Stories from Tuesday, November 18, 2003

The McCook school board will ask taxpayers to approve a new $5.3 million single-site elementary facility during the May 2004 primary election. In action during a regular meeting Monday evening, board of education members began the process of disposing of the West Ward facility and agreed to be part of an appeal of property valuations set by the state of Nebraska...

Lesley Francis Rice, 73, died Sunday, Nov. 16, 2003, at his home in rural McCook. Lesley was born on Nov. 26, 1929, at Shelton, to Benjamin Marston and Enid Melvola (Parks) Rice. He graduated from Shelton High School in 1948. On Dec. 27, 1950, he married Dixie Lea Michel in Shelton. ...

Betty Ellen Brooks, 75, of Grand Island, died Saturday (Nov. 15, 2003) at her home. Services are 2 p.m., Wednesday at All Faiths Funeral Home, Grand Island. The Rev. Carl Fehwaldt will officiate. Burial is in Grand Island Cemetery. Visitation Tuesday, 3-8 p.m., at the funeral home...

ATWOOD -- Marvin Lee Cox, 86, died Sunday (Nov. 16, 2003) at Rawlins County Health Center in Atwood. He was born May 23, 1917, to Mary Gertrude Brown and Ray Ardell Cox. He attended high school in Atwood, where he graduated in 1935. He lived the majority of his life in Atwood. In his youth, he spent time in the Pacific Northwest while working in the lumber industry. He began his career with the Postal Service in 1939. He enlisted in the Navy were he served in the Pacific Theater...

ATWOOD -- Carl Wilson Shanks, 86, died Saturday (Nov. 15, 2003) at the Good Samaritan Center in Atwood. He was born June 25, 1917, to Otto and Mary (Donn) Shanks on the homestead farm north of Colby. He attended Prairie Rose School through the eighth grade...

TRENTON -- Malissa E. Bishop, 90, died Monday (Nov. 17, 2003) at El Dorado Manor in Trenton. She was born Sept. 22, 1913, to Marion and Ada (Davis) Bannister in Franklin County. In 1917, the family moved to Hayes Center where she grew up and graduated from Hayes Center High School in 1931. She received her bachelors degree from Kearney State Teachers College in Kearney...

NORTH PLATTE -- A Nebraska State Patrol trooper is in serious but stable condition at a Lincoln hospital, after being shot during an early morning SWAT call. Sgt Robert Veal, a 22-year veteran of the Nebraska State Patrol was shot in the right thigh as he and other members of the Troop D SWAT team, along with Deputies from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department attempted to serve a warrant...

New water rates were approved on second reading, despite concerns that they still won't raise enough money and should be adjusted to keep one of the city's largest water customers online. "I'm still not convinced we're doing the right thing," Councilman Jerry Reitz said at Monday night's meeting...

Red Willow County Commissioners reaffirmed their decision to hang up a courthouse pay phone for good. Last month, commissioners decided to disconnect the phone, which the county owns and pays Qwest $26.14 a month for service. County Attorney Paul Wood and Clerk Magistrate Kathy Clapp told commissioners Monday that courthouse employees were somewhat surprised by the commissioners' decision to disconnect the phone...

Hunters had a good opening weekend for the deer season, judging from the bucks hanging in trees and hauled around in the back of pickup trucks. I used to hunt ducks, pheasants and quail back on the farm (that was before the time of dove hunting), but never went after a deer. When you raise beef, what's the use of eating a wild animal?...

The lead editorial in the Saturday, Nov. 15 edition of the Omaha World-Herald, the most-circulated newspaper in Nebraska made some excellent points in regard to the Nebraska Work Ethic Camp in McCook. The heart of the World-Herald's message is that the work ethic camp "is the type of prison alternative that has success in other states. It's also cheaper than prison: It cost about $15,000 a year to house one work camp inmate last year vs. $24,000 per inmate at the state penitentiary."...

Bad news, folks. It seems this administration is probably the most corrupt in our history. We have secrecy and cronyism from the construction companies operating in Iraq. There is no accounting for where our money is going. If someone wants some answers, the White House calls it a matter of national security, and no answers. ...

HAVILAND, Kan. -- It took an overtime game, but the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture-Curtis men's basketball team won its first game of the season by defeating Barclay College in Haviland, Kan., Friday night by a score of 84-69. The Aggies led at halftime 36-33 and ended regulation at 69-69...

The 2003 Republican Valley League All-Conference Volleyball Team was announced Monday. Two members of the Class D1 state runnerup Republican Valley squad headline the first team -- Savannah Noyes, a 6-foot-2 junior, and Caitlyn Schaffert, 5-10 senior...