Stories from Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Oct. 12, 1946--Feb. 6, 2011 LEXINGTON, Nebraska -- Gary L. Nitsch, 64, died Sunday (Feb. 6, 2011), at Bryan LGH East Medical Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was born Oct. 12, 1946, in McCook, Nebraska to Arvene and Deloris (West) Nitsch. He graduated from Hayes Center High School with the class of 1965. He then went to Tech School in Denver, Colorado...

This winter has been a rough one on the east coast. When snow storms closed airports and shut down commercial air travel for one or two days people didn't know what to do. Life came to a standstill. I hope it makes people think what it would be like if those airports were closed to commercial airlines forever because that's what could happen to some rural Nebraska airports if some in Congress have their way and eliminate the Essential Air Service (EAS) program...

You can bet a lot of school kids are happy today, with the majority of area schools closed because of the winter storm. But with Christmas long gone, Valentine's Day only a minor holiday and springtime a distant goal, it's easy to fall victim to cabin fever...

It has been an exciting two weeks sitting in a front row seat watching the revolution in Egypt. Our future is definitely in the game yet the United States is barely a player. Possibly the new government, not yet close to being formed, will hopefully continue to be a friend and ally. The danger is that Egypt may follow in the footsteps of Iran and become an intractable enemy. Change is in the air and we can only wait and watch...

I have been reading about the Canadian pipeline going to Texas. Some want it -- they have their reasons. Some don't want it and they list their reasons. Surely others have thought about this as I have - that's why I am writing. Let's build a refinery in northern Nebraska. Texas refineries are going to have to be built to increase capacity. Either way, there has to be capital outlay...

Fighting in Egypt has caused me to think about my trip to Egypt in 1995 with a tour group. At that time Mubarak had been in power for about 14 years. In spite of some modern buildings and the Cairo Museum, we could not help but notice the houses of the poor people. They were built of sun-dried mud bricks. Women washed their dishes in the polluted Nile River...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A resolution seeking to increase the ambulance rate turned into a back-and-forth argument between two council members about the use of federal funds, Monday evening at Council Chambers. Councilman Aaron Kircher made a motion to delay approval of the ordinance until the next meeting, after asking city staff if they had looked at figures for the amount of revenue the rate increase would bring in. ...

Two pieces of big snow removal equipment meet early this morning at the corner of East First and C in McCook, Nebraska, making criss-cross paths in the fallen, blowing and drifting snow that came in with a severe winter storm through the night. Most events were canceled or postponed as a winter weather advisory remained in effect until midnight tonight and the snow was expected to continue to fall through early Wednesday morning. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- It's very, very uncommon that a county the size of Red Willow operates without its own jail, a Nebraska jail standards field representative told Red Willow County commissioners during their weekly meeting Monday morning in the courthouse in McCook, Nebraska...

Improvement is the one-word mantra of the McCook High School swimming and diving team. McCook is the smallest high school in enrollment in the Cornhusker State to field a prep swimming and diving program. The Bison squads just don't have the numbers to compete with the state's Class A and larger Class B squads. So head coach Lori Jumps stresses individual improvement for her competitors...