130 Years Ago
April 17, 1896
One of the latest schemes for advertising is to employ a bald-headed man to sit in the front row with an advertisement painted in bold letters across his pate.
125 Years Ago
April 19, 1901
Mayor Sweeney has ordered the construction of the new arc lights on residence streets stopped for the reason that the funds in the city treasury are somewhat limited and there are other matters which need more attention than does the lighting of residence streets.
120 Years Ago
April 20, 1906
Shay & Russell, engaged in the cement sidewalk business, have two machines now at work and have about fifty loads of gravel and sand with which to make sidewalks for Alliance. Mr. Russell is an experienced cement man and will make the firm’s work satisfactory.
115 Years Ago
April 21, 1911
R. E. Knight of the Alliance National Bank recently received a draft from the Bankers Life association of Des Moines, Iowa, which was payable to the heirs of D. K. Spacht, our well known townsman, who passed away at Lewellen, Neb., recently, mention of which was made in this paper at that time. The aggregate sum for two policies was $4,066.
110 Years Ago
April 21, 1916
“I had the opinion that all the wrangling in the paper about the conditions in the county court were mere newspaper fillers,” said an Alliance man this morning, “but when I tried to get the records on a place I intend to buy I was surprised to find that things are just as the Times said they were. Hereafter I shall put my faith in what the paper prints regarding public affairs.”
105 Years Ago
April 22, 1921
The trade of the mail robber is going to be a more hazardous occupation than ever, from now on. Postmaster Robert Graham has received word from the assistant postmaster general that the employees of the Alliance post office are each to be furnished with a .45-caliber Colt’s six-shooter for protection in their work.
100 Years Ago
April 23, 1926
The Burlington railroad is now launching at Alliance a stupendous program of improvements which will aggregate a cost of nearly $20,000. When completed the working unit in Alliance will be able to entail a great saving to the railroad to furnish even better service to the public than at present.
95 Years Ago
April 21, 1931
Box Butte and Morrill county officers put their heads together and working in conjunction with State Sheriff Clark hit what is believed to be the heart of one of the largest liquor sources of this section. Investigation to determine the source of the bootleg booze found near the fatal highway accident at Yale Siding Sunday night, the officers gained sufficient information to justify a raid.
90 Years Ago
April 17, 1936
The fellow who would attempt to take away Alliance’s City park today would have a job on his hands. Irate city officials and citizens would tear him limb from limb. The park was not always so highly regarded in official circles. “This location is not, in my opinion, a sightly one and will never be as attractive as it should be and it will likely be shunned instead of patronized.”
85 Years Ago
April 15, 1941
Three members of the high school vocational agriculture class came home from North Platte Friday night with the state livestock judging championship and the right to represent the state at the National Western livestock show in Denver this winter. Members of the team are Bill Bignell, Ralph Bauer and John Leisy. Their instructor is A. H. Hilpert.
80 Years Ago
April 19, 1946
The future of importance of Box Butte County in raising crops for industrial processing took a step forward this week when it was announced that the University of Nebraska College of Agriculture will again plant chemurgy crop testing plots at the Alliance Experimental Farm. This is the fourth year of such tests and it is hoped that they will conclude preliminary experiments.
75 Years Ago
April 20, 1951
The Alliance city council Thursday night passed an ordinance permitting the use of paper cartons for milk distributed in the city of Alliance. Two weeks ago the Alliance Fairmont Creamery Company had requested the council to amend the city ordinance on milk production and distribution to include paper or plastic containers.
70 Years Ago
April 16, 1956
Alliance will have morning and evening passenger and air mail service to Omaha – and return – if the Civil Aeronautics Board accepts a proposal of the Frontier Airlines of Denver. Frontier, a feeder line that serves most of the Rocky Mountain area, also will establish twice daily service out of Alliance to Denver, Casper and rapid City if the CAB permits.
65 Years Ago
April 22, 1961
Alliance High musicians earned 12 superior ratings Friday in the District Music Contest held in Sidney. The 140 AHS musicians took second place in the overall final count of the Class A and B divisions entered. Sidney High took top honors. The band (in sight reading); choir; mixed quartet; Madrigal Singers; and the Dance Band.
60 Years Ago
April 19, 1966
Approximately 4,000 students from Western Nebraska will be in Alliance on Thursday and Friday for the District 6 Music Contest. The group will include about 2,000 each day. Class B and D schools will participate Thursday and Class A and C schools on Friday.
55 Years Ago
April 21, 1971
The Peltz Construction Co., of Alliance was awarded the general contract for the new nursing home in Crawford. The announcement was made following the opening of bids Tuesday afternoon by Mayor Dick Groft.
50 Years Ago
April 22, 1976
Recent problems with overloaded trash containers and improperly placed refuse have moved city officials to call for increased citizen cooperation in the operation of the city’s trash collection system. City Manager Robert Placek said sanitation workers have found a number of trash containers recently which were filled with material which overloaded the containers.
45 Years Ago
April 17, 1981
Alliance took a step toward big-city status Thursday evening in, for the first time ever so far as anyone present could remember, granting a pawn shop license. There is an ordinance covering pawn shops. It provides that the pawn shop operator post a $5,000 bond with the city, and make daily reports to the police chief describing pawned items, and name and description of the pawnor.
40 Years Ago
April 18, 1986
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to fine the Burlington Northern Railroad $67,000 for violations stemming from the alleged dumping of certain wastes at the Alliance City Landfill.
35 Years Ago
April 19, 1991
The Alliance Carnegie Library, now home of the Carnegie Arts Center, is among five buildings being considered for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places when the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Board meets May 3.
30 Years Ago
April 20, 1996
Mark Monroe, executive director of the American Indian Council, recently announced the council had received a planning grant to establish a free comprehensive healthcare program. The council received the $5,350 grant from the Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich. Monroe said he and Sherri Lovercheck submitted a proposal to the foundation to start a local clinic open to anyone needing care.
25 Years Ago
April 20, 2001
During last night’s Alliance city council meeting, Mayor Dan Kusek read a partial monthly report that City Manager Wally Baird had given the city council. The report included statistics showing a serious increase in various crimes committed in the city for the first three months of 2001. The report shows increases of 75 percent in felony theft. 74 percent in misdemeanor theft. 51 percent in simple assault. 500 percent in crimes associated with alcohol.
20 Years Ago
April 20, 2006
Yesterday at about 8:4 a.m., Alliance Volunteer Fire Department personnel responded to a grass fire two miles north of Alliance. The windy conditions in the area soon kicked up the flames, which spread to both sides of Highway 385 and caused both land and structural damage.
15 Years Ago
April 23, 2011
Lawbreakers look out. The Box Butte Sheriff’s Office (BBSO) and Alliance Police Department (APD) are putting a couple new officers to work on the streets, and they’ve got a nose for sniffing out trouble. Luna was put into service with the APD on April 5, working alongside K-9 Handler Andrew Bremer. An 18-month-old female Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd cross was trained at North Iowa K-9.
10 Years Ago
April 18, 2016
Around 200 guests took a trip back to the 1950s Saturday evening for the Alliance Public Schools Foundation Wine and Beer tasting scholarship fundraiser. The West Side Event Center was transformed into a record-filled, root beer float-serving diner of the 1950s for the fundraiser Saturday. Between silent and grand auction items, $12,214 was raised.
5 Years Ago
April 21, 2021
Award-winning Nebraska author and illustrator Bruce Arant captured the attention of young students in Alliance last Thursday while reading his books “Simpson’s Sheep Won’t Go To Sleep!” and “Simpson’s Sheep Just Want To Sleep!”. Arant still works on illustrating projects, which he did primarily before writing his two novels.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher