Stories from Monday, December 15, 2003

KEARNEY -- Frances Louise Debban, 83, died Friday (Dec. 12, 2003) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. She was born March 2, 1920, to John and Clara K. (Werner) Mussman in Deshler. She was raised and attended school in Norton. After school she worked in the Arapahoe area...

Myrva Dolene Norman of McCook, 88, died Friday (Dec. 12, 2003) at Hillcrest Nursing Home. She was born Dec. 14, 1914, in McCook to Earnest W. and Grace M. (Haegen) Houser. She graduated from McCook High School in 1932. On Oct. 23, 1936, she married Eugene E. "Curly" Norman in McCook. They celebrated 48 years of marriage prior to his passing away in 1985...

Lloyd Earl Potthoff died Friday (Dec. 12, 2003) at his home in McCook. He was 73 years old. Lloyd was born on Oct. 17, 1930, in Red Willow County, to Fred and Mabel Estel (Halladay) Potthoff. He graduated from Red Willow County High School in 1948, and later took college classes after his dismissal from the Army...

Boyd T. Ward Sr., formerly of Hayes County and McCook, passed away in Sun City, Ariz., at the age of 89. He was born Nov. 23, 1913 and he died Nov. 9, 2003. In his earlier years he was a rancher, farmer and later became a minister of the gospel. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Jacqueline in infancy...

CAMBRIDGE -- Ilah Max, 75, died Friday (Dec. 12, 2003) at Cambridge Memorial Hospital in Cambridge. She was born Nov. 23, 1928, to Louis M. and Virginia A. (Fletcher) Hovey in Stockville. She graduated as valedictorian from Stockville High School in 1947. After graduating she worked for Frontier County...

Amanda Marie Hilker and Cody Douglas Dame, both of McCook, were united in marriage Aug. 30, 2003, at First Baptist Church in McCook with the Rev. Stan Hendershot officiating. Parents of the couple are Kent and Lori Hilker and Douglas and Brenda Dame, both of McCook...

Jim and Eva Russell of Benkelman and Dana and Linda Cornelius of Madrid announce the engagement and upcoming wedding of their children, Carol Russell and Ryan Cornelius, both of Grant. Grandparents of the couple are Esther Krug of Benkelman, Clarence Palu of Madrid and Eldon and Jeanie Cornelius of North Platte. ...

The family of Lester Johnson is hosting a card shower in honor of his 90th birthday, Dec. 24. He is a former resident of the Southwest Nebraska/Northwest Kansas area. Cards of congratulations will reach him in care of Bob Roberts, 6106 East Des Moines Street, Meza, AZ 85205...

Family and friends of Ardis Randel Vukas are hosting a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday, Dec. 16. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 209 West M, McCook, NE 69001.

The children and grandchildren of Mildred Heinbigner are hosting a card shower in honor of her 75th birthday Dec. 20. Cards of congratulations will reach her at PO Box 352, Culbertson, NE 69024.

The family of Jim and Wanda Adkinson is hosting a card shower in honor of the couple's 25th anniversary, Dec. 16. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at PO Box 804, Benkelman, NE 69021.

While the signatures have been gathered for a referendum to rescind contracts between the city of McCook and engineering firms working on a solution to McCook's water quality problem, the city contends they have come too late. The McCook City Council will be asked to allow administrators to send the petition to the Red Willow County court for signature verification. ...

NORFOLK, Va. -- The national association called PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is offering up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the trapper whose trap snagged a McCook couple's dog for five long, cold days last month...

Sorry to be gone from this column for three whole weeks but between the packing, moving, selling, giving away, commuting to Lincoln, and more packing, moving, selling and giving away, plus computer problems ... it just wasn't meant to be for three weeks. Thanks for the break...

A trend has developed in politics that is disturbing, to say the least. That trend has to do with the vicious, parochial tone that many are using in their discourse with those of conflicting ilk. We have always been a partisan people but we have also been reasoned. ...

Whether you heard it at the coffee shop, the gas station or once you got to work, it's more than likely you heard talk about Saturday's capture of Sadaam Hussein this morning. Such was the case with the employees at the McCook Fire Department as they prepared for their day. The group watched the news on Hussein's capture and discussed the possible effects of his capture...

NORTH PLATTE -- A proposal to create an attractive, functional and technically advanced theater and related instructional space in downtown McCook will be presented as an informational item to the Mid Plains Community College Board of Governors at its regular meeting Wednesday night...

Memories from a box of "stuff" retrieved from the attic of my boyhood home: In 1944 Franklin Roosevelt was running for an unprecedented third term as President of the United States. I was a Junior in High School and it seemed as if Roosevelt had been President for my whole lifetime (well, he had been President since I was four years old). ...

**Dear Editor, As a trapper I found some disturbing information in the story ran on Thursday Dec. 11th. I am a very skilled trapper and have some questions that linger after reading the well written article. I have a very hard time believing that one could judge how long a dog was left in a trap unless they knew the dog was there...

**Dear Editor, By now (it si 7 a.m. Dec. 15 as I write) you have probably heard Hussein has been captured and taken into custody. Good has overcome evil. Three cheers for President Bush! He had the will power to do the right thing in iraq/ that lesser men would have backed away from. Was it worth the effort?...

GOODLAND, Kan. -- For the first time in school history, the McCook High School girls basketball team captured first place at the Goodland, Kan., Topside Tipoff Classic. The Bison girls clipped Ottawa 47-46 in Saturday's championship game at the Max Jones Fieldhouse...

The Arapahoe boys and the Dundy County girls claimed the titles at the 2003 Cattle Trail Tournament at the McCook Senior High on Saturday. In its third year, the Lady Tigers claimed their first Cattle Trail championship with a 37-27 win over Hayes Center...

Frost decorates weeds near McCook on Saturday morning. A winter weather advisory is in effect until Tuesday afternoon, with a good chance of snow and gust to near 55 mph expected to create blizzard-like conditions.