Stories from Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The family of Ronald and Peggy Niebur is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 40th wedding anniversary. They married Aug. 14, 1971. Their family includes Russ and Mandy Niebur of White House, Tennessee, Jean Niebur of McCook, Clint and Beth Bethel, also of McCook and one grandchild. Cards of congratulation will reach the couple at 71929 Cornhusker Dr., McCook, NE 69001...

Dec. 5, 1921-Aug. 14, 2011 BEAVER CITY, Nebraska -- Emma Ethale Clason, 89, of York, Nebraska, formerly of California, died Sunday (Aug. 14, 2011), at York General Hearthstone. She was born Dec. 5, 1921 at Fairmont, Nebraska. She married Francis Clason after World War II. They lived for over 50 years at San Luis Obispo, California for more than 50 years where she worked in the housekeeping department at a hospital. Her husband died in 1999. She moved to York, Nebraska in 2006...

March 6, 1930-July 17, 2011 REEDSBURG, Wisconsin -- Jack Wayne Baldwin, 81, died July 17, 2011, our Our House Assisted Living in Wisconsin Dells. He was born March 6, 1930, in Cee Vee, Texas, to Lenwood Marion Baldwin and Beulah (Gist) Baldwin. He grew up in Morton, Texas and worked in the oil fields all over the western United States from age 17 until he was 58. He then embarked on a second career in custodial work until retiring in 2006...

It's no surprise that Nebraskans are again among the top volunteers in the nation, according to an annual report from the Corporation for National & Community Service. That's especially true when one looks at the factors that encourage people to volunteer...

Southwest Nebraska lost a pioneer in Emergency Medical Services this month. Orville Fritsch partnered with Herman Funeral Home in Trenton to help transport local residents to area hospitals in the early '50s. The hearse was equipped with a changeable floor that had rollers for caskets or turned over, a flat area for a medical cot. The passenger seat would turn around to act as a jump seat for a medic on board...

We were just at a deployment with the Red Cross for some of these military people recently lost in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan, Sgt. Patrick Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln died in the crash. Condolences and peace to his family, and young daughter, but noted by his step dad, it would be long in coming. The Cornhusker Chapter of the American Red Cross provides first aid to large gatherings around Lincoln and where called...

There are a few fools who say the new Readiness Center just east of McCook is little more than a waste of time and money (around seven million dollars, and that's just for starters.) This is sickening. On the contrary, the center is a visual and cultural example of making democracy and capitalism work...

Grannie Annie (she is everybody's Grannie Annie and she is my wife) had an epiphany today. Visiting with T.J. a National Guardsman recently returned from Afghanistan she asked if he had ever seen one of the ribbon crosses that she and her friends craft and send to her adopted Chaplains serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. T.J. told her that yes indeed he had seen them over there and how he had told his compatriots that he actually knew the lady that made them...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- This Saturday, the McCook Daily Gazette will sponsor the U.S. Air Force Heartland of America Band, The Noteables jazz ensemble concert at 7 p.m. in Norris Park at the bandshell. This concert is free and open to the public; no advanced tickets are required. The McCook City Auditorium has been reserved if the weather becomes uncooperative...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook City Council gave the go-ahead for increased water and sewer rates, but a proposal to include domestic partners on the city's health insurance plan was killed before it even made it to a vote Monday evening. The increase in water and sewer rates will be effective Oct. 1, 2011, and was a result of the annual cash-flow analysis prepared by Public Financial Management...

MCCOOK, Nebraska --Working together with outside and sometimes unknown organizations or departments happens in many emergency situations. Training for these events helps responders ease into that transition period when a situation runs into multiple hours, days, weeks or months and outside agencies are called in to assist...

Aug. 24, 1916-Aug. 3, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Orville Raymond Fritsch, 94, died Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011, at his residence in McCook. He was born Aug. 24, 1916, in Indianola, Nebraska, the son of the late William Alfred and Cora Belle (Thompson) Fritsch. Orville grew up in Indianola and graduated from Indianola High School in 1935...