Stories from Friday, March 19, 2004

With her husband and two of her children at her bedside, former Nebraska First Lady Maxine Morrison passed away Thursday evening at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. Mrs. Morrison, 88, suffered with heart disease during the final years of her life. "Mother exemplified grit," said her oldest son, Frank B. Morrison Jr. "I never knew her to fail in a task if it was humanly possible to move the rock. I drew great inspiration from her commitment and determination."...

If area farmers are hoping for any drought relief this year, they better plan on the federal government using money from the farm bill. "Two years ago farmers got some money because a few of us hammered the White House," said U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne. "But this year the stance is you can have drought relief, but it's going to come out of the farm bill."...

MCC softball team 3-3 on Arizona trip The McCook Community College softball team completed a 3-3 trip to Arizona with another split of games Thursday. The Indians defeated Midland Lutheran, the No. 18 team in the NAIA preseason poll, 6-4. Jen Giles picked up the win. Jordon Hoyt hit a decisive two-run double...

After a year as Miss Rodeo America, Lori Bortner, is back at work and college.

Dumfounded. Astounded. Amazed. As a first-time Brownie mom, I was simply in awe at the number of boxes sold by individual members during that annual tradition -- Girl Scout Cookie time. Last month, I arrived at the Red Willow 4-H building toward the end of cookie pick-up, so I didn't see the full magnitude. Yet, there were still piles of boxes the size of small cars waiting to be picked up...

Change is in the air at the century-old high school.

SCOTTSBLUFF -- Chase County-Imperial assistant coach Dan Lenners will replace Longhorns' head coach George Purnell as an assistant for the West squad at the 27th West Nebraska All-Star Football Game. The game will be played at 7 p.m. MT (8 p.m. CT) on Saturday, June 5 at Scottsbluff's Bearcat Stadium...

CAMBRIDGE -- Brian and Teresa (O'Neil) Thomas of McCook announce the birth of their son, Cole Bryson, Feb. 14, 2004, at Cambridge Memorial Hospital in Cambridge. He weighed 6 pounds, 14 3/4 ounces and was 20 inches long. He has a sister, Holli, four years-old. Grandparents are Ray and Vivian Thomas of Lincoln and the late Marvin and Lois O'Neil...

The family of Clara (Wagner) Metzer is hosting a card shower in honor of her 106th birthday March 23. Her children are Marvin Metzer and Thelma Brenning of McCook. She has three granddaughters and two great-granddaughters. Cards of congratulations will reach her at El Dorado Manor, PO Box 97, Trenton, NE 69044...

Maxine Morrison was rich in the things that really mattered.

Buffalo Bill Cody worried about water issues on the High Plains. He wrote a letter to President Teddy Roosevelt on March 3, 1903 that was reported in the March 20 McCook Tribune. President Roosevelt hunted and was a frequent visitor in all parts of the western United States...

The term "eugenics" is derived from the Greek meaning well-born or good in birth. The idea revolves around the notion of Darwin's survival of the fittest. The plan of eugenics is to encourage those people with "positive" traits and characteristics to be fruitful and multiply while discouraging or, more darkly, making it impossible for those with less desirable traits and characteristics to reproduce through sterilization...

LINCOLN -- Legislative Bill 1065, the second item on Tuesday's agenda, missed the opportunity to be heard when deliberations on LB916, first on the list, consumed the day. This bill, introduced by Sen. Ed Schrock and prioritized by Sen. Carroll Burling, will amend the Livestock Waste Management Act to reflect the new regulations enacted by the federal government for a concentrated animal feeding operation -- CAFO. These federal CAFO regulations would be integrated into the current state program...

Friday afternoon's Community Lenten Service was an answer to prayer. It scarcely mattered that the prayer answered was spoken nearly 2,000 years ago in a remote corner of a garden on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The fulfillment of the prayer was realized as 152 people from Christian congregations representing Catholics, Protestants, Seventh-Day Adventist, etc., gathered at St. ...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded a $1,763,260 contract to build an 11,000 square-foot, single-story office building for for the Bureau of Reclamation in McCook, Bureau Commissioner John Keys announced on Friday. In addition to office space for employees of Reclamation's McCook Field Office, the building will house the control center that is used to operate 15 dams and reservoirs in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado...

WICHITA, Kan. -- DeWayne Vacura, 70, died Thursday (March 18, 2004) at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Kan. Services will be Monday, 2:30 p.m., at Pauls Funeral Home in Oberlin with Royce Leitner officiating. Additional information will be released as it becomes available...

Sept. 18, 1915-March 18, 2004 Maxine E. Morrison, 88, died Thursday (March 18, 2004) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. She was born Sept. 18, 1915, to John F. and Jessie (Martin) Hepp in Greeley. On June 28, 1935, she married Frank B. Morrison. The family resided in Stockville until they moved to McCook in 1942. Her husband served the governor of Nebraska from 1960-1967...