Stories from Friday, April 24, 2015

Verl James Owens Jan. 2, 1935 - April 17, 2015 BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. -- Verl James Owens, age 80, passed away in Bullhead City, Arizona, on Friday, April 17, 2015, at his home, in the loving hands and hearts of his family and friends. Verl was born on Jan. ...

Parker Jill McCain Lucas and Olivia McCain of Fremont, Nebraska, announce the birth of their daughter, Parker Jill McCain, born March 11, 2015, at Women's Methodist Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. She weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long. ...

90th birthday The family of Virginia Meyer of Wellfleet, Nebraska, is requesting a card shower in honor of her 90th birthday April 28. She was born in 1925 in Dickens, Nebraska. Her family includes children, Kelley and husband, Rick Sexson of Farnam, Nebraska, and Kenton and wife, Dawn Meyer of Fairmont, Nebraska; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 44608 South Wagon Trail Road, Wellfleet, NE 69170...

56th anniversary Dale and Roberta Blake of Danbury, Nebraska, will celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary April 26. Their family includes children, Kelly Siedenberg of Loveland, Colorado, Jody Shike of Oberlin, Kansas, Billy Blake of Danbury and four grandchildren. Cards of congratulations will reach them at 70480 Road 397, Danbury, Nebraska 69026...

80th birthday The family of Stanley Reynolds of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of his 80th birthday April 28. He was born in 1935 in McCook. His family includes his wife of 60 years, Jeannine Reynolds; children, Lyn and Marci Reynolds of Oberlin, Kansas, Carli and Len Reimer of Highlandville, Missouri, Debbie and Gregg Thee of Moorhead, Minnesota, Paul and Kristine Reynolds of Charlotte, North Carolina, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. ...

Back when I was in high school (somewhere around when dinosaurs wandered the earth), if you were "going steady" with a boy you got his class ring to wear and it was always too big! The solution was a tedious method of wrapping the back of the ring with thread and then sealing each layer with fingernail polish. When you broke up, the poor guy got the ring back complete with the "resizing". How he removed the layers I'll never know!...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The McCook Community College production of David Auburn's award-winning "Proof" comes to the MCC stage this weekend. The play, directed by MCC Theater Instructor Clay Grizzle, opens with performances Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Weeth Theater in Tipton Hall on campus. There is also a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m...

McCOOK, Neb. -- In observance of National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), set for April 18-April 25, 2015, Red Willow Co. Health Dept., located at the fairgrounds in McCook, will join hundreds of communities across the United States to celebrate the critical role vaccination plays in protecting our children, communities and public health...

McCOOK, Neb. -- A McCook man was convicted of possessing and enticing child pornography and sentenced to a maximum of five years in state prison earlier this month in Red Willow County District Court. According to court documents the offender, 25-year-old Keith Priddy, used the web application Snapchat to send explicit pictures to several underage girls while requesting they send nude pictures and videos in return...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Registered voters mulling which way to vote in the coming days on McCook's local option sales tax have a variety of factors to consider, chief among them is how it will affect the city property tax levy. City leaders have communicated failing to adopt the sales tax would likely result in the city raising the property tax levy to the maximum, although, they have also communicated the levy will most likely be raised this coming year, regardless...

McCOOK, Neb. -- This will be the last weekend that "Go for the Goal" raffle tickets will be available to buy at the Barnett Park soccer fields. Raffle tickets will be sold during the YMCA soccer games Saturday morning at Barnett Park. The money from the raffle will go toward purchasing soccer goals at the McCook High School. ...

Remember the Chinese elm tree? That's what we called them, and although they were actually Siberian elm, they were popular throughout Nebraska because they came from a semi-desert region and adapted well to our weather. By the middle of the last century, however, they were dying from Dutch Elm disease, and we've spent the last few decades watching them being cut down and sawn into firewood...

If there was one big question that everyone had to think about in order to make a decision on the upcoming Sales Tax renewal, the question that I would put forward is "Are we better off now as a community, than we were before the Tax?" Having lived here for the last 35 years and seen us deal with some pretty extreme changes that we had no choice in, such as the water treatment system and the closing of our city trash dump and major improvements to the sewer system, we were forced by the regulating powers that be to spend millions of bucks just to be able to have basic service.. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The 46th issue of the Bison Alumni Newsletter is ready to be folded for mailing. Alumni & friends are needed at 6 pm Tuesday, April 28th at the McCook Junior High Cafeteria. Join in the fun!

McCOOK, Neb. -- At Wednesday night's Mid Plains Community College Board of Governors meeting, Louie Stithem announced that Elizabeth Benjamin, one of two Board members that represent District One, had submitted her resignation from the Board. The Board accepted her resignation at that time. In the event a vacancy occurs on the Board, Nebraska Statutes 32- 560 and 85-1514, together with Board Policy set forth the process to fill the vacancy. Specifically Board Policy 1400 provides:...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The Nebraska Department of Economic Development has just announced approval of a grant for the expansion of American Agricultural Laboratory, Inc. The grant to McCook Economic Development Corporation from the Site and Building Fund in the amount of $297,060 is intended to assist in the purchase and renovation of the former Alco building in McCook. ...

Out of seven finalists making presentations Friday at the Hormel Entrepreneurship Competition at McCook Community College, Jason VanPelt was named the grand prize winner. VanPelt won with his business plan for VP Percussion, his company that will manufacture the one-of-a-kind percussion instrument Van Pelt created, the patent-pending VBox. ...

Walter W. Castle July 3, 1927 - April 22, 2015 OBERLIN, Kan. -- Walter W. Castle was born July 3, 1927, in Decatur County, Kansas, to Walter and Gertude (Oxley) Castle. He passed away Wednesday, April 22, 2015, at the Good Samaritan Society-Decatur County in Oberlin, Kansas, at the age of 87...