Stories from Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Never negotiate with terrorists. It's an oft-repeated mantra, in movies and television shows at least, if not among actual law enforcement officials. When faced with their own "hostage situation," however, a group of Lincoln County, Maine, law enforcement agencies gave in and paid the ransom...

Metamorphosis. A seventy-five cent word that we wordsmiths use to emote creation of a beautiful butterfly. From ugly worms of green or gray that crawl on their belly, God majestically transforms that very same creature into one possessing brilliantly colored wings bold as the rainbow. Ah the beauty to our eyes as they flutter about their summertime business of laying eggs to begin a new generation...

In what could be the final chapter of the saga of Commercial Engineering Services' involvement in a new phone system at the courthouse in McCook, commissioners Monday morning told Rob Henry of CES not to buy anything more -- not at his own expense and definitely not at the county's expense -- to try to make outdated and obsolete phones work for the county courthouse's offices...

McCOOK, Neb. -- A McCook woman was sentenced to probation last week in Red Willow County District Court after being convicted on a pair of felony offenses, stemming from forgery and possession of methamphetamine charges. The offender, 28-year-old Tina J. Smith of 309 West K Street, was sentenced to probation in three separate criminal cases, ordered by the court to be served at the same time...

McCOOK, Neb. -- A plea agreement was reached last week in Red Willow County District Court with an Imperial, Nebraska, woman facing a felony drug charge and other offenses. The offender, 40-year-old Melida Casarez, formerly of McCook, will subsequently face sentencing on a Class IV felony offense for possession of methamphetamine. Casarez was scheduled for sentencing at 9:15 a.m. on June 1, 2015...

McCOOK, Neb. -- McCook High School graduates will receive their diplomas on a Sunday this year, but it might be a Saturday in 2016. The school board will make the final decision at its May meeting. Several conflicts for May 7, 2016, the date proposed for next year's graduation, have been taken care of, Superintendent Grant Norgaard said at the regular board meeting Monday night. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- A new math series will be used next year for elementary through junior high students at the McCook School district. Cherie Wallace, first grade teacher at McCook Elementary, along with other math teachers in the school district, introduced to the McCook School Board Monday night at the regular meeting "Math in Focus," the new math materials that will be used in collaboration with math practices already in place. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- When Robert Tigner worked in Iowa, he taught his speciality, farm and ranch management, in 12 counties. As a Nebraska Extension associate educator in Red Willow County, Tigner explained to Red Willow County commissioners Monday morning that Nebraska is moving toward that same model, in which Extension educators will focus 80 percent of their time in their specific fields of expertise and 20 percent of their time in youth-related activities and education, across areas wider than a single county or a multiple-county area.. ...

Asia Tegels and Gabe Anderson of Oberlin, Kansas, stroll past during the Decatur Community High School Promenade, Saturday evening, in Oberlin. Twenty-seven couples paraded down the bricks of Penn Avenue to the delight of tailgating friends and family members, armed with plenty of cameras and compliments...

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