Stories from Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Served as AD, football coach at McCook HS; superintendent at Cambridge LINCOLN -- Nebraska School Activities Association executive director Dr. Jim Tenopir will become president of the National Federation of State High School Associations in 2008-09...

LEXINGTON -- The McCook Swim Team won its division at the Great Plains Tsunami League Championship Swim Meet at Lexington on July 14. Twenty teams from Nebraska and Kansas were represented and more than 600 swimmers participated in the final meet. Teams were split into three classes according to the total number of swimmers entered in the meet...

Sherry Wegener, a graduate of McCook High School, and the daughter of Ray and Gladys Aldrich of McCook, attended the 35th annual Jefferson Awards National Ceremony in Washington, D.C., June 19, where she was recognized for more than 30 years of service to the youth of Klamath Falls, Ore...

Obituary Richard L. Lomax June 25, 1951 - July 23, 2007 CULBERTSON -- Richard L. Lomax died Monday (July 23, 2007) at his home in Culbertson at the age of 56. He was born June 25, 1951, in McCook, the son of the late Everett and Leah Leona (Ruf) Lomax. He grew up at Wilsonville, where he graduated from Wilsonville High School in 1970. He also attended McCook Junior College and Mid Plains Votech School...

One McCook-area land-owner who signed a contract Monday to cooperate with the South West Weed Management Area Repub-lican River vegetation control project sees it simply as the "right thing to do." The project offers -- at no cost to landowners -- the opportunity to control water-hogging saltcedar, phragmites, eastern red cedar and Russian olive on the Republican River channel and within 100 feet of both banks...

ARAPAHOE -- Republican Valley BioFuels LLC, a 10-million gallon per year oilseed processing and biodiesel plant in Arapahoe, has hit its first milestone with biodiesel plant components being delivered this week. The new plant will be located at Ag Valley Cooperative's Arapahoe location, at 901 Pine Street. RVBF will refurbish and update existing facilities at the location, plus add new structures for the development of this project...

Drivers will soon have to take an alternative route if they plan to use West J. From West 10th to U.S. Highway 83, the street will be closed for construction beginning Monday. West J and 10th will reopen by Aug. 13, and the rest of the street closed until the project is completed, scheduled for about Sept. 11, weather permitting...

If your popcorn costs a little more when you go see the Simpsons movie, some distributors would like to blame it on the ethanol industry. That's because while popcorn has always brought a premium, more and more corn acreage has been converted to alcohol production...

I wanted to touch on how we are doing on the implementation of Legislative Bill 701, which provided tools to address the water compliance issue with Kansas. This Wednesday will be the last of four meetings throughout the 44th District being held to enlist the cooperation of landowners along the Republican River west of Harlan with vegetation management put in motion by LB701...

It is happening again, the e-mail stories about Mars approaching the Earth and when it does it will appear as big as the full Moon. Seems this particular hoax is gaining a life of its own. This is the fourth time for this one. Last year when this hoax poked its head out I wrote about it and with all the media coverage I thought it would not appear again, but, as is with the nature of hoaxes, it is still there and doesn't seem to want to go away...