Stories from Friday, February 24, 2006

Cambridge's boys get one step closer to State after downing Eustis-Farnam in the D1-11 sub-district finals Thursday. The Trojans blasted the Knights 74-36. Cambridge will play Wauneta-Palisade in the McCook gym on Tuesday. Waid Vontz pured in 37 points to lead the Trojans' win, including 7 3-point shots. Bo Cribelli followed with 11 points and 3 3-pointers and Brett Palmer had 8 points...

KEARNEY -- The free throw line made the big difference in the outcome of McCook's matchup with Holdrege in the semifinals of the Nebraska Class B-5 district girls basketball tournament Thursday night at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Health and Sports Center...

LINCOLN -- McCook High School sophomore Matt Hall placed sixth in the boys division at the Nebraska state swimming and diving meet Thursday at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Hall, McCook's record-holder for 11 dives, scored 312.05 points. His school record is 330 points...

Nov. 6, 1942--Feb. 23, 2006 INDIANOLA -- Bradley D. Williams, 63, of Indianola, died Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006, at the Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge. Bradley was born in McCook, Nov. 6, 1942, to Cecil C. and Roberta M. (McCafferty) Williams. He was raised in Bartley and graduated from Bartley in 1960...

Oct. 10, 1919--Feb. 22, 2006 OBERLIN -- Sylvester J. Meitl, 86, died Wednesday (Feb. 22, 2006) at the Decatur County Good Samaritan Center in Oberlin. He was born Oct. 10, 1919, in Summit Township in Decatur County to John Meitl and Bertha Ympa. He attended Leoville High School...

The Nebraska Legislature continues in its efforts to cut taxes to make up for the $140 million excess revenue it plans to have in its coffers this year. Nebraska Sen. Tom Baker said the tax package ad-vanced from the Revenue Committee earlier this week on an 8-0 vote...

A McCook citizen concerned about the location of the proposed new city-county public safety center questioned the county jail task force Thursday evening about the need to locate the city's fire and ambulance department within the facility. Wayne Michaelis, a carpenter, former Nebraska State Patrol investigator, and county commissioner, said a fire department in the facility would have no shared spaces or services with the law enforcement organizations of the city and the county. ...

Those of us who have the opportunity to show visitors, new residents and prospective employees around town never forget to turn right after the tour of McCook High School. That's because doing so will take us past the Ed Thomas YMCA, a facility McCook can be proud of...

While I consider myself an athletic person, watching sports on television is not a regular past-time for me. Sure, I watched the Super Bowl, but I was among those millions of people who returned to the living room just in time for the commercials and planned my bathroom breaks for the first through fourth downs...

Shane Preece, left, and Jeffrey Cole of the Red Willow Western Rural Fire Department look for damage following an electrical fire this morning that caused $15,000 worth of damage to equipment at the City of McCook's new water treatment plant southwest of town. ...

Well, here we go again ... This time, the gambling issue pits Las Vegas interests against three Nebraska Indian tribes, who all want to get casinos on the November ballot. But because two gambling initiatives were rejected in 2004, it's possible that none of the latest efforts will reach the voters...

Tuesday marked the thirtieth day, a half-way benchmark, for this year's legislative session. It also served as the beginning day of Select File deliberations pursuant to Legislative Bill 853. This legislation, introduced by Senator Arnie Stuthman, currently serves as a major vehicle for three additional bills in the legislative process. ...

I've had some unpleasant experiences with technology over the last couple of weeks that I know many of you can associate with. It started on Feb. 9, when I received a notice in the mail that my cable bill was overdue. This was somewhat surprising to me since I've had automatic withdrawal with the cable company for several years. ...