Stories from Friday, January 29, 2010

Jan. 17, 1922 - Jan. 28, 2010 Ruth Bernice Piper, 88, died Thursday (Jan. 28, 2010) at the Community Hospital in McCook. She was born Jan. 17, 1922, in McCook, the daughter of the late George and Rose (Hill) Hein. She grew up at Culbertson where she graduated from Culbertson High School...

June 30, 1946 - Jan. 27, 2010 ELWOOD -- Donald Dean Schmidt, 63, died Wednesday (Jan. 27, 2010) at Elwood Care Center in Elwood. He was born June 30, 1946, in Holdrege to Bernard and Ruth (Swanson) Schmidt. He attended school at Holdrege High School and graduated in 1968. ...

I'm sure some people might give me a dazed look when I say that the McCook girls basketball team is improving. The Bison girls have not won a game at the varsity level yet this season. First-year head coach Jeff Ellis inherited a young, inexperienced squad, and his team struggled early in the campaign...

The high school wrestling meet between McCook and Chase County Thursday,Jan. 28, perhaps could have been held at the doctor's office instead of the McCook High School gym. Both teams have been hit with injuries as the season winds toward its completion. There were only four matches contested in the 14 weight classes. The host Bison won three of those four bouts along with seven forfeit victories to claim a 60-15 decision over the Longhorns...

The former District 8 schoolhouse two miles southwest of McCook did not sell at auction Friday morning. The final bid of $48,000 generated at the auction at the Chief Restaurant and any other subsequent bids will be presented to the McCook Public Schools board of education at its meeting Monday, starting at 6 p.m. in the conference room of the junior high...

The McCook City Council will be asked to authorize a $10,000 payment to Terry Jessen for property at 301 E. Second, at the regular city council meeting, Monday, 7:30 p.m., at City Council Chambers in Memorial Auditorium. The payment is the amount of taxes paid by Jessen on the property and the value of the land, according to the Red Willow County Assessor...

Barack Obama is finding it much harder to govern than to run, just like Bill Clinton did in 1992. And the reason for both their difficulties is much the same; bad advice from their inner sanctum in the West Wing. This tendency among new presidents to do something earth shaking in their first hundred days is bad precedent but it seems no one learns from their predecessor's mistakes. ...

Yes, Ben Nelson's boots are made for "working". I think the picture in the ad is of the wrong pair of boots, though. The appropriate ones would be thigh-high, high-heeled, and severely scuffed at the toes and knees. Either that, or tied together by the laces and thrown over a high tree branch or overhead line. That's what "short-timers" in the Army used to do when THEIR term of service was coming to an end.....

The family of Lillian (Lebsack) Smart is requesting a card shower in honor of her 88th birthday. She was born Jan. 31, 1922 at McCook. Her family includes her son, Steve Smart and family of Pensacola, Fla. and her sister Norma and husband, Dale Crocker of McCook. A party at Hidden Pines apartments was scheduled for today and cards of congratulations will reach her there as well, 309 West 7th St., Hidden Pines Apt. 7, McCook, NE 69001...

Last week President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. Traditionally this speech has been a chance for the President to outline his agenda for the coming year. Instead, President Obama wasted an opportunity to embrace a new approach for our Nation by defending a legislative agenda much of America has already rejected...

The family of Eldon and Edwina Roesener is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary Feb. 7. Cards of congratulations will reach them at 219 10th Avenue West, Benkelman, NE 69021.

The family of Ann Churchill of Palisade is requesting a card shower in celebration of her 90th birthday, Feb. 9. Cards of congratulations will reach her at P.O. Box 182, Palisade, NE 69040.

The family of Ruth Bridges is requesting a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday Tuesday, Feb. 2. Cards of congratulations will reach her at P.O. Box 505, McCook, NE 69001.

The family of Charles A. Haag is requesting a card shower in honor of his 90th birthday Feb. 6. Cards of congratulations will reach him at 105 N. Elk Ave., Apt. 20, Oberlin, KS 67749.

Rebecca Hock and Brian Friess, both of Celeveland, Ohio, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Carol Hock of Culbertson, the late Bernard Hock and Rick and Lorene Friess of Solon, Ohio. The bride-to-be is a 2000 graduate of McCook High School and a 2008 graduate of McCook Community Collage with an Associates of Applied Science in graphic design. She is employed at LCD Photography in Mentor, Ohio, as a graphic designer, studio manager, and photographer...

Family and friends of Velma Steinke and Ted Deuter, a pair of centenarians plus at El Dorado Manor in Trenton, are requesting a card shower for each of their 102nd birthdays. Mrs. Steinke was born Feb. 1 and Mr. Deuter was born Feb. 4. Cards of congratulations will reach them at El Dorado Manor, Trenton, NE 69044. Both originally from Culbertson, the two didn't realize they were lifelong neighbors until moving to El Dorado Manor...

Eric Meeuwsen, center, whose family owns Zeeland Farm Services Inc., of Michigan, explains to Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy and Andrea McClintic of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development the grain receiving area of the Cambridge ethanol plant that his family has purchased and will operate as Nebraska Corn Processing LLC. ...

Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, examines the construction site for the new Tri Valley Health System hospital under construction in Cambridge with Brandon Witt, assistant project manager with Neenan Co., during a visit to Cambridge Friday. He also reviewed the plans for phase 2 which involves extensive remodeling of existing facility with Roger Steinkruger, CEO for TVHS...

Rex Nelson, right, director of the McCook Economic Development Corp., leads, from right, McCook city council member Mike Gonzales, Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy and Andrea McClintic of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development through McCook's former Keystone Hotel, the center of a $4.2 million renovation project to create a downtown business center. ...

IMPERIAL -- Gladys Hoff, 83, died Thursday (Jan. 28, 2010), at St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island. Survivors include her husband, Dwight, of Imperial; two sons, Karl Hoff of Carbondale, Colo., and Paul and wife, Jennie Hoff of Austin, Texas; a daughter, Lynne Uhl and husband, Dave of Denver. Colo.: and two grandchildren...