Stories from Friday, August 19, 2011

Family Features Could lasagna help you improve your relationships? It just might, if it helps get people to the dinner table. Dinner is a great time for family, friends and couples to catch up with each other, face to face. But when hectic schedules fill up the calendar, it can be hard to find the time to sit down together. Fortunately, with a little plan­ning, some time-saving products and cooper­ation, even the busiest people can find the time to reconnect over a good, wholesome meal...

The family of Leo and Bethene Lines is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 60th wedding anniversary. They married Aug. 26, 1951, in Holdrege, Nebraska. Family includes their children, Jerry Lines of Imperial, Linda Shoemaker of Oakley, Kansas, and Brenda Malmkar of North Platte. They have seven grandchildren. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at Box 805, Imperial, NE 69033...

The family of Eugene and Marilyn Anderson of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary. They were married Sept. 3, 1961, at Geneva, Nebraska. Family of the couple includes their children, Brenda and Mark Hayes of Bartley and Bonnie and Mike Brown of McCook; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 71255 US Hwy 83, McCook, NE 69001...

The family of Calvin and June Brown of Eugene, Oregon, is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary. They were married Aug. 29, 1961, at Zion Evangelical United Brethren Church in Culbertson, Nebraska. Family of the couple includes their children, Timothy and Shelly Brown of Vancouver, Washington, Theresa and Ty Power of Eugene and Deanna and Todd Cole of Eugene; and seven grandchildren. ...

The family of Ed and Debbie Douglas of McCook, Nebraska, is requesting a card shower in honor of the couples 25th anniversary. They were married Aug. 23, 1986, at All Saints Catholic Church in Denver, Colorado. Family of the couple includes their children, Stephanie Douglas of Kearney, Nebraska, Paul Douglas of Milford, Nebraska, and Kaitlin Douglas of McCook; and one granddaughter. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 812 West 14th Street, McCook, NE 69001...

The family of Jerry and Lillie Corder of Yucca, Arizona, both graduates of McCook High School, is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary. They were married Aug. 19, 1961, at McCook, Nebraska. Their family includes their children, Rick and Nancy Corder of Yucca, Tamie and Chris Hewitt of Lexington, Nebraska, and Steve Corder of Victor, Montana; 16 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren. ...

Bethany Steinkamp and Samuel Stritt announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Pat and Ivy Stritt of Bartley, Nebraska, and Terry and Jan Steinkamp of Lincoln, Nebraska. An Oct. 14, 2011, wedding is planned at Lincoln, Nebraska...

Roni Jade Sabin and James Michael Sughroue, both of Grand Island, Nebraska, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Ron and Cindy Sabin and Tim Sughroue of McCook and Tamrah Ortiz of Lincoln. The bride-to-be is a 2004 graduate of McCook High School, a 2006 graduate of SECC in Lincoln and is employed with Gental Dental Care as a certified dental assistant in Grand Island...

The family of John Hitt of Leesburg, Florida, formerly of McCook, is requesting a card shower in honor of his 75th birthday, Aug. 23. His family include his wife, Lois Hitt; children, Karen Allen of Culbertson, Nebraska, Kevin and Barb Hitt of Long Island, Kansas, and Kelly and Bryan Regier of Hyannis, Nebraska; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildern. Cards of congratulations will reach him at 7406 Harbour View Drive, Lake Griffin Harbour, Leesburg, FL 34788...

OMAHA, Nebraska -- Julie Elizabeth Gumb of McCook, Nebraska, and Edgar Noah Alconera of Broomall, Pennsylvania, were united in marriage on July 3, 2011, at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska, with the Rev. Mary Hendricks officiating. Parents of the couple are John and Nancy Gumb of McCook and Edgardo and Princesita Alconera of Broomall. ...

Amber and William Berls of Omaha, Nebraska, announce the birth of a son, Jace Joseph Berls. He was born April 5, 2011, at Bergan Mercy Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, weighing 8 pounds, 15 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. He has a 5-year-old brother, Brandon. Grandparents of the newborn are Sheila and Larry Berls of McCook and Dorothy Vinson and William Ross Sr. of Omaha. Great-grandmother is Millie Gates of Omaha...

