Stories from Friday, March 5, 2004

LINCOLN -- Two-time defending champion West Point Central Catholic rolled to a 79-55 first-round win over Southern Valley in the Class C-2 girls state basketball tournament Thursday. Megan Neuvirth scored 20 points and Jackie Knievel added 18 to lead the Bluejays to their 23rd win without a loss this season. Mandy Kriekemeier also was in double figures with 13...

Aug. 9, 1921-March 2, 2004 OBERLIN -- Henrietta B. VanVleet, 82, died Tuesday (March 2, 2004) at Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Oberlin. She was born Aug. 9, 1921, to Henry and Bertha (Franzen) Miller in Freedom. She was raised in Freedom and Gothenburg. She graduated from Gothenburg High School in 1938...

June 25, 1908-March 4, 2004 Mollie Schafer, 95, died Thursday (March 4, 2004) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. She was born June 25, 1908, to Conrad and Mary Barbara (Adolph) Schafer in Hussenbach, Russia. The family moved to the United States in 1911 to Sebewang, Mich. They lived in Chicago, Ill., and Wyoming before coming to McCook in 1917. They farmed southwest of McCook. She graduated from rural school...

Ron Coleman, the McCook High School boys golf coach, has received two honors from the National Federation of State High School Association. Coleman has been selected as the 2003 NFHS Coaches Association National Coach of the Year in the sport of boys golf...

Results have been announced from the McCook Red Crush volleyball tryouts. The teams are as follows: 141s Erica Clapp, McCook; Nichole Dickey, Chase County; Sarah Fritsch, McCook; Lindsey Hazlitt, McCook; Staci Koester, Maywood; Lisa Lorda, Republican Valley; RyAnn Spady, Chase County; Ashley Weaver, Twin Valley...

Following the purchase of the Toyota franchise, the signs are changing at Wagner Ford-Mercury in McCook. From this week forward, the new name of the agency will be Wagner Ford-Mercury-Toyota. The addition of the Toyota line was announced this week by Chris and Annette Wagner, the owners and operators of the Ford-Mercury car dealership in McCook since January of 2000. The Wagners purchased the Toyota franchise from Dion Budke, whose family has been selling Toyotas in McCook since 1965...

"Taste of Home" cooking schools hostess Michelle Roberts pokes fun at her own southern accent -- "oil" is "ohl" and "boil" is "bohl" -- while she demonstrates "Back to the Basics" cooking techniques and recipes Thursday before about 750 people in McCook's Memorial Auditorium. ...

OBERLIN -- The Decatur County Good Samaritan Center and the Cedar Living Center in Oberlin will share a $1.3 million legacy left by the Shirley Cochran family. During a presentation March 2, each nursing home received a check for $634,255 from Leonard Cochran, the nephew of Shirley Cochran and his wife, Laura...

Remember the oil embargo of the 1970s? How about the price gouging following 9/11? Actually, we paid our highest price for gasoline in June 2000, after a refinery blast in Illinois reduced the supply for the Midwest. But Nebraska's gas price record of $1.85 may not be around for long...

**Dear Editor, With the blessing of moisture (so greatly needed) it must be followed by the curse of weeds next month. It is much easier to kill baby weeds than big ones before they can suck all the moisture out of the ground, or get high enough to hide the evil grasshoppers...

Ten items or less n If you just can't wait for the next big holiday -- St. Patrick's Day -- to roll around, look no further than this week, which is Procrastination Week. Procrastination is such an integral part of our lives that it has an entire week devoted to it...

Reports from university and government personnel have been coming in for quite some time now about the somber picture being painted of much of the country's drought situation and the potential for recovery. Reports indicate that although recent storm activity gives room for optimism, it is probably too late to effectively improve prospects for producers relying on surface irrigation delivery this year...

By DAWN CRIBBS Associate Editor The Rev. Gary Brethour of St. Patrick's Church handed out homework assignments Friday afternoon at the second Community Lenten service at St. Alban's Episcopal Church. More that 150 people attended the service as Brethour reading from the Gospel of St. John detailing Jesus' prediction of his betrayal by his disciple, Judas Iscariot, son of Simon...

If only it would rain ... a lot of problems would be solved, or at least diminished around Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas. That's the unspoken, underlying truth behind many of the discussions and conflicts with which we are dealing. Examples include the presentations at the annual water conference Wednesday in mcCook...

Practically everyone knows who Barney Fife is, even our young people. He was the bumbling, cowardly deputy with a heart as big as the whole outdoors in the Andy Griffith Show. This series' heyday was back in the 60's. It was immediately syndicated once the series ended, and has been seen by every generation since. ...

St. Patrick's Catholic Church was destroyed by fire about 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 1, 1903. The McCook Tribune of Friday, March 6 told how quickly the fire spread. "The alarm was sounded shortly before that hour while high mass was in progress and by half past eleven the entire structure with much of the furniture and furnishings were in ruins." The paper reported that there was no panic. ...