Stories from Tuesday, January 17, 2006

LINCOLN -- Elexa Kotschwar received McCook's only banana in the Cotter Invite swim meet at Lincoln High on Saturday. Bananas are given to all heat winners during the meet. Kotschwar won her heat in the 100 yard free, placing 16th out of 38 swimmers. She bested her previous time by 8 seconds...

Gaston, Bison soph boys hook Longhorns IMPERIAL -- Cory Gaston scored 20 points and added 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 9 steals as the McCook High School sophomore boys handed Chase County a 66-41 loss Monday at Imperial. Brady Dame added 12 points, Chance Unger 9, J.D. Stone 8 and Eric Rippen 7 for the Bison. Andrew Reitz scored 4, Kendall Foster 3 and Chris Stull 3...

Oberlin tourney being played this week OBERLIN -- Oberlin hosts its 37th annual basketball tournament Tuesday through Saturday. Area teams involved in tournament are Cambridge, Rawlins County, Decatur Community (Oberlin) and St. Francis. In the girls division, Cambridge, 7-2, plays Oakley, 3-4, at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Oberlin Junior High gym...

HAMLET -- Jerry Fanning, 75, died Saturday (Jan. 14, 2006) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. Survivors include his wife, Gloria of Hamlet; daughters, Terri Bernatchy and husband, Arnold of Ogallala, Ginger Moore and husband, Winston of San Juan Bautista, Calif., and Sherri McDaniel and husband, Cedric of Imperial; stepdaughter, Kimberly Martin and husband, David of Lyons, Colo.; stepson, Kevin Lambert and wife, Tracy of Oxford; sisters, Eunice Bodeman of Wauneta and Donna Applegarth and husband, Paul of Palisade; brother, Russell Fanning and wife, Tracy of Oxford; 14 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.. ...

Oct. 10, 1919--Jan. 14, 2006 ATWOOD -- Ruby Virginia Baumfalk, 86, died Saturday (Jan. 14, 2006) at the Ellis Good Samaritan Center in Ellis, Kan. She was born on Oct. 10, 1919, in Kansas to Matthew Cornelius and Charlotte Mae (Butzbach) Rummel. She attended Atwood High School...

Jan. 30, 1937--Jan. 15, 2006 Robert Paul Malleck, 68, died Sunday (Jan. 15, 2006) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He was born Jan. 30, 1937, in Indianola, to Charles L. and Lorene Agnes (Weskamp) Malleck. He graduated from Red Willow High School in 1955 and attended McCook Community College...

Danica Skaritka tosses a Frisbee in the sunshine in McCook's Norris Park Sunday. The weekend brought two new record highs to McCook with the record of 66 degrees set in 1990 falling Saturday to a high of 70 and the record high of 66 set in 1943 falling Sunday to a high of 68 degrees. The extended forecast indicates that higher than normal temperatures are expected through the weekend...

HAYES CENTER -- Hayes Center Public Schools and Mid-Plains Community College will work together to make the Hayes Center schools' dream of an agriculture magnet school become a reality. Hayes Center Superintendent Tom McMahon said Monday morning that Dr. Michael Chipps, Mid-Plains college president, will meet soon with Hayes Center officials and teachers to discuss the entrepreneurial training that is part of the ag magnet school concept and also part of the college's "Center for Enterprise."...

McCOOK DAILY GAZETTE McCook City Council members voted their approval for the city to be a co-applicant for a EDA grant to renovate the Keystone Hotel, but will not be responsible for any debt associated with the building. City Attorney Ronda Vetrovsky advised council members that the city would be responsible for any loan repayment only if the city was a co-owner of the building...

A standing-room only crowd greeted City Council members Tuesday night, thanks to disc golf enthusiasts from the area. Council members unanimously voted to construct a disc golf course in Kelley Park, and heard from several supporters in favor of the game...

Despite the impassioned pleas from two area ministers who spoke against gambling, McCook City Council decided by three to two Tuesday night to to reinstate the Keno lottery game in McCook. Mayor Dennis Berry and Councilman Jim Kenny voted against the proposal to contact Keno operators in the state, with Councilmen Bill Longnecker, Phil Lyons and Aaron Kircher voting for it...

Can the Keystone be restored to pre-World War II prominence?