130 Years Ago
March 8, 1895
W. W. Norton has constructed a deck or platform in the back part of his storeroom, upon which to place certain goods, thus increasing the capacity of his place considerably. By the way, he is unpacking a large amount of elegant goods these days, as the result of his recent trip to Chicago.
125 Years Ago
March 9, 1900
While running last Sunday Bryan Watson fell, striking his chin on the doorsill at a stable, and the fore of the fall knocked out one tooth and cut his tongue so badly that stitches were necessary.
120 Years Ago
March 7, 1905
Smith, incarcerated in the county jail, escaped last night late, and is yet at large, though it is believed he will be recaptured. Smith is the one who pleaded guilty to robbing the Beck with & Breese store, and with the others was held here awaiting sentence. Sheriff Reed inspected the jail late in the evening and found everything secure. The janitor at the court house haws always carried a set of keys, but had strict orders never to enter or tamper with the locks on the cages. Smith pleaded with the janitor, however, to give him a drink, and instead of passing it through the bars, the janitor moved the lever that locks the cage and entered.
115 Years Ago
March 8, 1910
Contract has just been let to Sang C. Reck by Father McNamara and the Alliance doctors for the erection of a brick building to be 32×60 fee, two stories and basement and modern in every respect, heated by steam, lighted by electricity, and located on the block just went of St. Agnes’ academy. After completion it is to be turned over to the sisters to manage. Mr. Reck’s contract is for the finished building, exclusive of heating, plumbing and lighting, at about $8,000, so the price complete will be from $11,000 to $12,000.
110 Years Ago
March 9, 1915
Mildred, the little eight year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. V. D. Dedmore, had her eye brows and hair badly scorched and her left leg seriously burned between the ankle and knee Friday evening when she and her little six year old sister, Esther, attempted to start a fire in the kitchen stove with coal oil when they arrived home from school. There was a little fire in the stove at the time and when they placed a little kindling and coal in the stove and poured kerosene on it an explosion occurred scattering fire over the room. Mildred grabbed a broom to beat out the fire on the rugs but the broom was saturated with oil and the little girl’s efforts to put out the fire only served to spread it.
105 Years Ago
March 5, 1920
The question of school teachers’ salaries will be the main topic for discussion at a meeting of the Alliance school board Saturday night. The meeting was postponed from last Monday night. An increase of 25 per cent for all grade and high school teachers for the next year will be proposed, according to Superintendent Pate. The present salary schedule for local teachers is as follows: Grade teachers, $109 a month, maximum, and $90 minimum; for high school teachers, outside of the principal, $160 maximum, and $120 minimum. The principal’s salary is $195 a month.
100 Years Ago
March 3, 1925
Jim Jacobs and Herbert Vogel were assessed fines of $200 and 60 days in jail on a possession of liquor charge in county court this morning. This was the second offense in both cases and Judge Tash imposed the fine and jail sentence as is provided by law.
95 Years Ago
March 7, 1930
After finding 46 pints of golden-colored moonshine whiskey in a room at a local rooming house, police are on the watch for the owner. The whiskey was put up in “short pint” bottles with little green screw caps and was in two large suitcases. It was found by Chief of Police Horton and Officers Barnum and Livengood in a raid on a search warrant on a room at the Rogers Rooms at Second and Box Butte.
90 Years Ago
March 8, 1935
The middlewest’s newest sensational alleged kidnapper, Carl Klenk, and his death car paid Alliance a brief visit yesterday, although the fact sweemed to make little impression on Klenk, since he was handcuffed securely and headed toward Kansas and trial on serious charges. Klenk, in the company of a Topeka, Kan., sheriff and two federal men, stopped here for lunch on his trip from Rapid City, S. D., to Topeka. He was arrested at Rapid City after a running gun fight with officers at Sturgis.
85 Years Ago
March 5, 1940
The most extensive epidemic of measles in recent years is indicated in the current month report of Dr. Joseph Kuncl, city physician, released Monday. There were 192 cases of the ailment reported in Alliance during February. At the same time the previous onslaught of the mumps among the younger generation here seems to have subsided considerably, with only 34 cases being reported during the past month. In addition the report reveals one case of scarlet fever, a high school girl, and three cases of chicken pox.
80 Years Ago
March 6, 1945
Progress of Box Butte county’s Red Cross war fund drive was not only going according to plan but was actually exceeding expectations this week with more than a third of the county’s quota reached after only four days of canvassing. Contributions up to four o’clock yesterday afternoon totaled $3,700. This was double the $1,705 reported Friday and included receipts reported from Alliance workers and farmers.
75 Years Ago
March 7, 1950
Ingvald Forsstrom paid a fine of $100 in county court this morning when he pleaded guilty to second offense driving while intoxicated. His license was revoked for one year. Forsstrom had paid a fine of $50 in county court for the same offense in October, 1948. Marvin Mains also appeared before County Judge Penrose Romig on a driving while intoxicated charge. He paid a fine of $50 and costs after pleading guilty. His license was also suspended for one year.
70 Years Ago
March 10, 1955
Alliance may someday see a different airline operating here if the Civil Aeronautics Board grants a request by Frontier Airlines. Western Air Lines has the business here now.
