Stories from Tuesday, January 12, 2016

After twelve years as Executive Director of the McCook Economic Development Corporation, Rex Nelson has decided to step down. Nelson plans to pursue a new opportunity that will take him closer to his children and grandchildren in eastern Nebraska and the Kansas City area, according to an MEDC press release issued Tuesday afternoon...

Michael Allen Boen Sept. 16, 1964 - Jan. 2, 2016 CLAREMORE, Okla. -- Michael Allen Boen died in Claremore on Jan. 2, 2016. Memorial services for Mike Boen will be 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, at the MMS-Payne Funeral Home Chapel. Pastor Mike Clark will officiate. There will also be a memorial service at 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, at Cambridge Community Building in Cambridge, Nebraska, with Jim Jones giving words of comfort...

Nate James McCook Gazette McCOOK, Neb. -- Greed was defeated this year as three children decided to renounce their own money to donate toys back to a program that they previously benefited from. Klayton, Kailee and Kelsey live in Grand Island with their foster mother Virginia 'Gina' Donnoe and foster father Stacey Donnoe. To spare the child discomfort while they were in court, the children often came to the CASA offices for a reprieve...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Strong enrollment numbers and student retention rates have McCook Community College officials encouraged as the spring term of classes began Monday on campus. The latest preliminary enrollment figures show that 31 more full-time students are enrolled at MCC compared to similar numbers in January of 2015...

BROOKINGS, S.D. - A local student has been named to the dean's list for academic excellence during the fall 2015 semester at South Dakota State University. Christian David Farrell of McCook was named to the dean's list with a perfect 4.0 GPA. He is in the College of Pharmacy...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Teacher salaries will increase next year, with a $640 increase in the base salary. The McCook Board of Education unanimously agreed to the salary/benefit agreement with teachers for 2016-17, at Monday night's regular board meeting. The board did not go into closed session to discuss the agreement as stated on the agenda, but Teresa Thomas, the board's negotiation committee, said the agreement was ready to go before the full board...

Competition promises to be fierce for the McCook Rotary Club's first annual Soup-R-Bowl event to be held Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout downtown McCook. At stake is the bragging right for the People's Choice award for the most scrumptious soup. Proceeds for the event will benefit McCook Pantry...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The Garden Prairie UMC will hold their annual soup supper this Sunday, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at the church about 16 miles north of McCook on Highway 83. Over 15 different kinds of soup along with desserts will be served with a free will offering to defray costs of replacing the kitchen flooring...

McCOOK, Neb. -- A resolution that would have created a road improvement district for the Calabria subdivision northeast of McCook drew more dissenters than supporters including, surprisingly, the man who carried a petition in favor of better roads. Roughly 86 percent of Calabria landowners by area objected in writing to the creation of the road project district estimated on the high side to cost $375,750, or $5,292 per acre owned...

TRENTON, Neb. -- Hitchcock County attorney D. Eugene Garner has filed a response on behalf of county commissioners to claims made in a "Petition in Error" filed against commissioners and others by county assessor Marlene Bedore. The Hitchcock County News reports that the county's response was filed in Hitchcock County District Court on Dec. 24...

MCCOOK, Neb. -- A new year but the same faces: board officers stayed the same as last year, at the McCook School Board officer election Monday night. Board member Teresa Thomas nominated Tom Bredvick for president, the current board president. As there were no other nominations, no vote was taken and Bredvick retained his position...

McCOOK, Neb. -- District 1 representative Earl McNutt of McCook returns as chairman of the Red Willow County board of commissioners following the board's annual reorganization during its weekly meeting Monday. Vice chairman will be District 3 representative Vesta Dack of rural McCook. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Director Christy Stevens said she was pleased with the large number of persons who auditioned for Southwest Nebraska Community Theatre's spring show, "Oz." She is awaiting confirmation from several cast members, but released the names of several who have agreed to the two months of intense rehearsals that will be required...

CURTIS, Neb. -- The Curtis Easter Pageant is set for 3 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at the Medicine Valley Junior-Senior High School, 303 Crook Ave. in Curtis. During the pageant, the easter story is presented using 17 living picture scenes and a 50-member choir...

Happy day. The Nebraska Legislature is in session. Watch your pocketbook. Gov. Pete Ricketts was noising about the need for property tax relief. Always a popular theme for those we elect to be charge of spending our tax money. "Vote for me and I'll reduce taxes." Easily done, but it rarely happens...

It's not really fair to judge people by the way they react when a TV crew points a camera at their face and asks questions like "Would you like to congratulate North Korea on their detonation of a hydrogen bomb?" Or, "Do you support Hillary Clinton's proposal to implement Sharia law?"...

McCOOK, Neb. - After a brief hiatus, the McCook Community Foundation Fund's annual banquet will return Tuesday, Jan. 19 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 308 East Ninth, in McCook. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person or $40 per couple with reservations needed by Friday, Jan. 15...

Wind turbine blades catch the afternoon sunshine as they sit on flatbed cars in the railway yard in McCook Tuesday, the east end far from the west. Every once in a while, the blades come through on trucks and trailers on Highway 83, needing traffic control to negotiate 90-degrees turns into and out of McCook. But on a train? That's an uncommon sight...