Stories from Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Dec. 2, 1923-May 9, 2009 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Bill Rollin Reagan passed away Saturday, May 9, 2009 in Jacksonville Fla. He was born Dec. 2, 1923, to Red (Arnold) and Annie Reagan in Wauneta, Neb. Later the family moved to Stratton where the Reagans ran a dairy farm until the 1940s...

An arbitrator said Nebraska isn't doing enough to comply with the Republican River compact, but leaves details of how to do so up to the state. Kansas should receive a nominal $10,000 award until it proves how much damage it has actually suffered, the Colorado-based arbitrator said...

There were still a few 32-volt wind-powered electrical systems and a lot of windmill-powered stock wells when Jim Phinney went to work for McCook Public Power District on June 7, 1959, but most of the owners were happy to give up wind power when electrical lines were extended to their farmsteads...

Earth-moving equipment makes quick work of the pavement on Bolles Canyon Road, officially closed Monday to make way for Phase II of the Kelley Park Walking Trail. Construction on the new trail will begin yet this summer.

There was nothing "arbitrary" about an arbiter's decision about the Republican River, and that is how it should be. On one hand, Nebraska should breath a sigh of relief that Colorado-based expert Karl Dreher didn't go along with Kansas' contention that all wells within 2.5 miles of the Republican River be shut off, or that millions of dollars are owed for water for which Kansas was entitled but never received, mostly because of the recent drought...

I admit my memory sometimes fails me, usually at the most inopportune time -- like when a familiar face appears and their name flies out of my head like bats out of a cave at sunset. It happens in other ways, as it did just the other day. A face, familiar in one context, struck no resounding chord in my memory in another. And the one unrecognized was astonished that I had forgotten his name, his face...

McCOOK -- The first confirmed case of H1N1 influenza has been diagnosed in the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) eight county health district. A total of 111 cases have been confirmed across the state of Nebraska. SWNPHD continues to work with hospitals, laboratories, and physicians to monitor the status of H1N1 throughout the health district. ...

WRAY, Colo. -- Lewis G. "Lew" Reese, 79, died Monday (June 29, 2009), at the Wray Community Hospital in Wray, Colo. Funeral services will be Thursday, at 1:30 p.m. at Forch Funeral Chapel in Benkelman with the Rev. Lonnie Willis officiating. Interment with military honors will follow services at the Benkelman Cemetery...

BIRD CITY -- Anges M. (Orten) Burk, 88, died Monday (June 29, 2009), at Emory Midtown Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. A concelebrated Mass of Christian burial will be Friday, 10 a.m., at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church north and west of Atwood, with the Revs. Daniel Scheetz, Roger Meitl and Stephen Folorunso officiating...