Stories from Thursday, June 27, 2002

A new coordinator for the Southwest Nebraska Resource Conservation and Development will be on the job Monday. Ken Noonan, Nebraska Resource Conservation Service assistant state conservationist and RC&D program manager, informed the group about their new coordinator, Richard Mullaney. Mullaney is currently a RC&D coordinator in North Dakota, it was announced at the May 23 meeting in Culbertson...

If the kids can't say the pledge in school, then they ought to take out In God We Trust which appears on U.S. currency and they ought to take out the oath for judges and everybody else. This is crazy.

In a letter from Jim Needham of Cambridge, two dates were incorrect.The council meeting the Needham's attended was on June 18 and the first sewer backup the Needham's experienced was Dec. 27, 1999.

Dear Editor: Thank you for the front page coverage of the Model A Ford Club of Colorado stop in Max. Thank you for the beautiful picture taken by Faith Beyer. We were so proud of the turnout in our little town, and we think the Colorado Hobbyists were wonderful to include us in this tour. All of the owners of these beautiful cars were friendly and informative...

Dear Editor: I hope I am not the only one shocked by the ruling handed down yesterday by the 9th circuit court of California. In case you haven't heard, they have ruled that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in our school classrooms is now unconstitutional...

Let's not wait. Let's get started, right now, in drafting and passing a constitutional amendment which will uphold our right as Americans to have the words, "one Nation under God," included as an integral and essential part of the Pledge of Allegiance...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Around 35 undergraduate members of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity from 32 colleges and universities will pedal into McCook, Saturday at around 5 p.m. at the United Methodist Church. The team is part of the Push America, cross-country cycling trip entitled "Journey of Hope."...

NORTH PLATTE -- Sharon Kircher, an administrative assistant working in the Student Services Office at Mid-Plains Community College Area's McCook Campus was selected as the institution's Employee of the Month. She was presented her award at last Wednesday's regularly scheduled meeting of MPCCA's Board of Governors...

The first two winners of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce's "Good Neighbor" drawing are: Jennifer Raburn of Cambridge and Douglas Ridpak of McCook. They each receive a $25 gift certificate.The chamber will announce two new winners each week, and shoppers are urged to re-enter names for each week's drawing...

"Heartland of America -- McCook" is the theme of Heritage Days 2002, set for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 28-29. Nominations are being accepted for Heritage Days Honor Family. Forms are available at the chamber office, 107 Norris Ave. Anyone interested in helping the preparations for the event is asked to contact Jerda Garey-Svengalis at (308) 345-5581 or the chamber at (308) 345-3200...

An airline trying to get off the ground in Nebraska is getting $950,000 in federal grants. The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the money to Scottsbluff's Western Nebraska Regional Airport to help fund Westward Airways, which hopes to establish two round-trip flights a day from Scottsbluff to Omaha, with stops in North Platte and Lincoln...

TRENTON -- A 12-year-old Trenton girl will be a state finalist in the Miss Nebraska American Coed Pageant July 12, 13 and 14 in Lincoln. Crista Hudson, the daughter of Wendy J. Brown of Trenton, is competing for the state title and a chance to compete in the national pageant at Disney World in Florida...

LINCOLN -- The best approach to keep grasshoppers at bay this summer is to spray early, a University of Nebraska entomologist said. Grasshopper infestations will continue to worsen across Nebraska unless the insects are controlled while they are small and concentrated in their hatching beds, said Gary Hein, NU entomologist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff...

BEAVER CITY -- Furnas County's new county flag will hang on the second floor of the courthouse, beside a picture of an early homestead and the first courthouse,and across from an engraved floor-to-ceiling marble slab that tells about the county's early pioneers. The new flag adds another chapter to the history of the county...

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Mary Genevieve (Bell) Volentine was born Sept. 12, 1913, in Plainview, Texas to Marcus F. and Emma Bell. She passed away June 23, 2002, at her home in Santa Barbara, Calif. On Nov. 10, 1935, she married Myatt Wesley Volentine in McCook. They lived in McCook for several years before moving to California...

NORTON, Kan. -- Harold L. Frack, 78, died Monday (June 17, 2002) at the Andbe Nursing Home in Norton. He was a former resident of Hendley. He was born Oct. 1, 1923, to Claude and Josephine (Herhahn) Frack at Hendley. He graduated from Holbrook High School in 1941. He attended McCook College for 1 year. He served in the U. S. Army for a short time and then was employed at the Hastings Ammunition Depot at Hastings...

BEAVER CITY -- Randal D. Bates, 41, died Sunday (April 21, 2002) at a hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He had been a resident of Moscow, Tenn. He was born April 2, 1961, to Verlyn and Ila (Burton) Bates at McCook. He graduated from Beaver City High School in 1979. He graduated from Doane College in 1983. Following college graduation he moved to Lincoln for three years before moving to Tennessee in 1986. He was a supervisor for the Technicolor Corporation...

EL CAJON, Calif. -- Marjorie Burton Fletcher, 94, died Wednesday (June 19, 2002) in El Cajon, Calif. She was born July 18, 1907, to Charles and Margaret (Hayes) Burton in Franklin. She received her education in Rural School Districts 68 and 2, graduating from Franklin High School in 1925. She taught in one room schools in Franklin and Chase Counties...

"They" are at it again. You know who they are. They are the people with severe personality disorders who sit in a secret bunker writing reports on different things they know very little about. Those reports are then credited with throwing the world into panic. Known as "confidential reports" or "intelligence reports," these documents are innocuous descriptions that can be interpreted 50 ways by 50 different people...

Elwin Hansen, 87, died Tuesday (June 25, 2002) at his home north of McCook. He was born June 12, 1915, to M. Peter and Georgia (Cramer) Hansen in Frontier County. He graduated from the Nebraska School of Agriculture at Curtis in 1933. On May 17, 1944, he married Dorothy Klooz at Oberlin. They spent their married lives farming in Red Willow and Frontier counties. He was a seed corn representative for several companies. In 1988, he received the Pioneer Farm Award from Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha...