Stories from Thursday, April 19, 2007

LOMPOC, Calif. (Gozags.com) -- Gonzaga University junior Trevor Loe and freshman Brandon Crick each shot a final-round 74 Tuesday to move into a tie for ninth in the 40th annual West Coast Conference Championship at La Purisima Golf Course. Brandon Crick earned WCC Freshman of the Year honors...

Josh Cherry is the first McCook High School athlete invited to compete in the prestigious Kansas Relays in 15 years, and he is looking forward to running against some of the best 800-meter runners in the region. The 80th Kansas Relays began Wednesday at Memorial Stadium on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence with the decathlon and heptathlon and concludes Saturday...

Dundy County's girls and Wauneta-Palisade's boys won the Hayes Center invitational in McCook Wednesday. Medicine Valley's girls finished in second behind the Tigers, Hitchcock County was third and Southwest was fourth. McCook JV's team took fifth, Maywood was sixth, Wauneta-Palisade was seventh and Hayes Center was eighth...

Jan. 18, 1922 - April 18, 2007 INDIANOLA?-- Dorothy Lucille Lockhorn, 85, died Wednesday (April 18, 2007) at Cambridge Manor.  She was born Jan. 18, 1922, at Upland, to Mathias J. and Maria M. (Rintermann) Lammers. She grew up on a farm in Upland and spent most of her school years in Lexington.  Her father died in her early years, so she spent many years caring for her mother. ...

October 3, 1918 to April 16, 2007 CURTIS -- Walter A. Kutz, 88, of rural Hayes Center died on April 16, 2007, at Sunset Haven Nursing Home in Curtis. Walter Adolph Kutz was born on October 3, 1918, in McDonald, Kan., to Adolph and Martha (Schultz) Kutz. He grew up with one sister, Mary Mae (Kutz) Duvel. He attended school in Max and graduated at Benkleman High School...

Nov. 7, 1915 - April 16, 2007   STRATTON -- Esther Alvina Isaac died Monday (April 16, 2007) at El Dorado Manor in Trenton at the age of 91. She was born Nov. 7, 1915, in Hitchcock County on a farm northwest of Culbertson, the third of four children born to Alexander and Kathrene (Weber) Kehler, and attended country school near her home in District 6...

The family of Carl Mohr is hosting a card shower and open house in honor of his 90th birthday on April 19. He was a barber for 63 years in McCook. The open house will be Sunday, April 29, from 2-4 p.m., at the First Congregational Church in McCook. Cards of congratulations will reach him at 1404 Centennial Drive, McCook, NE 69001...

By LORRI?SUGHROUE City Editor With two thirds of the session done and 23 working days left, the state Legislature still has major bills to resolve, such as the Omaha Public School split, the budget and the final draft and approval of LB701. LB701, a proposal designed to address Nebraska's non-compliance in a water compact with Kansas, again goes to the floor today for second-round debate, Sen. Mark Christensen said this morning at the Chamber Legislature Conference call...

The thumping of the bass vibrates neighborhood windows when the teenager drives past blaring hip-hop or rap music. There's a good chance the noise is coming from the vehicle of a rural student, maybe even one who's spent their entire life on the farm. Is it rebellion? A desperate attempt to get noticed? Cultural experimentation? Or do they just like music with a strong beat you can dance to?...

McCook Community Fou-ndation, the City of McCook and Marty Russell are pleased to announce the dedication of Russell Park at 11 a.m. Saturday. The public is invited to attend the official opening of the newest park in the city. Comments will be shared by Marty Russell, Mayor Dennis Berry and past MCF Chairman, Mark Graff...

The second-guessing and finger-pointing were interrupted Wednesday as authorities and the public in general soaked in the information provided by mass-murderer Cho Seung-Hui himself. Turned over to authorities by NBC, but not without lengthy broadcasts of its contents, the material shows just how mentally ill was the student who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on Monday...

For the past few months, I've been suffering a severe case of apathy about the future of McCook. Then began the propaganda from City Hall on the sales tax issue. They tell us it is necessary to the survival of our town and we need to make it permanent (read that "no accountability")...

I'm very disappointed that the McCook Gazette decided to print a forum letter in its opinion section on April 17. It's obvious to me that Tina Louise's (Wear White Armbands) article is e-mailed to all home town newspapers which service members have died in an attempted to further her organizations (Arms against the war) agenda...

There is a level of hypocrisy between what the federal government says and what it does that stuns most public school employees. A perfect example is curbing the dropout rate in America's public schools. President Bush's No Child Left Behind law requires public schools to lower the number of dropouts. Failure to do so results in unfavorable actions being taken against local schools, school districts, and individual teachers...

Most people of Southwest Nebraska agree that irrigation is lowering the level of ground water to the point we are seeing reduced surface water flow. The only long term solution is to treat the ground water as you would your bank account. We have to limit the amount of water we are taking out to match the amount going into the aquifer. ...

Some may say it's a little early to think about getting out and camping, but we've been preparing for it since March. We replaced all the copper tubing that made up our water line, since we had neglected to prepare for winter the last time we used it in October. The sewer line is fixed, the propane bottles are filled and my grocery list is complete. We're hoping to have the camper at the lake by this evening -- and with a little luck a boat of some kind on the water by Friday morning...