Local News

 

Passing the mantle Don Sharp Observer Staff KIMBALL – Dan Kinnison is handing over the reins of Prestige Manufacturing at 105 S. Webster in Kimball. A new operator will take over in the very near future. Stephen Pinkerton, of Pinkerton Welding, Inc. is the new operator. Pinkerton came to the Kimball area about 1 1/2 years ago from Lincolnville, Pa. He has been inspecting drilling rigs and doing welding service in the area. He is married, has two children in the Kimball school system and lives several miles east and a little south of Kimball. Pinkerton is an energetic, well spoken fellow with a pleasant smile. He will be working to continue Prestige Mfg., a name respected in the area. Dan Kinnison has been around Kimball a good long while. He has satisfied customers all over the area. Kinnison said, “ The most meaningful part of the business has been contacts with my customers and my associates on the job.” He said, “I have had the best customers in the world.” He started business in Kimball in 1960 when he traded his Colorado ranch for Petsch Farm Equipment. He thought it best to get out of the ranching business because the price of cattle had dropped to dismal levels. And a horse fell on him, severely injuring his back and putting him in the hospital for most of the summer. At Petsch Farm equipment, he sold and serviced Oliver, Massey-Harris and New Holland farm equipment. After awhile, he switched the sales line to farm and industrial supplies. He added Diesel Service a few years later. Diesel service worked with precision diesel injection pumps, some generating up to 20,000 psi cylinder pressure. Kinnison opened Prestige Manufacturing in 1976. The firm manufactured an irrigation ditch cleaner, another device to clean concrete lined ditches, a hydraulic post-hole auger that could easily be operated by one man on a tractor, a sun shield cab to make tractor driving more comfortable and a hydraulicly powered fence cleaner to remove sage brush. In addition, Kinnison designed the hydraulic system still in use at Castronics and did specialty metal work for PolyPipe. Many of the metal railings seen around town are his work, including the Court House and St. Hilda’s Episcopal Church. He has done countless specialty and repair jobs for farmers and ranchers in a general 50 mile radius. His wife Shirley did much of the tax and book keeping for many years. Kinnison said, “Our business decisions were joint decisions.” Kinnision got some initial experience in the Army Air Corps in WWII. He learned to do the electircal wiring in B-17s while waiting to get into pilot training. He volunteered for a hazardous duty but wasn’t accepted. Good thing! The hazardous duty turned out to be troop detachments hunkering down in observation trenches to witness the first atomic explosion test. Once the war was over, Kinnison was rapidly discharged when Senator Ed Johnson (D-Colo.) introduced a bill giving rapid discharge to those Air Corps personnel promised but denied pilot training. Kinnison went on to get a pilot’s license in 1946. He was licensed for multi-engine aircraft and owned planes but hasn’t flown now in 20 years. With a twinkle in his eye, he told how he dropped gunny sacks of groceries to his father’s farmstead during the blizzard of 1949. Kinnison bemoans the state of the U. S. steel industry. “We’ve gone from 30 or more steel mills in the county down to three.” Steel prices have dropped by half in recent months as hard economic times slow industry. The price of scrap iron has fallen from 40 cents a pound down to about eight cents a pound. Kinnison knows that in this agriculture and oil area, good machinists and welders will always be in demand. There is every prospect that Stephen Pinkerton will carry on the high standard that has been set at Prestige Manufacturing.

