Stories from Friday, September 6, 2002

WASHINGTON -- McCook will receive a $122,840 grant to hire an officer to work in the city's schools, Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson announced today. The funding was awarded as part of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services -- COPS -- in schools program...

Dear Editor, What exactly are the qualifications that will make one qualified to decide the best solution to the water problem? We have 22 people who have volunteered hundreds of collective hours gathering data and information from engineers, citizens, farmers and any number of other sources...

Another final day of the week. Another approaching weekend. The first Friday night of high school football. Volleyball, softball, golf and cross-country teams were in action Thursday night, the McCook Community College volleyball and golf teams are in action today, tennis matches are set today and most football teams will take to the gridiron tonight...

They created quite a stir on the subway line in Toronto in July, with songs and smiles abounding. Three hundred thousand strong, people between the ages of 16-35 descended on Toronto from around the world to celebrate their faith July 21-29 during World Youth Day, and Southwest Nebraska had its own contingent in the number...

The ramps remain closed at Harry Strunk Lake. While lakes are beginning to recharg in the area, they will need a lot more precipitation to return to their former glory.

LINCOLN -- Even amid a drought of historical proportions, this fall can be a time of new life and renewed vigor for home landscapes. Homeowners who have spent the summer desperately trying to keep water-hogging turf and plants alive might do well to look for inspiration from the drought of 2002 to develop a more sustainable landscape beginning this fall, said Bob Henrickson, assistant director of horticulture programs for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum...

KEARNEY -- Coordinators of a relief project for drought-stricken Nebraska farmers and ranchers are seeking hay and grain and donations for transportation. "Operation Hay and Grain Lift 2002" will distribute hay and grain throughout central and western Nebraska to help those who have lost their feed crops and pastures due to drought conditions, according to Kyla Martin, special projects coordinator for Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska, Kearney...

Firefighters rise above a brick storage building at 212 East A in McCook to put out a blaze late Thursday evening. A McCook police officer, an Frenchman Valley Co-Op employee and a passer-by reported smoke in the neighborhood. Fire Chief Marc Harpham said this morning firefighters extinguished the fire in less than 20 minutes, and vented heat and smoke though holes they cut in the concrete roof. ...

McCook will have an unofficial personal representative at memorial services scheduled at Ground Zero on Sept. 11. Jaime Halsey, a 1999 graduate of McCook High School, and now a student at Nebraska Christian College in Norfolk, is leaving Monday morning on a New York mission trip with Global Missions Fellowship...

CAMBRIDGE -- Darlene Doris Leis, 75, died Thursday (Sept. 5, 2002) at Cambridge Manor in Cambridge. She was born June 27, 1927, to John and Esther (Schafer) Leis in Scottsbluff. When she was young, the family moved to McCook. She graduated from McCook High School in 1946. She attended McCook College and took business courses. Her family moved to Longmont, Colo., where she was the owner of Darlene's Togs and Toys, a childrens store, for over 20 years...

OBERLIN -- Merle D. Pavlicek, 72, died Thursday (Sept. 5, 2002) at the Decatur County Good Samaritan Center in Oberlin. He was born Aug. 15, 1930, to Joseph and Flossie (Cousins) Pavlicek in rural Rexford, Kan. He attended schools in Menlo, Kan., Gem, Kan. and Oberlin...

Wayne Catt, 95, died Thursday (September 5, 2002) at Community Hospital in McCook. He was born March 22, 1907, in Wilsonville to Raymond and Mary Belle (Klepper) Catt. He attended school in Wilsonville. On March 11, 1944, he married Rosemary DeVoe in Norton, Kan. He farmed for a time and was later employed by the Beaver Valley Schools for fifteen years as a school bus driver and custodian until his retirement...

Vesta Fern Weiss, 83, of Kearney, formerly of McCook died Wednesday (September 4, 2002) at St. Luke's Good Samaritan Village in Kearney. She was born June 9, 1919, to Charles and Pearl (McCoy) Harshfield. She grew up and attended school in Arapahoe...

The National Football League season started Thursday night with the San Francisco 49ers taking on the New York Giants at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The 49ers are a legitimate contender to keep the St. Louis Rams from winning another NFC Championship and thus earning a third Super Bowl berth in the last four years...

I don't know why it happened or how it happened, but I remember exactly when it happened: I started making my bed everyday. It was right after I had my first child and I was home all day long. Every day, I had to look at an unkempt bed, the covers tossed to the floor and the sheets scattered across the top...

CAMBRIDGE -- Ralph Helt, Jr., 78, died today (Sept. 6, 2002) at Cambridge Manor in Cambridge. He was born June 6, 1924, to Ralph Sr. and Fern (Larson) Helt in Lebanon. He grew up in Lebanon where he attended Lebanon High School. On July 3, 1943, he entered the U. S. Navy and he served in World War II. He received his general education diploma and then re-entered the Navy and served in the Korean Conflict...