The Village of Hemingford filled the position of Village Clerk/Treasurer on Tuesday night, promoting Deputy Clerk Ann Trickler-Wessel to the position.

The Hemingford Ledger reports that Trickler-Wessel was among 13 applicants for the job and one of four finalists interviewed. She has 22 years of experience working at the village office and served as the interim Village Clerk for the past four months.

The village will soon look to hire a billing clerk to work in the municipal office with Trickler-Wessel. Advertising for the position will likely begin after the next regular meeting scheduled for October 2.

 

 

After serving the public for three months at the Alliance Campus of Western Nebraska Community College, Nebraska Workforce Development is back in its regular location at 302 Box Butte Avenue.

Workforce Development was forced to relocate following the June 12 standoff between law enforcement and Andy Gonzales at Thiele Pharmacy and Gifts.

The Workforce Development office is near Thiele’s back door where law enforcement were forced to enter using chemicals that damaged the interior of both buildings.

Workforce Development Director Mark Anderson says his staff returned to their regular location on Wednesday, Sept. 19.

He says the building has received new paint, new carpet, and other upgraded fixtures.

“We invite the public to come in and see our remodeled offices,” he said.

The neighboring Theile building will remain closed until October. The Pharmacy is currently serving the public at 2307 Box Butte Avenue in a former medical building north of Box Butte General Hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alliance will celebrate its 125th birthday next year — but going to press this week is a project co-sponsored by the Alliance Times-Herald, the Alliance Chamber of Commerce and the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center that certainly will stir memories and serve as an educational tool.

The book, Alliance Memories — Celebrating 125 Years — is scheduled to arrive in mid November, in plenty of time for Santa to place the book under your favorite Christmas Tree.

Alliance Times-Herald Sales Manager Cassie Darveau says the 128-page book will be an heirloom quality coffee table picture book depicting the history of the Alliance area.

“We began working on this book about a year ago,” she explained. “The publisher (Pediment Publishing) approached us about printing a book to celebrating the Times-Herald’s 125th anniversary, but we felt it would be better to sponsor a product that focused on the entire community. The book will be load with dozens upon dozens of photos from the late 1800s through today!”

The book retails for $39.95 plus tax ($42.75) and you can order your book from the Times-Herald today or purchase one when they arrive in November. However, Darveau says only 500 books are being printed, so you may not want to wait.

Darveau says the Alliance Chamber of Commerce will receive 50 percent of the net profits on the book, and that the chamber staff has worked hard to help make the project a success.

“The Knight Museum and Sandhills Center is a true pillar of this project as well,” she said. “Their photographs — so rich with Alliance history — make up at least 50% of this book. Museum Curator Becci Thomas worked with the publisher for several days sorting through photos during the scanning sessions.”

The Knight Museum will be one of the retail outlets for the book when it arrives, as well as the Times-Herald.

For more information, contact Ms. Darveau at the Times-Herald at 762-3060.

Two Alliance residents face felony drug charges.

On the evening of September 11, officers responded to a report of Kelly Clark, 34, allegedly using marijuana in front of her children, all of whom are under 13.

According to the APD Affidavit for Custody, officers made contact with her at her home and requested to enter her residence. After Clark agreed, they began conducting a field sobriety test and noticed signs of impairment. She had admitted to using marijuana two hours prior to officer’s contact with her. Clark handed them a burnt cigarette she identified as marijuana. Clark then led the officers to her basement where she claimed to have used the drugs.

Police observed an electronic scale and glass ashtray on a table in the living area of the basement where they noticed a white, crystal substance which tested positive as methamphetamine using a presumptive field test kit.

Officers then obtained a search warrant for the residence which resulted in the finding of marijuana, several plastic baggies both empty with white powder residue and filled with white crystal substance, and other paraphenalia.

Also found were pieces of mail addressed to Brian Chesson, 42.

Clark revealed that Chesson lives with her and both were arrested.

Clark has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class II Felony, being under the influence of a controlled substance, a Class III Misdemeanor, and possession of marijuana, 1 ounce or less which is an infraction. She is scheduled to be arraigned in Box Butte County Court on September 27.

Chesson is being charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class Two felony. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 20.

Both parties are free on bond.

The Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the mutilation of a male German shepherd named “Ike” in rural Gering that resulted in the dog being euthanized.

Sharon Henderson, whose 25 year old son owned Ike, says when Ike came home Saturday they saw serious cuts to his chest and legs…then found he’d been castrated and skinned.

Henderson says the family to Ike to a veterinarian who agreed the injuries were “human-caused,” and who recommended that Ike be put to sleep because of his injuries.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman says the responding deputy took pictures of Ike, and that the case has been given to the department’s investigators.

Sharon Henderson Comments
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A Dawes County grand jury has determined that a Minatare man committed suicide after an incident with police near Crawford in late June, and that law enforcement did no wrong in the incident.

Dawes County Attorney Vance Haug says the grand jury into the death of 40-year old Chad Sorensen met last Thursday in Chadron and returned a finding of No True Bill.

Nebraska law requires a grand jury to be convened whenever anyone dies in custody or while being apprehended, but the proceedings and testimony presented to the grand jury remain sealed.

The initial investigation into Sorensen’s death found that he’d brandished a pistol at Dawes County Sheriff deputies in downtown Crawford just after 11:00 pm on June 26th. The city contracts with the county for law enforcement services.

Sorensen then led officers on a roughly 15-minute, low-speed pursuit around 35 mph before stopping in the southbound lane of Highway 2/71 approximately two miles south of Crawford.

Deputies, the Nebraska State Patrol, and the Chadron Police Department set up a perimeter around the vehicle and attempted to make contact with Sorensen.

After getting no response, officers protected by a tactical shield approached the vehicle and found Sorensen dead of what was later determined to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Two major construction projects are currently underway at the Chadron airport…one to fill cracks and deal with other issues with the runways, and the other upgrading the runway and taxiway lighting.

Public works director Milo Rust says the work is requiring the airport to close from this Saturday through the end of the month.

Rust says both airline passengers and private pilots need to make other arrangements for the closure period.

Great Lakes Airlines has not said how it will deal with customers who’ve already booked flights into and out of Chadron during the closure dates.

 

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Nebraska Game and Parks has confirmed that a mountain lion was killed Sunday morning in Sheridan County after it was spotted in a tree near a chicken coop on a ranch about 4 miles east of Rushville.

Jeff and Melissa Jaggers told the Sheridan County Journal Star that their 10-year-old daughter Mikayla saw the mountain lion around 10 a.m. Sunday and reported it to her father…who shot and killed it after making sure his daughter was safely in the house.

Nebraska Game and Parks officials collected the cougar’s carcass for additional testing … saying it was a 2-year-old male that weighed 105 pounds.

Game and Parks Furbearing and Nongame Mammals Program Manager Sam Wilson says state law allows mountain lions to be killed in specific circumstances … such a posing a direct threat to people or livestock, even if they don’t exhibit threatening behavior.

Wilson also says Game and Parks investigated the incident afterwards and concluded that Jaggers had followed proper procedure…including contacting the agency immediately after killing the cougar.

Wilson says it’s not unusual for young lions…especial males … to become wanderers, pushed out of their original territory by a dominant older male.

Mountain lion sightings have become more common in northwest Nebraska since this summer’s wildfires burned more than 200 square miles of grasslands and trees in the region.