Stories from Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Because of increased interest in the Rich Glover appearance Monday at McCook Community College, officials have moved the former Nebraska football star's appearance to True Hall. Glover will be the convocation speaker as MCC celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 19. He will speak at MCC from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at True Hall. Prior to his scheduled appearance on campus Glover plans to "meet and greet" his fans at noon at Sehnert's Bakery in McCook...

LINCOLN -- The Bison swimmers competed at the Cotter Invite at Lincoln High this weekend. The girls had a sixth place in the team standings. "We had some great performances from both the girls and boys teams. It was a great meet to witness," said McCook High School swimming coach Lori Jumps...

BEATRICE -- The McCook Community College men's basketball team got clipped by the Southeast-Beatrice Storm 64-63 Saturday at Beatrice. Ronnell Grant led MCC with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Trey Mosby added 13 points and Javoun Martin 11. Martin hit three 3-pointers...

SUMNER -- Southwest High School wrestlers took third in the Mustang Invitational Friday at Sumner-Eddyville-Miller High School. The Roughriders came home with four first place medals. Heath Teel won the 103 weight division and Tanner Teel took the 112...

May 31, 1954 - Jan. 18, 2009 Marlina Kay Jones died Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009, at Community Hospital in McCook. She was 54-years-old. Marlina was born on May 31, 1954, in Norton, Kan., to John J. and Dorothy M. (Foster) Lawn. She graduated from Oberlin High School in 1972...

Movie Review - Gran Torino Directed and Starring Clint Eastwood Gran Torino is the story of an old man who's wife has passed away and his two sons and their families don't particularly understand or like hanging out with Dad. This leaves the grumpy old war veteran alone in his house and neighborhood where many foreigners have moved in over the years and most Americans have moved out. ...

Rich Glover was 13 years old when he heard Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Glover -- a starring defensive nose guard when the Cornhuskers won two national championships and played the "Game of the Century" against Oklahoma -- won the prestigious Outland and Lombardi trophies and was an All-American who later was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame...

If all goes according to plan, construction on a proposed walk-in medical clinic on U.S. Highway 83 could begin sometime this summer. Extra chairs were brought in to a standing-room only crowd when the McCook City Council approved Monday night at its regular meeting a zoning change that will allow business or professional offices in areas zoned highway commercial...

The 10 remaining 100-year old Hackberry trees on the west side of Norris Park began to be removed today by city crews. The trees were removed following a recommendation from a consulting arborist hired by the city. Public Works Director Kyle Potthoff told the McCook City Council Monday night that he wanted to get the trees out while the ground was still frozen, to minimize damage to the grassy areas...

Amid all the hype and hoopla, it's easy to forget just what we are celebrating with today's inauguration in Washington. Nearly forty one years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., not only did we celebrate his birthday with a national holiday on Monday, but today we are installing an African-American man into the highest office in the land...

Before leaving town President George W. Bush declared Washington D.C. a "disaster area." Yeah I know the intent of the act was to authorize federal funds channeled through FEMA to prepare to handle the huge crowd expected for today's inauguration. I imagine that the millions of people in such a small area will leave a mess of epic proportions to cleanup, not unlike the aftermath of a good sized tornado so that fits too. ...

This past week an opinion was released by the Attorney General's office regarding the Concealed Handgun Permit Act. I requested the opinion this fall in an attempt to determine whether or not to introduce a bill addressing state preemption and the authority of cities and villages under Nebraska's current Concealed Handgun Permit Act. ...