130 Years Ago
May 25, 1894
Alliance’s board of education is industriously holding a meeting once each week now endeavoring to get school matters straightened out satisfactorily. They have spent considerable time recently trying to get the tax levy in proper shape. In regard to teachers, the greater number of those now employed will not be retained. The district is not in very good shape financially as far as present investigations have shown, the general fund being about $950 behind and the teachers fund containing not much more than enough to pay all the teachers the wages now due.
125 Years Ago
May 26, 1899
A man named Chapman was accidently shot Tuesday night by a companion while they were walking through the streets of this city. The bullet was a forty-five calibre, and struck Chapman just below the thigh, ranging downward and emerging just above the knee. Drs. Bellwood were called, but found no bones broken, and the patient will be around again in due time.
120 Years Ago
May 20, 1904
Next week is commencement week in our high school. The program of exercises begins with Sunday evening, when the annual baccalaureate sermon before the graduating class will be given in the M. E. church by Rev. G. B. Clark of the Episcopal church. The principal part of next week will be occupied with the closing examinations. Graduation exercises proper, will be held on Thursday and Friday evenings, May 26th and 27th. Thursday evening is the time to which the class of ‘04 has been looking forward with interest and doubtless with some degree of solicitude for some months past.
115 Years Ago
May 21, 1909
Mayor F. W. Harris returned yesterday morning from his trip to Linco made on authority of the city council. He made sale of the $45,000 bond recently voted by the City of Alliance for construction of a sewerage system and is entitled to much commendation therefor, as he has saved the city of Alliance a snug sum.
110 Years Ago
May 22, 1914
Believing that his neighbors were attacking him, William Hepper, living in South Alliance secured a knife and gun Wednesday afternoon and drove them from his premises. A hurry-up call was turned in to the police and Chief Jeffers responded before any serious damage was done.
105 Years Ago
May 23, 1919
Quietly reposing in a safety deposit vault, and guarded by two of the best padlocks known to man, is thirty-five gallons of the world’s best bottled in bond whiskey, in the office of Sheriff Miller at the court house. This represents the amount of whiskey that has been gathered in by the local officers during the past three months, besides which some has been confiscated and some sent to other points to be held by officers there. Those who think, if any there be, that the local officials have not been successful in the prosecution of the illegal traffic in booze, would do well to go to the court house and take a look into this vault, provided of course that Sheriff Jim will let you look.
100 Years Ago
May 23, 1924
Two men giving the names of F. G. Stoneburn and Roy Hollin, are being held in the city jail pending the filing of a complaint charging one or both of them with shooting with intent to kill. They were arrested by Burlington Special Agent Earl French, after one in a party of three had opened pistol fire upon him when he ordered them not to ride freight No. 109 out of Alliance at 7:30 Wednesday evening.
95 Years Ago
May 21, 1929
Bids for construction of a new six-room addition to the Grandview school building were opened at the high school last Thursday afternoon. Thomas J. Allen of Scottsbluff was the lowest bidder and was awarded the general contract for the work. His bid of building the addition complete was $26,507.
90 Years Ago
May 22, 1934
Batches of small cottages on small but fertile acreages, constructed for rehabilitation of the farm families made destitute by economic stress, is the plan in prospect for Nebraska under federal financing now being applied. The move is designed to make the farm family now on relief self-supporting once more and give the head of the house a chance to come back. First application of the plan has been made in Box Butte county during the past week by D. P. Moulton, one of eight field men working under L. A. White, state rehabilitation director.
85 Years Ago
May 23, 1939
Walter L. Dishman Monday afternoon was appointed police magistrate after Wayne Huston, who was re-elected in the city election, failed to qualify. The appointment was made by Mayor George Smith, with approval of the council at a special meeting. As the council gathered to consider the police magistrate situation, it discovered that Huston had been given 10 more days than he should have been given in which to qualify.
80 Years Ago
May 23, 1944
Two or three times daily thoughtless motorists report to police their cars have been stolen only to have them turn up within a short time at some other location in town. “Most of them forget where they parked,” says Chief C. A. Laing, “and when they can’t find the car they report it stolen. This causes a lot of trouble that could be saved if motorists would lock their cars or try to remember where they parked them.”
75 Years Ago
May 20, 1949
Within the past several weeks at least seven dogs have been poisoned in Alliance, according to police. Chief D. A. Thomas said that people have reported these killings to the police department and it may be that other dogs have died by poison but their deaths have not been reported.
