Stories from Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Preliminary drawings of a jail proposed for Red Willow County impressed Red Willow County commissioners and sheriff during the commissioners' meeting Monday morning. Architect Douglas Boyd ACI/Boland Inc., Leawood, Kan., told commissioners and Sheriff Gene Mahon construction of the jail, designed as a 40-bed facility, would cost just a little less than $4 million...

Mary Aileen (Sapp) Brophy was born Feb. 15, 1937, in Cook to Walter R. Sapp Sr. and Letha Pearson Sapp. She moved from Tecumseh to Harvard at an early age. She attended Harvard High School for 11 years. She died Dec. 22, 2003, at her home in her sleep, beside her husband...

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

The children and choir of St. John's Ash Creek Lutheran Church of rural McCook plan their annual recreation of the first Christmas during a service on Christmas Eve. The public is invited to the live Nativity, Wednesday, at 7 p.m., at Midwest Livestock (the North Sale Barn). Portraying Mary is Samantha Yonkers, the daughter of Sonya and Tony Prentess; Joseph is Wyatt Roland, the son of Terry and Karen Roland. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

GRAND ISLAND -- The McCook High School girls basketball team rides a four-game winning streak into the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference Tournament, which starts next Monday at Grand Island. The tournament runs through Dec. 31. The Bison girls improved to 5-1 with a 47-41 victory over Holdrege Saturday at home...

In AD 33 they buried Jesus, but the man just won't stay buried. Hallelujah.

Jesus the Christ, the name upon all names. Wise men, and women, still seek Him.

I saw on the news, Channel 6 from Kearney on Dec. 16, where millions of white collar jobs have been lost to overseas companies, notably India, and millions more will be lost in the next few years. It seems Indians will do the same job for about a quarter the wages of Americas...

**Dear Editor, "My Favorite Things" store in McCook closed on Saturday, Dec. 20. I'm wondering if area shoppers realize what a huge loss this is? Does McCook? Clarice, Susie, Theresa and all other employees were always so pleasant and helpful, the merchandise outstanding, varied, beautifully displayed, with prices right...

I didn't have a flight suit or a band waiting, but I don't think a "Mission Accomplished" banner would have been out of place when I arrived home Sunday. Thanks to dogged determination and more than a week of searching, our son will now have his favorite Christmas candy -- chocolate cherry mash...

In the western part of the United States, people prefer plain talk. It's been that way since frontier days. You're listened to a lot better, and respected a lot more, if, first of all, you speak so you're clearly understood, and, second, you get straight to the point. In other words, as the people out west say, "Don't beat around the bush."...