Stories from Monday, October 3, 2016

Lonnie Jay Loomis July 27, 1951 - May 1, 2016 SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. -- Lonnie Jay Loomis, 64, of Morrill, Neb., died May 1, 2016, at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. Lonnie was born July 27, 1951, in McCook, Neb., to Reed Jr. and Vonda (Wilson) Loomis. He attended school in Hayes Center and graduated with the class of 1969. Lonnie grew up on the farm and loved the outdoors and working with livestock. He was in 4-H with his horse and was on a horse judging team...

MCCOOK, Neb. -- In 1979 Steve Clapp got a call to see if he'd be interested in teaching a pottery class at McCook Community College. Now, 37 years later he's still teaching art and was recently honored by the college for his commitment. Technically, since ceramic and sculpture classes were not offered every semester, Clapp was recognized for 30 years of service to Mid-Plains Community College...

No one was catching Kearney High...

For the second-straight day, McCook shot a team score of 354. That score was good enough to win Thursday's Southwest Conference invite at Cozad...

Once Cambridge got on a roll, Dundy County-Stratton couldn't stop the momentum...

A recap of Friday's area football games...

McCook's 6-2 comeback win over Lexington highlighted a less-than-fulfilling Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference tourney for the Bison on Saturday...

McCook High's volleyball team finished an eight-match week with a 3-3 performance at the Twin Cities Invitational...

Brady Rogers tied for the overall top five to lead McCook Community College's golfers at their two-day home meet last weekend...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Gov. Pete Ricketts and Lt. Gov. Mike Foley plan separate visits to Southwest Nebraska this week. Gov. Ricketts will visit McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday as part of a Nebraska Department of Roads construction announcement...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Detective Kevin Hodgson with the McCook Police Department graduated from the FBI National Academy Program at Quantico, Virginia, last month. The 10 week course provides unique training in advanced communication, leadership and fitness training for officers with proven records as professionals within their agencies, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice...

McCOOK, Neb. -- In the past nine years, Annie Trail and her corps of volunteers of McCook have mailed 1,234 "We Care" packages to American servicemen and women serving in the Middle East. They've "adopted" 33 chaplains. Annie has no idea how many military members their packages -- and their messages of support and pride -- have reached. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- McCook Community College's volleyball team, its opponent, other MCC teams, campus groups, community groups and businesses are teaming up Tuesday to help block out cancer at Phi Theta Kappa's fifth annual pink-out volleyball game. The game against North Platte is set for 7 p.m. at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center and both squads are doing their part to help raise awareness -- and funds -- for breast cancer...

MCCOOK, Neb. -- McCook area residents are invited to a public meeting at the Keystone Business Center (third floor training room) located at 402 Norris Ave. in McCook, Nebraska on October 19, 2016 at Noon. The meeting will focus on opportunities available for families and individuals to achieve the dream of homeownership. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to Mary Kircher at 308-345-4054 or Mary@marykircher.com...

We've mentioned a greeting before that might be called the Nebraska "aloha." "Watch out for deer!" We've heard of many collisions and near-misses with deer and other animals recently, thanks to a combination of the time of year, human and animal travel habits and longer nights that come along with the fall and winter seasons...

Football has always been a violent game. The American game took after the English game of rugby, in England, and began after our Civil War, in the late 1860s. From its beginning in America, the game tended to be pretty wild. The scrums (scrimmages) were uncontrolled mayhem, the rules of the game were scant, protective equipment for the players was almost non- existent, and fans applauded violent action on the field. ...

HOLBROOK, Neb. -- A McCook couple was injured in a head-on collision near Holbrook early Saturday morning, and the driver of the second -- and the third -- vehicle has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs, felony theft, felony criminal mischief and numerous counts of assault...