Stories from Thursday, April 28, 2016

Geneva (Goodenberger) Rouse Sept. 14, 1926 - March 31, 2016 VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Geneva (Goodenberger) Rouse, 89, passed away March 31, 2016. She was born on Sept. 14, 1926, the fourth of Grace and Bert Goodenberger's eight children in Marion, Neb. After graduation from McCook High School, Geneva worked as a hair stylist and medical assistant. She met her husband, Jim, at a roller skating rink. They were married at the Colorado State University chapel in 1956...

Mid-Plains Community College President Ryan Purdy, left, presented McCook Community College sophomore Hanna Goss the Presidential Award April 21 at the college's annual Honors Convocation. Also pictured is Andy Long, MCC vice president. The ceremony honored numerous students, faculty and staff for achievements and honors for this academic career and for career achievements...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- More than 1,800 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students were honored during individual college celebrations and the All-University Honors Convocation April 24 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Students were recognized for their outstanding academic achievements. Honorees included:...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Bryan College of Health Sciences announces the graduating class of May 2016. Graduation is May 6, 2016, at 5:30 p.m. at Saint Paul United Methodist Church. Area graduates include: McCook: Mary F. Kruse, nursing, bachelor of science in nursing, minor in healthcare management, social services...

HAYES CENTER, Neb. -- Madeena McAffee of Hayes Center won $10,000 playing the $20 Scratch game Lavish Luck Multiplier from the Nebraska Lottery. McAffee purchased her winning ticket at Scott's Grocery, 401 Tate Avenue in Hayes Center. Scratching the ticket, she revealed matching numbers with a corresponding prize of $10,000...

District 44 Sen. Dan Hughes met with more than two-dozen area residents during a legislative wrap-up at the Bieroc Cafe this morning. Sen. Hughes recapped legislative accomplishments this past session and said the shorter 60-day session was certainly more intense than last year's 90-day...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The Buffalo Commons Storytelling and Music Festival will wrap up its First Tuesday series in a big way, bringing Peter, Chuck and Job to the Bieroc Café on Tuesday, May 3. Popular performers in their hometown of North Platte, Nebraska, Job Vigil, Peter Rogers and Chuck Salestrom focus on light rock and pop hits from the 60s and 70s and they have fun doing it. Their last McCook appearance drew a large, sing-along crowd...

The Museum of the High Plains in downtown McCook will be the site of a going-away reception for Diana and Duane Tappe, community volunteers who are returning to eastern Nebraska to be closer to children and grandchildren. The Tappes have lived in McCook since 1996, when Duane became the director of Educational Service Unit No. ...

The suggestion by East Coast scholars Frank and Deborah Popper that the Plains be turned back into a "Buffalo Commons" raised the hackles of Southwest Nebraska residents, to the point that an annual event was named the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival in defiance...

Vote for growth Dear Editor, Our people and good jobs are the lifeblood of McCook. I believe we have strong community leadership and many unsung heroes who volunteer their time with local civic organizations and our schools. Area jobs help drive the local, regional and state's economies...

In 2008, voters in McCook authorized a local quarter-cent salex tax to be used for economic development. The program has been a terrific success -- helping to attract new businesses and helping to grow existing businensses. The success can be measured in the relatively stable population and number of jobs in McCook as other rural counties in Nebraska face population and job loss...

So the end of the school year is a mad house for anyone who works in the educational field at any level. It took me a few years to catch on to that but now I just plan on riding the crazy train from April 1st -- May 18th. It's exhausting physically and mentally, but if you know the ride is temporary, no one derails...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Hillcrest Nursing Home will get another pair of eyes assessing its operations. The Hillcrest Board of Trustees, at its regular meeting Tuesday, overwhelming supported the idea of Community Hospital lending its expertise to Hillcrest in certain areas, beginning with billing and finance...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Outstanding bills due Hillcrest Nursing Home are being whittled down. About 10 percent, or $40,000 of the approximate $400,000 due the facility from private-pay patients, has been recovered, said Hillcrest administrator Colinda Nappa. At the Hillcrest Board of Trustee meeting Tuesday, Nappa said the funds were collected, thanks in part to the attorney Hillcrest has hired, and that Medicare has paid on some old claims...

The new herd of American bison at Hugh Butler Lake north of McCook, introduced this spring by McCook native Darrell Meister of Honolulu, Hawaii, roams the prairie grass in their 50-acre pasture. On Wednesday, the House and Senate passed the "National Bison Legacy Act," which when signed by the President will officially make bison the National Mammal of the United States...

McCOOK, Neb. -- During a ceremony in her courtroom Tuesday afternoon, Red Willow County Judge Anne Paine swore in the newest "Court-Appointed Special Advocates." Those taking an oath to represent the best interest of children whose futures are determined in courtrooms were Alicia Blankenship, Rosetta Judd, Linda Graff and Marilyn Hoyt of McCook, Charlotte Marks and Kathy Dernovich of Culbertson and Micheal Langley of Cambridge...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Alicia Haugen, Senior Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship at the University of Nebraska Foundation, has announced that the 2016 Col. Delbert L. Townsend Scholarship recipients are Ashlee Morosic of Southwest High School and Dustin Bredvick, Kacey Hahn and Grant Wilkinson of McCook High School...