Panhandle Scanner News

(BAYARD, Neb.) -- An exciting announcement coming out of Bayard today, the Bayard Community Foundation has been established to uplift the community, accept donations, and invite founding supporters for future initiatives. To ensure a strong and immediate start, the Bayard Community Foundation has affiliated with the Oregon Trail Community Foundation. Through this partnership, the organization oper...

The Alliance Police Department announces the sentencing of two feathers bueno, following a criminal investigation involving a child exploitation case. On Wednesday, bueno was sentenced in Boxview County District Court for multiple felony convictions. Specifically, bueno was sentenced to 14 to 18 years for incarceration for three counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, along with three...

Breaking news for you this morning, there is an active fire with an evacuation in place right now in Ashby, Nebraska. Officials were going to evacuate Hyannis, Nebraska, but winds shifted and now Hyannis High School is closed for the day, but the parking lot can be used for trailers and such. A current fire evacuation is in place for Ashby, Nebraska. Ashby is in Grant County and has resulted in so...

Be prepared for that statewide tornado drill this morning at 9 am mountain, 10 am central. Emergency Management Agencies run periodic tests to make sure equipment is working properly. Remember, outdoor tornado sirens are intended for those who are outdoors. Please make sure you have all of your emergency apps up to date and that your online 911 profile is current. In the case of a real emergency,...

(GERING, Neb.) -- We want everyone in Gering to be aware of the police training exercises that will be taking place today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the West edge of Gering. Residents in the Meadows subdivision may hear periods of simulated gunfire and loud noises throughout the day. Please be aware that this training is not occurring in the neighborhood but sound may carry into the nearby areas. Fo...

(KIMBALL, Neb.) -- On Saturday night, law enforcement officials were tracking down a drunk driver in the Kimball area. After much coordination, they found the proper vehicle and a female was taken into custody. Here's a sample of actual scanner traffic. [ We have a drunk driver headed down East 1st Street headed west on 1st Street ] [ We have the vehicle. It's reported as annihilated. ] [ I'll be...

Well, good news with the Morrill Fire update this morning. Firefighter hand crews are at work mopping up and cold trailing. Firefighters have been working the ground methodically on the Clear Creek Wildlife Management area to identify and extinguish any remaining heat sources that could threaten the line. The Clear Creek Management area was impacted during the fire's intense push to the east and s...

Fire crews are not only out there in the wild, fighting fires, but they are also responding to local calls. Shortly before 1pm on March 16th, Scottsbluff Fire was dispatched to a possible structure fire in the 1300 block of East Overland. Engine 1 arrived on scene about 4 minutes after the initial page and observed a shed on fire next to a vacant trailer. Damages are estimated to be around $15,000...

Do you know about Casa of Scotts Bluff County? CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children. Yesterday, Casa of Scotts Bluff County had the honor of swearing in three incredible new Casa volunteers. We're all very grateful for their willingness to advocate for children in our community. This work truly changes lives. Casa wrote, we're looking forward to swearing in one more amazi...

Join the Mitchell FFA on Thursday, March 19th for their fourth annual Labor Silent Auction. Come to the Mitchell Event Center at the Fairgrounds to help support the Mitchell FFA in their trips to state, community events, and district events. Thank you to the community for supporting all the local FFA clubs. And more local community events on our community calendar at Panhandle Scanner.     Speakin...

Nebraska's largest wildfire in history is now over a half a million acres. On Thursday, March 12, an electrical pole snapped after succumbing to 70 mile an hour plus winds on a farm in Morrill County. Over a half a million acres are charred and yes, one day this land will be even better once it's healed. But until that time, our neighbors, friends, and even strangers who feed us are suffering. Sev...

We cannot start today's news without thanking the area volunteer firefighters and emergency response personnel all over the Panhandle and beyond. The state of Nebraska was on fire last night.     With too many individual stories to report, please see our news page at PanhandleScanner.com or our Facebook page by the same name. There is an important message posted at the top of our page from the Bri...

We want to take a moment to congratulate Wyobraska Veterinary Services' Kodie Woodral and Dr. Danielle Becker! On October 27th they were driving down Highway 26 on the way to their next farm call when they came across a serious wreck. As they got closer they realized there were no emergency responders on seeing yet and instinct told them to stop and help. The patient was already purple in color an...

