130 Years Ago
October 25, 1895
George W. Clark intends to place a telephone in the Palace Jewelry Store connecting with Clark Bros.’ office to enable patrons to place orders with less inconvenience. The apparatus is ordered and will be placed in position soon.
125 Years Ago
October 26, 1900
Fire was discovered in Geo. Fox’s new house in South Alliance Wednesday night at about 7:30 o’clock. The house was unoccupied at the time, and was a mass of flames in side when first seen, so that the building was soon reduced to ashes.
120 Years Ago
October 24, 1905
A man who has so far refused to give his name was caught at Hyannis and brought here to answer today to the charge of stealing cutlery from a car in the yards here, and is also suspected of stealing cutlery from a firm at Sidney, as he had in possession goods bearing the firm name of the one recently robbed at Sidney, together with goods identical with those stolen from here.
115 Years Ago
October 28, 1910
Mrs. Sam Trenkle died Tuesday evening, Oct. 25, 1910, at 11 o’clock, after an illness extending over some four weeks. Death was due to typhoid fever.
110 Years Ago
October 26, 1915
As the watch ‘o the night was making his final rounds at 1:96 this morning his highly sensitive nostrils were assailed by the pungent odors of roast beef, and he straightaway followed the dictates of his appetite and chased the odor to the rear of the new Keeler-Coursey garage building. Here he changed his disguise from a semi-respectable news reporter to that of a detective in the garb of a hobo.
105 Years Ago
October 26, 1920
The Alliance high school football team broke Bayard’s non-score record at the fair grounds Saturday afternoon in one of the speediest and hardest fought games ever witnessed on a high school field. Both teams are composed of championship material and the score of 19 to 7 in favor of Bayard does not tell the honest story of the game.
100 Years Ago
October 30, 1925
The police department has at last been given a permanent location in the city hall, where files can be kept away from the inquiring eyes of anyone who may happen to be in the building. A space has been allotted at the rear of the Chamber of Commerce rooms, a regular police telephone will be installed and a desk sergeant will be on duty just like a regular police department.
95 Years Ago
October 28, 1930
Saturday was a busy day in Alliance when an enormous crowd of people, many of whom came from long distances, attended the annual Fall Festival given by the businessmen. A program of free entertainment began in the forenoon with an old fiddlers contest and continued until well into the evening.
90 Years Ago
October 25, 1935
Comes now the suggestion, and from one who is used to the ways of boys, to promote a general city Halloween party where the exuberance of youth may expend itself without damage to property and with credit to all.
85 Years Ago
October 25, 1940
“Operators of taverns and liquor stores will henceforth have no good alibis whatsoever on the matter of selling beer or liquor to boys under 21 years of age,” Sheriff Daniel O. Hoppes points out. “And no excuses can be accepted.”
80 Years Ago
October 26, 1945
The need for more buildings in Alliance has never been more apparent than during the past week when more than 20 prospective firms have been seeking locations in which to establish business. Local economists point out that there is opportunity here for the construction of several business buildings that could be leased on long-term contracts that would pay out the investment and pay a nice rate of interest.
75 Years Ago
October 27, 1950
The teachers of District Six have the town, there’s no question about that. Alliance business people who take their lunches downtown learned that Thursday and again today. But it’s all taken in good grace and most everyone expressed pleasure at having the convention here and the turnout so large.
70 Years Ago
October 28, 1955
Alliance’s most courteous retail clerk during October will receive a gold lapel insignia from Joe Amen, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce’s Retail Committee.
65 Years Ago
October 27, 1960
J. W. Keebaugh, president of the Alliance Board of Education, said today that about $12,000 is being spent in public schools here to meet new state requirements for fire protection equipment. Some of the work has not been finally approved and Keebaugh said this may be the reason Alliance has been listed among cities which have not made final reports of compliance to the state.
60 Years Ago
October 27, 1965
The Alliance Junior Chamber of Commerce is planning a vocational business education survey here in cooperation with the City Schools. Plans for the survey were discussed with Supt. Marven Rosen at a Jaycee meeting Tuesday evening. Rosen explained that the schools desire to find out from merchants what skills they would like students graduating from high school to possess.
55 Years Ago
October 29, 1970
The Board of Education of District No. 44 recently adopted a new policy guaranteeing each school child a hot lunch whether they can afford it or not. The new board policy, required by the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act, sets up a scale by which school officials determine if a child must pay the full 35 cent price, a reduced prices, or no price for a meal.
50 Years Ago
October 24, 1975
The city’s street cleaning crew had finished clearing arterial routes, the business district and emergency areas of snow before most traffic began moving Friday. City street Supt. Larry Griffith said crews were clearing streets of the six-inch snowfall at 4 a.m. Friday and had completed work at 8:30 a.m.
45 Years Ago
October 27, 1980
Four years ago, Alliance was a sleepy ranch town with a few railroaders. Agriculture, without question, was the economic backbone. Then came the railroad boom – a whirlwind love affair between the city that once claimed to the “Cattle Capital of Nebraska” and the 2,000 or so railroad employees who moved to town.
40 Years Ago
October 26, 1985
Crime Stoppers not only pays off for the Alliance Police Department, but it can pay off for you too. The program involves a coordinated effort between citizens of the community and local law enforcement officials. Community members, acting as anonymous informants on crimes that occur throughout the town, can earn up to $1,000 by supplying the police department with information that leads to the solving of a crime.
35 Years Ago
October 26, 1990
The Nebraska Department of Roads will start road repairs in the West Third Street underpass on Monday, October 29. The project is expected to last two weeks and there will be one-lane traffic during daylight hours, with flagmen used to route traffic through the underpass. Delays can be expected. City officials are urging residents to use Tenth Street and Kansas Street as alternate traffic routes.
30 Years Ago
October 27, 1995
Rush’s replacements and Imus’ successors are learning about broadcasting at Grandview elementary. They may have a few years to go before they can attain the proper amount of cynicism for talk radio but John Miller’s and Cathe McCaffrey’s fifth graders are getting hands-on experience with new reporting.
25 Years Ago
October 26, 2000
Mavis McLean, director of the Alliance Public Library, and Board President Lee Mason this past week that the Nebraska Library Commission has renewed the Alliance library’s accreditation through Sept. 30, 2003. “Ours is one of a small handful of libraries across the state that has been accredited continuously since accreditation became an option,” Mason said.
20 Years Ago
October 27, 2005
District Court Judge Brian Silverman sentenced Joseph L. to three years of intensive probation yesterday in the 12th Judicial District Court of Box Butte County. Joseph L, 26, Alliance, is charged with attempted distribution of marijuana, a Class IV felony.
15 Years Ago
October 28, 2010
Tuesday afternoon the Alliance Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fuel spill at Fresh Start on East Third. Though the reported amount of fuel varies – ranging from 25 gallons, to 75 gallons, to 150 gallons – a substantial amount of fuel was lost at the station.
10 Years Ago
October 29, 2015
Severe weather and other natural or man made disasters can strike at any time, and being properly prepared can save lives. There are many factors to consider including communication, emergency kits and information. Discussing these with family members before a disaster strikes can be very important.
5 Years Ago
October 28, 2020
Box Butte County has taken over the second place spot in the Panhandle for the highest cumulative number of COVID-19 cases, edging out Dawes County as the positive cases continue to surge.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher