Stories from Friday, December 9, 2011

Family Features A festive party calls for a lively variety of delectable edibles. These recipes give you some sweet and savory choices that will help spread the holiday cheer. Scrumptious bites start with simple, flavorful ingredients -- golden Calimyrna and dark purple Mission figs from California and Jarlsberg cheese. They also make great house gifts, wrapped in a colorful box or presented on a pretty serving dish...

I had a particularly hectic moment one evening this week that had me feeling entirely inadequate as a parent. We had just arrived home from my daughter's basketball game and I was beginning to stress out as the clock on my car informed me it was over an hour past Declan's bedtime. Fifteen minutes past his bedtime means it will be a fight to get him ready in the morning, but an hour, oh man...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook School Board of Education will hear a presentation on the former Nebraska Army National Guard Armory building the school district has purchased, at its regular meeting Monday night, 6 p.m. at the Junior High Conference room...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- While city staff downplayed the expense of hiring Howard Olsen of Simmons Olsen Law Firm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, as an outside firm to aide in defining a state law that both the State Attorney General's Office and League of Municipalities have been unwilling to offer an official stance on, Councilman Aaron Kircher warned that the city faces additional legal expenses either way it proceeds...

Movies on DVD and Blu-ray disc are, generally speaking, well-received by the ones being gifted. And why not? Most people are movie fans -- with some more fanatical than others -- and when you take a little time to peruse the offerings available in stores or on-line, it's usually not terribly hard to find the right match for each person on your list...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The architects hired by Red Willow County to help commissioners decide whether or not to build a county jail will present final schematic design drawings and a floor plan during the commissioners' weekly meeting Monday. The meeting begins at 9 a.m., in the commissioners' room on the third floor of the courthouse in McCook, Nebraska. The jail agenda topic is scheduled at 11 a.m...

A crew from Grand Island, Nebraska, installs new cellular telephone equipment on McCook's west water tower Thursday afternoon. With wireless telephones becoming the norm rather than exception, cellular coverage is becoming more and more prevalent in Southwest Nebraska...

The great thing about the holidays is getting together with family and friends. The bad thing about the holidays is getting together with family and friends -- and passing around the flu. Some researchers say that's why influenza -- the "real" flu, not stomach flu -- is more prevalent in winter; more of us are indoors, in close contact with each other...

We misuse a lot of words. By "misuse" I mean using words in ways they weren't designed to be used. Addiction is one of those words. We say that people are addicted to food, to gambling, to exercise, and to work. This week's Newsweek magazine's cover story is about sex addiction. None of these things are addictions, they're psychological dependencies...

Norma L. Burton Oct. 3, 1923 -- Dec. 8, 2011 ST. CHARLES, Missouri --Norma Lucille Burton died Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, at Benchmark Healthcare in St. Charles, Missouri. She was born Oct. 3, 1923, on the family farm near Bartley in Red Willow County, Nebraska to Carl and Amelia "Millie" (Fichner) Bamesberger. Norma attended country school and later graduated from McCook High School in 1941. As a girl, she was a star softball pitcher, and she loved to roller skate all the way into her early 70s...

Bill D. Carroll HUTCHINSON, Kansas -- Bill D. Carroll, 89, died Nov. 29, 2011, in Hutchinson. A veteran of World War II, he was a sergeant in the 3rd Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army. Bill was wounded at Monte Cassino, Italy, and spent six weeks in a hospital in North Africa, after which he returned to the front lines to help liberate Rome, then fought his way through southern France and Germany...

60th anniversary The children of Melvin and Carlotta "Charlie" Thielbar of McCook are hosting an open house for the couple's 60th wedding anniversary. The open house/dance will be Saturday, Dec. 10, from 5-10 p.m. at the Eagles Club in McCook, 805 East B. Cards of congratulations will reach them at 108 S. Ninth, McCook, NE 69001...

70th anniversary The family of LaMoine and Elaine Keene will host a card shower in honor of the couple's 70th wedding anniversary. They were married Dec. 12, 1941. Their children include Diane and husband, Chuck Trail and Steve and wife, Patty Keene, all of McCook. Cards of congratulations will reach them at 111 West G, McCook, NE 69001. LaMoine is a retired Burlington Northern conductor and both were born and raised in McCook...

Jeremiah Bo Carpenter Roderick and Jada Carpenter of Indianola announce the birth of their son, Jeremiah Bo Carpenter, who was born Sept. 16, 2011 at Cambridge Hospital. He weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces and measure 20 1/2 inches long. He has one sister, Roxanna, 9 1/2 years old. Grandparents are Rodney Carpenter of McCook, the late Thelma Carpenter and the late Willis T. Cruse...

83rd birthday Friends and family of Richard "Dick" Remingon are hosting a card shower in honor of his 83rd birthday, He was born Dec. 12, 1928. Cards of congratulations will reach him at Kearney County Long Term Care, Room 114, Minden, NE 68959-1910...

Lawless Jason and Tara Lawless of Gothenburg, Nebraska announce the birth of their daughter, Harper LeaAnn Lawless, who was born Nov. 18, 2011, at Lexington Regional Health Center. She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 20 inches long. She has one sister, Emmersyn. ...

Dustin & Bailey Ketterl of Junction City, Kansas, announce the birth of their daughter, Liliana Jean Ketterl, who was born Sept. 5, 2011 at Irwin Army Community Hospital. She weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Grandparents are Brent and Leann Evans of Gove. Paternal grandparents are Kevin and Lynetta Ketterl of Oberlin, Kansas and the late Nancy Jean Ketterl...

Zach and Heather True of Kearney, Nebraska, announce the birth of their son, Gavin Dean True, who was born Oct. 18, 2011 at Kearney. He weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 22 inches long. Grandparents are Randy and Pam True of Bloomfield, Nebraska, Bill Hansen of McCook and the late Deb Hansen. Great-grandparents are Delora True of Bloomfield, Evelyn Hansen of Sutherland, Nebraska and Joe Callihan of Paxton, Nebraska...

December 9, 2011 -- Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson asked for a six-month moratorium to prevent the U.S. Postal Service from closing or consolidating local mail processing facilities or rural post offices. This delay will provide an opportunity to comprehensively address reform of the Postal Service before post offices and mail processing facilities are closed in rural Nebraska and communities across the country...

The November jobs report, which showed nearly twice as many Americans dropped out of the labor force than found work, underscored the deep and systemic problems still affecting the economy. One of those areas is our outdated tax code. Over the years, it has grown too complicated and cumbersome, and it is fundamentally unfair. There are many drivers of our sluggish economy, but we never will recover the jobs lost during the recession unless we undertake comprehensive tax reform...