Yesterday around 10 a.m., a call came in for a semi who had struck a tree. North Platte, 468. 36 on 26 go ahead. Can you be enroute to mile marker 8 on 26? 8 on 26, a semi took out a tree on the roadway, tried to keep going. RP stopped him. Now the cattle are trying to get out of his semi, he's got some damage. 10-4, if you want to see if Scotts Bluff County can handle this cattle crossing at 36,...

Well, get ready for a cool down for the next couple of days before it warms up a little more, again on Thursday, and we're also expecting some high winds for the next several days. So be prepared for that.   A former deputy and garden county pastor, Bruce Neal, has pled not guilty to charges of first-degree sexual assault, felony child abuse, and felony tampering with evidence, in a case out of Ga...

While the weekend was filled with slide-offs from the slightly inclement weather, Kimball County Sheriff's Office reported at least two semi-slide-offs from the interstate, as well as scanner traffic indicating multiple troopers assisting drivers on other highways in Nebraska. You can expect much better weather this week with today, tomorrow and Thursday's highs being in the 70s. And we have a saf...

A few school closures on the horizon for today, Friday, March 6. No school in Hyannis due to the weather and no school announced previously by Gering, Bayard, and Minatare. There may be others but those are the ones we knew about early this morning. Last night, scanner traffic indicated a grass fire on Stonegate Road close to a structure just south of County Road G. It ended up being a minor ditch...

A motor vehicle accident shut down Highway 26 for some time last night. Scanner Traffic indicated a rollover accident at mile marker 19 on Highway 26 just west of Scottsbluff, possible entrapment and injuries. Two occupants in the car, one possibly entrapped. And further scanner traffic indicated an elderly female was now out of the vehicle after extrication. Partial trauma team was activated for...

Well you heard us talk a lot about that lunar eclipse and full blood moon that occurred on the 3rd at 3 am. Well it was a full moon and at the exact moment that the full blood moon lunar eclipse began, the Banner County Sheriff's Office was called to an accident. At approximately 3:04 am on the 3rd they were called to a single vehicle accident at Highway 71 in mile marker 29. The investigation led...

(BANNER COUNTY, Neb.) -- An emergency call came at 10:51 a.m. yesterday morning when the Banner County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to a single vehicle rollover on Highway 71 at mile marker 29. Upon arrival, a silver car was on its top with a single occupant trapped inside. Banner County Volunteer Fire and Rescue arrived and began the prolonged extrication process. The driver was removed from t...

According to the United States Geological Service, not one, not two, but three earthquakes happened this weekend in Nebraska. That's right, earthquakes, low magnitude however at 2.6, 2.6 and 4.1. The first one being the strongest at 4.1, just three miles east of Cowles, Nebraska. That's in the south-central part of the state, south of Grand Island and Hastings, almost to the Kansas border and just...

It's time for Scanner News and I'm your host, Brian Hale, brought to you by R&C Welding in Gering Nebraska. A busy night on Scanner Traffic, one incident involved a DUI with a woman involving a conflict of interest in Morrill County, and another case, an armed man outside Quick Care in Scottsbluff. Let's listen in. 321 Can you be in route to the intersection of Link 62A and Route 385 reference...

The Sidney Police Department is happy to announce that Lieutenant Ruiz and Officer Reeves have now been officially sworn in to duty. You may remember Chief Ruiz was in Kimball Nebraska as the police chief and suddenly resigned for the position in Sidney. With over 20 years of law enforcement experience, Lieutenant Ruiz is a powerhouse of knowledge. Congratulations to both law enforcement officers...

On Monday at approximately 3:40 in the afternoon the Mitchell Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a small grass fire on Highway 26 just east of town. Crews determined the cause was a car driving by that had an entire wheel assembly detached from the vehicle and rolled into the drive vegetation. The assembly was extremely hot and started the road ditch on fire. Fire was quickly...

Speaking of Gering, several things going on there, first of all, a longtime friend and a gentleman that I actually traded baseball cards with years ago passed away recently.  We would like to offer our prayers and condolences for the family and friends of Fred Lockwood, a local businessman and leader for many years his name lives on in the community. Also in Gering, be aware of some power outages...