Stories from Monday, September 28, 2009

June 2, 1929 - Sept. 25, 2009 INDIANOLA -- Alfred F. Malleck passed on Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, at Exempla Hospital in Lafayette, Colo,. from complications of cancer. He was 80 years old. On June 2, 1929, Alfred was born on the family farm south of Indianola to Toney and Fay (McCool) Malleck. He attended grade school in the country and graduated from Indianola High School in 1948. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1950 and was discharged in 1953...

Feb. 11, 1924 - Sept. 24, 2009 BRIDGEPORT -- Clay Malory Berry, 85, of Bridgeport, passed away peacefully Friday morning, Sept. 25, 2009, at Morrill County Community Hospital. Mass of Christian Burial will be Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 10:30 a.m., at All Souls Catholic Church at Bridgeport with Father David Rykwalder officiating. Interment will be in Rose Hill Cemetery at Broadwater with Military Honors rendered by the Nebraska National Guard...

Dec. 23, 1927 - Sept. 23, 2009 ST. FRANCIS -- Robert "Bob" Dean Yost, 81, died Wednesday (Sept. 23, 2009) at DePaul Health Center in St. Louis, Mo. He was born Dec. 23, 1927, in Culbertson. He married Arnita A. Himberg. He lived in St. Francis where he owned and operated an automotive and farm equipment dealership...

Dec. 3, 1945 - Sept. 24, 2009 ST. FRANCIS -- Betty Jean (Potthoff) Orth, 63, died Thursday (Sept. 24, 2009) in St. Francis. She was born Dec. 3, 1945, in Wray, Colo. She married Gordon Orth. She worked as an accountant. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gordon in June of 2009...

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson assured those gathered at the McCook Heritage Senior Center that his vote on health care "is not on autopilot for anyone," eliciting a burst of applause from the crowd. At the town hall meeting Sunday, spontaneous applause from about 300 of his hometown constituents also erupted when an audience member scoffed at the idea of healthcare reform not adding any money to the deficit or when Nelson commented "I don't see it happening" in reference to a public option plan...

With a voice full of emotion, Trenton Klimper read a letter he received from a Vietnam Veteran who donated funds for his Eagle Scout project, a bronze sculpture honoring veterans in Norris Park. Vietnam Veteran Larry Sitzman wrote to Trenton and told him about a close friend, Jerry Walters, who was a classmate of Sitzman's at Culbertson High School. ...

Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager and U.S. Sen. Ben nelson joined the Community Hospital Association and community residents in McCook on Sunday to break ground for the hospital's expansion and renovation project. The Community Hospital Association has secured $35 million in funding with the project costs expected at approximately $30 million...

Sen. Ben Nelson's townhall meeting on health care reform was enlightening and should have been reassuring for those with some of the main questions, but many more remain. McCook's hometown senator came down on the side of some of the most contentious issues, saying he would not vote for any plan that provided health insurance for illegal aliens, or which funded abortion...

In the early 1970s John G. Neihardt used to spend a great part of his days at the Bennet Martin Library, in downtown Lincoln. He was a very small man, not much over five feet tall, and perhaps 120 pounds. At that time he was in his 90s, his eyesight was bad and failing, and he seemed very frail. But he was friendly, and though people did not bother him while he worked, someone always seemed to engage him in conversation when he got ready to leave the building...

I want to highlight an organization that plays an important role in our business recruitment efforts here in Nebraska. The Nebraska Diplomats is the largest economic development organization in Nebraska with more than 375 business and community leaders from across the state...

A very important opportunity was missed in the Senate last Wednesday. Throughout the week, the Senate Finance Committee debated and deliberated over amendments to a health care proposal that, if passed, will have a profound impact on the lives of every American. ...

STEVE KODAD Gazette Sports Editor Two out of three ain't bad, but not for McCook High School head football coach Jeff Gross. The Bison blanked Hastings 28-0 Friday in non-conference action at Hastings College Field, as McCook helped darken the Tigers Homecoming festivities...

STEVE KODAD Gazette Sports Editor ATWOOD, Kan. -- Decatur Community High School used a bit of trickery to claim a 20-16 win over Rawlins County in Northwest Kansas prep football action Friday night. The Oberlin, Kan., squad scored on a double reverse late in the fourth quarter for the deciding points. ...

By the year 2022 America is required by law to be using 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels a year. That's enough to reduce foreign oil imports by 11.3 billion barrels a year, while saving the U.S. $817 billion that would otherwise go to foreign oil producers. It's enough to create more than one million new jobs, add $1.7 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product and increase federal tax receipts by $209 billion...

HOLDREGE -- McCook High School's girls came up a few strokes short Saturday in a battle for the team championship at the Holdrege Invitational golf meet. Minden claimed the team title with a low 18-hole score of 392 strokes in the competition held at the Holdrege Country Club. The Bison girls and Grand Island Northwest tied for second, a single stroke behind Minden...