Stories from Monday, May 20, 2013

Brian Patrick O'Connor April 25, 1959 - May 14, 2013 NORTON, Kansas -- Brian Patrick O'Connor, 54, died Tuesday (May 14, 2013), at his residence in Norton, Kansas. He was born April 25, 1959, in Denver, Colorado, to Timothy Daniel and Carolyn Crane O'Connor...

Larry James Cheney OBERLIN, Kansas -- Larry James Cheney, 65, of Goodland, Kansas, formerly of Rexford, Kansas, died Saturday, May 18, 2013. Services are pending with Pauls Funeral Home in Oberlin.

CHADRON, Nebraska -- Seventy-three graduate students from nine states and three foreign countries earned degrees in Chadron State College's 8 a.m. commencement service May 4, 2013, including Sherri Clifford Uerling of McCook, Nebraska. Uerling graduated with a 4.0 GPA with a Master of Business Administration with an Accounting emphasis. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- It's not every day you see a school principal with rainbow-colored hair, but kids at McCook Elementary had one for the last two days of school. McCook Elementary School Principal Tim Garcia sported rainbow-colored tresses Wednesday and Thursday, in response to a challenge he made to students beginning second semester...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- It took four men and pickup, but a massive plant that was at McCook Beauty Academy for almost 30 years was safely transported to its new home at City Hall May 8. Ruth Lucas, who owns McCook Beauty Academy with her husband, is not sure what kind of plant it is, only that it keeps growing. She moved it to the beauty school after it outgrew her living room and it continued to grow and thrive...

Deonne Hinz takes to the wheel of the 1969 Fiat 850 Spyder her husband, Merlin, spent the winter restoring, just in time for open-air driving weather. He plans on redoing a 1967 Austin Healy next, and then a 1953 Ford pickup truck. (Bruce Crosby/McCook Daily Gazette)...

We enjoy the changing of the seasons, but sometimes it takes a while to remember the lessons we learned the previous year. It's annoying when we can't find our windshield scraper after the first frost, or discover we should have had the air conditioner serviced before the first heatwave...

From H.P. Waite's collection of early McCook Tribune Stories Immigrants: May 15, 1884: Seventy-five families of Hungarians have settled on Beaver Creek in the vicinity of Herndon this Spring. Ugh! May 15, 1883: the alleys of McCook are encumbered with the carcasses of dead animals, tin cans, waste water, and other stench-emitting and disease producing offal...

Violet C. Martin April 6, 1920 -- May 20, 2013 McCOOK,Nebraska -- Violet C. Martin, 93, died Monday (May 20, 2013) at her home in McCook. Services are pending and will be announce by Carpenter Breland Funeral Home of McCook.

Dear Fellow Nebraskans: On May 27, we will observe the Memorial Day holiday in a variety of ways. For some, this weekend will serve as the unofficial start summer, and I encourage everyone to join family and friends and explore all Nebraska has to offer...

It has been a busy week in Washington. Congress is investigating several situations including the targeting of certain political organizations by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and reports the Secretary of Health and Human Services may have improperly solicited outside funds to help implement the health care law. Many important questions remain, underscoring the need for Congress to continue its oversight of the executive branch...

Roxy Lang of Wilsonville, Nebraska, was waiting on some folks in Bartley, Nebraska, last week and kept hearing this bird singing, "like he was singing just for me," before spotting him tucked behind spring leaves just beginning to open. Undoubtedly, he'd be even harder to spot this week as the leaves have fully opened, providing an excellent hideaway for the summer. ...

Lillian A. Smart Jan. 31, 1922 -- May 19, 2013 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Lillian A. Smart, age 91, passed away Sunday, May 19, 2013, at Hillcrest Nursing Home. Lillian was born in McCook on Jan. 31, 1922, to Jacob and Elizabeth (Spier) Lebsack. She graduated from McCook High School in 1939. She was baptized and confirmed in Westside Congregational Church of McCook. She worked for a time at Woolworth's and then as a stenographer at the Army Airbase during World War II in McCook where she met her future husband, Jimmie Frank Smart. She later moved to Washington, D.C. After the war, Jimmie came to Washington, DC, where the couple was married on June 26, 1946. They moved to Dallas, Texas, where their son, James Stephen, was later born. She worked at Mercantile Bank as an executive secretary, then moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and worked at First Interstate Bank as a supervisor. She retired Jan. 31, 1987. She moved to McCook in 2008 to be closer to family. Lillian enjoyed bowling, playing cards, bingo and board games. She had a great sense of humor and loved to tell jokes and make people laugh. Survivors include her son, Steve Smart and wife, Sandra, of Pensacola, Florida; grandsons, Blake and Justin; sister, Norma Crocker and husband, Dale, of McCook; sister-in-law, Helen Lebsack of Spokane, Washington; numerous nieces, nephews, and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Raymond Lebsack; and sister, Eleanora Galloway. Memorial services will be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, May 24, 2013 at Carpenter Breland Funeral Home with Father Gary Brethour officiating. Inurnment will be in Riverview Cemetery in McCook. Memorials may be given in her name to Hillcrest Chapel Fund. Friends may send condolences online at www.carpenterbreland.com. Carpenter Breland Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

By now, most Nebraskans are familiar with a series of alarming news reports regarding a disturbing pattern of government overreach. In the past week, a number of scandals have developed and are now embroiling Washington, D.C. On May 10, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) admitted to deliberately targeting and delaying the applications of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. ...

85th birthday The family of Dorothy Johnson of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of her 85th birthday May 25. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 505 Park, McCook, NE 69001