Stories from Saturday, October 27, 2007

There are plenty of good reasons for having your baby's blood tested immediately after birth. Usually performed within 48 hours of birth, the required test screens for dozens of rare diseases, some of which can cause severe mental retardation or death if left undetected...

Beware. You are about to be bombarded by an advertising blitz extolling the virtue of spending all the new money generated by the local option sales tax. We are already used to paying the extra so why not continue? All presentations will be sincere and heartfelt but most will be a bit shy in telling the rest of the story...

I was 14 years old and had just gotten my driver's permit. I had been waiting on this day for a long time. Since my birthday that year fell on the weekend, I had to wait until Monday to take the test. I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep a wink the night before and it seemed like Monday went on forever until school was finally out and my grandfather drove me to the county seat to take the test. ...

The McCook YMCA Devil Ray Swim Team competed in their first meet of the 2007-2008 Winter swim season. The team traveled to Grand Island on Oct. 20 to swim against Grand Island and Hastings. There were approximately 90 swimmers attending this event. The team took control of the meet, bringing home 61 top three finishes and scoring 1,929 points...