Stories from Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Kimberly Sue (Loughry/Courtain) Linner Dec. 8, 1959 - Aug. 3, 2019 BEAVER CITY, Neb. — Kimberly Sue (Loughry/Courtain) Linner, 59, of Beaver City, died Saturday (Aug. 3, 2019), at Phelps Memorial Hospital. She was born Dec. 8, 1959, to Darwin and Ila (Hoover) Loughry and later adopted by Gilbert Courtain. She grew up and graduated from Norton Community High School with the Class of 1977...

McCOOK, Neb. — It's early in the budget process, according to Red Willow County commissioners, and numbers are "very preliminary," the county's budget preparer told them at their regular weekly meeting Monday morning. Commissioners are tentatively considering 2 1/2 percent wage increases, and commission chairman Earl McNutt doesn't foresee much change in the county's valuation over last year...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook City Council will get its first look at the initial budget for next year, at the budget workshop scheduled for Monday, Aug. 12, 5:30 p.m. at the city council chambers at the city municipal building. The meeting is open to the public. McCook City Manager Nate Schneider told the council at the regular meeting Monday night that the preliminary budget will be presented at the workshop with city department heads on hand to answer questions about department budgets...

McCOOK, Neb. — It is still unknown why the power outage occurred at the City of McCook water treatment plant last week. In response to a question by McCook City Councilman Jerry Calvin at the council meeting Monday night, Jesse Dutcher, Utilities director, said he was alerted about 5:49 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, that the power was out at the water treatment plant...

“Off the grid!” Yep your editor called it correctly. I had the column written and with me on a flash drive but my laptop was out of juice so I couldn’t send it. Oh but it is a new world and we are all tied up electronically now. The new normal. A good part of my intended column last week was a tribute to recently departed former Gazette editor Gene O. ...

A story in the Cincinnati Enquirer demonstrates just how difficult it is for authorities to use current gun laws to prevent mass shootings. The paper reported that the weapon used in Dayton, an AR-15 style .223 firearm, while it looked like a rifle, was actually classified a pistol, meaning restrictions on short-barreled rifles don’t apply...