Stories from Thursday, July 14, 2005

Cambridge standout athlete Waid Vontz plays for Nebraska Red team KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Here are scoring summaries from first two games of Bison Nebraska White's pool play and summaries/wrapups from first game of pool play for Bison Nebraska Red. The Bison Nebraska Red squad features Cambridge High School senior-to-be Waid Vontz...

State Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney will meet with the state's top ranking official in an effort to win support for the northeast-to-southwest "Snowbird Trail" through Nebraska. In a meeting Wednesday with the McCook Chamber of Commerce, Sen. Johnson said he will be sit down with Gov. Dave Heineman to present his idea for a four-lane route leading from South Sioux City to McCook...

Special skills on the ground and in the air -- and lots of coincidence, luck and answered prayers -- prevented an emergency landing that could have resulted in disaster on a runway at the McCook Regional Airport Wednesday afternoon. "I made a lot of promises yesterday," said Red Willow Aviation owner Griff Malleck this morning, after the safe landing of a plane on which the landing gear failed as his mechanics tested it in the air. "I hope I can keep them all."...

"Ninety-eight more days." Jeremy started the countdown in March when I bought the tickets. About once a week, he would update me on the time remaining until the start of the Comstock Rock Festival. I was able to handle once a week. But then, as it got closer, in June, I got a daily report. 29 more days,. 28, 27 ... he'd inform me. Then 15, 14, 13...

**Dear Editor, As a resident of Kearney, I thank the Gazette for its support of the second I-80 interchange at Kearney. The exit will allow more people to view the archway, which embodies late Gov. Frank Morrison's visions of Nebraska's role in our nation's westward expansion...

**Dear Editor, The recent special edition of "Spotlight on Haigler" in the McCook Daily Gazette was excellent. The captions, articles and pictures really put Haigler on the map. Pat Fortkamp and Gene Morris were a delight. The Village of Haigler Board of Trustees and the residents of Haigler are indeed proud of our town. Thank you for shining the "spotlight" on our small Village of Haigler and sharing it with your readers...

McCook may not officially be a "micropolis," but it's close enough to offer all of the advantages, challenges and opportunities. Two years ago, the U.S. Census Bureau officially recognized certain places as "micropolitan" areas. To qualify, a locale must have at least one town of 10,000 to 49,999 people -- and it can have several of these -- and proportionally few of its residents commuting outside the area. ...