The Alliance Chamber of Commerce will host a candidates call in program on Tuesday, October 16, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The forum will take place at the APS Administration Board Room and will be telecast live on Charter Cable Channel 6.

Audience questions may be phoned in (during the program) to 762-5475. Questions will be forwarded to the program moderator, Earl Jones.

The forum schedule:

6:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. — Box Butte County Commissioner Candidates Marv Toedtli and Doug Hashman.

7:05 p.m. to 7:35 p.m. — Legislative District 43 Candidates Al Davis and John Ravenscroft.

7:40 p.m. to 8:10 p.m. — Alliance City Council Candidates Lori Rowley, Wally Seiler and Fred Feldges.

8:15 p.m. — Alliance School Board Candidates Troy Schnell, Duane Dobson, Terry Curtiss, and Deborah Grothen-Wegehoft.

If you cannot paticipate Tuesday night, you may call the Alliance Chamber office at 762-1520 and leave your questions for the candidates.

The program will be taped and replayed on Wednesday, October 17, at noon and 6 p.m.

 

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is throwing a 20th birthday party for its Visitor Center-Museum tomorrow, tying the event in with next week’s 3rd annual National Fossil Day.

Starting the celebration will be a talk at 1:30 by National Park Service Curator and Colorado State University instructor Greg McDonald titled “the Equus Files” Fossil Horses and the National Parks.”

That will be followed at 3:00 by the birthday party with birthday cake. Visitors being encouraged to share their memories of the park…especially those from before or just after the opening of the Visitor Center-Museum.

Before its construction, Agate’s visitor center was a couple mobile homes that housed a small seasonal museum.

The late retired U-S Senate Roman Hruska was the featured speaker for the building’s ribbon-cutting on November 22, 1992, and told the crowd the building culminated some 30 years of supporters trying to get a permanent facility.

Those efforts had taken a big leap forward in 1987 when Joanne Kyral was named superintendent of Scotts Bluff National Monument…which also included being superintendent of Agate.

She supported a permanent center, and soon the Friends of Agate Fossil Beds group was formed and began raising seed money for the project.

The group raised more than $350,000…which gave then-Congresswoman Virginia Smith the leverage to secure a $1-1/2-million dollar appropriation for the visitor center. Kyral, now retired and living in Colorado, says it was true community effort.

The Agate Fossil Beds visitor center-museum had no permanent exhibits when it opened…those were still a few years down the road…but Kyral says the strong community support led her boss to push hard for going ahead with just temporary exhibits.

Kyral says other improvements that quickly followed at Agate…including its paved roads and new staff housing…would not have been possible without the Visitor Center and the strong community support it received.

Ironically, Kyral didn’t get to enjoy the new building for long; it was announced at the ribbon-cutting that she had accepted an NPS promotion and soon transferred to the newly-established Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in Minnesota.

The 1992 ribbon-cutting saw the entire building wrapped with a red ribbon and the more than 200 people in attendance all share the cutting honors simultaneously.

The day also included Native American blessing ceremonies inside and outside the building led by Lakota spiritual leader John Around Him.

Listen:

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Chadron police last night arrested a man sought on sexual assault charges from southwestern Nebraska. 19 year-old Alexander Walton of Loomis…who is living in Chadron…was taken into custody at his residence without incident about 9:00 pm.

Walton is in the Dawes County Jail with bail set at $100,000 on a Harlan County arrest warrant for one felony – 1st degree sexual assault of a minor and 2 misdemeanors – debauching a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a child.

Chadron Police Chief Tim Lordino says Harlan County authorities contacted his office about Loomis, said he was living in Chadron, and provided Chadron police with a cell phone number.

Lordino says officers called Loomis on a pretext and made arrangements to talk to him in person, then arrested him after they arrived at his residence.

The Chadron State Foundation kicked off its annual fall fund campaign on Wednesday, once again using a good-natured competitions between teams of local leaders and college faculty and staff to raise money to help the college.

CSC development officer Leslie Bargen is this year’s campaign organizer, and says this year’s theme…Because of You…recognizes the community support that makes the college strong.

This year’s fall drive has 124 volunteers divided into 20 teams…10 from the campus and 10 from the community…who will be contacting businesses and individuals in the Chadron area for donations.

Serving as the chairs of the community teams are Tina McLain of Chadron Community Recreation and Jason Carnahan, a loan officer at Security First Bank in Chadron.

The campus team leaders are faculty member Dr Donna Ritzen and Bargen’s husband, men’s basketball coach Brent Bargen. Chairs serve two year, and this is the second year for both McLain and and Ritzen.

Leslie Bargen says the teams wasted no time in getting down to business and contacting the individuals and businesses on their lists for donations, with some already turned in.

Bargen says while there’s no set dollar goal, she’s hoping the drive will top last year’s total of $188,000 raised during the active phase of the campaign…although contributions come in throughout the school year.

The active phase normally runs 2 weeks, but Bargen says CSC’s upcoming fall break led to a decision to extend the drive an extra week this year with the turn-in deadline set for Halloween afternoon.

