Stories from Friday, July 16, 2004

McCook offense cranks out four homers HOLDREGE -- With the combination of an overpowering offense and superb pitching, the McCook National Bank Seniors easily cruised past Red Cloud 13-0 in the first round of the Class B Area 6 District baseball tournament on Thursday...

March 15, 1937-July 14, 2004 Robert D. "Bob" Phillips, 67, of Curtis, died July 14, 2004, at his home. He was born March 15, 1937, to Kenneth and Illma Wymore Phillips at Ben, Ore. He attended grade school south of Stockville and graduated from the University of Nebraska Agricultural School in 1955, after which, he joined the Army...

Dec. 7, 1901-July 14, 2004 DENVER, Colo. -- Grace Shane, 102, of Denver, Colo., died Wednesday (July 14, 2004) at Centura Senior Life Center Nursing Home in Denver, Colo. She was born Dec. 7, 1901, to Edgar and Nellie (Upson) Goudie. She grew up in Stamford. She graduated from Stamford High School in 1920...

April 25, 1949-July 13, 2004 BENKELMAN -- Jimmy L. Sanford, 54, died July 13, 2004 at his home in Benkelman. He was born April 25, 1949, to Stanley Lloyd and Violet Mae (Garner) Sanford at Benkelman and attended school in Benkelman. He spent most of his adult life in Benkelman and the Scottsbluff areas where he worked various jobs in construction, concrete, and trucking...

Aug. 10, 1914-July 15, 2004 ATWOOD -- Lenora Evelyn (Searl) Spicka, 89, died Thursday (July 15, 2004) at the Good Samaritan Center in Atwood. She was born Aug. 10, 1914, to Fay L. and Myrtle (Lukins) Searl near the town of Holbrook. She grew up in Gosper County, Chase County and Lamar. ...

Four McCook neighbors told Red Willow County commissioners that the expansion at Community Hospital of McCook has decreased the value of their homes. One of the four, seeking an explanation for valuation, accused Assessor Sandra Kotschwar of "picking on us."...

The rumbly roar that shook windows in McCook and shot people out of their chairs Thursday evening was not a tornado. Nor was it a fighter jet. It was a privately-owned charter Gulfstream jet that took off after refueling at Red Willow Aviation at McCook Airport...

**Dear Editor, I have a Word for Todd McCarty and Justice David Brewer, (David who has no doubt passed on to his reward by this time) and that Word is this: Zephaniah 3:5 "...but the unjust knoweth no shame." Here's another word, Rhetoric: 1. the act of discourse, both written and spoken. ...

New business opportunities are always popping into my head: A new restaurant where you have to do the dishes when you're done, called "Just Like Home;" a woman's clothing store with shirts which actually cover your belly button and jeans which cover your ... well you know; and a drive-thru lane at every business, in-cluding but not limited to the post office, hair stylists and grocery stores...

Come late fall and early winter, the state spotlight is going to be shining on McCook. The reason for this are two publications, "Portraits of Nebraska" and "Nebraska Life," both of which will feature major stories on McCook. McCook's chapter for "Portraits of Nebraska: Pride in Our Hometowns" has already been written by Gene Morris, publisher, and photographed by Bruce Crosby, editor, of the McCook Daily Gazette. ...

Aug. 18, 1923-July 15, 2004 OBERLIN -- Anna Marie Leitner, 80, died Thursday (July 15, 2004) at Decatur County Good Samaritan Center in Oberlin. She was born Aug. 18, 1923, to JJ and Elizabeth (Siemens) Thiessen in Meade, Kan. She was raised in Meade and she attended Meade country schools...

Linda Stumpff of Russellville, Ark., achieved her lifeguard certificate one week before her 57th birthday, making her, in all likelihood, the oldest new lifeguard in the world. I've checked the World Wide Web exhaustively and can find nothing that would refute that. ...

One of these days, when you have time to spare, take out a U.S.-Canadian atlas and trace the route of Highway 83 from its top point in Swan River, Manitoba, Canada, to its base in Roma, Texas, on the banks of the Rio Grande River, just before the route passes into Monterrey state in Mexico...

Seven very happy, very proud offenders did a great thing for themselves Thursday; they graduated from the GED -- General Education Degree -- program at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook. Showing nothing but joy, Javiar Chavarria, DaVance Ross, Megan Burton, Steve Carter, Duane J. Ligon, Troy Knutson and Dustan LaCore, walked before their fellow WEC offenders and received a key to their future success...

A new Federal Aviation Administration rule could cost the city an estimated additional $41,200 a year, unless the agency approves a request for reclassification of exemption from the city of McCook. The new rule would require airports in McCook's classification of a II to retrain firefighting personnel and have the airport fire truck on site and manned 15 minutes before and after a passenger plane lands and takes off...

According to folklore, a wide black band on a woolly bear caterpillar predicts a long cold winter. Other weather prognosticators believe the first frost will come six weeks after the first woolly bears are spotted in late summer/early fall. So, is this guy -- spotted July 10 in a stand of weeds between McCook and Culbertson -- really predicting frost the 21st of August?...