Stories from Wednesday, January 26, 2011

You can't go anywhere in Nebraska and not be impressed by our small businesses. They're in every community, run by hardworking Nebraskans who not only provide all the products and services needed for everyone in our towns and cities, they are the driving engines of Nebraska's economy...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- To a family stricken with unfathomable grief and to a community shaken by anger and a feeling of helplessness, the warm glow of hundreds of candles lighting McCook's Norris Park Tuesday evening offered a promise. A promise of friendship, of comfort, of a hug...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook Area Chamber of Commerce officials said they are pleased to announce that Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy will speak at the chamber's 86th annual awards banquet, Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Republican River Valley Event Center. The social hour begins at 6 p.m., with dinner at 6:45 p.m. Tickets can be obtained at the chamber office or from any chamber board member...

The first of many bricks are pulled loose by Land Construction workers Tuesday afternoon. The company began demolition of the West Ward School building Tuesday afternoon. Nate Coulter, general superintendent for the company, said the city has asked that a couple of thousand bricks be reserved, as well as the engraved stone sign from the front of the building. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook Community College basketball fans will have to sit in True Hall Saturday with at least 10 roasters full of spicy, aromatic chili simmering in the next room. For about four hours, basketball fans will sit in the gym smelling the chili that will compete for "Dick Driml Chili Cookoff" bragging rights...

LaVonne Dilla thinks eliminating daylight saving time would be convenient. For her, it would mean getting to work in her garden an hour earlier every day. "If you want to do your yard work, you have to wait an extra hour in the morning to wait for the dew to get off the grass so you can mow," said Dilla, of Lincoln...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- Beginning February 26, 2011, local phone calls in the 402 Area Code must be dialed using the area code plus the local 7 digit phone number. The option to dial local numbers using only seven digits will no longer be available. Telephone numbers assigned and in service in the 402 Area Code will remain the same. ...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- A virtual high school proposed by Gov. Dave Heineman would add another place for Nebraska high school students to earn their high school diplomas, especially those in rural areas. The online school, which Heineman recommended in his State of the State speech Jan.13, would supplement courses that may not be available to students, from basic Spanish to advanced placement classes...

With Nebraska, as well as the rest of the nation, in financial turmoil the Legislature is searching for areas to make significant budget cuts. On Tuesday the Education Committee heard witnesses reactions to cutting state aid for public schools. Committee Chairman Greg Adams of York proposed two bills to cut state aid by changing several elements of the state school aid formula for the next two years. His emphasis in these bills was to make balanced cuts to school districts across the state...

While the Legislature considers proposals that could move legal notices to the Internet, results of a survey by the national Public Notice Resource Center should be taken into account: A recent survey in Wisconsin, with more than 500 respondents, found that government web sites receive relatively little traffic. ...

I have spent a fair amount of time poring over motor manuals in my day. As the official family "mechnic," it has often fallen to me to read repair instructions for Danny while he's flat on his back, gravel biting, dirt falling into his eyes, his wrench wedged deep in the underbelly of whatever vehicle is in need of his attention...

Jan. 26, 1937--Jan. 24, 2011 NORTH PLATTE, Nebraska -- Helen D. Neiman, 73, passed away Monday (Jan. 24, 2011), at Linden Court in North Platte. She was born Jan. 26, 1937, in Imperial, Nebraska to Clarence C. and Jessie Mae Cornelius Erlewine. She graduated from Perkins County High School in 1955. She attended the McCook School of Cosmetology in 1956...

May 12, 1950--Jan. 29, 2011 SMITHFIELD, Nebraska -- Larry Eugene Evans, 60, passed away on Monday (Jan. 24, 2011), at his home southwest of Smithfield. Larry was born May 12, 1950, in Oxford, Nebraska, the youngest of two children born to Melvin and Berdina (Schievelbein) Evans. He received his education from Elwood Public Schools...

June 14, 1923-Jan. 25, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Louis George Solko, 87, died Tuesday (Jan. 25, 2011), at the Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. He was born June 14, 1923, in Herndon, Kansas, the son of the late Carl and Anna (Barenberg) Solko. Mass of Christian burial is Saturday, 10:30 a.m., at St. James Catholic Church in Trenton, Nebraska...

"Now the question is not whether we can sit together. It's whether we can stand together."