When railroaders and merchants first came to the new town of McCook in the early 1880s, there was ample evidence that American Bison had populated this area in huge numbers in earlier times. One of the most visible signs of the Bison's presence were the wallows which were evident for many years near what is now one of McCook's busier intersections: Norris Avenue and J Street...

I turned 80 years old on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018 and vowed, on that day, to do something I have never done before. I’m going to turn the podium -- provided to me by virtue of my status as a newspaper columnist -- over to my new best friend. The person I’m talking about is Eric Dietrich-Berryman, a 78-year-old German refugee who is now retired and residing in Virginia Beach, Va. with his wife, Bobbie, a Minnesotan whose family is all buried in Nebraska...

Speaking for lots of people from lots of places, I’d like to say thank you. The need to shout words of appreciation for all to hear was impressed on me these past few weeks when friends, neighbors and perfect strangers took the time and trouble to lend a hand to a couple of old folks...

As you might expect — as I have been a newsman for more than half a century — I don’t agree with President Trump when he uses the term, “Fake News,” to describe the written, voiced and televised reports on political and topical happenings in the United States of America...

When I travel the highways and byways of the Golden Plains of America, my heart swells with pride. There’s a special, free spirit out here in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas, that is shown each day as friends and neighbors from all across the area connect at sales, sporting events, community celebrations and shopping excursions...

Numbers don’t lie. People lie. I’ve heard that old saying for years. And -- for the most part -- it’s true. But -- as an old bull shipper from Missouri -- I’ve discovered there are ways to use numbers to tell the truth in very creative ways, giving false -- and fooling -- impressions...

People ask me, as I wander around the highways and byways of Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas (an area I call the Golden Plains), why do you call your column “Morris on Norris?” Well, folks, the time has finally come. I’m going to level with you. ...

“Why in the world,” I wonder, “do the people in charge of America’s actions want to build a wall to block our neighbors to the south from entering the United States of America?” I realize that kind of thinking is commonplace among those who already have their fortunes made, but it’s beginning to worry me because the wall-building hysteria is spreading to common people who should know better...

“Why in the world,” I wonder, “do the people in charge of America’s actions want to build a wall to block our neighbors to the south from entering the United States of America?” I realize that kind of thinking is commonplace among those who already have their fortunes made, but it’s beginning to worry me because the wall-building hysteria is spreading to common people who should know better...

Our President has a problem. A very serious problem which not only affects him but also the people he loves. I know because I have the same problem. Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America, and me. Gene O. Morris, a retired publisher from McCook, Neb., are both talkaholics...

Not to be out-done by those mean old men who wrote “Rules For Teachers -- 1904,” McCook’s Superintendent of Schools, Grant Nordgaard, and I got together Thursday morning, October 11, 2018, in an attempt to write what we are calling “Rules For Teachers -- 2018.”...

I admire the Nebraska Tourism Commission for trying to come up with a promotional program aimed at attracting more visitors to our state. Nebraska — strategically situated in America’s Heartland — possesses outstanding attractions and deserves to have the privilege of hosting guests from both near-by and far, far away...

As McCook’s community leaders search for a way to create a convention center, is it possible they are overlooking a very obvious solution? I believe they are. The obvious solution, I believe, is to transform an asset the community already possesses — the Keystone Business Center — into a gathering place that showcases the history and heartfelt hometown spirit of a town and a region which, I believe, reflect the best qualities of the greatest nation in the world...

Without much fanfare, newspapers across America celebrated National Newspaper Week, from Monday, Oct. 7, 2018, through Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. As usual, I’m a little late getting around to saying something about newspapers, which are important to me since they have provided my life-long professional career...

In case you missed it, I thought I better start off by telling you about the “Rules For Teachers — 1914” column which appeared in the McCook Gazette’s October 6, 2018, Weekend Edition. The reason for bringing you up to date is that the old-timey teacher rules were so puritanical that they made the McCook school board president, two retired teachers and me shake our heads in disbelief that what society expects of teachers is so drastically different today from what it was a century-plus-four years ago.. ...

