Stories from Friday, August 27, 2004

HASTINGS -- The McCook High School softball team opened the season Thursday with a pair of shutout losses to ranked programs from Omaha. The Bison lost to Omaha Gross 11-0 and Omaha Skutt 3-0. Skutt and Gross are ranked sixth and seventh in Nebraska Class B...

Laurel's Tom Anderson fired a hole-in-one at Heritage Hills Golf Course in McCook Wednesday night during Men's League play. According to Heritage Hills pro Lee Maiden, Anderson showed up at Heritage Hills 30 minutes before men's league teed off. "I first told him he couldn't play due to men's league," Maiden said. "Then one of the teams said they were short a player. "Our league rules allow for anyone to play a maximum of twice if they are not members of the club. So the rest is history."...

Kenneth 'Kenny' Golden Aug. 25, 1944-Aug. 23, 2004 Kenneth "Kenny" Golden, 59, formerly of the Scottsbluff area, died Aug. 23, 2004, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Grand Island. Memorial services will be at a later date in Sidney, at Lake McConaughy, and in Ogallala. Kleine Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements...

Alison Hofer of McCook scales the rock wall set up as a back-to-school event at McCook Community College. Climb instructor Harry Lowden of Eccentric Entertainment, Grand Rapids, Mich., said the rock wall is 28 feet tall and challenges climbers at four varying skill levels. ...

McCook plumbing contractors are being told "no" to their requests for new sewer line connections -- at least temporarily. A local plumbing contractor, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Gazette that McCook building inspector Doyle Wineland denied his application to hook up a new sewer line for a customer requesting new service in an existing garage...

**Dear Editor, On the contrary, Mr. Yost. The McCook Gazette is a wonderful place to post thought and commentary of all types and of all venues. It is a wonderful freedom that the American people enjoy. I encourage you to continue to submit your point of view whenever you feel compelled to do so...

**Dear Editor, This a letter of praise for anyone and everyone who anything to do with putting the (Chase County) fair and parade on this year, the Expo was great. (Sorry Ed, Wayne is busy next year, you'll just have to keep the job.) The display in the old 4-H building was great. ...

**Dear Editor, In the early 1990's I was employed at the McCook Schools as secretary to the athletic director, Larry Mollring. At that time there was some discussion about the college moving the football field to the West 10th track location. He made a rather detailed study of the cost to provide similar facilities at the track location. ...

Something's up. Something serious. It has to do with McCook's wastewater treatment plant, and the threat of federal and state agencies levying massive fines. The Gazette started getting wind of the story earlier this week when people in town told us of their difficulty in getting permits for sewer connections. What's up with that? Always before, sewer connections were a fairly routine matter, but now -- all of a sudden -- those planning plumbing projects are being put on hold...

Bison senior shoots meet record 74 In addition to being state champion golfer, senior Katherine Morell is a sprinter for the McCook High School girls track team. To use a track analogy, Morell lapped the field Friday afternoon at the McCook Invitational girls golf tournament at Heritage Hills...

July 3, 1982-Aug. 25, 2004 Derek James Hamilton, 22, died Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004, at his home in McCook. Derek was born July 3, 1982, to James Jr. and Debra (Lytle) Hamilton. He graduated from McCook High School in 2001, Wyoming Tech in Laramie, Wyo., in 2002, and was valedictorian at Audi Academy, ITT, in Chicago in 2002...

Kellie Peterson and Erik Mahanes, both of North Platte, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Terry Peterson of McCook, the late Donna Peterson and Steve and Connie Mahanes of Nebraska City. The bride-to-be is a registered nurse in the emergency room of the Great Plains Regional Medical Center. ...

Michelle Evers and Kevin Warren, both of Omaha, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Mike and Becky Evers of Kearney, Segayle and Tony Istrice and Guy Williams of Reno, Nev. Grandparents of the bride are Dan and Rawleya Rife of Stratton. ...

For those of us who have never visited Texas during the winter, the term "snow bird" may bring images of men playing golf and women drinking iced tea on the tennis courts. But for one group of those who choose to spend their winter in a warmer climate, its an opportunity to serve those less fortunate...

Tonight we had a memorial service for a fellow Marine who died in training. After forming the battalion into formation on the parade deck, we marched up one of California's coastal mountains that overlooks our camp. We reached the top at sunset. The blue-gray mountains surrounding us slept under a blanket of haze; the burning sun extinguishing among them. ...

ost distressing aspect of life in general and sports in particular these days is dishonesty. Dishonesty has many faces and many words to describe it; fudging, cheating, fibbing, and little white lie telling just to name a few. But regardless of what we call it, we're still talking about being dishonest with others and it's a destructive behavior, regardless of how widely it's practiced. ...

**Dear Editor, I was pleased at Mr. Yost's understanding and compliance of the public's feelings and frustration at all the cockamamie, blind-sighted, and uninteresting letters from Mr. Yost and especially Mr. Anderson. Those sorts of letters fail to excite, educate, or be of any benefit for me and many others...

You have to give Nebraska State Fair officials credit. They are trying very, very hard to put on a good fair this year, and -- in the process -- win the support of Nebraska voters for the plan to revive the State Fair with lottery funds. The proposal -- known as Amendment 4 -- will appear on the November general election ballot. If approved, $2 million a year in lottery funds would flow to the State Fair...

Dec. 22, 1912-Aug. 21, 2004 Wayne Ralph Porter of Lafayette died Saturday, Aug. 21, 2004, in Lafayette, Colo. He was 91 years old. Mr. Porter was born Dec. 22, 1912, to Almer Porter and Elsie May in Winona, Kan. On Aug. 23, 1933, he married Gladys Sharrah Porter in Colorado. The couple later divorced...