Stories from Friday, October 18, 2019

LINCOLN, Neb. — Junior Mason Michaelis shook off a 6-0 defeat in the first and rallied past No. 1-seed Daniel Martinez Rey of Grand Island Central Catholic for 6-3, 7-5 wins that clinched the Class B No. 2 singles state championship. Michaelis, seeded second, finished a marvelous 37-3 season with his first state title. Rey suffered his first defeat as he finished at 19-1.

Charles Meeker, whom, if you are aware of the name at all, is recognized with an irrigation ditch southwest of McCook being named after him; the Meeker Canal. Charles was brought in as a civil engineer to help the farmers attempting to design the best locations for the future canal and ended up being an advocate for the eventual financing and approval of the canal at a time when emotions were running high concerning land acquisition and costs...

90th birthday The family of Dolores (Rothmeyer) Lawson of Hayes Center, Neb., is requesting a card shower in honor of her 90th birthday on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. She was born in rural Decatur County. Her family includes children, Tim and Lisa Lawson of Hayes Center, Ed Lawson of Hayes Center, Mary Lawson of Ogallala, Neb., Michaela Lawson of Bartlesville, Okla., and Doug and Betty Lawson of Broken Arrow, Okla.; 10 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. ...

65th anniversary “If I could sit across the porch from God — I’d thank Him for lending me you.” Flavia The family of Audrey and James Suiter of McCook is hosting a card shower in honor of the couple’s 65th wedding anniversary. They were at married at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hayes County, Neb., on Oct. ...

70th anniversary The family of Bruce and Beverlee Swanson of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. They were married in McCook in 1949. They grew up in McCook, both graduating from McCook Senior High. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — Big Give McCook - which is Nov. 7 - was developed to help local non-profits meet their financial needs, which are in turn helping individuals in the community meet their needs. One of those organizations, which has been part of the Big Give McCook since the start, is CASA, was developed to lift up some of society’s most vulnerable groups - foster children...

McCOOK, Neb. — After five years of being at its current location on West 2nd and “B” Streets, the McCook Chamber of Commerce will be moving back to the Keystone Business Center. This time they will be on the third floor, sharing the floor with the McCook Economic Development Corp., Red Willow County Tourism, and the McCook Community Foundation Fund staff...

McCOOK, Neb. — When it comes to pain medication, there are other options besides heavy duty opiates, said a local volunteer for a petition drive to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska. Angela Thomas of McCook is one of hundreds of unpaid volunteers with “Nebraskans for Sensible Marijuana Laws,” gathering signatures across the state to place the proposed constitutional amendment on the 2020 ballot. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook City Council will be asked to change the way the city purchases equipment, at the regular meeting Monday night, 5:30 p.m. at city council chambers at the city municipal building. Currently, per city ordinance, any purchase over $30,000 must go through the formal bidding process and be put out for bid. ...

TRENTON, Neb. — The Mobile Pantry truck from the Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha plans a stop Saturday, Oct. 19, in Trenton, at the TCDC Building at 406 E. First, a block east of downtown Trenton. Shoppers can come by between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. CT, and bring their own bags and boxes, and wagons or carts to carry it all. The handicapped and elderly are encouraged to bring some "muscle" to help with the boxes...

MAXWELL, Neb. — Southwest scored 25-15, 25-23, 25-18 sweep of the Maxwell Wildcats Thursday evening. “We had great serve receive that lead to good offense last night. The girls did a great job working around their big blocks,” coach Kim Barnett commented. “This is good momentum going into RPAC on Monday.”...

McCOOK, Neb. — If McCook can keep pushing closer and closer like Thursday night, Bison volleyball fans mght see a GNAC tournament to remember on Saturday. The Bison showed they won’t be backing down even as a No. 6 seed among those six teams playing at McCook High and McCook Junior High...

OGALLALA, Neb. — Chase County’s girls earned a four-point win over Sidney to claim the final Class C team spot from Thursday’s C-4 cross country district. Individual qualifiiers Madison Brown (ninth/21:51.1) and sophomore Caelyn Long (13th/22:16.5) led the Longhorns into their top three qualifying place...

CAMBRIDGE — Both Cambridge cross-country teams placed second at Thursday’s D-5 district and qualified their entire lineups for state next week. Coach Peter Bogardus saw his Trojan girls total just 56 points with senior Cali Gunderson (eighth/23:54.47) , freshman Kori Koeppen (11th/24:12.12) and sophomore Megan tenBensel (13th/24:18.68) all earning individual places in the Class D field...

McCOOK, Neb. — The third annual Zombie Run returns Saturday, Oct. 26 but with a new location. Held on behalf of the McCook High School Cross Country team, the Zombie Run will take place at the Red Willow State Recreation Area north of McCook. The course will follow the hiking trails through the hills next to the lake, allowing for a true cross-country style event...

OGALLALA, Neb. — District meets often mean frustrating narrow misses as the McCook High boys were one team place from qualifying their entire lineup for state Thursday afternoon. “It wasn’t our best day of running,” coach Tom Sughroue confirmed. “ We were hoping for a better meet. But that is the way competition goes sometimes. Our district is loaded with good runners, we knew going in we would need to run well to qualify a team. It just wasn’t our day. “...

Text of a statement issued by the NCORPE Board of Directors follows: The NCORPE Board of Directors would like to clarify some issues relative to taxes and land ownership in Lincoln County. Since 2012, NCORPE has paid approximately $1.8 million in taxes and in-lieu of taxes. ...