“My, oh my, how times have changed.” That’s the reaction of everyone I’ve spoken within the past few days after asking them to read ... and react to ... a little ditty called “Rules For Teachers — 1914.” The fun started when I picked up the September issue of the McCook Heritage Senior Center newsletter and turned my attention to the old-timey teacher rules, which — I later found out — were discovered on Facebook by our town’s mischievous senior center director, Beth Siegfried, and were shared by Beth — “just for the fun of it” — in a full page spread in last month’s newsletter.. ...

"Why," you wonder, "did you guys pick 'Capital of the Buffalo Commons' as the brand for the McCook area?" Good question. As a guy who has lived through McCook's ups and downs during the past quarter of a century, let me do my best to explain. It all started in the early 1990s in the McCook High School Auditorium. A big crowd gathered there to hear from the Poppers -- Frank and Deborah -- a pair of professors from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey...

Of all the truisms about life, there is nothing I can conceive that is more truthfully important than the sentiment that is summed up by this statement: "It's About Time." Think about it and I believe you will agree. Life, essentially, is a matter of time...

To begin today's column, I would like to extend my thanks -- and that of the McCook community and the Mid-Plains region -- to Perry and Vicky Case for their wonderful gift of the former McCook Elks lodge and surrounding grounds to the McCook Community College Campus of the Mid-Plains Area...

It's one thing to burst forth with those heart-stirring words, "Cheer! Cheer! For Old MHS!," and it's quite another to do it for three generations, stretching all the way from 1955 to 2016 and possibly beyond. What am I talking about? I'll tell you true: I'm talking about three generations of the Fahnholz-Pearson-Simmonds family, who have contributed cheerleaders for McCook High School's pep squads in the 1950s, the 1980s and, now, the 2000s...

Ladies and gentlemen of the McCook area, I would like you join me today in giving a great big round of appreciation to Val Fuller, the owner and manager of the only restaurant -- and one of the few businesses in the Golden Plains area -- to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and -- most impressively -- 365 days a year in most years and 366 days on leap years...

Life ain't fair. As I sit here this morning ... staring at my computer screen ... my heart is aching because I have lost another friend. I didn't know Steve Kodad very long -- in fact, I really didn't get to know him well until the past few months. Steve and my friendship started on Saturdays and Sundays when I stopped by the newspaper office to check for new voice mail and e-mail messages...

Along with a couple of hundred other folks from the McCook area, Barbara and I had a delightful experience the other night, riding along and being treated like royalty as passengers on a Burlington Northern Santa Fe excursion train. Talk about a blast from the past. ...

I have an idea which I think has a lot of merit and should be pursued. The idea is this: I think McCook should capitalize on its kinship with the American Buffalo. To do this, I believe we need to convert the former city landfill -- between Walmart Super Center and Plains Equipment Group -- into a small buffalo preserve...

In this town of many nicknames, here's another one to consider: "Little Boston." McCook's hills - most prominently beginning with the upward slant of Norris Avenue - is one of the reasons "Little Boston" fits, but even more important - through the years - is McCook's reputation for running excellence, including the success of the track and field and cross country teams at McCook High School and McCook Junior College...

A near-death experience changed Rob Stamm's life. But, it didn't happen overnight. It took months ... and then years ... for Rob to realize he didn't want to live life as a victim. He wanted to take charge. He not only wanted to feel good again. He wanted to feel great...

When Walt Sehnert and I proposed Cookietown, USA! as McCook's nickname, we assumed the term originated in the mid-1970s during the height of the CB craze in America. At the time, terms like Chi-Town for Chicago, Tulsa-Town for Tulsa and Shaky-Town for Los Angeles were being tossed around by truckers, and it's when the titles of Cookietown for McCook and Flat Rock for North Platte became popular with Citizen's Band radio enthusiasts in this area...

Okay, I know this is premature, but my column-writing buddy, Walt Sehnert, and I have come up with an early favorite in the McCook nick-naming race. Ready or not, here it comes: Our favorite, after thinking about it long and hard and finally deciding to go public is: "Cookietown, USA!"...

