Stories from Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Super-pastor Kibryjon Caldwell of Houston presided over Jenna Bush's wedding and has counseled her father. Dallas preacher Bishop T.D. Jakes stood beside President Bush in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, and has something in common with Caldwell, the Rev. ...

The sign proclaimed "House for Sale (bank owned)." The construction looked recent and maybe a little ticky tacky but the place was obviously abandoned, with lawn, landscaping shrubs and trees dying from drought. A house, or three, down the block was not even completed but abandoned mid-construction. The current housing financial crisis is vividly on display in and around Merced, California...

Pool Hall Hunters from Frank's in Trenton and Beaver Creek Pirates from Beaver Creek Saloon in Danbury will compete in the $500,000 American Poolplayers Association (APA) 8-Ball National Team Championship in Las Vegas. Pool Hall Hunters won the $17,000 Western Nebraska APA 8-Ball Team Championship held over the last two weekends at the Republican River Valley Event Center in McCook...

ELKHORN -- Elkhorn High School's Ashley Hagemann was selected as the 2007-08 Gatorade Nebraska Softball Player of the Year for the second straight season. She the first Elkhorn player to be selected for the honor. Hagemann is now a finalist for Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year....

The 17th Annual Sertoma All-Star Volleyball Classic gets underway at 7 p.m. on Saturday when 24 of the area's recently graduated volleyball stars meet at McCook High School. Jennifer Baker of Hitchcock County and Andi Lee of Perkins County will coach the West Team...

COLBY -- The McCook Junior B's American Legion baseball team lost both ends of a doubleheader Saturday at Colby. Colby won the first game 10-9 and the second game 8-6. In the first game, Josh Escher, Gavin Harsh and Drew Bredvick pitched for the Junior B's, who committed six errors to Colby's five...

Dan Sigwing of McCook will celebrate his 63rd birthday on June 12. Cards of congratulations will reach him at Willow Ridge, where he has lived since returning to McCook from Kearney and cancer treatment that started in November 2007. His address is 1500 East 11th, Apt. 24, McCook Ne 69001...

The family of Louis Solko is requesting a card shower in honor of his 85th birthday on June 14. Cards of congratulations will reach him at Hillcrest Nursing Home, 309 West 7th, McCook NE 69001.

From "Fit Farmers" to the "2009 Pound Plunge," dozens of non-profit organizations vied for $50,000 worth of wellness grants from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, with McCook named as one of the nine winners. A $5,000 grant was awarded to the city of McCook/Southwest Public Health Department/McCook Community Foundation for the program, "More FIT McCook."...

Skyrocketing oil prices are affecting the price of armor coating road projects in Red Willow County. Because oil is the major component in armor coating recipes, the price of armor coating projects has "pretty-much doubled in the last couple years," commission chairman Earl McCook said during the commissioners' weekly meeting Monday morning...

Red Willow County commissioner Leigh Hoyt wants the City of McCook to pay a portion of the wildlife services contract that commissioners approved Monday morning. Ryan Arrington of Palisade, wildlife specialist with USDA Wildlife Services, presented the 2008-2009 contract for $7,029, for trapping and eradication services throughout the county...

McCook Public Schools students will be using new math books and materials this fall, curriculum that board members will officially adopt at a special meeting Tuesday, June 17, at 7:30 a.m., in the junior high conference room. MPS curriculum director Gail Sharkey told board members she was able to negotiate "premium" packages of books and materials for "basic" materials prices, bringing the new curriculum in $70,000 under budget...

McCook Public School board of education members raised breakfast and lunch prices 10 cents for students, during their monthly meeting Monday evening. Larry Young of Sodexho, who provides meal service to McCook schools, told board members the increase is due to rising food and milk costs. ...

McCook Public Schools board of education members gave substitute teachers a pay raise during their monthly board meeting Monday evening. Every substitute in the McCook school system will now receive $100 a day, rather than being paid on a graduating scale from $75 to $95 a day, depending upon how many days they've taught...

The McCook Public Schools board of education, at its monthly meeting Monday evening, approved fund-raising efforts and a trip to New York City in May 2009 for the high school's varsity choir. MHS choir director Sandy Weigel told board members that the choir will perform two to three concerts in venues to be locked in later...

How do you take down a 260-foot high tower? Very, very carefully. Tower hands with Wallace Tower Specialists out of Franklin, Ark. begin Monday to dismantle the old McCook Public Power radio tower, built in 1952, on North U.S. Highway 83. This was a "baby tower," said one of the workers, who is used to working on all kinds of structures, including those 600-2,000 feet high. ...