News

Valentine, NE (March 25, 2025)– Security First Bank and Security First Insurance, with the generous support of its customers and employees, successfully collected more than 6,477 items of food and personal care items and raised over $16,700 in monetary donations during its sixth annual Feeding Hearts food drive.

An Open House will be held Tuesday, April 15, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., hosted by Cherry County Tourism and Mid Plains Community College on the new Cherry County Convention Center. Members of the Cherry County Tourism Board, Anne Clark, Sara Ferguson and Kim Epke shared that they decided to reach out to Mid Plains Community College who was “gung ho” and “excited” to partner with them.

Valentine, NE - The Heart City Creative District announced that they have been awarded a grant of $100,000.00 by the Nebraska Arts Council. This grant will support the Heart City Theater Revitalization Project on Main Street in Valentine.

With these beautiful, sunny days, it’s hard not to think about golf season! We’re excited to announce that the 2025 Chamber Golf Tournament is set for June 14, at Frederick Peak Golf Club, and we’re doing things a little differently this year.

Valentine, NE, March 28 – Local and federal fire officials have responded to and are suppressing an active and growing wildfire at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in Cherry County, Nebraska. The Dads Lake Fire was reported shortly after noon on Friday, March 28, 2025. Responding fire officials do not have an estimated size or percent contained available tonight. The cause is under investigation.

Snow blanketed the Sandhills area Saturday, March 29, 2025, with nearly five inches of heavy, wet, snow! Which was a huge blessing given the drought conditions for the past year, and hopefully helped suffocate the fire that was burning the area by Dads Lake on Valentine National Wildlife Refuge.

VALENTINE, Neb.— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment, for public review and comment, that evaluates cooperative agriculture activities at Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska. Public comments on the draft Environmental Assessment will be accepted for 30 days, from April 1 through April 30, 2025.

Valentine, Neb. – Federal and state firefighters continue full suppression and monitoring operations for the Dads Lake Fire south of Valentine, Nebraska today, March 29. Cooler temperatures, increased humidity and decreasing winds aided firefighters in blunting fire growth overnight.

The local Civil Air Patrol unit, Sandhills Flight, received a call for a fire fight on March 1, 2025. Two members were tasked with taking photos of the burn and to calculate the acreage. They flew to the Mullen area, found the burn, flew the perimeter and took photographs.

Both University of Wyoming rodeo teams were just a few points out of a second consecutive weekend sweep, finishing as runners-up at the Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) competition in Torrington. The Cowboys were second to Gillette College over the weekend by just 10 points, placing behind front-running Gillette College’s 570 points.