Stories from Tuesday, October 8, 2002

While the decision to sell the former McCook Army Air Base came early for the City Council, the question of how to sell it remains up in the air. The possibility of keeping the land was never raised. It was standing-room-only Monday night as the McCook City Council voted 5-0 to sell the property as soon as possible -- either through sealed bids or through auction...

Recent controversy over the ticketing of young people for loitering on private property has raised the ire of parents and youth around the city. The best way to address this problem is through a spirit of cooperation. The McCook Police Department and the young people of the city need to reach an understanding of what is and what is not acceptable...

Dear Editor: The front page picture in the Oct. 4 issue of the Gazette of the B-29 was absolutely beautiful. It could have been the inspiration for the song, "Blue skies smilin' at me, nothing but blue skies do I see." A big story could be written of the era the made the B-29 reality -- building it, maintaining it, training of the crews that serviced it, and the crews that were trained to fly it, the air bases where it landed, etc...

Dear Editor, How do you prepare for what will come to pass very soon? The world economy (including the U.S.) is headed into a huge sinkhole. Hundreds of millions of people will soon be out of work. The soon coming war with Iraq won't be a walk in the park like Desert Storm. Saddam is armed to the teeth with nuclear, biological and chemical weaponry and he has his operatives in every major city in the U.S. ready to wreak death and destruction. Friends, Armegeddon is very near...

The child abuse trial in Trenton last week was horrifying. And quite an eye-opener. An adorable little boy was beaten to within an inch of his life. We know small-town America isn't isolated. We're not immune to society's ills. But isn't there enough compassion left to care about what's going on in the house next door ... down the road... around the corner?...

The McCook City Council tabled a request by the Heritage Senior Center for an additional $75,000 in funding for its building project to be paid through increased revenues from the city sales tax. "I think we've got a little higher use for this money," said Councilman Dick Trail, referring to the Jan. 7 deadline to pay for the purchase of the McCook Army Air Base...

The McCook City Tree Board has announced that the 2002 Tree Rebate Program is in effect until Oct. 31. McCook residents can purchase up to three trees and receive a rebate. The trees must be purchased locally and must be chosen from an approved list of species...

Contrary to predictions that this year's drought would dim fall's colors, it appears trees will be showing off their vibrant colors as usual. University of Nebraska forester Jon Wilson said he initially thought trees would be duller this year and drop their leaves earlier than usual. However, in the last week, he's seen ash trees turning brilliant yellow and Virginia creeper vines changing into a bright red...

How long has it been since you played a really good game of Monopoly? Not a civilized match that ends in an hour or two, but a dog-eat-dog financial war that stretches on for days? Growing up in a house that received only two television channels (three if the sunspot activity was low), board games provided our rainy day entertainment. Some of those Monopoly games went on for days...

WAUNETA -- Virginia Joyce Einspahr, 70, died Saturday (Oct. 5, 2002) at the Chase County Community Hospital in Imperial. She was born June 29, 1932, on a farm north of Wauneta, to Jacob Oren and Alice (Gettys) Hopkins. The family moved to a farm on the east edge of Wauneta in 1937, where she attended school, graduating from Wauneta High School in 1950. ...

Lulu Delphine "Lou" Balius died Saturday (Oct. 5, 2002) at the Holton Manor Nursing Home in Holton, Kan. at the age of 86. She was born April 17, 1916, at Trenton, the daughter of the late Samuel Clayton and Eva Mae (Parrott) Cobb. Lou grew up at Stratton and came to McCook in 1932, where she graduated from McCook High School...