A freak accident happened on Saturday.

Dog call shotgun. In Scottsbluff, a potentially deadly situation was luckily avoided on Saturday, just after noon on Avenue I when a shotgun was accidentally discharged by a dog. Dispatch reports a possible BB gun injury to a woman near the 2001 Avenue I address, that's the Scotts Bluff shortstop gas station.

Initial calls indicated the woman may have been shot with a BB gun. Further investigation determined it was actually a loaded shotgun that was accidentally discharged by a dog. Ambulances were cancelled on scene by Scottsbluff fire.

Injuries were minor and the patient was reportedly transported to Regional West Medical Center by family.

As a reminder, Nebraska State Statute 37-522, referencing Shotgun on Highway, Restrictions, Violation, and Penalty.

It shall be unlawful to have or carry, except as permitted by law, any shotgun having shells in either the chamber, receiver, or magazine in or on any vehicle on any highway.

Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and shall be fined at least $50. As a side note, the accidental shooting happened on a city street and not a highway. An investigation is ongoing.

Pip and Mara discuss upcoming Vacation Bible School dates

Pip: Welcome back to the Hale Multimedia LLC corner of the internet, where summer is apparently a team sport.

Mara: That's right — Panhandle Scanner has been tracking Vacation Bible School programs across the region, and there's a lot of ground to cover, from Scottsbluff to Sidney to Torrington.

Pip: Let's start with who's running VBS, when, and what they're calling it this year.

Mara: The question this segment answers is a practical one: if you're a family in the Nebraska Panhandle or nearby Wyoming looking for a Vacation Bible School this summer, where do you go and when?

Pip: The post opens with an invitation before it gets into the listings themselves. Churches that want to be included are asked to reach out directly: "If your church is hosting a Vacation Bible School and would like to be on the list, please email sbcoscanner@gmail.com and / or message the Panhandle Scanner page."

Mara: So this isn't a closed registry — it's a running, community-built list. That changes how you read it. The listings are there because churches actively submitted them, and more can still be added.

Pip: And the list that's already there is substantial. It runs week by week from late May through late July, which is a longer window than you might expect.

Mara: The earliest entries are the week of May 26th — First Baptist of Scottsbluff and Harvest Valley Church, both running May 26 through 29, with themes called Galaxy and The Illumination Station respectively. Then the calendar fills in fast.

Pip: June 1st is the busiest week on the list, with six programs running simultaneously across the region — Harrisburg, Angora, Alliance, Immanuel Lutheran in Alliance, St. Agnes in Scottsbluff, and Cornerstone Fellowship in Bayard.

Mara: The theme names alone are doing a lot of work here. Emerald Crossing shows up at Alliance Berean, Harrison Bible Church, Lifeway Church in Torrington, and Pleasant Point Community Church in Ellsworth. Rainforest Falls appears at both Central Church of Christ and Gering United Methodist. Later in July, Rusty's Junkyard VBS and Junkyard Redemption are running in the same week, at Bayard Community Bible Church and Zion Evangelical Scottsbluff.

Pip: A junkyard-themed VBS is either inspired or a very committed bit, and honestly either answer is fine.

Mara: The list also carries one important note at the bottom — Mitchell Berean's June 1 through 4 program has been postponed, so families planning around that one will need to watch for updates.

Pip: The window runs all the way to late July, with Faith Lutheran in Gering, Calvary Memorial, and First Baptist Chadron rounding out the summer end of the calendar.

Mara: There's something genuinely useful about a list like this — it's the kind of local coordination that's hard to find in one place.

Pip: More listings may still be coming. Worth checking back.

It is National EMS Week and we want to thank you to all the EMS professionals who rush towards danger, work tirelessly, and care for our community when it needs you the most. Thank you to all EMS personnel.

The Village of Lyman will be hosting pet vaccinations, including horses, June 4th from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Village Shop. Small and large animal pet vaccinations, June 4th, 4 to 6 p.m. in Lyman.

Vacation Bible School time. Yes, that's right, the VBS schedules are out and we have compiled a list for everyone, along with the help of our friends here at KCMI Radio. We've created a printed list as well as a graphic that you can find on our Facebook page. That's all the VBSs in the area this summer. If we've left yours out, please be sure to add it and we'll get it on the list. For all resources like this, you can find them on our website at panhandlescanner.com under the Resources tab.

We also had another larger rattlesnake photo sent to us, taken of a live rattlesnake that was found on a country road near Lake Minatare. They're everywhere, please be careful. It's their environment, let's watch out for them.

Maybe you don't know about our morning show, the Elevate Your Day with Andy and Brian. Every morning at 9 a.m., find a link to that on our streaming media website, diggingdeepertv.com. Just click on Live Podcast.

