 meeting. Each board of education meeting reserves a time slot on the agenda to review what is called, “Pride in Excellence.” This agenda item allows students and teachers to inform the board of education what they have been doing to better the school and the community. Patricia Sulu, Kimball High School Spanish teacher, and her students presented a video that they made. The video, roughly 12 minutes in length, is a sort of welco...
After two years, the Kimball Banner County Chamber of Commerce has hired a new chamber director. Larissa Binod is the newly hired chamber director, and will be in the chamber office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. "We've been without a director for about two years. It's really tough. A director needs to be someone who is professional and business minded so that they can help us accomplish our goals. We need them to be passionate about the community," said Josh Enevoldsen, the new...
Vencil Ash was brought to the Kimball County District Courthouse once again, this time on Jan. 6 to prepare for his upcoming re-trial. Ash was present for a 404 hearing, which allows for the submission of evidence that reflects on the defendant's character. There are annotations of this particular statute that encompass character evidence, prior bad act evidence, probative value determination and effect of remoteness. At the hearing, state of Nebraska attorneys Corey O'Brien and Sandy Allen came forth with the intent to offer 404 evidence perta...
The Kimball City Council approved a bid on the event center roof renovations at its meeting on Jan. 6. The meeting began with the discussion of the tabled item from the previous meeting. That item was the consideration of the renewal of the liquor license submitted by James E. Larson Jr., manager of Shopko Hometown #700. The main concern brought to the forefront by several council members was whether or not Shopko was making an effort to provide their employees with training regarding the...
The first commissioners meeting of the year was held last Thursday after the county's newly elected officials were sworn in. Larry Engstrom, who was re-elected, and newly elected commissioner Daria Anderson-Faden, joined Tim Nolting for the first commissioners meeting of 2015. The moment was a rather historical one since Anderson-Faden is the first female county commissioner in the history of Kimball County. The commissioners went over the business of the new year, assigning each commissioner to...
Kimball experienced some rather intense snow that began close to Christmas. Chris Hammer, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, said that Kimball received roughly five inches of snowfall and experienced temperatures that dropped below zero. The windchill in Kimball reached a low of about -40 degrees. “The reason for the Christmas storm Kimball experienced was a Pacific storm that blew into the western United States,” Hammer said, This storm that moved in brought in cold temperatures and all the snowfall that gave Kim...
It is no secret that new year resolutions tend to go unfulfilled. This often happens because people do not know where to begin with their resolutions and therefore do not have the motivation to follow through. There are several places in Kimball that can help a person stay true to their new year resolution. One of the most popular new year resolutions is to get healthy. There are several ways that people can do this, and they do not even have to be in a large city to do so. The event center in Kimball has a 24 hour gym inside. People can...
The area experienced quite the year in 2014. The Kimball Oil Derrick was resurrected in October, Daria Anderson- Faden was the first female elected as a Kimball County Commissioner in November, and a whole lot more. January The 2014 year began with a showing of how helpful Kimball can be. The Daycare in the old West Elementary School building was ready to move forward and had received several donations. It was also in January that Kimball learned that Anne Warner decided not to seek re-election...
The Kimball board of public works discussed the city's landfill, electricity and a landlord agreement at the Dec. 23 meeting. The room was packed with over 30 people present due to certain agenda items. There was discussion concerning whether or not the board should allow the landfill to accept trash from a company outside of Kimball County. If this were to be something considered then the board would also have to set the rates for the service. "Is there a way to monitor what they're dumping to...
The Kimball City Council approved one liquor license and delayed one while seeking more training at its Dec. 16 meeting. Dedra R. Murray requested a liquor license for the Big Mamou Steakhouse, which was approved. After that, an application for a liquor license renewal came in from Shopko Hometown #700, from manager James E. Larson Jr. The city council had some concerns about whether or not Shopko had made sure its employees had obtained the proper training concerning checking for identification when selling liquor. The council asked that...