Stories from Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Matt Hall captures meet diving title LINCOLN -- The McCook High School swim team competed at the Cotter Invite at Lincoln High on Friday and Saturday. Matt Hall won the boys diving competition for the second year in a row with a state qualifying score of 333.65...

SANDHILLS -- Southwest, Medicine Valley-Maywood, Eustis-Farnam and Wauneta-Palisade competed in the Sandhills wrestling invite Saturday. Southwest took fourth behind Amherst and Anselmo-Merna. Medicine Valley-Maywood finished fifth and Eustis-Farnam and Wauneta-Palisade were tenth and eleventh...

June 12, 1968 - Jan. 9, 2007 OBERLIN -- Leah Marie McCullough, 38, died Tuesday (Jan. 9, 2007) in Oberlin. She was born June 12, 1968, in Minneapolis, Minn., to Fred and Maryan (Jordan) Boswell. She grew up in Minneapolis and attended school there...

April 24, 1943-Jan. 4, 2007 Jackilyn "Jackie" McCarter, 63, died Jan. 4, 2007, at Community Hospital in McCook. She was born April 24, 1943, to Thomas and Georgina (Fyrer) Grant in Ontario, Canada. She and her first husband, Harold 'Bud' Hunter, eventually settled in Lexington, where she was a dispatcher for the Lexington Police Department for 15 years...

Dec. 15, 1910 - Jan. 14, 2007 CAMBRIDGE?-- Clara M. (Gay) Casford died Sunday (Jan. 14, 2007) at the Cambridge Manor Home at the age of 96. She was born Dec. 15, 1910, at Lebanon the daughter of the late Charles Edward and Hallie Elizabeth (Horton) Weatherwax. She grew up at Lebanon where she attended Lebanon High School...

McCook's city manager would be given authority to make purchases of up to $20,000 under terms of an ordinance presented Monday night for City Council consideration. Called "Purchasing Procedures for the City of McCook," the proposed ordinance was drafted by City Manager Kurt Fritsch and City Clerk Lea Ann Doak. In developing the plan, the city officials relied heavily on purchasing policies already in effect in Kearney and Norfolk...

McCook's City Council breezed through a 15-item agenda Monday night, finishing the semi-monthly session in less than 45 minutes. And, despite the briefness of the meeting, the council still managed to conduct two closed sessions for the discussion of legal matters...

Soon after the devastating ice storm struck Phelps County, McCook City Manager Kurt Fritsch received a call from the Holdrege Public Schools. "Could you lend us a generator?," Holdrege school officials asked. The immediate response was yes. To help out, McCook's city staff lent the Holdrege school a 68 kw trailer-mounted generator which McCook had purchased during the Y2K scare...

After catching guff because of snow removal problems, the McCook public works department has been reviewing procedures, trying to figure out ways to improve the city's snow removal performance. One idea -- which came from the staff -- is to put the city's water truck to use, equipping it with substances to treat the streets before the snow or ice starts falling. ...

Bill Coe of Max braved the frigid weather Sunday to capture an idyllic view of a railroad bridge near Wauneta. Temperatures are expected to moderate for the rest of the week, reaching the 40s by Sunday.

Years ago, a rumor spread that a railroad welder was killed or seriously injured when sparks from a welder ignited the butane in a plastic disposable lighter in his pocket. It turned out not to be true, and the railroad involved spent years trying to track down and squelch the rumor. While that specific story was false, it is true the butane is a flammable liquid and should be treated with caution and respect...

I have an idea, Don't be too judgmental, I was a product designer for 35 years. Since I was paid for my ideas, it is difficult for me to get it out of my system. Our city's main draw to the small communities that surround us is its retail attraction. I believe we can build on that, and perhaps draw more people to McCook...

It was so refreshing to finally read a story that has all the correct information in it. ["More troops won't change the culture" (http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1184841.html)]: I admired what Gloria has said, and I quote, "this war in Iraq started long, long ago, before America was even a country."...

I am Edna Brush, the grand daughter of Mr. Victor Brown, and I am writing about the Danbury gold mine story in Monday paper. The story is about a Mr. Brown and a gold mine. He was never given his proper name.  Mr. Piedaleu married Grandpa's sister, Bertha...

Gary Bieganski has seen a lot of changes in the last 33 years he served as a hospital administrator in Atkinson and McCook. Changes in technology, equipment, computerization and the move from inpatient care to an emphasis in outpatient services. Most of those changes have involved growth; such as, more services, increased levels of care, additional employees, larger volumes of inpatients and outpatients and additional specialists...

It's one thing to let yourself down -- another to let others down. With that concept, N-Lighten Nebraska hopes their team wellness program will help Nebraskans shed pounds and keep them off. "Persistence and accountability is what makes it work," said Dave Milnarik, an N-Lighten official who stopped in McCook Thursday to explain the program...