65 Years Ago
March 10, 1960
Ted King, an Alliance banker who lives at 1003 Yellowstone, won the first of a weekly Cattle Capital Calf contest here Wednesday night. The calf, bought earlier in the day by the Chamber of Commerce at the Alliance Livestock Commission’s sale, weighed 367 pounds. King’s winning estimate of 367 pounds 8 ounces won him a $25 merchandise certificate. Entries totaled 550.
60 Years Ago
March 8, 1965
The Alliance Volunteer Fire Department which had enjoyed a quiet spell of inactivity during recent weeks, was called into action four times Saturday nigh and Sunday. Two of the fires caused considerable damage. At 11:40 p.m. Saturday the Rural unit was called to Antioch where a house was on fire. Some of the occupants had to get out by way of the second floor, but none was injured, it was reported by firemen. While the rural unit was still in Antioch, at 12:22 a.m., a fire call was received from 903 East Second, where a shop and garage owned by Clayton S. Ellsworth was on fire.
55 Years Ago
March 11, 1970
Two Alliance medical men, both former members of the city Board of Education, appeared before that board Tuesday evening with a plea for a total K-12 health education course with attention to “mood modifiers”, harmful drugs, being a matter of main concern.
50 Years Ago
March 10, 1975
Following more than two hours of debate between Burlington Northern officials and a representative of Energy Transportation Systems, Inc. (ETSI), the only prevailing point concerning the slurry pipeline is that there are differences of opinion. About 75 persons attended the Sunday evening meeting that centered on eminent domain, water resources and the effect on railroad employees. The proposed slurry pipeline project would involve the grinding of coal in northeastern Wyoming that is mixed 50-50 with water and transported through a 38-inch pipeline 1,036 miles to a power plant in Arkansas. Preliminary drawings show that the pipeline would pass through 261 miles of Nebraska and the southwestern corner of Box Butte County about thirty miles west of Alliance.
45 Years Ago
March 11, 1980
Alliance Board of Education met Monday evening with the schools’ fiscal agent, representative Bud Kelley of Chiles, Heider and Associates, and the board heard the requirements to conduct a bond issue election. The bond issue will require a levy of eight mills for $3.5 million which will be used to pay for a new high school building, make repairs on existing school buildings, and provide equipment and furnishings for the buildings.
40 Years Ago
March 11, 1985
Sometimes it doesn’t “pay” to win. More than seven months ago then 13-year-old Jeff McLennan and 14 of his friends took a trip to the Puma Soccer Institute in Watertown, Connecticut for a week. Jeff won the trip by entering the “Kix Soccer Sweepstakes” from the back of a Kix cereal box. Now that the trip is all over, Jeff is facing the fact he will have to pay $4,100 in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the cash value of the Grand Prize.
35 Years Ago
March 10, 1990
“Let’s bounce on our toes 25 times. Now, place the palms of your hands together and press for some isometric exercises,” Ron Holscher tells a vocal class. At the same time, the students sing single notes or a tune. This may sound more like a physical education class than a music class. It’s the way Holscher, Alliance High School vocal music instructor, leads his students to make better use of their singing voices.
30 Years Ago
March 8, 1995
The Alliance I Play committee is almost three-fourths of the way to its goal for new playground equipment. The committee’s fund raising efforts have produced over $43,000 toward the $60,000 goal. Committee members believe in making a commitment to the community while keeping America clean, so they have chosen equipment made of 85% recycled products. The playground, which started with just one unit and grew into a multi-unit project, will be colorful, handicapped-accessible and safe.
25 Years Ago
March 9, 2000
During the past six months there have been several cases of bogus $20 bills being passed in Alliance. These bills are not counterfeit productions, per se. Instead, the perpetrators clip the corner numers off $20 bills and put them on $1 bills which are then being passed under rapid or low-light conditions. This is an on-going investigation by the Alliance Police Department.
20 Years Ago
March 10, 2005
One moment can change your life – just ask Miss Alliance Jennifer McCafferty. It’s not hard for McCafferty to remember the low point in her life, while visiting a relative in Iowa, she saw her eating disorder getting the best of her. It was also the time she decided to do something about it. She said it was at that point that she had an epiphany and decided to make it her pageant platform.
15 Years Ago
March 11, 2010
Representatives of the Nebraska Forest Service offered a presentation on “Current and Approaching Major Tree Pests” Tuesday at the Alliance Learning Center. Pest and Disease Specialist Mark Harrell wanted attendees to be aware of an insect known as the “emerald ash borer.” Describing it as a “very devastating pest,” Harrell noted that the insect is beginning to emerge in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas. The borer is native to Asia, and was first identified in Michigan in 2002, and is known to infest all species of ash.
10 Years Ago
March 13, 2015
Greenhouse in the Snow of Alliance has been named the 2014 Sustainability Business of the Year by the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC). The award will be presented formally March 20 during a luncheon at the Capitol that will include representatives from the Unicameral.
5 Years Ago
March 11, 2020
Less than a week into the job, and the Interim Box Butte County Public Defender announced that he is taking another job elsewhere, leaving the position in Box Butte County behind. At the commissioners meeting on March 4, Darin Nepper, who began his job as interim public defender on Feb. 29, announced that he had accepted a different position and would not sign the public defender agreement, which was listed on the agenda.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher