PLAINS – The board of directors of Bank of the Plains is announcing long-time bank executive Gene Dikeman, will retire from Bank of the Plains effective Jan. 1, 2026.
After a nearly 50-year banking career, Dikeman will continue to serve on the bank’s board of directors, ensuring a seamless transition and ongoing institutional leadership.
The bank’s board has named Tina Call, formerly president of Bank of the Plains, to become president and CEO. Dikeman will step into an executive vice president role until his retirement in January 2026.
Dynatest Physical Therapy has helped many patients with their physical therapy needs since its inception and now, the staff has a new location to celebrate.
The Dynatest Physical Therapy staff celebrated its move to its new location at 23 W. 2nd Street last week, and as employee Dr. John Zirkle tells it, there are a lot of positives about the move.
“Dynatest has been around since the early 2010s, and we moved into the new location, 23 W. 2nd Street, in September. When we started moving stuff in, we had the front half ready to go, and I have to thank Chava & Sons Construction for all the work they did, they did a fantastic job,” Zirkle said. “They got a bunch of work done in the front so we could seamlessly transition in since the lease at our former location was ending, and I also have to thank all of our staff for helping move everything in and get everything situated how it was supposed to. That's also when we were taking care of the beautification of some areas, especially our office and the back area where no one really goes, and we also had the HVAC system worked on and all of that stuff. Moving to this new spot, we did increase our overall square footage – our old space was around 3,000 total square feet, whereas with the new location, we're at almost 3,800 square feet in just the front main area, which is great, and everything is officially ADA-compliant and all of that, which we're really happy about.”
Seward County commissioners and staff have been receiving much criticism in the last two months following a 3-2 vote after the Sept. 15 public hearing to raise the county’s mill levy by double digits.
Much of that criticism has focused on Administrator April Warden, and she, along with the commission, attempted to answer some of the concerns of county residents at the commission’s Nov. 3 meeting.
The concerns were addressed during Warden’s administration comments and the commissioner’s comments near the end of the meeting.
First and foremost, Warden agreed with many, saying the county needs to have as much accurate information as possible, and that information needs to come without preconceptions of how courts and agencies defines it.
Southwest Medical Center CEO Amber Williams updated Seward County commissioners about what is happening at the board’s Nov. 3 meeting.
In September, Williams said the hospital moved to an outsource company to manage its hospitalist program.
“We did that for several reasons, number one being the cost savings,” she said. “They were bringing the model down to what we thought it should be, which is one hospitalist and one physician assistant instead of the three and three.”
This, Williams said, will help SWMC meet best practices and continuity of care.
Cooler weather is coming through the area, which means people can be more susceptible to the flu and other respiratory illnesses.
With that in mind, the Seward County Health Department (SCHD) is advising people to make sure and get their flu shot.
“We've had the flu vaccine available since the middle of September, and that's when we started giving them. The CDC recommends everyone six months old and older get vaccinated every season, especially since there are many flu viruses, which are always changing,” SCHD Registered Nurse Evelyn Aragon said. “We don't do the nasal mist, but we do offer the Fluzone in both regular and high-dose shots. Each year brings a new vaccine to protect against the strains most likely to cause particular hardship, and even if the vaccine doesn't 100 percent match the strain, it will still provide some protection. It's better to be protected during this season and come in and get your flu vaccine – the flu can be super contagious and spreads especially when the weather is cooler. The flu can strike anyone, but it's definitely more dangerous for some people, including infants and younger children, senior citizens 65 years old and older, those who are pregnant, and people who have certain other health conditions or are otherwise immunocompromised.”
