Stories from Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Nov. 18, 1909-Aug. 22, 2004 YUMA, Colo. -- Edmond M. Unger, 94, died Sunday (Aug. 22, 2004) at the Yuma Life Care Center in Yuma, Colo. He was born Nov. 18, 1909, to John and Stella (Lang) Unger. On April 19, 1934, he married Bertha Tongish at St. Mary's Church in Herndon. The couple lived on a farm north of Herndon until 1967, when they moved to McCook, where he worked for Southwest Bell until 1990...

McCook had the infrastructure in place and the right attitude, but a little luck didn't hurt, either. It all began to pay off Monday with the official opening of a new high-tech, clean industry for Southwest Nebraska, developing im-portant software for the U.S. military...

Pay attention, America. Look at what 21st Century Systems Inc. is doing in McCook, Nebraska. It could -- and should -- be a model for how technological business is done across this nation in years to come. The lesson -- which is just starting to emerge -- is that software development, and other computer-driven business applications, can happen anywhere, even in a town of 8,000 population in the middle of America...

**Dear Editor, I'm wondering what's the big deal about Bible study in school? Anyone who wants their kids taught in that type of surrounding can take them to a church school, or even go so far as to home school. Why pester people with something they don't choose to believe in?...

Red Willow County commissioners and Sheriff Gene Mahon discussed Indianola's need for a deputy and, during commissioners' regular meeting Monday morning, encouraged Indianola's, and even Bartley's, city council to contact commissioners about contracting with the sheriff's office for ordinance enforcement...

Red Willow County commissioners purchased a new Caterpillar road grader during their meeting Monday, justifying its higher cost with the brand name's reputation for better trade-in values. The commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of the new Caterpillar 140H for $178,100 from Nebraska Machinery of North Platte. The price was reduced by $55,000, to $123,100, with the trade-in of a 1991 Caterpillar 140G grader...

CULBERTSON -- Shawna Bauer says she has bills to pay, and that her 16-year-old daughter definitely has plans for part of the $100,000 that Shawna won last week in Nebraska's Powerball. Shawna, of Culbertson, said this morning she did not know she had won the Wednesday drawing until she stopped by the K Store in Culbertson Friday morning and read a story in the Gazette that no one had claimed their winnings yet...