Also In The News

Young sets new record for school board Don Sharp Observer Staff KIMBALL –Clint Cornils, Lynn Vogel and Jim Young were sworn in on Jan. 12 to begin four year terms on the Kimball Board of Education. Young submitted his resignation immediately after being sworn in. This was no surprise. He had made his intention to resign known in advance of the meeting. Young had served a previous stretch of 24 years as a member of the school board before declining to run for re-election in 2006. He was re-elected in last November’s general election after sitting out for two years. Young said, “I must have set some kind of record for serving the longest and shortest times on the Board of Education.” Young said he was also serving on the Board of Directors of Western Sugar Cooperative. His term there started in January 2008 and attendance at only four or five meetings a year was foreseen. So he believed his time schedule would permit the added responsibility when he declared his candidacy for the Board of Education for last spring’s primary election. Then things changed at Western Sugar Cooperative and many more meetings were required. With the Cooperative dealing with beet growers in four states, considerable travel became involved. Young said he could not devote the attention to both boards that was rightfully required. He was unable to find a replacement for himself on the Western Sugar Cooperative board but was able to find a replacement for himself on the Board of Education. Steve Diemoz is that replacement. Diemoz had been on the board 2004-2008 but ran fourth in the three seats open election in 2008. Diemoz was 30 votes behind Young in the 2008 election. Diemoz said he was willing to serve. Board Policy 203.8 states that “A vacancy on the board shall be filled by a vote of the remaining board members.” There are several ways this can be accomplished; next highest vote in the general election, former board member who has not re-filed, recommendations from the board, or taking applications. Or other means not specified. Diemoz was sworn in at the Jan. 12 meeting. His term will run till the next general election. In other matters, Charles Ferguson was recognized as Student of the Month and Linda Mihm was presented with the Outstanding Performance award for Second Quarter 2008-2009. Mihm teaches first grade. Superintendent Unzicker announced the new building is essentially complete and in use. Landscaping will be completed in the spring. A balance of about $100,000 remains to be paid. Unzicker will hold this payment until everything is satisfactory. Unzicker announced that a new agreement has been reached with Western Nebraska Distance Learning Consortium for Internet instruction. The new agreement will give Kimball High School improved Internet instruction at no significant additional cost. Unzicker also noted that no staff resignations had been received. Any staff member applying for early retirement must submit their resignation at the same time. School board officers remain as before: Danielle Reader president, Lynn Vogel vice president, Steve Diemoz treasurer and Rick Perry secretary. Other routine items of business were approved during the course of the evening. Next meeting will be held on February 9.

Local Sports News

Wildcat sports wrap up Laura Monsees Observer Contributor Over the past two weeks the Banner County Wildcats have won three out of four games. First, on January 9th, the Lady Wildcats faced off with the Hay Springs Hawks. Unfortunately, they suffered their third loss of the season. Coach Kenny Hessler said, “The girls came out strong and played a good first quarter, but didn’t shoot well in the second quarter. However, we out-scored them in the second half. There was a great defensive effort with all the girls.” Rebekah Knaub led the team that night with ten points, followed by Brittani Johnson, eight; Kinsey Knaub, seven; and Bethany Cooper, six. The game ended with a final score of 47-41. The same night, the Banner County boys also experienced their third loss of the season to the Hawks. Coach Jim Wyatt said, “We were in foul trouble early in the game, and Hay Springs came out strong in the second half.” Chase Wickard led the team in points with 17, and was closely followed by Brett Cross and Cole Wyatt, who also had 12 rebounds. Jordan Knaub and Brady Cross also added points to the board. 