Wednesday, September 1, at 4:00 p.m., Kevin Kilmer had his first appearance in County Court with Judge Orr, who advised Kilmer that a complaint had been filed against him which alleges two counts and read them: Class 1 or 1A Felony, Murder in the First Degree, and Use of a Deadly Weapon to Commit a Felony, along with the penalties.

On Friday, August 27, 2021, Cherry County Attorney Eric Scott announced that Kevin T. Kilmer, age 25, of Valentine has been charged in the death of 52 year-old Ruth Ann Wittmuss.

Fall sports are underway with the first girls golf tournament of the season held at O’Neill where the Lady Badgers brought home a first place out of ten teams. First place, Valentine, 402; Battle Creek, 403; O’Neill, 412; Boone Central, 450; Pierce, 470; West Holt, 493; Crofton, 524; Cedar Catholic, 527; Ainsworth and Norfolk Catholic also participated.

School is in session and there is new staff at Valentine Community Schools. Let’s meet them! Shawna Fullerton is the district wide mental health professional.

The North Central RC&D met in Bassett. Highlights include the success of the Tire Amnesty project held in Cherry County in April. The RC&D received funding from Nebraska Department of Energy and Environment; 297 tons of tires were gathered and will now be recycled. The North Central District Health Department is applying for a Tire Amnesty grant for two locations in the RC&D area so we are supporting their project. The RC&D is applying for household hazardous waste collections for 2022.

Lightning can be sneaky and start fires before anyone knows what’s happened. So, on a perfectly normal, comfortable day, it may not be uncommon for our firefighters to be called out on what they’d determine later was a lightning fire.