Stories from Wednesday, July 1, 2015

William R. 'Bill' Brown May 30, 1923 - June 30, 2015 TRENTON, Neb. -- William R. "Bill" Brown age 92, of Trenton, passed away at his home on June 30, 2015. He was born south of Trenton on the family farm on May 30, 1923, to Leroy and Bertha (Gose) Brown. Bill graduated from Trenton High School in 1940...

Stuart W. Ruby Jan. 5, 1958 - June 28, 2015 WEBSTER, Texas -- Stuart W. Ruby, age 57, of Alvin, Texas passed away Sunday, June 28, 2015, at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster, Texas. Stuart was born Jan. 5, 1958, in Lubbock, Texas, and was a resident of Alvin since 1999. ...

Charlene J. Johnson Feb. 10, 1933 - June 27, 2015 LENEXA, Kan. -- Charlene J. Johnson, 82, passed away on June 27, 2015, at Lakeview Village in Lenexa, surrounded by her family. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Friday, July 3, 2015, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with Father David McEvoy, O.Carm. of St. Joseph Catholic Church officiating...

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Two golfers with close ties to McCook and Heritage Hills Golf Course are making strong showings in the PGA National Professional Championship golf tournament at Philadelphia's Cricket Club. As reported Tuesday in the Gazette, Shane Zywiec, a two-time winner of the John Mullen Pro-Am Tournament at Heritage Hills, tied for the first round lead in the PGA National after carding a four-under par 68 in Sunday's play...

Watched closely by a life guard, swimmers at the Beaver City, Nebraska, public swimming pool test the cool waters on a hot summer day. For the third summer now, swimmers at the pool in the Furnas County seat are not charged to use the pool. City Clerk Angie Woodring said the village board voted to eliminate admission charges as a way to "give back" to residents of the community and area, and to attract visitors to their town. ...

OBERLIN, Kan. -- The recently-completed renovation of a century-old church building in Oberlin, Kansas, will be the focus of a fund-raiser on Saturday, July 11, to benefit the Decatur County Emergency Medical Services. The day-long event will include refreshments and the opportunity to examine an emergency medical vehicle on site, in addition to touring the house -- all for a free-will offering...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Nashville recording artist Alexa Kriss, AKA Alexa Whipple will perform live in concert Aug. 7 at The Fox Theatre in McCook. The event is free-will donation with all proceeds back to the preservation of the Fox Theatre. Doors open at 6:30, cash bar and concessions available all evening. The Lincoln, Nebraska, based group, Alli and I, is opening the show at 7:30. Meet and greet immediately follows the concert. Thanks to Premier AK Sponsor ATC Communications of Arapahoe...

Duane Wall of Cheyenne, Wyoming, right, and his great-nephew Logan Klein of Yuma, Colorado, flash a smile just prior to installing a memorial sign on a reconstructed circa 1918 Pipe Raymond Windmill on Friday. The windmill was erected by Wall and several others earlier this summer on the Country Schoolhouse Museum grounds in Haigler, Nebraska. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Though Deputy Luna will get none of them -- no people food for Luna -- pancakes for breakfast on Saturday, July 11, will help raise money to purchase a torso-fitting harness and a bullet-proof and stab-resistant "ballistic protection" vest for the K9 officer of the Red Willow County Sheriff's Department...

It's hard to keep track of the hail storms in McCook; roofers are busy replacing shingles from last year's hail storm, and some of THEM were replaced only a few years earlier, 2011, when hail took out roofs and siding across the Heritage Hills subdivision -- remember the row of pine trees that used to border the Walmart parking lot?...

I don't like to use the phrase, "Once In A Lifetime" because most of the time the event being referred to isn't. The moon landings were categorized like that and they weren't, in fact there were six of them. However, I think this event will qualify. On Tuesday, July 14, the robotic space probe, New Horizons, will fly by the planet Pluto...

E. Maxine Quinn March 9, 1920 - June 27, 2015 GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- Celebration of Life Services for E. Maxine Quinn will be held on Friday, July 17, 2015, at 2 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Oxford, Nebraska, with Rev. Eldon E. Fablinger officiating. A private family inurnment will be held in the Oxford Cemetery prior to the services...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Chessney Friehe of Culbertson, Nebraska, and Taytum Dickman of Elwood, Nebraska, will pass on their titles of 2014 Miss Southwest Nebraska Rodeo Queen and Junior Queen to new 2015 royalty after a day of competition Sunday in McCook. Both girls will attend activities Sunday...

McCOOK, Neb. --A book that didn't quite fit the mold for Christian publishers has already climbed to the top five in several inspirational categories on Amazon Kindle downloads. "Blue Columbine," by Jennifer Rodewald of McCook, has been listed No. 1 on Amazon Kindle eBook store for women's religious and inspirational fiction, No. ...