130 Years Ago
February 16, 1894
County Commissioner John Meints boarded his possessions into a box car Tuesday night and started for Grand Mound, Iowa, where he takes charge of the parental farm.
125 Years Ago
February 17, 1899
Probably no entertainment that has been given by any secret society in Alliance was quite as successful as that at the Phelan opera house Monday night by the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. It is certain that more than 300 people were the guests of the Modern Woodmen that evening, and were entertained without money and without price.
120 Years Ago
February 16, 1904
The second meeting for the organization of the Roosevelt Republican club of Box Butte county occurred in Bell hall Saturday evening, and the movement is started with the signatures of about twenty voters to the constitution, which number will be increased as fast as the committee to solicit names can circulate lists among the republicans of the county.
115 Years Ago
February 16, 1909
Saturday evening during the intense cold and flurry of snow one of the most shocking misfortunes that has happened in this section for a number of years occurred, when a homesteader residing about twenty miles southeast of this city and his seventeen year-old son were frozen to death.
110 Years Ago
February 13, 1914
Frank B. Moffitt, the mail carrier who makes the trip twice a week between Alliance, Cleman and Moffit, carrying the United States mail, had a narrow escape from death Wednesday afternoon, while in the discharge of his duties. The auto in which he was riding, turned turtle and pinned him under the car, where he lay for half an hour, with the machine resting on his leg, arm and back so closely that he was unable to move. At the end of that time, the car was lifted off his body by his companion, Mr. McCarty of the Eldred ranch, who had brought help from the nearest farm house.
105 Years Ago
February 14, 1919
The jury in the damage suit between George A. Mollring and W. D. Rumer made a trip to the store this afternoon to ascertain the damage to the rugs in the rear of the store which were in the flood occasioned by a leaky toilet on the floor above.
100 Years Ago
February 15, 1924
The disagreement concerning the best route for the state aid road from Alliance to the Lincoln highway on the south bids fair to be amicably settled this week when the county commissioners of Box Butte county will file an application with the state engineer asking that the most direct road between Bridgeport and Alliance, which parallels the Burlington railroad, be listed for early construction.
95 Years Ago
February 15, 1929
Legionnaires from over most of western Nebraska gathered in Alliance Wednesday for an all-day meeting which was terminated with a banquet and dance in the evening. The occasion was the annual convention of the Legion men of the fourth district. Approximately one hundred delegates from the 19 posts over the district were in attendance.
90 Years Ago
February 13, 1934
The gold chain and knife which a ring in the stock of Chief of Police George Barnum’s revolver “lifted” from an unsuspecting person in the crowd in the lobby of the Imperial theatre last Tuesday night has been claimed by its owner. When Chief Barnum stepped out of he crowd last Tuesday night, he felt something dangling from the butt of his gun in its holster. He discovered the stray chain and knife.
85 Years Ago
February 14, 1939
Seven WPA workers of Box Butte county have been determined eligible for unemployment compensation benefits and have been dismissed in compliance with regulations requiring the discharge of those entitled to the jobless pay, it was reported today at WPA headquarters here. Others may be dropped in the near future for this reason, it was said.
80 Years Ago
February 15, 1944
Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, and one of the nation’s foremost authorities on child delinquency, will address an Alliance audience on “Child Welfare” at the Municipal Auditorium at 7:45 Monday evening, Feb. 21. His visit to Alliance is sponsored by the Times-Herald in the belief that out of his vast experience will come words of counsel that will do a great deal toward solving Alliance’s child welfare problems.
75 Years Ago
February 15, 1949
Farmers and ranchers residing in Box Butte county and the western edge of Sheridan county have been released by Operation Snowbound after six to eight weeks of solitary confinement following the snow storm of mid-December and the record blizzard of January 3 and 4. The sub-area office in the Times-Herald building which has had immediate charge of this large area has opened passable roads in the entire county with the exception of a triangular strip between highways 2 and 19 and extending from Alliance to the county’s north line.
70 Years Ago
February 15, 1954
There was little activity this morning at the Price No. 1 test oil well north of Hemingford. Drillers over the weekend disassembled the big drilling rig and placed to the side of the well prior to the installing of a surface pump which will be used in a final attempt to bring in the first oil or gas producer in this area.
