Stories from Friday, October 29, 2004

HOLDREGE -- The top-ranked McCook football team traveled to Holdrege for the regular season finale last night with the second ranked Dusters. McCook rallied from a 14-7 deficit to defeat the Dusters 31-21 in the final regular season game. Mcook also won the Class B-5 district title with a 3-0 record and improved to 9-0 overall...

Season ends for Cambridge BARTLEY -- Southwest overcame a 13-point deficit and held off Sutherland Thursday to advance to the second round of the C2 playoffs, 14-13. Sutherland drove the ball down to the Southwest 13 with 28 seconds remaining, but a Curtis Osborne 30 yard field goal attempt was wide left, allowing the Roughriders to run out the clock to preserve the win...

OMAHA -- Rodney and Eileen Golus of Omaha announce the birth of their son, Justin Jacob, Oct. 7, 2004. Grandparents are Ron and Joanne Allen of McCook and Theodore and Rosemary Golus of Loup City. Great-grandparents are Helen Allen and Wayne and Betty Allen, all of McCook...

CASPER, Wyo. -- Heath and Jaime (Bobinmyer) Hornecker announce the birth of their son, Nolan James Hornecker, Oct. 8, 2004, at Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas, Wyo. He weighed 8 pounds, 4.5 ounces and was 20 inches long. Grandparents are Jim and Hazel Bobinmyer of Culbertson, and Skip and Margie Hornecker of Lander, Wyo. Great-grandparents are Donna Ruggles of Indianola and the late Leslie Ruggles, Robert and Vera Bobinmyer of McCook, and Shirley Smith of Lander...

Derek Ruppert picks off a pass intended for Aaron Schulz (right) from Holdrege quarterback Tyler VanEperen during Thursday night's final regular season game. The interception, at 6:16 left in the third quarter, helped break up a Duster drive and help the Bison go on to a 31-21 win in Holdrege. ...

It took a little persuasion, but with the encouragement of friends and Chamber members, the new McCook Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director has chosen to take on the challenge of her new job. Pam Harsh of McCook had withdrawn her application for the position because of concerns over the time it might take away from her 10-year-old son, Gavin. But after discussion with the board, she decided the schedule would work...

Election Day is four days away, which means you still have time to make it to a state of actual importance in the presidential race. If you happen to live in a "Battleground State," there is a 90 percent chance you will see a presidential yard sign, a 95 percent chance you will hear a radio ad and 99 percent chance you will either see someone or actually be wearing a bump-er sticker on your forehead -- my personal favorite and always a sure bet to get your mug on TV or in the newspaper...

Folks are flying high in McCook after an estimated 5,000 people turned out for what was billed as the top game of the season as the Bison extended their winning streak to 35 with Thursday night's 31-21 victory over Holdrege. McCook High School fans want to keep the euphoria going as they head into the playoffs, probably against Crete on Wednesday afternoon...

**Dear Editor, We are appalled at the attack ad leveled at incumbent University of Nebraska Regent Don Blank of McCook. Criticism is not leadership. His opponent in the Regents race failed to mention one positive thing he would do for the University...

**Dear Editor, The 228th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps is Wednesday, Nov. 10. In 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the formation of two Marine battalions. They made their first landing on the Bahamas in 1776 during the Revolutionary War and have been active in nearly every conflict since that time...

McCook residents can expect to begin paying higher water prices in January if the McCook City Council ap-proves a proposal put before it during Monday night's regular meeting. According to an agenda item in the council packet, the increase in rates will be used for interest payments on State Revolving Loan funds during the two-year construction project...

Free candy or jet rides? How about EVERY child left behind? With election a few days off, Rose Sitzman's North Ward first graders tried their hands at making campaign promises, ranging from fun to poignant. "I would give everyone a ride on my jet to anywhere they want to go" -- Dakota Lavery...

An artist with McCook ties, Dick Budig, is looking for old photos of Isaac O'Connor, known in early day McCook as Blind Sam. Budig wants to paint a portrait of the former McCook minstrel and donate it to the High Plains Historical Society. "I remember Blind Sam sitting in front of the old First National Bank at Main (now Norris Avenue) and C Streets, playing and singing his heart out," Budig said. ...

Jen Holub (left) of Atwood dares to dance in the crowd with her "biohazard" chest while Tyler Bode of Elgin portrays "God's Gift to Women" in their slant on the battle of the sexes at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture's Halloween dance Thursday night. Mid Plains Community College students from North Platte and McCook also were invited to the event, which raises funds for the Vet Tech Club. Bode, by the way, won the costume contest. (NCTA)...

Sunday is Halloween, an observance that dates to the Dark Ages. But did you know that the first recorded instance of a Halloween celebration occurred, not in eighth century England, but in Anoka, Minn., in 1921. Those are just a few of the intriguing facts released by the U.S. Census Bureau as Oct. 31 approaches...

An issue in the Presidential campaign that began on the back burner has, in recent weeks, become one of the hot-button issues of the entire campaign. In 2001, President Bush restricted federally funded research to embryonic stem cells derived from pre-existing lines. ...

**Dear Editor, I am writing in regard to the paid ads by the recently-formed Southwest Nebraska Security Committee to vote for the five people represented in the ad for the supervisors for the NRD board. These are the people who have tried to stop allocations being put on groundwater irrigators in the Middle Republican Natural Re-sources District...

**Dear Editor, As election day rapidly approaches, few citizens could be unaware of a major issue: gambling. Is there a clear, well-thought-out reasoning voters can use to base their voice at the polls? The successful gambler is by definition "psychic."...