Stories from Tuesday, March 18, 2003

TRENTON -- Hitchcock County commissioners Monday afternoon OK'd a $608,000 grant application for funds to build an ethanol plant in Hitchcock County. Pending the completion of an environmental assessment and final approval from Gov. Mike Johanns, construction of the new plant could start by the middle of April, according to Stew Jobes of Grand Island, a business finance and manufacturing consultant with the Nebraska Department of Economic Development...

It's not true that (Republican Valley and Twin Valley) will have equal say. That's not true already, because there's only one option on the ballot, and that's what Bartley wants the new district to be. There's no option for the way Republican Valley chooses to have the new district formed...

I would like to encourage everyone, especially churches and their congregations to turn to God and ask Him for rain all over the Western United States and especially Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas. We should also be in continual prayer for our president and all of our military around the world...

Dear Editor, What does it take to be an expert? When Mr. Ehlers was introduced as an expert, his response was that the only thing that qualified him as an expert was the fact that he was more than 100 miles from home.  Would the committee that has worked for the two school districts trying to come up with a sound and reasonable recommendation be considered experts if they lived over 100 miles from here and would have been paid for their efforts?...

Dear Editor, For some people there is never a good time to merge or build, but it seems now to be the logical time. Red Willow and Indianola did it over 30 years ago to survive and it worked out great. Twin Valley used to be two smaller districts, Bartley and Beaver Valley, and before that there was Lebanon, Danbury, Wilsonville, and Marion. It is the only thing to do, GET BIGGER with each other, or dissolve, break up, and become part of the districts on each end!...

Dear Editor, March 25th is coming up very soon. The committees have worked hard and looked at many possible solutions to our problems with the schools. And the majority of the committee members thought that this merger with building, with interest rates being the lowest they have been for many years, seems to be the best plan of action...

EDITOR'S NOTE -- The following is reprinted with permission from The Reader, an alternative weekly newspaper in Omaha. Former Gov. Morrison maintains a home in McCook. by Andrew Sigler The Reader Frank Morrison knows the law, and the United States is breaking it. ...

Preparations for the Republican Valley and Twin Valley schools' bond elections are nearing completion, according to Red Willow County Clerk Pauletta Gerver. Voter registration deadlines are past, poll workers have been appointed and ballots have been issued to a total of 116 absentee voters in Red Willow, Frontier and Furnas counties...

One McCook resident questioned the city's figures, while a Red Willow County Commissioner said he took exception to the "blame game" being played by the city in its attempt to get voter support for a new sales tax. Commissioner Chairman Earl McNutt told the council he did not appreciate the implications the county was responsible for the increase in property taxes...

Rare rain clouds drift over Hayes Center on Monday, prior to rain falling overnight and this morning. Rainfall is expected to continue tonight, possibly mixing with light snow Wednesday evening. Unofficial rainfall amounts ranged up to 11/2 inches throughout Southwest Nebraska by this morning...

The Moment of Truth has arrived. In his speech to the American people Monday night, President George W. Bush summed up the compelling reasons for attacking Iraq. "In this century, when evil men plot chemical, biological and nuclear terror, a policy of appeasement could bring destruction of a kind never before seen on this earth," the president said...