Stories from Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Work on the second of three projects to reconstruct "B" Street through McCook is about to get under way, according to the Nebraska Department of Roads. The project will begin where the first ended, between West Fourth and West Third, and will continue to just east of East Seventh Street...

Dear Editor, The Communists are all around us! They might have put a bomb on the Columbia. They don't believe in God, ask President Bush. He will tell you. Only democracy and capitalism will save the Free World. The evil powers must be destroyed, because they might have nuklur bombs, or the material to make one, or maybe rockets that go too far...

Dear Editor, Let's see now, I want to respond to Sgt. David C. McConnell's response to my response to Kirt Matson's response to Mike Hendricks' column. First of all, I am really impressed with your expertise in biological and chemical warfare, and terrorism, Sgt. McConnell, and especially your humility...

Dear Editor, As I look at Mike at Night's column (Sometimes they lie to us 25 Feb, 2003); I think that Mr Hendricks has forgotten a lot of common courtesies, that are due people in office. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the right to free speech. I was taught that if you are in a position of power such as TEACHING, or a MEMBER OF THE PRESS; you need to maintain a certain amount of decorum towards those you report on or teach about...

Dear Editor, I am writing in to remind all those critics of our service members that until they serve in the armed forces, it is best to keep their criticism to themselves. You have the right to voice your opinion about policies during this time of crisis, but keep to policies...

To bake a cake, first you have to break some eggs. Drive down B Street, and you'll soon begin to see the ingredients of a creation that will take until summer 2004 to come out of the oven. Preliminary work is getting under way this week for the second phase of the reconstruction of B Street, also known as U.S. Highway 6-34 through McCook...

Six paintings from Indianola artist, Mitty Quigley, are on display at Lincoln Federal Savings Bank in McCook. She learned as a small child about art from her father, who sculpted toys from wood with a pocket knife. He would then paint the toys using colored crayons. Quigley has said that these memories have lingered in her mind and has helped fuel her desire to be an artist...

ATWOOD -- Grand County, Colo., sheriff's officers arrested a former Atwood police officer Feb. 19 at the man's home in Grand Lake, Colo. Steven Browning is charged with seven felonies: - One count of perjury, for allegedly lying under oath to obtain a search warrant;...

Tryouts for the McCook Community College production of "Murder at the Vicarage," an Agatha Christie mystery, will be Sunday from 4-5:30 p.m.; Monday from 5 to 6; and Tuesday from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the Tipton Mini Theatre on campus. There are parts for seven men and six women. There are no parts for children. No preparation is needed to try out...

A new support network to assist the families of soldiers in the U.S. Armed Forces is being organized in McCook for residents of Southwest Nebraska. The Family Readiness Group was formed to create a network and outreach for the families of the men and women deployed in response to a possible war with Iraq...

Red Willow County commissioners OK'd a new sprayed-on foam roof for the sheriff's office building Tuesday and started the search for a new pickup for the county's noxious weed department. Commissioners accepted a $14,015.80 bid from Houlden Contracting of Cambridge to replace the rubber-and-rock roof on the sheriff's office building. Houlden's was the only bid commissioners received after they advertised for a sprayed-on polyurethane foam roofing system...

Red Willow County Coroner Paul Wood said this morning a pathologist suspects no foul play in the death Feb. 19 of a McCook man in a makeshift hut across the Republican River south of Barnett Park. The body of Robert M. Scott, 46, was discovered after firefighters extinguished a fire in a corrugated tin and lumber shack in an encampment occupied by Gary Zwickle. Zwickle was found unharmed in the trees south of the camp...

Margaret L. Lepper, 87, died Saturday (Feb. 22, 2003) at her home in McCook. She was born Oct. 23, 1915, at Nelson, to Wilbur L. and Bertha A. (Enearl) Portwood. She grew up at Nelson where she graduated from Nelson High School in 1933. She attended Hastings College. In 1934, she began working for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration while taking her Civil Service Exam and working for the Farm Security Administration...

OBERLIN -- Loretta "Rita" Nelson, 87, died Monday (Feb. 24, 2003) at the Hays Medical Center in Hays, Kan. She was born Sept. 27, 1915, in Sheridan County, to Eliphalet J. and Cinda Ellen (Reed) Foster. She grew up in Sheridan and Decatur Counties. She attended Green Valley School, O'Toole School and Decatur Community High School...

OBERLIN -- Leona C. Glenn, 94, died Saturday (Feb. 22, 2003) at Oberlin. She was born April 21, 1908, in Courtland, to Andrew and Elise (Steinkuhler) Spanjer. She and her family moved to Logan County, Kan., where she attended Dailey Grade and High Schools, having graduated in 1925. After graduation she passed a test and became a teacher at a one room country school southeast of Haxtun, Colo...

"It wasn't supposed to be this way," mourns a woman, a mother, a heart of hope destroyed, as she watches her son being led away in chains to his life of imprisonment. What joy flooded her heart when she felt the first quickening of the life within her. The agony of birth pains were immediately erased by tears of joy when she first saw his wizened face and counted 10 fingers and 10 toes...

ATWOOD -- Mamie Marie (Capps) Wohlrab, 90, formerly of Belleville, Ill., died Tuesday (Feb. 25, 2003) at the Rawlins County Health Center in Atwood. She was born April 25, 1912, in Benton, Mo., to Raymond S. and Flora (Boyd) Capps. She attended St. Theresa's Academy in East St. Louis, Ill...