Okay, I know this is premature, but my column-writing buddy, Walt Sehnert, and I have come up with an early favorite in the McCook nick-naming race. Ready or not, here it comes: Our favorite, after thinking about it long and hard and finally deciding to go public is: "Cookietown, USA!"...

Listen my friends, and you shall hear one of the best lists ever written about the common sense philosophy of those of us who live in the Heart of America. It's called simply, "Advice from an Old Farmer." I don't know who wrote it -- whether it was one person or many different folks -- but I do know it clearly expresses the advice I have heard through the years in my travels through Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa...

This is not an official deal, but, just for the fun of it, I would like to have a McCook nicknaming contest. The contest, which has no sponsors and is sanctioned by no one other than this writer, will begin Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, and conclude Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016...

This may come as a big surprise to you -- because I look like an ordinary guy -- but I think it's about time I let everyone know I'm worth more than 40 million. I topped the 40 million mark Nov. 27, 2015. This was a very happy occasion for me, because at half my age, I was worth just over 20 million...

I'm sad today. Very, very sad. My troubled mind is the result of a headline I came across in a recent issue of the Omaha World-Herald. The headline says, "Yellowstone plans to kill 1,000 bison." "What is that all about?," I wondered. I've always marveled at the size and power of the bison and was sorrowed -- as were many of my fellow Americans -- to learn of their murderous decimation during the settlement of the American West...

Same song, second verse. Could get better, but it's gonna get worse. As you're soon going to hear, this has been quite a quarter of a year for Barbara and me. Going all the way back to August 30, when Barbara was life-flighted to Kearney with a sepsis scare, we have been looking life and death squarely in the eyes...

Thanksgiving 2015 was the start of a new life for me. Actually, the episode began Wednesday night, November 25, 2015, while my wife, Barbara and I were watching "Pitch Perfect 2" with our granddaughter, Gracie, and Barbara's daughter, Debra, and our son-in-law, Tilman Adair...

We complain a lot, Lord. You hear it daily. "Too hot." "Too cold." "Too much." "Too soon." "Too little." "Too late." And, "Not enough." "Never enough." We don't mean it. Not really. It's just that it's out of style to say thanks. Embarrassing, you know. And kind of square...

Gene O. Morris Vintage Journalist At the Norris Institute meeting the other night, Bruce McDowell, Cloyd Clark, Warren Jones and I got to talking about strange names. What brought it up was that although he goes by Bruce, that's not the name his parents intended Bruce to go by when they named him...

Today, I'm going to take you back -- way back -- to McCook's first few years as a frisky Frontier City. The years were 1882, 1883 and 1884. Those times were exciting -- sometimes ever rough and rowdy -- because the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad had just given this brand-new city an unbelievably important gift...

Life's a lot simpler than many folks would have you believe. I hate to be the one to have to tell you this but a big part of the problem is "education." Now don't get me wrong, education is great for those who use it to prepare for their life's work...

By Gene O. Morris McCook Gazette McCOOK, Nebraska -- Ulkar Turabova, who grew up in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan, fell in love with America six years ago after moving to Texas to attend college. In the years since then, Ulkar's life has changed dramatically. She fell in love and married John Lanier, then came to McCook with him when he accepted employment in this area...

By Gene O. Morris McCook Gazette McCOOK, Nebraska -- During the midst of Saturday night's gala banquet of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, the Master of Ceremonies, Cal Siegfried, called attention to Ken and Marlene Foster's long-standing loyalty to community activities...

By Gene O. Morris McCook Gazette McCOOK, Nebraska -- When you see Shirley Gamble out-and-about these days, you will be impressed by her friendliness and good humor. But, however happy she might appear, her friends know that, deep inside, Shirley harbors lingering love and great sadness for her first husband, William Harvey Gamble...

By Gene O. Morris McCook Gazette McCOOK, Nebraska -- Here's a quiz, but it's no fair to answer if you are a close personal friend of Gretchen Sehnert, a 2011 graduate of McCook High School who is now a nursing student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Lincoln campus?...