And of course, you can always listen to Scanner Traffic by visiting that website at panhandlescanner.com. Just click on Listen. Now including Goshen County, Wyoming.

We hope you fared well overnight with that freeze warning that we had. Our thermometer said temperatures reached 32 degrees overnight, and that freeze warning should expire around 10 a.m. this morning. Our high today should be around 59 degrees.

And there's some road construction that is going to begin May 27th in the Kimball and Cheyenne County areas. Work will begin on I-80 weather permitting on the 27th on Interstate 80 from mile marker 22 to mile marker 47.

A three vehicle accident occurred yesterday around 16th Street and Highway 26 in Mitchell, Nebraska. An individual involved in the accident wrote in the comments that if any of my friends see this, we're fine. Home safe and sound. Yes, it would be right at the north end of our street. That was from Julie Kimsey-Lane. Glad to know that she's okay.

Late last night, mile marker 73, Highway 87 on the Larrabee Creek Bridge. Airbag deployment. Two female occupants complaining of chest pain after a car versus deer accident. Rushville Sheriff's Department responded, along with the Fire Department and the Nebraska State Patrol. That was around 10.53 p.m.

Please be aware of your surroundings as we get closer to the summer. With the dry conditions, snakes are moving and pose a potential threat, especially for those living in the country. According to a longtime Skinner follower, a baby rattlesnake was found in her mom's basement utility room. She walked past him five times before seeing him. He was coiled but not old enough to rattle a warning. The location of this particular critter was on Sugar Factory Road in Scotts Bluff County, but they could literally be anywhere in western Nebraska or eastern Wyoming as we get closer to the summer. Please be aware of your surroundings.

Storms and wildfires dominated the headlines over the weekend, and some very strange weather indeed, with temperatures in the 80s in the last few days, and now we're looking at 40 today. And that comes with a freeze watch. Overnight lows could dip down to 30.

We have a couple of statewide stories.

One is a missing juvenile in Hitchcock County. Shelby Wiley, 17-year-old female, was last seen in Trenton, Nebraska, wearing a black hoodie, black shorts, and white Nike shoes. She's known to hang out mostly in McCook, Nebraska. So please, if you have seen this missing juvenile, Shelby Wiley, please contact authorities.

Several well-known storm chasers were in the area in Nebraska over the weekend. According to the Howard County Emergency Manager, at least two homes near St. Libory, Nebraska, were leveled after a tornado ripped through the county on Sunday. At least one other home sustained significant damage.

Emergency Fire and EMS crews shared a message on social media, reminding everyone, "we appreciate everyone's concern, but power lines are down, and there's a lot of debris in the area impacted by the tornado. We ask that bystanders please put safety first, and be considerate of those affected, and stay away for now."

Jayden Pappenheim, whose video and photos were used by NPR and others, wrote, Significant tornado damage north of St. Libori, Nebraska, where one home in particular is completely swept clean and a four-wheeler tossed a considerable distance. You can catch that video on our Facebook page or our news page at Panhandle Scanner. Preliminary reports indicate there was no loss of life in this tornado.

Cover photo by Storm Chaser Adam Lucio

For our breaking news coverage, be sure to follow our page at Panhandle Scanner, or panhandlescanner.com.

Fire is frightening, and Nebraska is on fire again. A great resource to track all those wildfires is the WatchDuty app. You can access that straight from our website at panhandlescanner.com, under the Resources tab. That is a truly incredible service, and they are asking for donations for support. That's the WatchDuty app. Please support it. It's the best wildfire coverage anywhere.

Please continue to pray for our firemen and women who are out there on the front lines, and all of those involved in these Nebraska wildfires.

But wildfires aren't the only things that are burning in Nebraska.

Three structure fires happened in the last 24 hours. In Alliance, a 24-year-old male suffered third-degree burns to his face, neck, shoulders, back, torso, and bilateral arms. The man was transported to the burn center via helicopter. That happened Wednesday evening around 8 p.m.

And then later, at around 10:20, all area fire departments were paged out to the Lake Alice area, when scanner traffic indicated station coverage needed and mutual aid requested for an ongoing structure fire at Lake Alice. Unfortunately, that home was a total loss.

And then just after midnight, scanner traffic indicated mutual aid requested for a Bayard fire. And unfortunately, Peggy, Chelsea and Isabelle Nuss' home was a total loss. They are in immediate need of clothing and shoes. The Bayard Senior Center is the drop-off spot. Please see our post for a list of needs on Panhandle Scanner, under the post Bayard Mutual Aid Requested.

So many fires, and our prayers for everyone.

Please use caution, and thank you to the volunteers from our local fire departments.