70 Years Ago
May 22, 1954
The Alliance Rodeo directors set ticket prices Friday night and announced plans for providing 3,800 seats for the June 25-26-27 affair. The event will be held at Sandhillo, the new Alliance race track, and the first two performances will be staged at night for the first time. Sandhillo’s grandstand has been enlarged to accommodate 1800 persons and bleachers being obtained from Scottsbluff will seat 2,000 more.
65 Years Ago
May 22, 1959
The long drought officially ended for Alliance Community Television Thursday night as the Alliance City Council paved the way for monthly collection of fees on the firm’s cable system. The Council, with no discussion, accepted a report by the television committee, set up in the charter A. C. T. has with the city, thus opening the gate for collections.
60 Years Ago
May 22, 1964
A Civil Defense trial run of the Municipal Building shelter, to have lasted over night was called off Thursday evening when only six people showed up. Local officials had hoped for as many as 40 to 45 people to take part in the all-night drill, the same number that appeared for a similar exercise in Ogallala the preceding night.
55 Years Ago
May 22, 1969
The Hemingford Housing Authority met this week with Architect Glen Huntington of Scottsbluff pursuing steps toward a $300,000 low-rent housing project planned. Envisioned is a 20-unit project, including 10 single occupancy and 10 double occupancy federally financed.
50 Years Ago
May 22, 1974
An open house will be held Sunday afternoon at the house at 1436 Black Hills which has been built by the Building Trades Class of Alliance High School. The boys in this class have done all of the work on this three bedroom home with the exception of the plumbing, heating and air conditioning.
45 Years Ago
May 22, 1979
Tennis players in Alliance can rejoice. New courts are on the way. In their Friday afternoon meeting last week in Lincoln, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission approved a $60,000 request for the construction of four new tennis courts here. Funding will be divided 50 percent federal, 25 percent state and 25 percent city.
40 Years Ago
May 23, 1984
Alliance City Schools and rural districts may begin pooling resources to meet the special education needs of the growing number of handicapped students. That cooperative approach was one of several ideas presented during a special meeting Tuesday night. Rural school officials and Alliance administrators and school board members discussed ways to provide services for multihandicapped children in the area.
35 Years Ago
May 22, 1989
Giving a helping hand. About 35 people from Alliance gave a helping hand to numerous ranchers about 18 miles south of Alliance Saturday to help them rebuild fences that were destroyed in a prairie fire January 31. The Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce Agricultural Committee organized the day of volunteer labor.
30 Years Ago
May 21, 1994
Last week Lori Walla, Alliance High School vocational ag teacher, and Tom Walters, parent, took Alliance’s land judging team to its first national competition. The four members who participated were Desirae Walters, Melody Duran, Dustin Rogers and Christie Bartels. The competition was in Oklahoma City.
25 Years Ago
May 22, 1999
Visitors to Box Butte County Courthouse notice a new coat of paint as they walk into the County Clerk’s office. However, Nebraska county commissioners who utilize inheritance taxes for building renovations may have to consider another funding source. District 12 State Senator Pam Redfield introduced Legislative Bill 770 as her priority bill this session. According to the measure, as introduced, the exemption amount for county ingeritance taxes would increase from $10,000 to $100,000.
20 Years Ago
May 22, 2004
All emergency response vehicles in Box Butte County will soon have “Emergency 911” reflective decals on them to promote the use of the number. The Box Butte County Commissioners approved the use of E911 funds to purchase the reflective decals for the Box Butte County Sheriff’s Office, Alliance Police Department, Hemingford Police Department, Alliance Volunteer Fire Department and Hemingford Volunteer Fire Department, as well as Emergency 911 stickers and magnets to be handed out to people in the county.
15 Years Ago
May 22, 2009
Allen Pannell, administrator for the Nebraska Veterans Cemetery at Alliance, gave an update on progress at the cemetery during the Workforce Development breakfast Wednesday morning at Box Butte General Hospital. He said they are two-thirds of the way done with the vaults and there would be an inspector, Fred Zarate, coming out Thursday to make sure everything is being done correctly and to standards.
10 Years Ago
May 22, 2014
Monday night, the Alliance Public Schools Board of Education approved new entry systems for Alliance Middle School and Emerson and Grandview elementary schools. The systems, which will cost between $15,000 and $16,000, will include entry point visual monitors, and schools principals will wear voice communication capable equipment. The systems further include panic buttons in school offices and panic button bracelets.
5 Years Ago
May 22, 2019
Denver Air Connection is set to take over as Alliance’s new air service provider on June 1, 2019, although their pilots have been flying into Alliance for several years as pilots for Key Lime Air, cargo air service.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by staff.