Stories from Tuesday, March 8, 2005

The McCook Community College baseball team hosted Otero Community College this past weekend and split four games. The games were played at the Jaycees Sports Complex. In the first game of the series, McCook fell 5-1 with MCC pitcher Ben Jukich getting the loss...

May 21, 1913-March 7, 2005 OBERLIN -- Eldon Black, 91, of Oberlin, died Monday (March 7, 2005) at Good Samaritan Hospital of Kearney. He was born May 21, 1913, to Clarence and Jennie (Brintnall) Black in Dresden. He was raised in Dresden and attended school there...

May 11, 1943-March 2, 2005 Dorothy Louise (Wallace) Peters died Wednesday (March 2, 2005) in Fostoria, Ohio. She was born May 11, 1943, to Guy Shepherd and Helen (Wallace) in McCook. On Jan. 24, 1959, she married Harry N. Peters, Sr. Preceding her in death were her parents and one sister, Rose Ann...

Dec. 27, 1901-March 7, 2005 CULBERTSON -- John Huck, 103, died Monday (March 7, 2005) at El Dorado Manor Home in Trenton. He was born Dec. 27, 1901, to Jacob and Catherine (Eckhart) Huck in Huck, Russia. In 1907, the family came to America and settled in Baltimore, Md. They then moved to Lincoln, where he attended school. The family moved to Culbertson in 1919, where they worked in the harvesting of beets...

A resolution to adopt a "Code of Conduct" for the McCook City Council met with resistance from a couple of members, and action was delayed until the next meeting. Proposed by Mayor Dennis Berry, the resolution detailed 14 separate goals for the council including:...

The city's two elevated water towers are in for a facelift following action by the McCook City Council Monday night. The council approved the low bid of $766,442 from Utility Service Company Inc. of Perry, Ga. The contract includes removing the lead-based paint from the inside and outside of the two water towers and repainting both towers. The structure will also be updated and safety features will be enhanced...

Red Willow County's roads superintendent and commissioners discussed armor-coating 14 miles of county roads Monday morning, anticipating higher prices this year than last because of the escalating costs of oil. Roads superintendent Gary Dicenta said a contractor told him to expect oil prices at least 20 cents a gallon higher than last year...

**Dear Editor, Is there irony in McCook's water? **Jim Henry, McCook

**Dear Editors, Jerome Biegler's spirited defense of adult stem cells does him proud ["Citing sources" (http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1090746.html)]. However, his side is doing all the attacking. I know of not one single scientist who advocates eliminating adult stem cells, although they definitely have problems, such as an unfortunate tendency toward what is called fusion, where the cells do not divide cleanly, but instead cling on to other cells in their neighborhood, so something en-tirely undesirable may occur, such as growing a toe in the spinal cord.. ...

**Dear Editor, One is compelled to wonder if Mr. Jerome Biegler's abiding regard for the strictures of the 6th commandent, and for the sanctity of life in general extend to the fully realized Iraqi human beings horrifically slaughtered, in numbers we cannot be bothered to count, for the sole transgression of having been born in the wrong country wrong time inconveniently so for an aggressor nation?...

**Dear Editor, Now that's what I call a fast response ["Great tax concept" (http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1090744.html)]. Coincidentally, the same Google report on the Transaction Tax that contained your publication of my letter, also had an article by an Indian newspaper giving some of the history of the Currency Transaction Tax -- the same concept (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050308/asp/opinion/story_4453595.asp#)...

**Dear Editor, Terri Schindler-Schiavo is an innocent handicapped woman who faces a cruel death by starvation. Following are the facts and what you can do to save her... Terri is not brain dead. She is not in a coma. Terri is not in a persistent vegetative state. She is not on any life support systems...

Nebraska's U.S. Senators -- past and present -- can be an example for the nation when it comes to political problem-solving. This is shown by the latest debate, raging among Democrats and Republicans following the unveiling of Sen. Chuck Hagel's plan to revamp Social Security...

Dan Hartwell, above, keeps the griddle sizzling on Saturday, and judging from the crowd inside the Republican River Valley Events Center, he had his work cut out for him. The pancake feed was sponsored by the McCook Fraternal Order of Police, Professional Firefighters Association and McCook Optimists, as well as Steve Clark of the events center, the former Elks Club. The feed raised $869 toward Fourth of July fireworks for McCook...

What Vera Hanson does, she does with all her heart. Her hobbies -- crafting traditional German folk art dolls and creating "scherenschnitte" ("scissor cut") artwork -- become her passions. For years, Vera, a native of Germany and a former Stratton-area resident, designed, crafted and sold her one-of-a-kind German dolls of burlap and traditional garb. These days, Vera, a McCook resident, concentrates on "scherenschnitte" -- the ancient art of cutting paper into decoration...

**Dear Editor, President Bush is busy trying to sell his Social Security privatization scheme. He is trying to scare us with a made-up crisis, urging us to hurry, "this is our last chance." This classic high-pressure sales: make up a crisis, proclaim an emergency and say "this is your last chance to buy, hurry."...

**Dear Editor, On March 2 federal judge Richard Cebull of Montana ruled in favor of the injunction brought forth by R-Calf USA to keep the Canadian border closed. As a result there has been some criticism from a few leaders who are responsible for representing Nebraska in Washington. They seem to have forgotten who helped them achieve the status and positions which they currently enjoy...