Stories from Thursday, July 9, 2009

It is said that all good things must come to an end. I have tendered my resignation as sports editor of the McCook Daily Gazette to take the sports editor position with the Great Bend Tribune in Great Bend, Kansas. My first day at my new job is Monday, Aug. 3. My last day at the Gazette is July 24...

LINCOLN -- Nebraska Wesleyan University head women's basketball coach Eric Jensen has released the names of 15 recruits who plan to compete in women's basketball at NWU in 2009-10 The recruiting class includes 11 players from Nebraska, three from Colorado and one from Iowa. Eight of the players received honorable mention All-State honors during their senior season...

City Manager Kurt Fritch said that city sales tax revenue has not declined as much as portrayed in a story Tuesday. A total of $1.32 million is projected from the one-cent city sales tax and $600,000 of that is listed in the 2009-10 General Fund budget. That will go for property tax relief...

One homeowner contends that a nearby junkyard is affecting the valuation of her property. Another said because he would never pay that much again for his house, he deserves a reduction in his valuation. A third told Red Willow County commissioners that he wasn't whining ... "just trying to make a living, like everyone else."...

By DAWN CRIBBS Associate Editor Al Riskowski, executive director of the Nebraska Family Council, made a sober observation Wednesday afternoon about the sometimes-daunting responsibility pastors have in influencing public policy. Riskowski was joined in his presentation by Sen. ...

At a Red Willow County commissioners' meeting Monday morning, Red Willow County treasurer Marlene Garcia requested an updated amortization schedule to determine future payments to be made by McCook business Accents Etc. on a $70,000 loan from the county's Regional Economic Development Loan Fund program. Garcia provided a written report to commissioners indicating that Accents Etc. was four months behind on loan payments as of June 30...

Desperate times lead to desperate measures. Such is the case in California, where lawmakers are struggling to close a $26.3 billion budget deficit. An advocacy group has come forward with an ad campaign offering to pay what they say could be more than a billion dollars in taxes...

I'd like some feedback (facts, opinions, feelings) from McCookites on the subject of AIDS in and around McCook. While talking with a friend who lives in McCook, I was told there might be a young man with AIDS living in one of the housing units. I thought about that a while, recalled I knew there was a young man with AIDS who lives in his own home...

I enjoy doing public star viewings. Showing the things in the sky to those who perhaps have never seen them before. Such was the case recently when I was invited to do an astronomy session for a group of Cub Scouts out at one of the local lakes. There were to be about 20 scouts who would be spending the weekend at the lake for an overnight camping experience. ...