Dr. Aaron and Brooke Seller of Gainesville, Florida, announce the birth of a daughter, Nola Paige Seller. She was born April 11, 2011, at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces and measuring 19 1/4 inches long. Grandparents of the newborn are Larry and Sheila Berls of McCook, Nebraska, and Chris and Terry Seller of Wilmington, North Carolina. ...

Stephanie Douglas and Michael Storrs of Kearney, Nebraska, announce the birth of a daughter, Addyson Marie. She was born Aug. 10, 2011, at Kearney, weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces and measuring 20 inches in length. Grandparents of the newborn are Ed and Debbie Douglas and Shad and Karen Storrs of McCook. Great-grandparents are Earl and Marian Roberts of McCook, the late Elmer and Eleanor Douglas, Rich and Lisa Pender of Navato, California, and Bill and Kandy Storrs of Kearney...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The family of Marjorie A. Cotton of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of her 97th birthday, Aug. 26. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 1110 E. Fourth, McCook, NE 69001.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia -- 2000 McCook High School graduate Andrew Rombach received his Petty Officer 1st Class promotion aboard the George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier. Rombach is an 11-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and is stationed with his wife, Lisa, and two children at Oceana Naval Base at Virginia Beach...

BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Donna Wiggins, 62, died Wednesday (Aug. 17, 2011), at the hospital in Wray, Colorado. Memorial services are 10 a.m., Tuesday, at Forch Funeral Chapel in Benkelman. A gathering of friends and family will follow the service at the Max Community Center...

Jan. 19, 1935-Aug. 18, 2011 LINCOLN, Nebraska -- The Lord took Raymond Rose, 76, after a long fight with Alzheimer's on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011, surrounded by the love of his family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lambert and Georgianna Rose, Erin Rose, Donald Rose, Gilbert Rose and Laverne Rose...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County, Nebraska, commissioners will discuss consolidating two voting districts when they meet Monday morning for their weekly meeting beginning at 9 a.m. in the courthouse in McCook. At 10 a.m., the agenda includes receiving public comment regarding the consolidation of the Willow voting district with Indianola, followed at 10:30 a.m. with public comment on the consolidation of the Ward 4 Precinct 1 voting district with Ward 4 Precinct 2 district...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- In search of information about the 1973 murders of Wilma and Edwin Hoyt by Harold Nokes, two McCook writers are appealing to people with factual observations about the Hoyts, Nokes and the murder investigation to contact them to schedule interviews...

Red Willow Western Rural Firefighters work at the scene of a fire Thursday evening involving a truck load of bales that fell off a trailer and caught fire along U.S. Highway 83 south of High Butler Lake north of McCook. Officials don't know what caused the hay, on its way to drought-stricken Oklahoma, to catch fire, speculating it might have been a spark in the truck's exhaust, or spontaneous combustion. ...

Opportunities abound in rural America, but politically, we shouldn't expect too much help from Washington. That's because there just aren't that many voters out here, and there are fewer of us all the time. It's not a new story; homesteading laws a century ago in places like Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas probably attracted more people than the land could reasonably support over the long term...

The following three paragraphs are from an article written by Michael Scherer for Time.com: "In his campaign kickoff last Saturday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry burnished his conservative credentials by attacking the idea of deficit stimulus spending. 'Washington's insatiable desire to spend our children's inheritance on failed stimulus plans and other misguided economic theories have given us record debt and left us with far too many unemployed,' he said...

In my travels this month around the state Nebraskans have shared their worries about our national economy and their belief that the dysfunction in Washington certainly isn't making anything better. They want Washington to stop the games and politics, and come together to work on creating jobs in America...

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 69% of respondents said they had been affected "a great deal" or "quite a bit" by the increase in gas prices this year. Average gas prices have recently fallen, but they remain 90 cents higher per gallon than a year ago. These higher costs continue to strain families, farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and seniors across the Third District of Nebraska...