Stories from Monday, November 12, 2012

Dorothy Jean Loudenslager Feb. 28, 1945 - Nov. 10, 2012 HOLBROOK, Nebraska -- Dorothy Jean Loudenslager, 67, of Holbrook, Nebraska, died Saturday (Nov. 10, 2012), at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska. She was born Feb. 28, 1945, at Harlan, Iowa, to Rasmus and Alma Marie C. (Peters) Nielsen...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The last of four burglars who pillaged a rural farmhouse southwest of Indianola in June, and were captured after the property owner happened to see them driving away, was sentenced to probation last week. The last offender to be sentenced, Thomas Ortiz, 27, was convicted of a Class IV felony offense of possession of methamphetamine and sentenced to 24 months probation...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A McCook woman, accused of keying a vehicle parked on West First Street in January, was sentenced to 18 months probation and ordered to pay $500 in restitution last Monday in Red Willow County District Court. The offender, 21-year-old Tasha L. Booker of 401 Park Avenue, accepted a plea agreement in September offered by Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood that reduced the criminal mischief charge against her from a Class IV felony to a Class I misdemeanor offense...

City of McCook, Nebraska, emergency personnel respond to a two-vehicle accident in the intersection of Norris Avenue and J Street late Friday afternoon. More information will be released when police officers complete their investigation.

A customer of McCook National Bank, McCook, Nebraska, peruses the photographs of American veterans that graced the walls and windows of the bank on Veterans Day Friday. For veterans and their family members, bank personnel hosted a chili and potato soup luncheon attended by, among many others, Pat Burns, with his back to the camera, Ken Frick and Vera Hanson, all of McCook...

Say "homelessness" and the streets of Chicago, New York or Los Angeles tend to come to mind -- not McCook, Benkelman or Curtis. Those local towns should, according to Kathy Mesner of the Nebraska Commission on Housing and Homelessness, and 2012 chairwoman of Homeless and Hunger Awareness Week being observed this week...

As cuts in social services take a toll on the poor -- particularly in our rural community -- the Salvation Army Service Extension Unit in McCook/Red Willow County is asking for our community's support. Ninety percent of funds raised through the Kettle Campaign will stay right here in McCook/Red Willow County to provide children the opportunity to attend a summer camp, help families with utility assistance, or aid community residents in time of a natural disaster. ...

Nobody would have guessed that artist Marc Chagall's painting, known as "Fiddler on the Roof," would be the inspiration for a musical and 1971 movie. Back in 1995, I was in Israel learning about Christian and Jewish religious sites. Tour guides pointed out a modernistic stained glass window at Hebrew University by Chagall...

Airships -- balloons, blimps, Zeppelins, dirigible -- the casual observer tends to use the terms interchangeably. They all have one thing in common; they are lighter than air flying craft, as distinguished from airplanes and gliders, which are heavier than air flying craft...

KEARNEY -- A decorated U.S. Army paratrooper who pulled a McCook soldier's body from a burning military vehicle met the soldier's mother for the first time Thursday in Kearney. Staff Sgt. Alejandro Jauregui, 28, flew into the Kearney Regional Airport where he met Jan Collins of McCook, the mother of Nebraska National Guard Sgt. Randy Matheny, 20. Matheny died in February 2007 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad...

A new comic strip seldom makes the news in any newspaper, let alone the McCook Daily Gazette. Nevertheless, today we are introducing "Jurascals," written and drawn by J. Timothy "Joe" Quirk. A freelance artist in Connecticut, Joe, after falling in love with his wife, Jennifer (Kruse) Quirk, a writer whose family lives in Seward, later fell in love with her native Nebraska...

McCook, Nebraska, Elementary, McCook Central and McCook Senior High students observe Veterans Day with a program of songs and flag-waving in the commons area at McCook Elementary Friday morning. Navy veterans Bob Tiller, top left, and John Smith of McCook were among the 30-or-so veterans who attended. ...

KEARNEY, Neb. -- Any fan of Nebraska Six-Man high school football probably doesn't get too excited about defense. Face it, looking at most scores, the Six-Man emphasis would appear to be offense and high scoring. But the old adage that defense wins championships may be the motto of the 2012 Wauneta-Palisade squad after the Broncos claimed the Six-Man state championship Friday, Nov. ...

This information is gathered at the McCook Public Safety Center, the McCook office of the Nebraska State Patrol, the Red Willow County Courthouse, the Red Willow County Sheriff's Office and the McCook Humane Society. Police activity Activity log...

John E. Keenan April 27, 1948 - Nov. 11, 2012 OBERLIN, Kansas -- John E. Keenan, 64, died Saturday (Nov. 11, 2012), at his home in Oberlin, He was born April 27, 1948, to Neil John and Imogen Johnson Keenan in Jennings, Kansas. He graduated from Jennings High School in 1966 and attended Central Community College in McPherson and Fort Hays State University in Hays...