83-56 was the final score. Both the Banner County boys and the Lady Wildcats are anticipating playing Hay Springs again during sub-districts next month. The next night the Wildcats traveled to Big Springs to meet the Wallace Wildcats. The Lady Wildcats came out with a win, with a final score of 54-47. Kinsey Knaub and Bethany Cooper both led with 15 points, and were joined by Sarah Dvorak, nine; and Brittani Johnson, five. Kenny Hessler said, “The girls had another great defensive game. We shot the ball well for playing against a much taller team.” The Banner County boys also had a win that night. The final score was 60-51, with Banner County in the lead the entire game. Brett Cross had double doubles with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Cole Wyatt and Chase Wickard also had 15 points each, with Wyatt also having five blocked shots. Other scorers included Corwin Bunney, Jordan Knaub, and Brady Cross. On the 16th, the Wildcats went to compete against the Crawford Rams. The Banner County girls won again with a final score of 51-33, and stayed ahead the whole game. Bethany Cooper had 12 points; Kinsey Knaub, 10; Brittani Johnson, six; Jessica Bruce, six; Rebekah Knaub, four; and Sarah Dvorak, two. As a team, the Lady Wildcats shot 50% from the free-throw line. The Banner County boys also had another win that night in an intense game against the Rams. Brett Cross led with 14 points including six free throws. Cole Wyatt also had a good game with 10 rebound and three steals. At half-time, the score was tied 24-24. With 40 seconds left in the game the Wildcats were down by one point, and had possession of the ball, when Brett Cross was assisted by Chase Wickard to make a shot from under the basket, putting the Wildcats ahead by one point. The game ended with a final score of 47-46. The following night the Wildcats played Minatare at home. The Lady Wildcats had their third win in a row with a final score of 56-25. Sarah Dvorak led with 10 points, followed by Kinsey Knaub, eight; Bethany Cooper, eight; Kaylea Stoddard, six; Jessica Bruce, six; Brittani Johnson, two; Rebekah Knaub, two; and Brooke Wyatt, two. The Lady Wildcats hold a current record of 8-3, only losing to Hay Springs twice, and to Pine Bluffs.   The Wildcat boys also had another win against Minatare with 71-36 being the final score. Brett Cross had double doubles with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Cole Wyatt had 14 points and eight rebounds. Following in points was Chase Wickard, 10; Corwin Bunney, two; Jordan Knaub, two; and Ed Montelongo, two. The Wildcats also shot 57% from the free-throw line. The Banner County Boys also hold a record of 8-3. This week the Banner County boys and girls will compete in the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament. The girls will start the tournament competing at home on Monday the 19th, and the boys at home on the 20th. Finals for the tournament will be held on the 22nd and 24th in Sidney. The Banner County Wildcats will go back into regular season games starting on January, 30th, when they will travel to Potter-Dix. Passing the mantle Don Sharp Observer Staff KIMBALL – Dan Kinnison is handing over the reins of Prestige Manufacturing at 105 S. Webster in Kimball. A new operator will take over in the very near future. Stephen Pinkerton, of Pinkerton Welding, Inc. is the new operator. Pinkerton came to the Kimball area about 1 1/2 years ago from Lincolnville, Pa. He has been inspecting drilling rigs and doing welding service in the area. He is married, has two children in the Kimball school system and lives several miles east and a little south of Kimball. Pinkerton is an energetic, well spoken fellow with a pleasant smile. He will be working to continue Prestige Mfg., a name respected in the area. Dan Kinnison has been around Kimball a good long while. He has satisfied customers all over the area. Kinnison said, “ The most meaningful part of the business has been contacts with my customers and my associates on the job.” He said, “I have had the best customers in the world.” He started business in Kimball in 1960 when he traded his Colorado ranch for Petsch Farm Equipment. He thought it best to get out of the ranching business because the price of cattle had dropped to dismal levels. And a horse fell on him, severely injuring his back and putting him in the hospital for most of the summer. At Petsch Farm equipment, he sold and serviced Oliver, Massey-Harris and New Holland farm equipment. After awhile, he switched the sales line to farm and industrial supplies. He added Diesel Service a few years later. Diesel service worked with precision diesel injection pumps, some generating up to 20,000 psi cylinder pressure. Kinnison opened Prestige Manufacturing in 1976. The firm manufactured an irrigation ditch cleaner, another device to clean concrete lined ditches, a hydraulic post-hole auger that could easily be operated by one man on a tractor, a sun shield cab to make tractor driving more comfortable