Stories from Tuesday, August 14, 2018

LINCOLN, Neb. — Today at 11:05 a.m., Director Scott R. Frakes made the following statement: “The execution of Carey Dean Moore (60) #32947, scheduled for 10 a.m. today, was carried out pursuant to the order issued by the Nebraska Supreme Court on July 12, 2018. The first of four substances was administered at 10:24 a.m. The Lancaster County coroner pronounced Moore’s time of death at 10:47 a.m...

The collisions were tense as McCook driver Larry Steinbeck (above) powered his No. 1 car to second place overall in Saturday’s Decatur County (Kan.) Demolition Derby at Oberlin, Kan. Cars from Nebraska and Kansas both competed with a Kearney driver taking first. However, Brenton Ellis of Bartley ( earned Mad Dog honors for being most aggressive and placed third overall just behind Steinbeck at this annual Fair finale...

We stood off to the side of the separator, more commonly known as a threshing machine, and visited. The gent was on the seat of an empty wagon behind a pair of beautiful bay mules, waiting in line to sidle under the grain spout of the thresher. Both arms covered by tattoos he told me that he had long time been involved with the motorcycle crowd but this was more fun...

McCOOK, Neb. — Mosquitos in three mosquito pools have tested positive for West Nile Virus, according to the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department. West Nile Virus is a virus primarily spread to humans by infected mosquitos.  The virus can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, rash, body aches and joint pain.  It can also cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord).  70-80% of people infected with WNV will have no symptoms are common in.. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook City Council got its first look at the 2018-19 budget Monday night, with no increase proposed for the city’s property tax levy. City Manager Nate Schneider said the budget was focused on replacing equipment for maintenance purposes, that have been put off for several years due to budget constraints and also for improvement projects in the city...

McCOOK, Neb. — Red Willow County commissioners saw a $39,000 increase in the budget proposed for 2018-19 by the fair board, so Monday morning they went looking for places to cut by a figure close to that. By the end of their budget hearing, commissioners had slashed $26,900 from throughout the proposed budget and told the fair board secretary to find ways to shift more costs to the self-supporting Kiplinger arena complex budget and to keep all Kiplinger costs within the Kiplinger budget. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — Last year, Bob and Kenalou Evers of FamilySearch in Salt City City, Utah, captured 4 million images containing information invaluable to anyone researching family genealogy. Recently, in McCook alone, during the first week they worked here, the couple shot 30,000 images, or photographs, of pages and pages and pages of records from storage rooms at the Red Willow County Courthouse...

The Sen. George W. Norris Historical Site plans a “Session with the Senator” on Saturday at 2 p.m., at the Senator’s house at 706 Norris Ave. The Senator will discuss “Joe Cannon — How the Giant Fell.” The principal character in Cannon’s downfall as the Speaker of the House and chairman of the Rules Committee in 1910 was the Nebraska progressive Rep. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood asked commissioners Monday morning to consider hiring a second part-time deputy attorney and to allow him to hire his daughter for the position. Wood broached the subject when he submitted his proposed 2018-19 budget with a $19,020 increase on the line for a deputy attorney’s salary. Wood said that his daughter, Emily, has taken the bar exam, and if she passes, she would be able to start Oct. 1...

The Gazette has covered its share of crime over the years, but concentrating on the crimes ignores the factor that makes them newsworthy — serious crime is rare in Southwest Nebraska. Yes, our history has its share of murders — several unsolved and recent enough that we’re still hoping to find more information to share with our readers...

Typographical mistakes happen in publication, even the Gazette. On Aug. 3-4, 2018, I wrote about water problems in relationship to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and Hammurabi. The Euphrates rises in the mountains of Armenia not America. It flows into the Persian Gulf...

Gloria Marie Lang Sept. 21, 1937 - Aug. 8, 2018 BENKELMAN, Neb. — Gloria Marie Kauffman Lang was born on Sept. 21, 1937, the only child of Orlie R. and Marie L. (Schrader) Kauffman. The family was longtime residents of Benkelman, Dundy County, living on a farm outside of Benkelman before moving to town in 1939...

Grace Lydia Helms Feb. 28, 1920 - Aug.12, 2018 ARAPAHOE, Neb. — Grace Lydia Helms, 98, of Arapahoe, died Sunday (Aug.12, 2018), at C.A. Mues Good Samaritan Center in Arapahoe. She was born on Feb. 28, 1920, on the family farm west of Arapahoe, to Herman and Augusta (Klein) Huxoll. She graduated from Arapahoe High School in 1936. She married Edwin Helms on Sept. 12, 1946...

Verda E. McConnell April 24,1916 - July 31, 2018 WESTMINSTER, COLO. — Verda E. McConnell passed away on July 31, 2018, at the age of 102. She was bom on April 24,1916, on a farm near Lebanon, Neb., and she graduated from Lebanon HIgh School in 1933. She attended Hasting College, Hasting, Neb., and Kearney State Teacher's College in Kearney, Neb., and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., where she earned a Master's degree in home economics...

McCOOK, Neb. — The first Friday of a new sports year brings back something McCook victims like North Platte and mighty Elkhorn South should never forget: Bison softball girls are trouble — especially when autumn truly arrives. Sure, McCook must replace almost the entire super senior-powered lineup from last year’s B-6 district champions...