Stories from Tuesday, June 15, 2004

HASTINGS -- The McCook Rebels 14 and under girls fastpitch softball team won the Class A bracket this past weekend at Hastings in the Nebraska Flames Fastpitch Softball Tournament. Pool Play Game 1 McCook Rebels 6, Lincoln Magic 14's 3 Kirstie Hiatt had four strikeouts, one walk, and allowed four hits from the Magic...

Nov. 12, 1918-June 14, 2004 WAUNETA -- Frieda A. Bush, 85, died Monday (June 14, 2004) at Heritage of Wauneta in Wauneta. She was born Nov. 12, 1918, to Carl Daniel and Ida Engeline (Buss) Sommerfeld in Blue Hill. On Aug. 30, 1946, she married Arthur R. Bush at Zion Lutheran Church in Hastings. The couple moved to the AJ Irvine Ranch, north of Hamlet, May 1, 1949 and retired to Palisade in March 1991...

Sept. 2, 1916-June 13, 2004 COLBY -- Charlotte M. Adams, 87, died Sunday (June 13, 2004) at the Citizens Medical Center in Colby. She was born Sept. 2, 1916, in Atwood. She was a retired insurance clerk. She was a member of Berean Church in Colby and Gideons International...

April 16, 1922-June 8, 2004 Robert "Bob" R. Baumann, age 82, died June 8, 2004, at Linden Court in North Platte. Funeral services were Friday, June 11, 2 p.m., at the United Methodist Church in Chadron. Bob was born on April 16, 1922, in Holstein, Iowa, to Frederick and Edna Baumann of Cushing, Iowa. ...

PAPILLION -- Craig and Suzanne (Peters) Close of Papillion announce the birth of their son, Braden Willis, May 2, 2004. He weighed 7 pounds and 5 ounces. Grandparents are Peggy and Dennis Kennedy of Culbertson and Willis Peters of Oberlin. Great-grandparents are Cloyd and Naomi Peters and Irene Loghry of McCook...

Brad and Jennifer Friehe announce the birth of their daughter, Chayse DaKota, May 9, 2004, at Great Plains Regional Medical Center. She weighed 7 pounds, 10.5 ounces. She has two sisters, Chessney, 6, and Chyanne, 4. Grandparents are Kenneth and Mary Tidyman of Maywood, Gary Bledsoe of Fleming, Colo., Francis and Jackie Friehe of Culbertson. Great-grandparents are Ted and Judy Blair of Maywood...

AMARILLO, Texas -- Matt and Valerie (Owen) Parker of Amarillo, Texas, announce the birth of their daughter, Claire Elizabeth, Feb. 26, 2004. She has a sister, Zoe, 2. Grandparents are Jack and Linda Parker of Eastland, Texas and Don and Marie Owen of McCook...

A Lincoln architectural firm's effort to address the aggressive schedule needed to transform North Ward into a single-site elementary school helped it get the nod Monday night. The McCook school board will negotiate with the firm of Bahr, Vermeer Haecker of Lincoln, which was selected from a field of four which was interviewed June 9...

Investors in the McCook area purchased 40 percent -- $2 million -- of the bonds sold to finance McCook's new elementary school. Paul Grieger, public finance banker with the bonding firm of Kirkpatrick Pettis of Omaha, told members of the McCook Public Schools board of education Monday his firm had anticipated selling 30 to 35 percent of the bonds locally. "We're very happy to see 40 percent," Grieger said...

St. FRANCIS -- Nearly perfect weather greeted participants at the 22nd annual Stearman Fly-In at St. Francis, Kan., over the weekend, with approximately 120 aircraft, including 14 Stearmans, the fabric-covered, radial-engined biplanes used in World War II as primary trainers...

Red Willow County commissioners awarded the county's 2004 armor-coating contract to a Red Cloud firm Monday morning, and discovered it will save taxpayers money if the county itself buys asphaltic oil directly from a broker. Figgins Construction of Red Cloud submitted the only bid for the county's summer paving projects...

Bleachers overlooking McCook High School's track and practice football field would improve the comfort level of spectators, and would also make McCook eligible to host activities sponsored by the Nebraska Schools Activities Association. McCook school board president Greg Larson told fellow board members Monday that materials and funds have been donated to a project that will install seating for 900 on the east side of the "track bowl" west of the senior and junior high buildings...

McCook Public Schools and McCook Community College are in the very early stages of talking about building a new restroom, concessions and storage building at Weiland Field. McCook Schools Superintendent Dr. Don Marchant told board of education members during their regular meeting Monday that some rough drafts have been drawn, but no decisions have been made on the proposal. "This is in the very beginning stages," Dr. Marchant said...

Well, you're welcome. You are thanking me for the rain, aren't you? Prior to leaving for Colorado a week and a half ago, we gave the lawn and flowers a good watering, in hopes they would survive. Sure enough, they were in good shape when we returned, thanks to the the rain McCook received while we were in Colorado, not to mention my wife's sister-in-law's green thumb and careful attention...

In this era of rapid change and constant moving about, it's refreshing to hear about families who put down roots ... and stay committed to the same area for generations. For that reason, the Pioneer Farm Family Awards are an honored tradition in Nebraska...

**Dear Editor, I am merely one of a multitude of people who agree with with Mike Pochop, concerning his letters to the editor. Mike states that the Bible says "The fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom." Or in other words, "Sin will make you stupid." Or, as Dwight D. Eisenhower said it, "The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth."...

**Dear Editor, In response to Paul Schneider's response to my response on Monday, I only have one thing to say, "Get a life, Paul, get a life." **Bob Thayer, McCook

**Dear Editor, When I read my paper, I always read the comics, hoping for a bit of lightness for the day, but was hit one day by the opposite. One strip, Soup to Nutz (June 10), disturbed me greatly. it concerned a little boy whose father had deserted him, and his effort to cover it up. We all know this sort of thing happens, but to make light of it is repugnant. I believe you owe all of your readers, and especially any who have been caught in a like situation, an abject apology...

**Dear Editor, The following appeared in the Durham, N.C. local paper , and I think it bears repeating as much as possible to put things in perspective before the next election: Liberals claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war. They complain about his prosecution of it. ...

**Dear Editor, In releasing an open letter to challenger David Hergert, University of Nebraska Regent Don Blank made the following statement: "I signed the Political Accountability commission spending limits adopted by the Legislature because I agree with the people's desire to control campaign spending. ...