Stories from Tuesday, April 11, 2006

HASTINGS -- The McCook High School varsity girls tennis team bounced back from a loss at Ogallala last week to win 8-of-9 matches at Hastings Monday and improved its duel record to 2-1. The Bison junior varsity won 11-of-12 matches. McCook will host Ogallala at 2 p.m. and Holdrege at 4 p.m. Tuesday on the Bison Elks Courts...

BROKEN BOW -- McCook's boys and girls track teams competed in the Broken Bow invite Monday. The Bison boys won the meet ahead of Gothenburg with 135 points. The Bison girls team finished third, with a score of 87. Broken Bow won the girls division with a total score of 114. Holdrege followed in second...

GRANT -- Chase County's girls won the Perkins County invite Saturday in Grant. The Longhorn boys took second in the team standings. Chase County's relay teams won the girls 4x100 and 4x400 relays and the Powder Puff relay. The boys won the 4x400 and 4x800...

Sept. 19, 1921 - April 7, 2006 ATWOOD -- Mary L. (Makings) Bliss, 84, died Friday (April 7, 2006), at the North Suburban Medical Center in Thornton, Colo. She was born Sept. 19, 1921, on a farm in Rawlins County to Frank and Nellie (Palmer) Makings...

We knew things would be different in the 21st century, but it's amazing for those of us who lived most of our lives last century how quickly the changes have happened. No, we're not living a Jetsons-like existence -- most of us commute to work with 19th century technology and household robots are the domain of a few techno-geeks who will pay hundreds of dollars for an automated vacuum cleaner of dubious utility...

Wireless cell towers, and any other structure, would be allowed in residential areas by special exception up to 100 feet under a plan the McCook Planning Commission decided to recommend Monday night. The ordinance now goes before the City Council for three readings before approval...

Red Willow County continues to get high scores on its approach to controlling noxious weeds. In a report to county commissioners Monday morning, Tom Neill, an inspector with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, gave the county's weed department 3,057 points out of a possible 3,400...

With a crowd of approximately 175 looking on at Memorial Auditorium Monday night, the McCook City Council voted 4 to 1 to terminate John Bingham's city manager contract with the city. Bingham, who was scheduled to respond to remarks made about him at the April 6 meeting, citing legal advice in light of potential litigation, declined to comment...

With 20 new contracts in the works, the president of 21st Century Systems Inc. predicts continued growth for the software developer with offices in McCook and nine other American cities. Speaking Monday at the company's tenth anniversary open house, the 21CSI president, Jeffrey Hicks, said the company has been pleased with operations in McCook. "It's an important site for us," he said...

Tempers flared and accusations flew for about an hour Monday evening during the April meeting of the McCook Public Schools board of education before cooler heads prevailed and McCook board members and District 8 board members and patrons decided they really have no choice but to work together if state law -- LB126 -- says they have to...