Stories from Monday, April 27, 2009

May 14, 1918 - April 24, 2009 OBERLIN -- Nelda Vaughn, 90, died Friday (April 24, 2009) in Oberlin. She was born May 14, 1918, in Decatur County to Milo F. and Edna (Whartman) Rhodes. She grew up in Decatur County near Dresden, Kan., and attended school in Dresden...

May 6, 1927 - April 23, 2009 BEAVER CITY -- Charlotte Ann Ganser, 81 of Beaver City, died Thursday (April 23, 2009) at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lincoln. She was born May 6, 1927, in Madison to Edward L. and Mary Ann (Rowlette) Reeves. She grew up in Madison and attended Madison High School...

Sept. 24, 1934 - April 24, 2009 Billy F. Shafer died Friday, April 24, 2009, at his home in McCook at the age of 74. He was born Sept. 25, 1934, in St. Joseph, Mo., the son of the late Edward and Josephine (Schmidt) Shafer. He grew up at St. Joseph, where he attended St. Patrick's High School...

In 1974 Nebraska made history when we became the first state in the nation to complete its stretch of Interstate 80. Thirty-five years later I-80 has more than proven itself as a safe and efficient way to carry vehicles quickly and easily from coast to coast...

Last week, the Legislature advanced one of my bills, LB 430, to Final Reading. LB 430 is a bill that addresses several issues with the Concealed Handgun Permit Act. I would like to discuss the provisions in the bill and some of the changes to the original...

That cute little cat sunning itself on the sidewalk may not be exactly what you think. In fact, it may actually be a feral cat that lives in the shadows of every town or city, in abandoned neighborhood houses or garages, storm drains, canyons or bushes...

STRATTON -- The 2009 McCook National Bank Hot Summer Nights concert series kicks off Thursday, June 11 in Stratton's Pitner Park at 7 p.m. with the Oberlin Area Concert Band. The concert band is made up of around 25 members from McCook, Oberlin, and the Hoxie area. The band performs a variety of songs including waltzes, polkas, patriotic songs, marches, and overtures...

You know the routine; if you're young or older, or have a medical condition, you should get a flu shot. Younger, healthier people generally don't get the shots. But now comes the news of 20 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States, after about 100 people or more died in Mexico City...

In the 1920s, during the period of Prohibition in the United States, North Platte, in Southwest Nebraska, carried the non-flattering title of "Little Chicago." Prohibition spawned an epidemic of crime across the U.S. to be sure, yet North Platte seemed to excel in the Midwest as a den of iniquity, mirroring the reputation of its big brother on the banks of Lake Michigan...

This past Friday, I attended the Military Memorial Service for Miss Loy Teter at the Bartley Cemetery. She was a former teaching colleague of mine at McCook Senior High. She taught history there for many years. Most of her students considered her very tough, but fair. Loy had her students' best interests in her heart. The school and students were her family, and she knew how tough it was out in the world and she wanted them prepared for it...

McCook High School's boys and girls track teams participated Friday at Lexington's Don Bader Invitational, which featured a field of 22 schools, and came away with several top prizes.

The intention of this letter is to rally support for Legislative Bill 476. This is a vital issue to the future of Nebraska's Career Student Organizations (CSOs) which include FBLA, FCCLA, FFA, DECA, HOSA and SkillsUSA. As educators, we realize the value of these programs to student success in life and we also recognize that students who succeed in improving their community now through these CSOs are the students who return to support their communities in the future...

It seems the entire country is buzzing this week over the debate on whether or not to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Earlier this year, the President announced plans to close these facilities, and he still appears to be set on that goal. I strongly believe we must not sacrifice the safety of a single American by shutting down Guantanamo without a plan for what to do with the detainees...