Stories from Wednesday, January 30, 2013

According to Jan Seligman of McCook, Jan. 7, was a beautiful day, perfect for making this Husker snowman, then making him smile. The McCook Daily Gazette would love to showcase your weather photos. Readers can contribute to our daily weather page, subject to space and color availability, by emailing photos to editor2@ocsmccook.com or bringing them into the Gazette offices at West First and E Streets. ...

Gayle B. 'Tunney' Loker March 29, 1925 - Jan. 28, 2013 ST. FRANCIS, Kansas -- Gayle B. "Tunney" Loker, 87, of McDonald, Kansas, died Monday (Jan. 28, 2013), at his residence. He was born March 29, 1925, in Rawlins County, Kansas. He was a farmer...

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...

Norma Lashley, owner and president of BSB Construction Inc. of Curtis, Nebraska, is the new president of the Nebraska Land Improvement Contractors Association. Lashley is the first woman president in the history of the 50-year-old association. Lashley has been a member of the group since 1974, and served as vice president for two years. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Community Hospital hosted an all-day leadership retreat with a fun "spa" theme for nurse leaders Jan. 11 at the Coppermill Restaurant. Marta Hudson RN, MS -Vice President of Patient Care Services and staff hosted the Nebraska Action Coalition- Future of Nursing as part of an educational presentation for the hospital's nurse leaders on an initiative to transform healthcare through nurse-led collaborative partnerships based on the 2010 Institute of Medicine's landmark report: The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.. ...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- Individual communities could create incentives for people to relocate there under a bill presented by Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids to the Urban Affairs Committee Tuesday. Sullivan's bill (LB295) would change the language of an existing law that allows communities to use local option sales tax revenue for economic growth...

BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- The founder and president of Ace Ortho Solutions of Benkelman, Nebraska, has been selected to participate in a nationally-recognized year-long program designed to accelerate the growth of high-performance entrepreneurs. Ben Blecha of Benkelman, whose company develops and manufactures innovative braces for dogs with ligament injuries, joins the 2013 Class of "The Pipeline" Entrepreneurial Fellows...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County Nebraska's weed superintendent told county commissioners Monday that he thinks noxious weeds will be easier to find and control this year because so much land in conservation programs was harvested for hay in last year's drought...

Pigeons gather on power lines in the 200 block of West First in downtown McCook, Nebraska, trying to avoid the red-tail hawk known to haunt and hunt between B Street and St. Alban's Episcopal Church at West First and E. Hawks aren't a common sight inside town, but this one seems to be lazy and opportunistic, plucking "sitting ducks" from downtown power lines and the steeple at the church...

Fluffy may not be such a sweetheart after all. If you let her outside, your house cat spends about a third of her time killing smaller animals like mice, voles, chipmunks and birds, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications...

Given the propensity of politicians and pundits to refer to the Syracuse Tax Study of 1987, it is obvious that Nebraska's tax policy needs to be revamped ... or at least revisited. Plans announced by lame duck Governor Dave Heineman -- who wants to eliminate the state income tax -- could easily begin the discussion. ...

I recently discovered a new identity. Apparently, I'm a "get-byer." The law of averages indicates that you, too, are most likely, a "get-byer." We have our place in the culture -- supporting the economy by earning a wage and expending those wages in the marketplace. And, according to the writer, that's pretty much our entire reason for being. The "get-byer" designation is one of only three possibilities, the writer states. The other choices are "doers" or "slackers." Class warfare, anyone?...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A bill introduced this legislative session by Sen. Mark Christensen intends to change provisions of incarceration for the McCook Work Ethic Camp. Sen. Christensen told members of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, last week during their Thursday morning legislative conference call at the Keystone Business Center, that LB 313 may reduce the number of inmates at the WEC but there was talk of a future bill to expand the operation...