Stories from Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Darlene A. Geihsler, 48, of Indianola, died Sunday (Jan. 11, 2004) at Community Hospital of McCook. She was born Dec. 5, 1955, to Delbert Henry and Roberta Grace (Porter) Maris in McCook. She graduated McCook High School in 1974. On June 29, 1974, she married Eugene Maxwell Geihsler at First Christian Church in McCook...

IMPERIAL -- Marvin Scott Athey, 82, died Tuesday (Jan. 6, 2004) at the Imperial Manor Nursing Home in Imperial. He was born July 3, 1921, in Wauneta to Harvey E. and Mina A. (Theobald) Athey. He grew up in Wauneta, helping his father run the flour mill and ice plant. They also did surveying. He graduated from Wauneta High School in 1939. He attended the University of Nebraska, where he earned a degree in business administration. He played quarterback for the Huskers from 1939-1941...

LINCOLN -- Leon J. O'Brien, 68, of Cambridge, died Saturday (Jan. 10, 2004) at LGH East Hospital in Lincoln. He was born north of Cambridge in Furnas County to Joseph and Sophia (Brinkman) O'Brien. He grew up on the farm and attended school in Cambridge. He graduated from Cambridge High School in 1953...

KEARNEY -- Douglas E. Otter, 39, of New Almelo, Kan., died Sunday (Jan. 11, 2004) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He was born Sept. 27, 1964, to Marion and Marilyn (Hickert) Otter in Norton. He was raised on a farm north of New Almelo and attended school in New Almelo and Lenora. He also attended school at Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland...

LINCOLN -- Brian and Stacey (Barger) Agnew of Lincoln announce the birth of their daughter, Alaina Elizabeth Nov. 18, 2003. She weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces. Grandparents are William and RanDee Barger of Culbertson and the great-grandmother is Helen McNew of McCook...

OMAHA -- Travis and Jessica Barger of Omaha announce the birth of their daughter, Madalyn Lucille, Dec. 11, 2003. She weighed 7 pounds and 2.5 ounces. She was a 15-month-old sister, Aiden Ann-Marie. Grandparents are William and RanDee Barger of Culbertson and the great-grandmother is Helen McNew of McCook...

Brock and Mindy Rogers of McCook announce the birth of their daughter, Gabriella Paige, Nov. 24, 2003, at Community Hospital of McCook. She was 7 pounds, 0.6 ounces and was 19 inches long. She has a brother, Isaac, 5. Grandparents are Steve and Shari Haag and Ron and Jean Rogers, all of McCook. Great-granparents are Ray and Myrna Haag of Lebanon, Paul and Ruby Ahrens of McCook, Sara Reiners of Danbury and Charlotte Rogers of Indianola...

NORTH PLATTE -- Idella R. Brown, 88, of Benkelman, died Sunday (Jan. 11, 2004) at Linden Court Care Center in North Platte. She was born Jan. 21, 1915, to Earl and Clara White in Idaho Springs, Colo. She came with her parents to Chase County in 1917. She attended rural grade school southwest of Champion and graduated from Chase County High School in 1932...

Vincent Donald Thompson, 72, of McCook, died Sunday (Jan. 11, 2004) at Community Hospital of McCook. He was born Feb. 23, 1931, to Donald Everett and Ruby Pearl (Hannah) Thompson in Stratton. He graduated from Trenton High School in 1950. He enlisted into the military service and was in the Air Force. He served his country during the Korean Conflict and was honorably discharged in 1955...

Franklin Merle Porth, 80, died Dec. 10, 2003, at the Lutheran Hospital in Denver, Colo. He was born April 20, 1923, in Secor, Ill. As an electrician, he wired many homes in the McCook area when the REA came into being. He was preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Grace (Sloter) Porth; his wife, Gail (Guthrie-Sayer) Porth; son, Gary Porth; brothers, Kenneth, William, Orval and Lee Porth; and sister, Marilyn Gerdes...

Edith Syble Wing, 84, died Tuesday (Jan. 13, 2004) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. She was born June 30, 1919, in McCook to Edward and Eleanor (Sisson) Parsons. Her mother died three weeks later. Edward married Lucy Edwards who became a wonderful mother to Edith...

GREELEY, Colo. -- Robin Elaine (Bales) Seabrook, 43, died Friday (Jan. 9, 2004) in Greeley, Colo., as a result of an automobile accident. She was born Oct. 27, 1960, to Floyd G. Bales and Norma Jean Stinnette in Trenton, N.J. She graduated from McCook High School in 1978...

By JOHN J. MESH Gazette Sports Editor Jeff Gross jokingly said he might need to build his own trophy case. Whether he does or not, Gross will have to make room for yet another Coach of the Year Award. Gross, the six-year head football coach at McCook High School, recently was selected as the 2003 Gatorade Football Coach of the Year for the state of Nebraska...

BENKELMAN -- The Dundy County High School girls basketball team, ranked seventh in Nebraska Class D-1, improved to 10-0 with a 48-35 victory over Wauneta-Palisade Tuesday night at Benkelman. The Tigers handed the Broncos their first loss of the season in 10 games...

COLBY, Kan. -- It was a tough night for McCook High School basketball teams Tuesday at Colby, Kan. The McCook varsity boys lost 58-54 in a nail-biter, the Bison varsity girls lost 56-39 to the No. 1 team in Kansas Class 4A, both junior varsity teams and the ninth grade boys lost...

Approaching the mid-point of the 2003-2004 basketball season, a pair of side-by-side school districts are dominating boys and girls action in Southwest Nebraska. In boys play, the highest rated teams from this area are the Cambridge Trojans and the Arapahoe Warriors, high schools located 16 miles apart in Furnas County. ...

**Dear Editor, As many Southwest Nebraska families and friends say goodbye to their loved ones leaving to do their part in protecting our Freedom, my heart goes out to all of them! Do we really realize what sacrifices these soldiers are doing for us? What about their family and friends and how their lives will change?...

The sign reads "City Without Limits." Boy, is that right! There's no limit to what the City Council will do to the town people (their friends and neighbors) to make up for their huge mistake with the Army Air Base. There's no limit to increasing water rates and decreasing salaries ... there's no limit to hearing neighbors talk about moving out of McCook...

A second petition regarding McCook's choice of well fields has been submitted to the city of McCook for circulation. The petition asks for a referendum for a special election that would ask McCook residents one basic question -- Do you want to locate a well field north of McCook?...

An attempt to reconsider the land contracts with two landowners for a well field north of McCook hit a snag Tuesday night, but the fight isn't over. After the council left a 20-minute executive session, Chris Miller of Miller & Associates asked it to change specifications of the request for proposal to include only well drillers with municipal well field experience. The council asked city administrators to include the request on the next council meeting agenda...

We've been sleeping with the cordless phone in the bedroom for the past several weeks, ready to rise at a moment's notice when Lisa calls with word that birth is imminent. I am a notoriously deep sleeper. I've often bragged about how early in life my children slept through the night. (They discovered early that it was simply too much work to get me up and seldom worth the effort.) But I was sure I would hear the phone ring in the middle of the night if it was right beside me on the nightstand...