Listen:

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By Ashley Hinker

Jury selection began Monday for the trial of Dominick DuBray of Alliance.  DuBray, 26, allegedly stabbed and murdered both Catalina (Cathy) Chavez of Alliance and her stepfather, Mike Loutzenhiser of Scottsbluff.  He is being charged with two counts of Murder in the First Degree, a Class I Felony, and two counts of Use of a Deadly Weapon to Commit a Felony, a Class II Felony.  If convicted, DuBray could face the Death Penalty under Nebraska State Law.

On Wednesday, September 26, the Alliance Police Department responded to a complaint made by the Alliance Middle School principal regarding suspicions of sexual solicitations of female students.

Upon conducting a sting operation to confirm these suspicions, Phillip Holden of Alliance was arrested for allegedly offering young female students marijuana or cigarettes in exchange for sexual acts and intercourse.

After the arrest was made, police obtained a search warrant for Holden’s apartment and recovered many items of a sexual and pornographic nature.

Holden, 21, is being charged with Sexual Assault: Use of Electronic Device, a Class ID Felony, and Enticement by Electronic Communication Device, a Class IV Felony.

If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison. Bail is currently set at $50,000 but he is still in custody.

By Ashley Hinker

Governor Dave Heineman says an hour-long private meeting yesterday with 3 northern Panhandle county commissioners about fire recovery efforts was very productive and very gratifying.

Over 200,000-acres were burned in Dawes, Sioux, and Sheridan counties during a series of fires this summer, and Heineman welcomes the desire of local officials to take a coordinated approach to recovery efforts.

The commissioners…Stacy Swinney of Dawes County, James Krotz of Sheridan County, and Lotten of Sioux County…had sent the governor a list of priorities drafted at a public planning session last week so he could study them in advance. He says the move made yesterday’s meeting even more productive.

Much of the burned area…especially from the Wellnitz Fire in northern Sheridan County…is state land, so the governor wants to find out what recovery help is available from Game and Parks.

Another state agency Governor Heineman plans to talk with is the Department of Roads…the result of the county commissioners asking him about the possibility used or surplus posts from guardrails or right-of-way fences being made available to local ranchers who lost thousands of miles of fences to the fires.

One of the big, immediate needs identified by last week’s planning meeting was repairing county roads damaged by the fires or the heavy truck traffic from firefighting efforts. Governor Heineman hopes to find out shortly if the losses to public infrastructure were enough to trigger federal help.

The governor plans to work closely with U-S Senator Mike Johanns, 3rd District Congressman Adrian Smith, and the winner of the Deb Fischer-Bob Kerrey senate race over the coming months and years to push federal officials for as much fire recovery help as possible.

Governor Heineman also plans to meet with northern Panhandle officials again in a month to 6 weeks to exchange updates.

Listen:

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Eric Johnson, 46, of Alliance has been arrested stemming from a domestic abuse allegation made on September 23.  This will be Johnson’s second domestic violence charge in the last 18 months.

Johnson made his initial appearance October 2, and was released on $5,000 bond after being held in custody for nine days.  He is being charged with Domestic Assault in the 3^rd Degree, his 2^ndOffense, which is a Class IV Felony as well as Resisting Arrest, a Class I misdemeanor.  If convicted, he could receive up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both on the felony charge.  He is ordered to have no contact with his wife and daughter at this time.  Johnson will make his next appearance in court on October 17.

Written by: Ashley Hinker

Nearly two dozen business and government leaders from eastern Nebraska will be in Chadron tonight and tomorrow for a special turkey hunt organized by the Nebraska Northwest Development Corporation.

NNDC executive director Deb Cottier says the Pine Ridge Wild Turkey Hunt is intended as a fun, but out of the ordinary event to bring movers-and-shakers to the region for a chance to see for themselves why the northern Panhandle is a good place to locate a business.

The turkey hunt is the successor to the Governor’s Turkey Hunt, which the NNDC hosted in the 1990s but eventually dropped because then-Governor Mike Johanns wasn’t a hunter.

Current Governor Dave Heinemann isn’t either, but Lt Governor Rick Sheehy is and Cottier says both men will be on hand for a get acquainted event tonight, with Sheehy staying the night and hunting tomorrow.

Cottier admits it’s little difficult to point with absolute certainty to definite economic development gains from the turkey hunts of the past, but is convinced there were plenty…starting with personal relationships formed with the visitors.

Listen:

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Three northern Panhandle county commissioners will meet with Governor Dave Heineman in Chadron today to discuss a 90-day action plan for fire recovery efforts in the parts of Dawes, Sioux, and Sheridan counties that burned in this summer’s wildfires.

Work on creating the plan began with a public meeting last week in Chadron that drew about 75 participants from the 3 counties and came up with some general areas of focus and possible action.

Priorities included rebuilding pasture fences, clearing fallen trees, salvaging burned timer, repairing damaged county roads, and replanting burned areas. Some could, or should, begin within the next 30 days.

Dawes County Commissioner Stacy Swinney…who organized both the input session and today’s meeting…sent the priorities list to the governor last week to give him a chance to review the ideas and be able to offer some firm answers today.

Meeting the governor along with Swinney will be commissioners Jim Krotz of Sheridan County and Kevin Lotten of Sioux County.  Swinney says the idea is a private meeting that allows open discussion without running afoul of the state’s Open Meetings law.

Listen:

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