Stories from Friday, February 26, 2021

McCOOK, Neb. – Kerstan Slater, 29, a unit caseworker at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook, was arrested Thursday by the Nebraska State Patrol for unauthorized communication with a prisoner (Neb. Rev. Stat. §83-417). Slater has been employed by the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) since October 15, 2018. She has only worked at WEC during that time. Slater resigned her position with the agency...

McCOOK, Neb. -- We often take for granted some of the backroom inner workings of various public functions we’ve become accustomed to enjoying. When we turn on the light switches, the lights come on and we give little thought to what all needs to happen to make that miracle occur. February’s cold spell has brought to light some of those inner workings that cause water to flow from our faucets and natural gas to fuel our furnaces and heat our homes...

McCOOK, Neb. — A dog that has been missing for nearly six months has finally been reunited with its family. One late afternoon in September, Bella, a 2-year-old Yorkshire terrier, slipped out of a backyard gate that wasn’t fastened properly, said her owner, Olivia Cappel of McCook. Later in the evening, Olivia found out that Bella was missing and spent the next two hours in her car, combing the neighborhood streets looking for her...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Despite interviewing witnesses on a screen and a computer freezing up mid-trial, the McCook High School mock trial team has qualified for the Nebraska State Mock Trial Competition for the second time in three years. The McCook team won its district competition Thursday to earn the state bid...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook City Council, acting as the McCook Community Development Agency, will be asked to transfer a tax increment financing project currently underway to an affiliated organization. The council will meet for its regular meeting Monday, 5:30 p.m. at City Council Chambers at the City Municipal Building...

80th birthday The family of Bill Sitzman of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of his 80th birthday on Thursday, March 4, 2021. He was born in Culbertson, Neb. His family includes his wife, Pat Sitzman of McCook, children, the late Mike Sitzman, Deb (Dave) Korte and family of McCook and Scott (Jen) Sitzman and family of Hugo, Colo.; 4 grandchildren, Whitney (Mike) Schoenemann of Culbertson, Lance (Brandi) Korte of McCook Logan and Rhegan Sitzman of Hugo and 5 great-grandchildren, Kensington, Krew and Kreed Schoenemann and Kalum and Kelter Korte. ...

In an 1888 article promoting Red Willow County that appeared on the front page of the McCook Tribune, the following comments were made about Lebanon: “Lebanon is most beautifully located on Beaver valley, is a yearling, and a most promising yearling it is. There is one bank, a live weekly newspaper, a fine hotel and the different branches of merchandise represented with full stores. This town is surrounded by a rich agricultural country that is being developed rapidly.”...

ATWOOD, Kan. — The Rawlins County and Decatur Community girls both scored big wins Tuesday to set up their showdown Thursday evening. Decatur reached 11-9 this season with a 45-33 home win over Logan-Palco where freshman Rayne Erickson scored 16 points...

HAYS, Kan. — Kansas state wrestling starts and finishes on Saturday at four sites across the state. Only the top eight qualifiers in each weight class are competing compared to Nebraska’s brackets with 16 apiece. The 3A-2A-1A meet starts at noon in Gross Memorial Coliseum where Gazette-area teams feature five state qualifiiers...

AMHERST, Neb. — Senior Brady Lewis’ playoff basket was a final highlight for the Cambridge Trojans during their 76-43 subdistrict finals loss to powerhouse Amherst Thursday night. The Broncos are now 23-2 entering a Class C-2 district finals showdown against Chase County. A date, start time and site were still being determined this morning...

ELM CREEK, Neb. — The Southern Valley Eagles were happy to do a little role-flipping in Thursday night’s subdistrict title game. Rebound machine Carter Bose scored 11 straight huge points while recent sizzling hot scorer Clayton Berry pulled in a team-best 13 rebounds...

McCOOK, Neb. — McCook High’s girls battled through injuries and gained great experience while going 2-2 against B-7 district competition this season. The Bison (7-16 final record) scored a 22-point win over eventual 16-6 Chase County during Sidney Holiday Tournament action on New Year’s Eve...

LINCOLN, Neb. — All swimmers and divers who make the Nebraska State Tournament want to be competitive but at the end of the day, it is just a privilege to be in Lincoln at the Devaney Center pool. McCook junior Ethan Graff earned that privilege by qualifying for the state diving tournament Thursday and learned a lot from his first trip to the state meet...

WALLACE, Neb. — From his 15-point second quarter to one final title-clinching slam dunk, sophomore Hayden Kramer knew what was behind Medicine Valley’s superb success Thursday night. “We practice hard, we play hard and w eplay hard as a team,” he proclaimed following his 30 points in the Raiders’ 47-40 subdistrict finals win over Wallace Thursday night...