Stories from Friday, March 21, 2014

Jan. 9, 1939 - March 20, 2014 OBERLIN, Kansas -- Virginia Sue Banzet, 75, died Thursday (March 20, 2014) at Decatur Health Systems in Oberlin. She was born Jan. 9, 1939, in Norcatur, Kansas, to Clarence N. Temple and Edith E. Wiggins. She grew up in Norcatur and graduated from Norcatur High School...

March 10, 1924 - March 20, 2014 LINCOLN, Nebraska -- Florence Elizabeth Nelson, 90, of Lincoln, formerly of Curtis, Nebraska, died Thursday (March 20, 2014) at her home in Savanna Pines, Lincoln. She was born March 10, 1924, in Red Cloud, Nebraska, to Lewis M. and Elizabeth A. (Duval) Hansen...

Sept. 30, 1970 - March 18, 2014 NORTH PLATTE, Nebraska -- Harry Jay Statley, 43, died Tuesday (March 18, 2014) at Kearney, Nebraska. He was born Sept. 30, 1970, in Brush, Colorado, to Walter and Shirley Statley. He was preceded in death by his father, Walter Eugene Statley...

April 25, 1927 - March 20, 2014 SUTHERLAND, Nebraska --Elizabeth "Betty Hope" Warner, 86, died Thursday (March 20, 2014) at the Sutherland Care Center. She was born April 25, 1927, to Harmon and Adah (Brown) Ward at Gilman City, Missouri. She grew up in the Gilman City area...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County commissioners and the county's tourism director will discuss recently-approved state legislation aimed at improving visitor attractions and facilities in the county, during the commissioners' meeting scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., Monday, in the commissioners' room on the third floor of the courthouse in McCook...

Wilsonville-area photographer Roxy Lang thanks rural Cambridge farmer-rancher Roger Witte for his help and his tractor when they both came upon an accident in which a car and a snowplow slid into a ditch on snow-clogged and slick Highway 47 south of Cambridge Tuesday afternoon. ...

STRATTON, Nebraska -- Nebraska humorist and cowboy poet R.P. Smith will be featured at the annual meeting of the Western Cattle Trail of Nebraska Association. The annual session will be Tuesday, March 25, at the North Shore Marina, located between Stratton and Trenton on U.S. Highway 34...

STRATTON, Nebraska -- Scott McDonald is the March winner of the Linda Maiden State Farm Insurance Good Neigh-bear Award. Shelly Richardson, who chose the Stratton Ambulance Fund as the charity to receive the $50 monetary gift that comes with the award, nominated him...

We've noticed a few news stories that are of concern to those of us in the news business, but citizens of all stripes should listen up. Free speech and protecting sources -- a key part of open government -- are at stake in the latest examples. Although he's not involved in news gathering, any reporter who has agreed to keep a source confidential can sympathize with a retired Florida detective, who was sentenced to two weeks in jail for contempt of court...

We all screw up from time to time. We make bad judgments or draw wrong conclusions from the information presented to us and it ends up affecting us negatively. We're especially prone to do this in relationships because all we know for sure is one side of the story and that's our side. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Luella Nadine (Hayes) Krizek, age 82, passed away March 20, 2014 at Highland Park Assisted Living Center in McCook, NE after a courageous battle with cancer. Luella was born December 25, 1931 in rural Decatur County Kansas to Clarence Albert (Jack) and Verda (Lattimer) Hayes, she was second of five children. Luella married Murlin Lloyd Krizek October 8, 1950 in Rexford, Kansas, to this union three children were born...

Another week of bills and amendments has come and gone as the Legislature begins to wind down for the year. There are only 13 more legislative days left this year and everyone is scrambling to get their bills across the finish line. I will have two bills up Monday on what the Legislature calls the Consent Calendar. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A plea agreement was reached earlier this month with a drunk driver who was found passed out behind the wheel of his Chevy Tahoe, which happened to be crashed into the side of a motor home in the Chief Motel parking lot, as his foot lay firmly pressed on the accelerator. The vehicle's tires were spinning uncontrollably on the pavement and clouded visibility in the area with smoke from their burning rubber, according to court documents...

Ruby I. Taylor Feb. 28, 1930 - March 19, 2014 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Ruby I. Taylor, 84, died Wednesday (March 19, 2014) at the Community Hospital in McCook, Nebraska. She was born Feb. 28, 1930, in Oberlin, Kansas, to Glenn and Lora (Hunsaker) Heller...