Stories from Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Tuesday's McCook-Lexington girls tennis dual was a matter of experience overwhelming inexperience. The Lexington girls tennis team swept all nine varsity matches from a McCook varsity squad that features two seniors and four sophomores. The McCook junior varsity team won 5-of-12 matches...

Were you as surprised as we were by the overwhelming margin by which the one-cent city sales tax was approved by McCook voters? Throughout the day Tuesday, everyone we talked to was apprehensive, predicting that the vote would be very, very close, with one side or the other prevailing by a slim margin...

Coach Joel Hueser will deliver the annual Baccalaureate address Sunday, 5 p.m., at the McCook High School Gymnasium in what may be his final public appearance as McCook High School's basketball coach. Hueser has accepted a position at Papillion-La Vista South in Papillion...

LINCOLN -- A Nebraska Humanities Council speaker will bring to life his grandfather's experiences as a prisoner of a Nazi concentration camp, during an NHC presentation at 8:45 and 10:30 a.m. Monday at McCook Senior High. Oliver Pollak will present "The Holocaust: A Personal Documentary," giving his audience a unique view of the Holocaust through the story of his grandfather, a survivor of the Theresin concentration camp...

Two-year-old Trae Koetter displays the partial mastodont jawbone and attached tooth his grandfather, Joe Koetter of rural McCook, discovered when a creek bed sloughed away recently. The elder Koetter contacted George Corner of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Museum who said the specimen is undoubtedly out of Ogallala sediments and may be eight to 13 million years old. ...

The Gazette is continuing to receive letters and correspondence from veterans from the past and present, during peacetime and war. To have submissions included in a special edition titled "Messages from the Frontline" on May 16 in honor of Armed Forces Day, please send correspondence and photos to the McCook Daily Gazette, PO Box 1268, McCook, NE 69001, email it to Gloria Masoner at cityed@ocsmccook.com or drop it off at the Gazette office at West First and E Street...

A retirement ceremony for Dr. Carlton Williams, interim president for Mid-Plains Community College Area was a combination of compliments and nostalgia as about 30 McCook Community College staff members, faculty and supporters gathered to wish him goodbye and good luck...

Supporters prevailed Tuesday night as McCook voters approved continuing the city sales tax by more than a 3-to-1 margin. "The people of McCook have resoundingly supported the continuation of the city sales tax," said City Councilman Jerry Reitz. Nearly 78 percent of the 1,901 voters who turned out for the election supported the continuation of the city's sales tax. Turnout was low, with only 34 percent of registered voters casting a ballot...

NORTH PLATTE -- The McCook Junior High eighth grade boys and girls track teams wrapped up their season Tuesday at the North Platte Invitational. The freshman and sophomore girls team won its meet scoring in 15 of 17 events. Coach George Briggs said "Excellent effort and depth were the difference."...

SUTHERLAND -- Culbertson's Sara Wagner, Dundy County's Nate Stroup and Brian Strand of Chase County were all double winners in Tuesday's Best in the West Invitational Track Meet in Sutherland. Wagner picked up wins in the long jump and triple jump, going 16 feet, eight inches and 36 feet, 1 1/4 inches, respectively...

It was nothing short of a miracle. He was the very image of the self-made man -- intelligent, ambitious, focused, strong. He was a good man, witty, caring and generous. He recognized talent and ability and honored those who possessed those positive traits. He also recognized shortcomings and wasn't shy about pointing those out either...

Benjamin Frank, 90, died Monday (May 5, 2003) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. He was born Jan. 13, 1913, in McCook, to Casper and Katherine E. Frank. He grew up in McCook and attended McCook High School. In 1937, he began flying as a commercial pilot...