Stories from Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Leona Evelyn Weverka March, 5, 1929 - April 15, 2013 ARAPAHOE, Nebraska -- Leona Evelyn Weverka, 84, died Monday (April 15, 2013), at Beaver City Manor, in Beaver City. She was born on March, 5, 1929, to Felix and Caroline Fahnholz in rural Gosper County, Nebraska...

Loraine McCartney BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Loraine McCartney, 92, longtime resident of Benkelman, died March 28, 2013 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Funeral services are Saturday, April 20, 2013, at 11 a.m. (MT), at the United Methodist Church in Benkelman with the Rev. Sheila Taylor officiating. Interment will follow at 2 p.m. (MT) at Riverside Cemetery in Wauneta, Nebraska...

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...

McCOOK,Nebraska -- Keri Waddle of Bartley, Nebraska, was a nervous wreck.
It was time for her two-month-old daughter, Ezri Anne, Waddle's first child, to get her vaccinations and her momma was a little nervous. So was her Dad, Clayton Waddle, superintendent at Southwest Public Schools, who came with his wife and daughter to the Red Willow County Health 
Department. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- He'd been in town for less than a week, but it just made sense for Tim Zehnder to join the McCook Volunteer Fire Department. His father was a firefighter, Tim had been a firefighter for the past 23 years and as McCook Community College's new Director of Fire Science, he knows what a vital role that volunteer departments fill in smaller midwest communities...

NTV reporter Zach Richie of Kearney tours the Museum of the High Plains in McCook, Nebraska, Tuesday afternoon, preparing to film one of the television station's features called "One Tank Trip: Take a Trip without Emptying Your Tank or Your Wallet." Museum board president John Hubert explained an early-day fire hose cart and a hit-and-miss engine, while upstairs, Walt Sehnert described artwork by World War II German prisoners-of-war detained at a POW camp north of Indianola. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Burglars removed a safe from the Western Tire Co. on West B Street, Saturday evening, and several other area businesses were broken into early Tuesday morning. According to the McCook Police Department, suspects forcibly entered the Heritage Senior Center , as well as the nearby Community and 4-H buildings located on the Red Willow County Fairground. The fair office doors within the Community Building were also damaged...

Red Willow County, Nebraska, road crew supervisor and commissioner Earl McNutt dumps dirt from the site of the county's new jail into a county dump truck driven by Jim Mullen Tuesday afternoon. An official groundbreaking ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Monday at the courthouse. ...

Sixty percent of the allotted time for the legislative session has elapsed and lawmakers are talking about talking too much. Veteran lawmaker Ernie Chambers has launched three filibusters (talking an issue to death) and promised others. Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha recently burned 45 minutes of time explaining to his colleagues why they need to get the lead out -- and then apologized for taking that much time. ...

Local law enforcement agencies are working to solve the latest rash of break-ins, and we certainly encourage the public to call with any information anyone may have. Burglaries have been relatively rare around McCook, and it's sad that we have to think about security in a town where many of us aren't in the habit of locking our doors...

On Tuesday, the FBI requested help from those citizens present at the Boston Marathon when two explosions rocked the street, killing three and wounding more than 100, asking for any relevant photographs or video that might provide a clue as to the person or persons responsible...

These daffodils are unconcerned with the condition of the abandoned yard, reminding us with their brilliant yellow blooms that spring will come. Roxy Lang of Wilsonville, Nebraska, captured them in their springtime glory April 7, using these settings: f/5.6; 1/160; iso 400; 300 mm. ...

NORTH PLATTE, Nebraska -- Students in North Platte Community College's Public Speaking class recently had the opportunity to learn about the power of words -- both in writing and in speaking -- when they were challenged to select any word they liked, research it, and present a speech about the word to class...

Maywood art students work on their mural Friday at the McCook Community College paint-in.

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A week before the Boston Marathon bombings, McCook area emergency response and law enforcement personnel got some first-hand experience of what an explosion is like. They received several hours of classroom instruction Tuesday, April 9, before heading to the City of McCook pistol and rifle range to see firsthand the capabilities of various homemade and military grade explosives. ...