and a hydraulicly powered fence cleaner to remove sage brush. In addition, Kinnison designed the hydraulic system still in use at Castronics and did specialty metal work for PolyPipe. Many of the metal railings seen around town are his work, including the Court House and St. Hilda’s Episcopal Church. He has done countless specialty and repair jobs for farmers and ranchers in a general 50 mile radius. His wife Shirley did much of the tax and book keeping for many years. Kinnison said, “Our business decisions were joint decisions.” Kinnision got some initial experience in the Army Air Corps in WWII. He learned to do the electircal wiring in B-17s while waiting to get into pilot training. He volunteered for a hazardous duty but wasn’t accepted. Good thing! The hazardous duty turned out to be troop detachments hunkering down in observation trenches to witness the first atomic explosion test. Once the war was over, Kinnison was rapidly discharged when Senator Ed Johnson (D-Colo.) introduced a bill giving rapid discharge to those Air Corps personnel promised but denied pilot training. Kinnison went on to get a pilot’s license in 1946. He was licensed for multi-engine aircraft and owned planes but hasn’t flown now in 20 years. With a twinkle in his eye, he told how he dropped gunny sacks of groceries to his father’s farmstead during the blizzard of 1949. Kinnison bemoans the state of the U. S. steel industry. “We’ve gone from 30 or more steel mills in the county down to three.” Steel prices have dropped by half in recent months as hard economic times slow industry. The price of scrap iron has fallen from 40 cents a pound down to about eight cents a pound. Kinnison knows that in this agriculture and oil area, good machinists and welders will always be in demand. There is every prospect that Stephen Pinkerton will carry on the high standard that has been set at Prestige Manufacturing. Also In The News Young sets new record for school board Don Sharp Observer Staff KIMBALL –Clint Cornils, Lynn Vogel and Jim Young were sworn in on Jan. 12 to begin four year terms on the Kimball Board of Education. Young submitted his resignation immediately after being sworn in. This was no surprise. He had made his intention to resign known in advance of the meeting. Young had served a previous stretch of 24 years as a member of the school board before declining to run for re-election in 2006. He was re-elected in last November’s general election after sitting out for two years. Young said, “I must have set some kind of record for serving the longest and shortest times on the Board of Education.” Young said he was also serving on the Board of Directors of Western Sugar Cooperative. His term there started in January 2008 and attendance at only four or five meetings a year was foreseen. So he believed his time schedule would permit the added responsibility when he declared his candidacy for the Board of Education for last spring’s primary election. Then things changed at Western Sugar Cooperative and many more meetings were required. With the Cooperative dealing with beet growers in four states, considerable travel became involved. Young said he could not devote the attention to both boards that was rightfully required. He was unable to find a replacement for himself on the Western Sugar Cooperative board but was able to find a replacement for himself on the Board of Education. Steve Diemoz is that replacement. Diemoz had been on the board 2004-2008 but ran fourth in the three seats open election in 2008. Diemoz was 30 votes behind Young in the 2008 election. Diemoz said he was willing to serve. Board Policy 203.8 states that “A vacancy on the board shall be filled by a vote of the remaining board members.” There are several ways this can be accomplished; next highest vote in the general election, former board member who has not re-filed, recommendations from the board, or taking applications. Or other means not specified. Diemoz was sworn in at the Jan. 12 meeting. His term will run till the next general election. In other matters, Charles Ferguson was recognized as Student of the Month and Linda Mihm was presented with the Outstanding Performance award for Second Quarter 2008-2009. Mihm teaches first grade. Superintendent Unzicker announced the new building is essentially complete and in use. Landscaping will be completed in the spring. A balance of about $100,000 remains to be paid. Unzicker will hold this payment until everything is satisfactory. Unzicker announced that a new agreement has been reached with Western Nebraska Distance Learning Consortium for Internet instruction. The new agreement will give Kimball High School improved Internet