Stories from Saturday, October 13, 2007

John Lemon of Max greets his wife, Verna, and children, Faith, Wyatt and Conner, and receives a hug in return as the 1074th Transportation Co. is welcomed back from a year's deployment in Iraq. The Patriot Guard riders provided a motorcycle escort and lined the welcome route at Friday's ceremony...

Many areas in Iraq are stabilized and hospitals and schools are being built, but that's not being covered by the media, said former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns in McCook Friday. Johanns is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate and made a quick stop over in McCook in his campaign. He faces Pat Flynn and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning in the Republican race; no Democrat has been announced yet...

By DAWN?GARCIA McCook Daily Gazette BARTLEY?-- In cooperation with Exchange Foreign Studies, Jim and Jane Foster, of Bartley, and their 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer, opened their home and their hearts to a student from another country. In August, the Fosters welcomed Eline Nergard, from Norway, to live with them until the end of the school year. Eline will be 17-years-old next month and is attending Southwest High School as a junior...

There is a new bird in town. Actually it is an Aeronca Champ, built in 1946, but it represents a new class of aircraft for people learning to fly. Over the years the FAA, whose charter from Congress requires them to promote general aviation, has become concerned over the lack of "training starts," people new to aviation who have started training to become pilots, any kind of pilot. ...

Medical research has recently proven that "falling in love" is a process that can be measured in the brain. The brains of people in love aren't the same as the brains of people who aren't. That's why it's so difficult to talk to other people about your own love connections. Unless they're in exactly the same relationship place that you're in, it's like two people trying to communicate and neither understands the language being used by the other...

By Robert A. Harris Muscle Shoals, Ala. I really enjoyed returning to my hometown of McCook for the 125th Anniversary which brought back a lot of memories. Over the years, I have tried to return to McCook at least once a year to remind myself of my heritage and to visit family and friends...

The situation has improved since last year, but groundwater levels are continuing to drop east of the Nebraska-Colorado border, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers. In fact groundwater has declined more than 40 feet in Chase, Perkins, Dundy and Box Butte counties since 1954, the earliest figures available on the researchers' Web site...