Stories from Wednesday, December 22, 2004

With its approval from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, Three Star Dairy northeast of McCook plans to expand from 2,000 to 2,750 head of dairy cows. Red Willow County commissioners reviewed paperwork from the DEQ during their regular meeting Monday morning. They'll pass the approval on to county zoning administrator Darcy Eckhardt for her files...

In most years, the flow of news during the holiday season slows to a trickle. But that is not true this year due to a series of developments on the local and regional scene. In the first days of the week leading up to Christmas, citizens in the Golden Plains learned that: (1) Deep well injection is the preferred way to dispose of waste from McCook's proposed water treatment plant; (2) A jail study for Red Willow County has been ordered at a cost of close to $30,000; and (3) Students from McCook and most area schools were rated "exemplary" or "very good" for mathematics and reading under the federal No Child Left Behind law.. ...

Christmas is finally here. I've been waiting impatiently for it this year. We trimmed the porch in colorful lights and "planted" a (nearly) perfect tree in the middle of the bay window. (According to Ray Boltz's song -- "The perfect tree grew very long ago...

Sept. 7, 1912-Dec. 21, 2004 Pauline A. Coghill, 92, died Tuesday (Dec. 21, 2004) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. She was born Sept. 7, 1912, to Clark A. and Clara (Beckman) Beaty in Ossian, Ind. She attended schools in Nebraska, Indiana, Kansas and Colorado and taught elementary school for four years in Kansas. She was postmaster in Cedar Bluffs, Kan., for two years...

Nov. 14, 1902-Dec. 21, 2004 Dorothy Ada Kuhn, 102, died Tuesday (Dec. 21, 2004) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. She was born Nov. 14, 1902, to Nelson and Jenny (Palmquist) Vossler in Lincoln. She was preceded in death by three sons, Alan Tuttle, Kenneth Tuttle and Leigh Tuttle; one daughter, Vivian Yost; one brother, Edward Vossler; three sisters, Mary Vossler, Edith Vossler and Martha Tuttle...

April 2, 1960-Dec. 20, 2004 COZAD -- Rod Palmer, 44, formerly of Cozad, died Monday (Dec. 20, 2004) in Holdrege. He was born April 2, 1960, to Larry and Opal Hoover Palmer. He attended school in Wilsonville and did farm working the Wilsonville area. He later did over the road truck driving. He had made his home in Cozad from 1987 until 1997, when he moved to Holdrege...

June 23, 1919-Nov. 27, 2004 SWEET HOME, Ore. -- Charles A. "Charlie" Hutto, 85, of Sweet Home, Ore., died Nov. 27, 2004, at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital. He was born June 23, 1919, in Fromberg, Mont., to Charles L. and Dora E. (Colyer) Hutto...

The family of Louise Pollmann is hosting an open house Sunday, Jan. 2, 2-4 p.m., at the Hitchcock County Community Building in Culbertson, in honor of her 80th birthday. Cards of congratulation will reach her at 305 Kleven Ave., Culbertson, NE 69024...

Soft candlelight will illuminate a scene replayed for 2,000 years as Christians in McCook and the surrounding area join in the world-wide celebration of Christmas, retelling, through the Gospel of St. Luke, the birth of a savior king. "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people...

The family of Dwaine and Kay Wilson of Lincoln, formerly McCook and Hayes County, is hosting a card shower in honor of the couple's 50th anniversary Dec. 29. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 5230 Gladstone, Lincoln, NE 68504.

Earning "very good" and "exemplary" ratings, McCook Public Schools are complying with standards outlined in federal "No Child Left Behind" laws. McCook scores, and those of every other school district in the nation, were released Tuesday. Under the federal accountability laws, schools are required to show that their students are meeting reading and math standards and that the schools meet guidelines for testing and for graduation...

Red Willow County Commissioners read a letter from the Stanton County clerk indicating that that county's commissioners will support an arsenic research project proposed by a retired McCook physician, John L. Batty, M.D. Commission Chairman Earl McNutt commented, "Well, that's another county that realizes the regulations are more stringent than they need to be."...

Spectacular sunsets can overshadow even colorful Christmas lights in Southwest Nebraska as the holiday weekend approaches.