Stories from Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Sunflowers naturally turn toward the sun, following its track throughout the day even against the sometimes strong summer winds. Roxy Lang of Wilsonville, Nebraska took this shot on July 17, along a dirt road in Southwest Nebraska. The McCook Gazette would love to showcase your weather photos. ...

Betty 'Carolyn' Trainer March 27, 1932 - June 27, 2013 LOUISVILLE, Colorado -- Betty Carolyn Trainer passed away on June 27, 2013, at the age of 81. She was born in McCook , Nebraska, on March 27, 1932, to Emit and Darlene Rowland. She grew up in McCook and married the love of her life, Richard Trainer on Dec. ...

Carole Ann Sagel Jan. 27, 1943 - July 20, 2013 LEBANON, Missouri -- Carole Ann Sagel, 70, of Lebanon, Missouri, was born Jan. 27, 1943, in Williamsport, Indiana, and passed away Saturday, July 20, 2013, near Lebanon, Missouri. She was survived by three sons, Darwin Sagel, and his wife, Cindy, of Monett, Missouri, Darin Sagel, and his wife, Amy, of Fort Morgan, Colorado and Devin Sagel, and his wife, Lindsey, of Falcon, Missouri; four grandchildren, Joshua, Nicholas, Klayton, and Hailey; her mother, Elsie Lang, of Lebanon, Missouri; and many other relatives and friends.. ...

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. Activity log These items are taken from reports filed by the McCook Police Department. The locations refer to block numbers, not specific addresses. If you have information about any of these reports, call the police department at (308) 345-3450...

LARAMIE, Wyoming -- The University of Wyoming lists seven students from Nebraska on the 2013 spring semester Provost's Honor Roll, including three from Southwest Nebraska. The Provost's Honor Roll consists of undergraduates who have completed at least six but fewer than 12 hours with a minimum 3.5 grade point average for the semester...

CULBERTSON, Nebraska -- Friends and former classmates are invited to join more than 125 Sitzman family members at their 100-year reunion, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Hitchcock County Fairgrounds in Culbertson. For more information, call Larry Sitzman at (402)328-8258...

McCOOK, Nebraska-- The Ruppert annual reunion will be Sunday, Aug. 4, at noon in the Red Willow County Community building (back half) at the RedWillow County Fairgrounds. Everyone is welcome.

Madison Dowd, an adoptee from the McCook, Nebraska, Humane Society, sits in front of an over-the-couch landscape print that will be for sale during a garage sale Friday and Saturday in McCook. Annette Irwin of Omaha, formerly of McCook, will sell her father Otto Nilsson's unusual lifetime collection of items Friday, from 6 p.m. ...

BRUCE BAKER City Editor McCOOK, Nebraska -- City department heads have done a good job on this year's budget, McCook Mayor Dennis Berry said Monday night. His comments came after City Council members were presented a proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year reflecting a decrease in the general fund...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A local group is using local funding to provide benefits to local and area students. The Salvation Army Backpack Give-Away was set for 3 to 5:30 p.m. today at the McCook Christian Church, 507 West B Street. Funding for the 150 backpacks that will be given away comes from Salvation Army kettle ringing and a grant from the McCook Community Foundation Fund. Several local churches and individuals have also provided supplies and money to fill the backpacks...

Now that smoking has been banished from workplaces, public buildings and even some counties, a move is afoot to ban a legal, relatively safe activity that oh, by the way, kind of looks like smoking. At the heart of it is a flawed philosophical tenet -- rather than allow an activity to take place until it is proven to be harmful, we should ban an activity until it is proven to be safe...

As I write on Monday afternoon the temperature is a perfect 75 degrees, the sky is blue and there is a gentle zephyr out of the East. Grannie Annie is sitting in an easy chair in shade under the awning. The sounds and smoke trails in the sky a mile or so to the east of our camper hint at the afternoon airshow in progress...

In January 2014, just six months from now, the most agonizing provisions of Obamacare will kick in and along with it the Medicare rationing board and massive tax increases. Obamacare was supposed to cost $1 trillion, but it has already jumped to $2 trillion with no end in sight. It will be accompanied by the largest tax increase in American history...

It is often said (and it bears repeating) there is far way too much redundancy. We've heard this many, many times over and over again. Let me reiterate: The use of too many unnecessary words is an extremely serious problem. I've said this many times over and over again. Think twice about the problem of unnecessary verbal repetition at this point in time...

WAUNETA, Nebraska -- Wauneta's 2013 Harvest Fest parade on July 27 paid special tribute to U.S. veterans of the Korean War, on the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting July 27, 1953. The recognition brought to Bob Hardy's mind his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War...