Stories from Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Police activity Activity log These items are taken from reports filed by the McCook Police Department. The locations refer to block numbers, not specific addresses. If you have information about any of these reports, call the police department at (308) 345-3450...

HASTINGS, Neb. -- Central Community College-Hastings recognized 147 midyear graduates Dec. 1 at a graduation reception held in their honor. Dr. Ellen Pennell, biology instructor at CCC-Hastings, was the keynote speaker. Other speakers were Bill Hitesman, campus president, and Cheri Beda, college alumni director...

I'm sad today. Very, very sad. My troubled mind is the result of a headline I came across in a recent issue of the Omaha World-Herald. The headline says, "Yellowstone plans to kill 1,000 bison." "What is that all about?," I wondered. I've always marveled at the size and power of the bison and was sorrowed -- as were many of my fellow Americans -- to learn of their murderous decimation during the settlement of the American West...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- More than 1,400 degrees were awarded during commencement exercises Dec. 18 and 19 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Tammy Beck, associate dean of graduate programs and external engagement, and associate professor of management in the College of Business Administration, delivered the address at the Dec. ...

McCook Senior High National Honor Society students, along with the McCook City Library, donated tie blankets and books for newborns born at Community Hospital in McCook. The students donated the fleece and made the quilts.The gifts contain the message about the importance of reading to children, which heavily influences their future school success. ...

Who's on your Christmas list? It's the family dog, if you're like a lot of Nebraskans. We're not that extravagant, according to a study by www.TheNosePrint.com, spending an average of $12 per dog, 47th among the 50 states. New Jersey residents spend an average of $30.01 per dog and New Yorkers $29.55. Kentucky spends the least, $8.63...

Christmas coming. Christmas coming. If you haven't already drive out the next night to marvel at the grandest decorated Christmas tree in town. Just east of the gym at McCook College, a multitude of colored lights, candy canes, tall and magnificent. Well done...

We need a new fire station and police department, so our mayor, two citizens, a reporter and I spent a few hours in your fine city on Monday to see your public safety building. May I publicly thank city manager Nate Schneider, police chief Ike Brown, and fire chief Marc Harpham for the guided tour, and city clerk Lea Ann Doak, utilities director Jesse Dutcher and public works director Kyle Potthoff for telling us how the voters were able to approve the building of such an attractive and functional building?. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Downtown McCook is slated for more than $450,000 in improvements to be completed within the next five months. The project will primarily be funded by a $350,000 Community Development Block Grant and is estimated to cost the city $126,544 in local funds, according to the engineering firm responsible for design work...

The Grinch, Cindy Lou Who and Max, above, the dog-turned-reindeer -- recreated by Bradley Machine and Pump Repair of McCook, Nebraska -- wins first place in the 2015 McCook Chamber of Commerce Christmas "Light up the Bricks" parade on Dec. 5. In second place was Mike Fanning, left, (the Grinch stealing packages and Christmas cheer from Santa's sleigh), and in third, VK Electronics, with nearly-bare barbecuers, patio heaters and barbecue grills. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- "McCook Toy Box" giveaway coordinators and volunteers left the McCook City Auditorium late Sunday afternoon knowing that hundreds of kids will have a merrier Christmas because of the yearly project. One-hundred-and-fifty children will be riding rebuilt-to-almost-new bikes, and at least 380 will unwrap new toys...

Leona Baxter, foreground right photo, tells her family's story of hearing the roar of the 1935 Republican River flood when author Joy Hayden visited Trenton as a guest of the Hitchcock County Historical Society Dec. 13. Dave Sydow, left, said that his grandfather swam into the river to save a woman stranded on a house. ...

TRENTON, Neb. -- The Hitchcock County assessor whose property valuation procedures have been called into question filed a petition in Hitchcock County District Court on Dec. 11 claiming that the board of commissioners and the state's property tax administrator have denied her due process and a hearing before the Nebraska State Tax Commissioner...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The new education law President Obama signed earlier this month is a step in the right direction but doesn't go far enough, local school officials said. "People realized that No Child Left Behind was unrealistic and illogical," said McCook Schools Superintendent Grant Norgaard. "The concept was wonderful but the penalties were ridiculous."...