Stories from Monday, June 13, 2016

This is the time of year in which school boards, cities, and counties are working on their budgets. They all have public hearings, which you can attend and provide input on where money is being spent, and voice your concerns. As a former school board member myself, I can assure you that the input of taxpayers and voters carries great weight in the budget-making process. ...

Ursula Martha (Olberg) Sommer Nov. 15, 1941 - May 26, 2016 TRENTON, Neb. -- Ursula Martha (Olberg) Sommer of Dickens, Neb., passed away Thursday, May 26, 2016, at El Dorado Nursing Home in Trenton, Nebraska. She was 74 years old. Ursula was born to Willi and Frieda (Schloetzer) Olberg on Nov. 15, 1941, in Bayreuth, Germany. Along with her parents, her brother, Gerd, and her sister, Sieglinde, she survived a childhood in post-war West Germany through love, imagination, and hard work...

Wauneta/Palisade Wrestling Club wrestlers and Megan Lund of Lyons, Kansas, on the Frenchman Valley Co-Op float, enjoy the Palisade Pioneer Days parade Saturday morning. In the warm -- very warm -- sunshine, Pioneer Days also offered free swimming, kids' games, an ice cream social, vendor shopping' everything to enjoy "at the end of a dirt road."...

Ella K. Sackmann Feb. 5, 1925 - June 10, 2016 CAMBRIDGE, Neb. -- Ella K. Sackmann, 91, of Cambridge, died Friday (June 10, 2016), at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. She was born in Elgin, N.D., on Feb. 5, 1925, to Jacob and Christina (Dobler) Sackmann...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Allison (Alli) Johnson has never missed a day of school. So far. The 16-year-old, who will be a junior this year at McCook High School, said skipping school has never appealed to her and that she hasn't been sick enough to warrant a day home...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The winners of the Parker McCook Scholarships this year are Kyle Haddix, son of Rick and Kathy Haddix and Grant Wilkinson, son of Shane and Shelley Wilkinson. Kyle is a 2016 Hitchcock County High School graduate and plans to attend Kansas State University, where he will study chemical engineering...

McCook, Neb. -- Independence Day wouldn't be the same without the early morning Freedom Run in Culbertson. Now a part of the Republican River Fitness Series, the 14th annual run is Monday, July 4 beginning in the Culbertson city park. The 5K/10K event can be run or walked and also offers kids' 1/3-mile and 1-mile fun runs...

McCOOK, Neb. -- After wrapping up the 20th installment of the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival this weekend McCook community leaders are turning their focus on what they hope becomes a similarly successful summer event, an outdoor music festival at Barnett Park...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will provide an update on pheasant research in Southwest Nebraska during its meeting June 17 in McCook. The public is invited to attend the 8 a.m. meeting, which will take place in Room 213 of McMillen Hall at McCook Community College, 1205 East 3rd St...

Both sides of the gun debate scrambled to find the "right" side of the issue, especially politicians hoping to translate the tragedy into votes. The left naturally funneled the issue into the need for gun control, blaming the instrument of mass murder, while downplaying the ideology behind the Orlando attack in the name of tolerance...

(Note: Recently we have talked in this column about the dedication that civilians of "The Greatest Generation" made during World War II. We looked at the Trumps and their work in keeping the Plainview Schools functioning. Today, we look at the dedication that people brought to the business of saving lives, during the depression years of the 30s and the difficult years of World War II, using the example of Mildred Zink, of McCook. ...

F. Louise "Weezie" Tucker-Herron April 4, 1933 - June 12, 2016 TRENTON, Neb. -- F. Louise "Weezie" Tucker-Herron, age 83, passed away on Sunday, June 12, 2016, at El Dorado Manor in Trenton. Louise was born on April 4, 1933, in Hayes Center, Neb., to Nathan and Dorothy (French) McNutt. She graduated from Hayes Center High School in 1950 and then attended college for two years...