65 Years Ago
February 14, 1959
Fire losses in Alliance for 1958 have been estimated at $11,960 according to Fire Chief Leroy Schommer’s annual report. This includes $3,770 to buildings and $8,190 to building contents. This averages out about $145 loss on each of the 81 fire calls the department answered last year.
60 Years Ago
February 14, 1964
Touch-Tone service, the latest advancement in telephone calling, will be available to Alliance customers when all phones are converted to dial operation here Saturday night at midnight. The announcement was made here today by Roy Christian, Northwest Bell manager. Alliance is the first city in this five-state area to have the touch-tone service and the third community in the United States to have the service for customers.
55 Years Ago
February 14, 1969
Routine business was mixed with a narration on the history and functioning of the Alliance City Manager system of government and the answering of citizen’s complaints at the Council meeting here Thursday evening. The Council was short two members.
50 Years Ago
February 14, 1974
The Alliance Development Corporation re-elected Roberts W. Laing as president and all other officers are directors at the annual meeting of the corporation and stockholders held Wednesday evening at the Drake Hotel.
45 Years Ago
February 14, 1979
The Alliance Planning Commission accepted a One and Six Year Street Plan presented by Street Superintendent Don Thies during its Tuesday night meeting. The plan’s one-year projects call for such improvements as 1) replacement or fluorescent lights along 3rd St, with mercury vapor, 2) paving of Box Butte from 21st to 25th Streets and 3) paving Buchfinck from 10th to 14th Streets.
40 Years Ago
February 14, 1984
Rep. Virginia Smith had a little good news and a little bad news for Alliance residents Monday. The Republican congresswoman, on a speaking tour throughout the 3rd Congressional District, told those at the Rotary luncheon that news of a national economic turnaround is true. However, partisan squabbles over the budget and protectionist movements in Congress threatened to impede economic progress and hurt people in rural areas, Smith said.
35 Years Ago
February 14, 1989
A blaze in a farrowing shed Tuesday morning claimed the lives of 97 hogs at the Leroy Buskirk farm located about five miles east and one mile south of Alliance, according to a spokesperson for the Alliance Volunteer Fire Department (AVFD). Seven sows and 90 piglets died in the fire. The alarm was called in at 8:22 a.m. A nearby shed was saved and numerous other hogs nearby were not injured.
30 Years Ago
February 14, 1994
The Alliance Public Library announces a two-week amnesty on fines for overdue library books. No overdue fines will be charged on books between Feb. 14-26. The two weeks of amnesty will allow patrons to return long overdue books without a fine.
25 Years Ago
February 13, 1999
Two items that were tabled during the last meeting will be reviewed during Monday’s meeting of Alliance’s District No. 6 Board of Education. These old business items are the bids for the middle school building project, and the agreement with the Nebraska Boys Ranch for Alternative School staffing.
20 Years Ago
February 14, 2004
Visitors to the Alliance Public Library are in for a double exhibit this month as two different, but equally eye-catching, collections are displayed publicly for the first time. Winnie Rust’s antique jewelry adorns the small case, while plates and pitchers from Karen Schwanke’s Majolica pottery collection grace the upright case.
15 Years Ago
February 14, 2009
Professional rodeo clown, Duane Reichert of Underwood, S.D., will be working as an artist in residence with Alliance elementary students the week of Feb. 16-20. Reichert will present all-school assemblies at St. Agnes Academy and Grandview Elementary School. With the help of his animals, such as a goat, rooster and dog, all 4th graders will be involved in creating classroom skits around the theme “Cowboy Capers.”
10 Years Ago
February 14, 2014
Box Butte General Hospital Swing Bed Coordinator, Joni Sautter, RN, was chosen by her fellow employees as the 2013 Employee of the Year. She received the honor from Nursing Administrative Secretary Tammy Griffee during the hospital’s annual Recognition Event Friday.
5 Years Ago
February 13, 2019
A crowd of people packed the Box Butte County Commissioners room on Monday at the courthouse as the Box Butte County Commissioners conducted their one- and six-year road hearing. The hearing started with a presentation from Highway Superintendent Barb Keegan, detailing a total of seven projects on the one-year plan and four projects on the six-year plan.