Stories from Thursday, December 18, 2003

HOLDREGE -- George E. Warner, 82, of Beaver City, died Tuesday (Dec. 16, 2003) at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Holdrege. He was born July 1, 1921, to Leon George "Jerry" and Marjorie (Dalton) Warner at the family home in Beaver City. He grew up in Beaver City and graduated from Beaver City High School with the class of 1938. In December 1939, he began his military career with the Air Force...

WAUNETA -- Orpha Louise Maris, 72, died Tuesday (Dec. 16, 2003) at her home in Wauneta. She was born July 1, 1931, on a farm north of Haigler to Edward W. and Pauline L. (Schwenk) Buffington. She attended grade school and high school in Haigler. On March 15, 1950, she married Dale LaVerne Maris at Eden Missionary Church south of Wauneta. The couple made their home near the Eden community in rural Hitchcock County, where they farmed until her husbands death in 1994. She then moved to Wauntea...

Election night should end much earlier for Red Willow County officials in May 2004, thanks to new optical scan electronic voting equipment being put in place here and in Richardson County. The two counties are receiving the equipment through a pilot program initiated by Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale and funded by the Help America Vote Act, which was a response to the Florida voting debacle of 2000...

Burlington Northern Santa Fe crews work to get the main track through McCook open this morning following a derailment of four railcars carrying new vehicles and two carrying fiberboard. According to Steven Forsberg, director of public affairs for BNSF, a train from Lincoln to Denver had stopped to pick up 12 cars in McCook when the mishap occurred. Officials estimated the track would be open again by noon, he said...

If you're looking for another example of how national events have local effects, you need look no farther than the front page of today's edition. We all chuckled when we saw the one Florida election worker straining to look at a punch ballot, trying to determine whether he was looking at a "swinging" or a "hanging" chad...

**Dear Editor, Recently a newsletter from the Geological Organization of Federated Investigators of Earthquake Statistics arrived in the mail box. Earthquakes are getting worse and more frequent. This could signify the end of the world. Suddenly the windows of my apartment began violently shaking and the Bible fell off the shelf to the floor, opening to the Book of Reverberations (Chap. ...

The holidays are a great time to reflect on the memories of Christmas past and the importance of family and friends. This year has been especially good to Brad and me as our extended family continues to grow. Brad's daughter Tisha and her husband, Josh, just had their third baby on Dec. 2. Lena Marie was a 6 pound, 4 1/2 ounce beautiful bundle of surprise for the young couple...

HILL CITY, Kan. -- The Oberlin boys basketball team edged Hill City 59-56 Tuesday night at Hill City, Kan. The Red Devils improved to 4-1 and Hill City fell to 1-2. Egan Grafel paced Oberlin with 22 points, followed by Chase McKittrick 19 and Matt Mondero 12. Lance Fortin scored 4 points and Andy Inman 2...

McCook, RV stars named Players of the Year By JOHN J. MESH Gazette Sports Editor Better late than never. After several delays due to late football playoffs, holidays and the winter sports publication, the McCook Daily Gazette sports department has released its Gazetteland All-Area Football and Volleyball Teams -- the Football Super 30 and the Volleyball Super Baker's Dozen (13)...

Community Hospital of McCook will begin updating its 22 year-old x-ray equipment at the first of the year. Hospital President Gary Bieganski told board members it's time to replace the outdated equipment with more technologically advanced equipment. The equipment replacement was budgeted for the 2003-04 fiscal year...

While the discussion on reimbursement for the cost of Medicare and Medicaid patients is technical in nature, U.S. Senator Ben Nelson said the bottom line is that hospitals like McCook's aren't getting the kind of reimbursement they should be getting...