Stories from Tuesday, March 11, 2014

OBERLIN, Kansas -- A subject was shot and killed after shooting at officers investigating illegal activity in Oberlin, Kansas, last night in the 700 block of East Commercial. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is the lead agency in the investigation. We'll have more information as it becomes available...

John E. Walbridge May 25, 1956 - Feb. 22, 2014 BURNS, Wyoming -- John E. Walbridge, age 57, of Burns and Arapahoe, Nebraska, died Feb. 22, 2014, at Davis Hospice Center in Cheyenne. He was born May 25, 1956, in Lexington, Nebraska, to Addison and Helen Walbridge, the youngest of three children. In 1958, the family moved to the farm north of Edison...

RAPID CITY, South Dakota -- South Dakota School of Mines & Technology student Stephen Smock, mechanical engineering, of McCook, Nebraska, was named to the Dean's List for the 2014 fall semester. In order to merit a spot on the Dean's List, students must earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher for the semester. Full-time students must have earned a minimum of 12 credit hours that term, while part-time students must have earned between 3 and 11 credit hours that term...

SEWARD, Nebraska -- The semi-annual honor recital at Concordia University, Nebraska will showcase the vocal and instrumental talents of 10 student musicians. The recital will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, in the Music Center recital hall. The concert is free, and the public is invited to attend...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- During their weekly meeting Monday morning, Red Willow County, Nebraska, commissioners approved a real estate and personal property tax exemption application for a property unlike any other in the county. Pastor Scott Moyer, of Cambridge, told commissioners that "The Saving Place" will be a ministerial home and a home for a developmentally disabled man with whom his son, Logan, a recent graduate of York College, mentors, counsels and assists with employment and life skills. ...

CURTIS, Nebraska -- Candidates vying for the Nebraska Legislature's District 44 seat will share their stances on state government issues affecting agriculture and education at a public forum Tues., March 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Agriculture Industry Education Center on the NCTA campus in Curtis...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Two months ago, Red Willow County commissioners sold a quarter-section of land gifted to the county, and they retained half-interest in the mineral rights. That decision to share the mineral rights with new land owners may prove to be quite beneficial, as commissioners Monday morning signed a lease agreement with Forestar Petroleum Corp., a Denver-based company that wants to test for oil on the land. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- By 5 to 1, The McCook School Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of 510 Apple iPads for high school students, at $244,290, with one board member questioning why funds weren't set aside in the budget for the purchase...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A public auction of delinquent real estate taxes in Red Willow County, Nebraska, Monday, March 3, generated $147,109.17. As far as the county's concerned, the majority of the past-due taxes are now paid, and county treasurer -- and tax collector -- Marleen Garcia can distribute the sale proceeds to the county's subdivisions...

Mr. "Mike at Night" Hendricks had some good thoughts in a recent column Mike was concerned for a retirement crisis where most people would run out of funds before their lives ran out. Could be but my question is why would they quit work in the first place? Like I tell people in my own case, I have retired five times and it has not "taken" yet...

The McCook school board spent a couple of hours talking about the purchase of iPads for every high school student, a quarter-million-dollar investment for 500 of the ubiquitous tablet computers, before finally approving the plan. There were plenty of good questions, many of them concerns about just how responsible students would be while using the expensive devices with Internet access...

I hope you Nebraskans aren't too disappointed that "Nebraska" didn't win one award at the recent Oscar ceremonies. I knew the fix was in months ago and no way were the Hollywood reds going to honor a solid Republican state. If the title of the movie had been "California" or "New York," it would've won numerous awards...

When is the media going to wake up to the fact that Nebraska's DNR is managing the aquifer to win lawsuits with Kansas and to meet Compact compliance?When will the aquifer be managed for sustainability? When the aquifer drops as much as 25 feet in some areas of Nebraska in one year, that should be a wake-up call that changes need to be made...

OBERLIN, Kansas -- One individual is dead following a shoot-out Monday night with law enforcement in Oberlin, Kansas. A press release from the Oberlin Police Department this morning indicates that Oberlin police department was dispatched to investigate possible criminal activity. In the course of the investigation, a suspect ran from an Oberlin police officer and Kansas Highway Patrol troopers, who were assisting...