Stories from Monday, February 27, 2012

LeAvis 'Lee' Rutt June 27, 1929 - Fe. 25, 2012 McCOOK, Nebraska -- LeAvis "Lee" Rutt passed away Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012, at Hillcrest Nursing Home. She was 82 years old. Lee was born on June 27, 1929, to Charles and Edith (Shepherd) Koler in McCook. She and her older sister, Rae Ellen, were raised there, where she graduated from high school in 1947...

Edith Lorraine (Troxell) Persinger June 28, 1936 - Feb. 24, 2012 OBERLIN, Kansas -- Edith Lorraine (Troxell) Persinger, age 75 of Oberlin, Kansas passed away Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, at the Decatur County Hospital in Oberlin, Kansas. Edith was born in Culbertson, Nebraska on June 28, 1936, to Homer Ira and Myrtle E. (Barnes) Troxell the youngest of nine children. Edith graduated from McCook High School in 1954...

Katharine Ryals Humphreys Aug. 6, 1939 - Feb. 24, 2012 BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Katharine Humphreys, 72, died Friday (Feb. 24, 2012), at the Collier Hospice Center in Wheatridge, Colorado. Survivors include her husband, Gaylin of Littleton, Colorado, sons, Scott of Littleton and Todd and wife, Terri of Oceanside, California; sister, Louise of Oceanside, New York; sister-in-laws, Jan Humphreys of Golden, Colorado and Cheryl Cancienne and husband, Milton of Louisiana; brother-in-law, Rob Humphreys of Kearney, Nebraska.. ...

Phyllis Ann (Leach) Wiseman March 1, 1947 - Feb. 23, 2012 KEARNEY, Nebraska -- Surrounded by her family and the prayers of many, Phyllis Ann (Leach) Wiseman, 64, of Gibbon, Nebraska, ended her journey on this earth on Feb. 23, 2012, at Good Samaritan Hospital, Kearney...

Alva L. Shaw April 27, 1926 - Feb. 24, 2012 BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Alva L. Shaw, 85, a long time resident of Benkelman, died Friday (Feb. 24, 2012), at the Dundy County Hospital in Benkelman. Preceding him in death are his parents; siblings, Oral (Bud), Anna Mary Glover, and Robert (Betts)...

GRANT, Neb. -- The formalities are out of the way, now it's time for semifinal showdowns in what could arguably be described as the toughest of the six boys Class B District basketball tournaments in the state. McCook High School took care of business Saturday, Feb. 25, as the fourth seed Bison ran past fifth seed Alliance, 67-39, in the Class B-6 District Tournament opening game. The first-round action was held at the Perkins County High School gym in Grant...

When rural Americans really need local news they turn to their community newspapers and local radio stations. While, television also does a good job, most rural areas are without their own TV stations, so the residents rely on hometown papers and radio stations. We saw this last year during the flooding that destroyed homes, farms, businesses, roads and bridges. Local communicators were on the job keeping their readers and audiences informed...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- It was "miserably windy," said the executive director of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, but the cold gusts may have helped attendance at the chamber's 22nd annual "Home & Leisure Show." "It was too windy to do anything else," Pam Harsh said with a smile, explaining that they counted just less than 2,000 people through the doors of the Army Reserve Training Center east of McCook for the home show Friday, Saturday and Sunday...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The 19-year-old Bartley, Nebraska, man accused of killing a McCook girl in January 2011, has been determined to be competent to stand trial. According to court documents filed Jan. 31, 2012, the court found that Stathis Kirkpatrick "has the mental capacity to undertake the nature and object of the proceeding against him and can comprehend his own condition in reference to the proceedings."...

Top: Brooklynn Trew (middle) of McCook is all smiles as she hugs teammate Megan Ruppert, with Rachel Goltl celebrating in the background, after the Bison girls won the Class B-6 District Basketball Tournament title last Friday night with a 50-32 victory over Alliance. ...

We wrote a month ago about the USDA giving us permission to plant a little earlier, by placing McCook in a warmer, revised "plant hardiness zone" map, and now we've noticed the lawn and garden supplies showing up in stores. It's time to give this year's gardening plans a little more thought...

Dear Editor, What we are witnessing here in McCook with regard to building new facilities for the city and the county is like a game. I really don't know if the city leaders knew exactly what would happen after the special sales tax vote in 2007 or the vote for the city municipal building without allowing for holding cells but what they did in both cases put the Red Willow County commissioner's in a very tough position. ...

In every family there are stories of long lost relatives who have accomplished great things, or attained high places, or at the other extreme, have committed foul deeds, and have gotten themselves in serious trouble. We tend to not talk about those folks. ...

At the Legislature this week we will begin full day debate on the floor. The Speaker of the Legislature released his priority bills and I was pleased to find out that my bill, LB 1125, was chosen as one of them. Despite the President's denial of TransCanada's permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline, the issue continues to make a splash here at the Capitol. I would like to discuss LB 1161, in relation to the events surrounding the pipeline issue in Nebraska...

Wilma C. Bobinmyer March 23, 1922 - Feb. 25, 2012 OBERLIN, Kansas -- Wilma C. Bobinmyer, 89, died Saturday (Feb. 25, 2012), at the Cedar Living Center in Oberlin. She was born March 23, 1922, in Herndon, Kansas, to Michael J. and Carrie (Sattler) Kleidosty...