instruction at no significant additional cost. Unzicker also noted that no staff resignations had been received. Any staff member applying for early retirement must submit their resignation at the same time. School board officers remain as before: Danielle Reader president, Lynn Vogel vice president, Steve Diemoz treasurer and Rick Perry secretary. Other routine items of business were approved during the course of the evening. Next meeting will be held on February 9. Local Sports News Wildcat sports wrap up Laura Monsees Observer Contributor Over the past two weeks the Banner County Wildcats have won three out of four games. First, on January 9th, the Lady Wildcats faced off with the Hay Springs Hawks. Unfortunately, they suffered their third loss of the season. Coach Kenny Hessler said, “The girls came out strong and played a good first quarter, but didn’t shoot well in the second quarter. However, we out-scored them in the second half. There was a great defensive effort with all the girls.” Rebekah Knaub led the team that night with ten points, followed by Brittani Johnson, eight; Kinsey Knaub, seven; and Bethany Cooper, six. The game ended with a final score of 47-41. The same night, the Banner County boys also experienced their third loss of the season to the Hawks. Coach Jim Wyatt said, “We were in foul trouble early in the game, and Hay Springs came out strong in the second half.” Chase Wickard led the team in points with 17, and was closely followed by Brett Cross and Cole Wyatt, who also had 12 rebounds. Jordan Knaub and Brady Cross also added points to the board. 83-56 was the final score. Both the Banner County boys and the Lady Wildcats are anticipating playing Hay Springs again during sub-districts next month. The next night the Wildcats traveled to Big Springs to meet the Wallace Wildcats. The Lady Wildcats came out with a win, with a final score of 54-47. Kinsey Knaub and Bethany Cooper both led with 15 points, and were joined by Sarah Dvorak, nine; and Brittani Johnson, five. Kenny Hessler said, “The girls had another great defensive game. We shot the ball well for playing against a much taller team.” The Banner County boys also had a win that night. The final score was 60-51, with Banner County in the lead the entire game. Brett Cross had double doubles with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Cole Wyatt and Chase Wickard also had 15 points each, with Wyatt also having five blocked shots. Other scorers included Corwin Bunney, Jordan Knaub, and Brady Cross. On the 16th, the Wildcats went to compete against the Crawford Rams. The Banner County girls won again with a final score of 51-33, and stayed ahead the whole game. Bethany Cooper had 12 points; Kinsey Knaub, 10; Brittani Johnson, six; Jessica Bruce, six; Rebekah Knaub, four; and Sarah Dvorak, two. As a team, the Lady Wildcats shot 50% from the free-throw line. The Banner County boys also had another win that night in an intense game against the Rams. Brett Cross led with 14 points including six free throws. Cole Wyatt also had a good game with 10 rebound and three steals. At half-time, the score was tied 24-24. With 40 seconds left in the game the Wildcats were down by one point, and had possession of the ball, when Brett Cross was assisted by Chase Wickard to make a shot from under the basket, putting the Wildcats ahead by one point. The game ended with a final score of 47-46. The following night the Wildcats played Minatare at home. The Lady Wildcats had their third win in a row with a final score of 56-25. Sarah Dvorak led with 10 points, followed by Kinsey Knaub, eight; Bethany Cooper, eight; Kaylea Stoddard, six; Jessica Bruce, six; Brittani Johnson, two; Rebekah Knaub, two; and Brooke Wyatt, two. The Lady Wildcats hold a current record of 8-3, only losing to Hay Springs twice, and to Pine Bluffs.   The Wildcat boys also had another win against Minatare with 71-36 being the final score. Brett Cross had double doubles with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Cole Wyatt had 14 points and eight rebounds. Following in points was Chase Wickard, 10; Corwin Bunney, two; Jordan Knaub, two; and Ed Montelongo, two. The Wildcats also shot 57% from the free-throw line. The Banner County Boys also hold a record of 8-3. This week the Banner County boys and girls will compete in the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament. The girls will start the tournament competing at home on Monday the 19th, and the boys at home on the 20th. Finals for the tournament will be held on the 22nd and 24th in Sidney. The Banner County Wildcats will go back into regular season games starting on January, 30th, when they will travel to Potter-Dix.