Stories from Tuesday, March 16, 2004

CAMBRIDGE -- Four members of the Nebraska Class C-2 state champion Cambridge boys basketball team topped the Republican Valley League's All-Conference Teams. First-team honorees for the Trojans are sophomore Waid Vontz and senior Matt Depperschmidt...

Feb. 7, 1969-March 14, 2004 INDIANOLA -- Greg S. Blackman, 35, died Sunday (March 14, 2004) at Indianola. He was born Feb. 7, 1969, to Carol (Stritt) Blackman and V. Gene Blackman in Kearney. He graduated from Palisade High School in Colorado in 1987. He returned to Nebraska making his home in Indianola since 1998...

OMAHA -- Bret and Brandy (Muff) Zapp of Omaha announce the birth of their daughter, Mallorie Jean, March 3. She has a brother, Mason Michael. Grandparents are Sandy and Larry Rash, Mike and Judy Zapp, all of Kearney, and Ed Muff of Lodi, Calif. Great-grandparents are Helen Young of Ansley, Cletus and Jean Muff of Clearwater, Bernetha Whitehead of Kearney, Walter and Enid Zapp and Elaine Schilz, all of McCook...

A letter from the Regulation and Licensure Department of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has thrown an obstacle in the path of the city's plan to address the water nitrate problems. A letter from Richard P. Nelson informed Mayor Jerda Garey that the city's current plans do not comply with the McCook's revised compliance schedule...

By Connie Jo Discoe Regional Editor Red Willow County commissioners and the county's highway superintendent Gary Dicenta discussed the future of the county road north of McCook's East 11th Street and compiled a list of armor-coat projects for this summer, during a regular board meeting Monday morning...

So how are you betting? Will Nebraskans vote on gambling proposals at the November general election, or will the Legislature and petition backers once again fail to get the gambling issue on the ballot? The questions arise because of efforts now taking place. ...

**Dear Editor, The Veterans of Foreign Wars Club in McCook has just completed renovations on its building. All of the work was done by volunteers; mostly members and their families. However, one volunteer was a completely new face to all of us. Rob Flanagan and his wife are the new owners of "That Other Floor Store." They not only gave us a discount on the new carpet; Rob volunteered one whole day to help us prepare the lumpy cement floor for installation. ...

That big thump you heard the other night was the sound of the other shoe falling. Two of them, in fact. First, there is the prospect of $37,000 a day in fines, for the last four years and continuing, concerning ammonia generated by McCook's wastewater treatment plant...

The blades of an ornamental windmill blur in the wind, as Stratton auctioneer Johnny Walker sells it and hundreds of other items during the 31st annual Lions Club consignment sale Saturday in Holbrook. Corvin Stark of Holbrook said the sale grossed $140,000, and involved 900+ buyers and 189 consignors, some from Colorado, Iowa, Wyoming and Washington. Auctioneers in six rings sold everything imaginable for farm, home and business. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)...

With the announcement that the city of McCook could be forced to pay nearly $43 million in penalties for waste water violations, Monday's City Council meeting may have left citizens hanging out to dry. During discussion of Councilman Jim Kenny's request for additional engineering studies for the waste water treatment plant solution, City Manager John Bingham announced that the city could be facing up to $10,000 in state fines and $27,000 in federal fines daily for releasing too much ammonia into the Republican River.. ...