Stories from Wednesday, February 25, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. -- U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Red Willow-Frontier County Director Kenneth Carriker, today reminds producers of upcoming important deadlines for the new safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill, known as Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC). The final day to update yield history or reallocate base acres is Feb. 27, 2015, and the final day for farm owners and producers to choose coverage is March 31, 2015...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The City of McCook is coordinating the second of three sales tax town hall meetings Thursday evening in preparation for a special election this May. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at City Council chambers in the Municipal Center. City leaders indicated they plan to schedule a special election on May 5, 2015, asking voters to approve a 15-year 1.5 percent local option sales tax...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The City of McCook is coordinating a second town hall meeting Thursday evening to continue discussions about renewal of the local option sales tax. A review of commitments made during the previous renewal process indicates the city may have fallen short in holding up its end of the bargain...

McCOOK, Neb. -- If time could be saved in a bottle, then a home do-it-your-selfer has recently found 82-years' worth. Shad Dewey and his 14-year-old daughter, Nicole, were ripping up the wooden porch planks of their home six miles northeast of McCook when Nicole spied a clear bottle laying behind the cement steps...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The wide range of musical talent in the Golden Plains will be in the spotlight Sunday afternoon when the Fox Theatre presents the Eighth Annual Hometown Talent Showcase. More than 40 singers, drummers, pianists and string-players will share the stage during the performance, which will begin at 2 p.m...

We've seen popular Facebook posts promoting the idea of teaching gardening in public schools as a way of letting children find out where food comes from, and even how to grow it for themselves. McCook has been home to a couple of community gardens, with varying involvement and success, and gardeners suffered a blow when one of the local nurseries went out of business just when seedlings should have been planted for this spring...

The Planet Show featuring Venus and other planets continues in the west after sunset for the next few months through the end of July. In the coming weeks Uranus and Jupiter will get involved and the moon will pay a few more visits. Tonight -- Wednesday, Feb. 25 -- the moon has moved on to scooch up close to the star Aldebaran in Taurus, the Bull...