Stories from Friday, June 18, 2004

The McCook Midget League Baseball Sluggers Division Tournament opened play Thursday night at Felling Field. Three tournament games were played. The tournament will continue tonight and Saturday, weather permitting. Mac's Drive In defeated First Central Bank 6-1, McCook National Bank defeated Wagner Ford Mercury 14-3 and McCook Clinic blanked Mac's Drive In 15-0...

A combination of a big rain Tuesday, low temperatures and lack of sunshine the rest of the week, with a small amount of rain added Thursday night, have made McCook Speedway very soft and prompted officials to call off Friday's races. Races will resume next week, with a two-day, two-track special...

Sept. 12, 1917-June 15, 2004 KEARNEY -- Erma Emilie (Holle) Niermeier, 86, died Tuesday (June 15, 2004) in Kearney. She was born Sept. 12, 1917, to Fred Henry Rennig and Ida Doretta (Dunker) Holle in rural Ludell. She was a 1935 graduate of Atwood, Kan...

CAMBRIDGE -- The new "Horizon Renewable Energy" pilot ethanol plant in Cambridge pumped more than 11,000 gallons of ethanol in May and June to prove itself eligible for state production incentives by the June 30 deadline. New ethanol plants across the state have until the end of this month to demonstrate production capabilities at a rate equal to projected annual production to qualify for state incentives...

Showing the widespread participation needed for ethanol production projects are these four men. They are playing key roles in the development of the first phase of the SW Energy, LLC plant, located 4 miles west of McCook at the Perry site. The research and development facility is now in operation, turning out fuel grade ethanol at sufficient levels to qualify for Nebraska incentives. ...

With the June 30 deadline only days away, it is super encouraging to hear that the ethanol projects in Cambridge and at the McCook-Perry site are on the road to qualifying for state incentives. Complying with the rules set forth by the Nebraska Legislature, the pilot plants had to be producing at a rate equal to 100,000 gallons of fuel grade alcohol per year. That equates to 274 gallons a day, or 8,333 gallons per month...

**Dear Editor, I was shocked at Ted Kasten's shameful, vicious attack on me, Kerry, Kennedy, Daschle, Clinton and Albright in his letter of June 16. I am sorry, Mr. Kasten, I thought everyone knew Bush was a liar. Obviously not you. Mr. Kasten also said I was a liar if I couldn't show one official document to verify Bush was a draft dodger...

Ten items or less n The children of our area have many benefits not experienced by those in larger cities: Room to run, clear air to breathe, cows to tip over. But what our kids don't have that urbanites usually do is a true, bonafide, ice cream man...

A letter from a state official has prompted the city of McCook to re-evaluate and accelerate its plans to complete a clean water solution. The city submitted a compliance schedule in February showing a completion date of March 2008 for the city's solution to high nitrates, arsenic and uranium. ...

After serious consideration, a subcommittee for the Mid-Plains Community College Board of Governors will recommend against participating in a community events center in McCook. The McCook Events Center Task Force approached the board in December to propose a project that would use the Fox Theater as part of a complex for theater, drama, music, sets and stage design, dance and related programs...

Will you be able to spend time with your father this Father's Day? Yes, there are 66.3 million fathers in the United States, according to unpublished data from the U.S. Census Bureau. But that doesn't mean you should take your father for granted. Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., didn't. That's why she thought up the celebration while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909...

The other night I ran into an old and trusted friend of mine who I haven't seen in almost two years. The wonderful thing about true friendship is the warm feeling one gets on the inside when you see someone you genuinely care for and you know the feeling is mutual. ...

Jan. 8, 1908-June 17, 2004 WAUNETA -- Edward Warren Buffington, 96, died Thursday (June 17, 2004) at Heritage Care Facility in Wauneta. He was born Jan. 8, 1908, to Edward F. and Carrie M. (Nuding) Buffington near the Ough Community in Dundy County. He moved with his family to the Haigler area, where he attended school and helped on the farm...

Nov. 13, 1925-June 16, 2004 MANKATO, Kan. -- Dr. Thomas Patrick Murphy, 78, of St. James, Minn., died Wednesday (June 16, 2004) at Immanuel St. Joseph Hospital in Mankato, Kan. He was born Nov. 13, 1925, to Thomas Henry and Julia Catherine (Scott) Murphy in Greeley. He grew up in Greeley and graduated from Greeley Catholic High School...