Stories from Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A light covering of snow does little to camouflage the damage time has wrought on this scene in a back yard in Bartley, taken by Kathleen Hansen of Bartley. 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. ...

ARAPAHOE, Nebraska -- The Jerome Becker Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by the Furnas County Livestock Association, is awarded to graduating high school seniors or to students currently enrolled in post high school education. Eligibility requirements state that:...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook Junior High School has announced the honor and merit honor roll recipients for the third quarter of the 2012-13 academic year. Honor roll students have a grade point average of 87-93.9 percent with no grade lower than 78 percent. Merit honor roll students have a grade point average of 94-100 percent with no grade lower than 78 percent...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook High School has announced the third quarter merit and honor roll students for the 2012-13 school year. Merit roll Grade 12: Riley Allen, Sean Backer, Veronica Bair, Allison Been, Javier Beltran, Cashous Bortner, Drew Bredvick, Austin Cherry, Marisa Esch, Joshua Escher, Karie Funk, Trevor Gleason, Rachel Goltl, Megan Gray, Gavin Harsh, Nicole Helm, Cody Jankovits, Khyla Krepcik, Sara Larington, Caitlyn Mockry, Mikayla Packard, Trevor Pate, Mariah Poore, Lucas Post, Jacob Riemann, Megan Ruppert, Kaylee Samway, Jakob Schlager, Brettani Schmidt, Kelsey Siebrandt, Trista Thames and Brooklynn Trew.. ...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- As graduation approaches, high school students are contemplating what they will do next. With so many choices, students can feel overwhelmed when trying to decide what career path to take. This summer, Bryan College of Health Sciences is offering a hands-on introduction to health care careers for students 16 and older at a week-long camp in Lincoln. ...

Raymond Lester Swanson June 25, 1920 - April 5, 2013 NORTH PLATTE, Nebraska -- Raymond Lester Swanson, 92, of North Platte, died Saturday (April 5, 2013), in North Platte. He was born June 25, 1920, in Genoa, NE to Elmer Frederick and Ethel Anna Marie (Lundgren) Swanson. He was the oldest child and had 13 brothers and sisters...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook Community College Theater is presenting Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" April 18, 19 and 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Weeth Theater on campus. The show is the longest continuously-running play of any kind in the history of modern theater. It opened in London on Nov. 25, 1952, and celebrated its 25,000th performance on Nov. 16, 2012. The play is a popular draw for London tourists, and is included in most tours...

Mary Joyce (Jacobson) Smith July 20, 1928 - April 6, 2013 ARAPAHOE, Nebraska -- Mary Joyce (Jacobson) Smith, 84, died Saturday (April 6, 2013), at the Good Samaritan Society at Beatrice, Nebraska. She was born July 20, 1928, at Cambridge, Nebraska, to Peter and Racheal (Kief) Jacobson...

80th birthday The family of Harry Lebsack of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of his 80th birthday. He was born April 14, 1933, in McCook. He was the owner of Harry's Barber Shop for many years in McCook. His family includes wife, Mary, of McCook; children, Connie Meixner and husband, Jim, of McCook, Brenda Bacon and husband Bob of Lincoln, Nebraska, Joni Cantrell and husband Shawn, of Lincoln, five grandchildren and three great- grandchildren. ...

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...

You can run, but you can't hide from your past. That's even more true now that Nebraskans can request a name-only criminal history background check online through the Nebraska State Patrol. Until now, it wasn't that easy, Gov. Dave Heineman pointed out when the service was announced last month...

The boss wanted to go to some small town in western Indiana. Scanning the chart we found the closest airport that could handle the jet was Danville, Illinois. Never heard of it but if the boss wanted to go there, Danville it was. Such is the life of pilots that fly in corporate aviation. ...

Early risers browse an assortment of donated clothing during the Kingdom Kids Christian Daycare semiannual clothing giveaway, Saturday morning. The one-day event, coordinated by Kim Tietz and Deanna Johnson of McCook, distributed clothing to more than 70 attendees. Gunner Perks finds a great leaning table to break from the early morning shopping...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Unofficial statistics compiled by the McCook Daily Gazette, with the assistance of public information provided by Red Willow County Court officials, shows that 97 criminal and traffic cases were processed in county court for the month of February 2013. That number is a decrease of 33 from the month prior...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A new program that will be implemented next year at the McCook High School will help students who are struggling academically - and reward those who are already passing all their classes. "This is one more way that nobody falls through the cracks," explained LIFT instructor Jeff Gross to McCook School Board members Monday night at the regular meeting. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County Commissioners are reviewing an offer, by the man who gave the county a large arena and another building on the fairgrounds, to establish an endowment to keep up those buildings. The board is expected to approve the agreement at next week's meeting...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County Commissioners approved a $5.4 million guaranteed maximum price with Beckenhauer Construction Inc. for the new Red Willow County Law Enforcement Center. Officials expect to be able to set groundbreaking ceremonies in the next couple of weeks...

Hail from 1 to 2 inches in diameter was reported near Palisade, Stratton and Benkelman, and gusts of wind as high as 66 mph were reported at Trenton. Some McCook residents went to the storm shelters when a tornado siren sounded about 11:15 p.m. Monday, but it turned out to be a single, malfunctioning siren in the Lazy L trailer court in northwest McCook...

A trailer hauling roof trusses had its rear axles suddenly detach from the flatbed Monday afternoon as the vehicle approached the eastern fringe of Cambridge, near the new Harvest Meadows development. No one was injured in the accident, and traffic was diverted around the disabled vehicle in the west-bound lane until the road could be cleared by the Furnas County sheriff's department. ...

McCOOK,Nebraska -- A hefty donation from a former business will reap monetary rewards for McCook FFA students. McCook School District business manager Rick Haney told the McCook School Board Monday night that Annette Irwin, of Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of recently deceased Otto Nilsson, owner of the former Automotive car part business in McCook, has donated $37,000 worth of car parts to the FFA program at the high school...