Stories from Monday, April 3, 2006

LINCOLN -- Brenda Bortner and Brad Whitten were married July 23, 2005, at Highland Community Church in Lincoln with the Rev. Mike Carter officiating. Parents of the couple are Bill and Carol Bortner and Stan and Jeannine Whitten, all of McCook. Grandparents are Gene and Geraldine Bortner. Great-grandmothers are Helen Schlegel and Dorothy Bortner, all of McCook...

Camp Comeca in Cozad will be the setting for the June 3 wedding of Megan Lynn Howe of Wood River and Troy Alan Paben of Kearney. Parents of the bride-to--be are Bruce and Cindy Howe of Wood River and her grandparents are Eugene and Beverly Witt of Danbury and the late Norman Howe and the late Shirley Hyke. Parents of the prospective bridegroom are Dennis and Sandra Paben of Kearney and his grandparents are Ethel of Almeria and the late Kenneth and Arnon and Coreen Paben of Ansley...

Jennifer Arterburn and Mark Kaminski, both of Wahoo, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Tom and Cindi Arterburn and Tom and Debbie Kaminski, all of McCook. The bride-to-be received a bachelor's degree in family science and is now pursuing her masters degree at Bellevue University. ...

Meghan Jo Spillman and Whitney Tyler Brown, both of McCook announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the bride-to-be are Bill and Ilene Spillman, parents of the prospective bridegroom are Dale and Janice Brown all of Hoxie, Kan.The bride-elect graduated from Hoxie High School in 2000 and Fort Hays State University in 2004 with a bachelors degree in medical diagnostic imaging. ...

Kyle and Jen Miller of Hickman announce the birth of their daughter Kayleigh Jean on Feb. 24, 2006 in Lincoln. She weighed seven pounds and was 19 3/4 inches long. She has an older sister, three-year-old Madelyn Jo, Her grandparents are Kelvin and Leigh Ann Miller of McCook, Kim Miller of North Platte, and Bob and Peg Weisenberg of Hooper. Great-grandparents are Larry and Nadena McCarty of McCook, Andy and Coralee Knepp of Curtis and Roma Weisenberg of Hooper, NE...

Robb and Mary Jo Overton of McCook announce the birth of their son, Gage Alan Overton on March 4, 2006 at Community Hospital of McCook. He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. He has a three-year-old sister, Lanie. His grandparents are Ed and Marcia Overton of McCook, and Charlene Spinger of Lebanon and the late Lyle Springer. His great-grandmother is Ruth Madron of McCook...

Josie and Jaci Schnakenberg announce the birth of their baby brother, Jonas James, on March 24, 2006 at BryanLGH in Lincoln, NE. He weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce and was 21 inches long. His parents are Jamie and Kim (Lortz) Schnakenberg of Lincoln. Grandparents are Merlen and Rose Schnakenberg of Deshler and Dale and Pat Lortz of McCook...

Mark and Patty Knaub of Omaha announce the engagement of their son Austin Michael Knaub to Erika Jocelyn Selk, daughter of Carla Woodgate of Surprise, Ariz., and Larry and Deborah Selk of Las Vegas. Erika is a 2005 graduate of the University of Colorado in Boulder with a degree in music education. Austin is a student at DeVry University in Westminster, Colo. He is the grandson of Densel and Barbara O'Dea of McCook. The couple is planning a June wedding at the Miramonte Lodge in Broomfield...

The family of Tom and Glenva Burrell, of 71692 Avenue 340, Max, NE 69037, wish to announce the couple's 50th wedding anniversary on April 8, 2006. Children of the couple are Karmin, Monte, Todd, Clay, Clint and their families.

Kevin and Jackie Brown of Oberlin will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary on April 11th. Friends and family are invited to a reception in honor of their anniversary from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 8th at the United Methodist Church in Oberlin. Cards of congratulations will reach them at 206 N. Cass, Oberlin, KS 67749...

Oren E. Carter will celebrate his 80th birthday Friday. Cards of congratulations will reach him at 1503 East Fifth, McCook, NE 69001.

The family of Margaret Verraneault of McCook is hosting a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday, April 9. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 611 West E Street, McCook, NE 69001

McCook's track team won the LeRoy Hoehner Invitational in McCook Saturday. The Bison girls posted a team score of 127 and the boys 189, for the win. Sarah Craw and Allison Smith took back first place medals for the Bison. Craw won the pole vault and Smith placed first in the shot put...

Jen Chmiel 1st in No. 2 singles NORTH PLATTE -- The McCook High School girls tennis team opened the season Saturday with a third-place performance at the North Platte Invitational. Kearney won the tournament with 31 points, followed by Alliance with 21, McCook 18, North Platte 16, Lexington 15, Scottsbluff 13 and Hastings 12...

Jan. 5, 1940 - March 31, 2006 Eileen Ruth Randel, 66 of Indianola, died Friday, March 31, 2006 in Lincoln County, south of North Platte, as a result of a car accident. She was born January 5, 1940 in Culbertson to John W. and Martha (Wagner) Miller. She grew up in Culbertson where she graduated from high school in 1957...

October 25, 1930 - April 1, 2006 Patricia M. (Reiners) Koetter, 75, of McCook died Saturday, April 1, 2006 at Community Hospital in McCook. She was born on Oct. 25, 1930, in McCook to Fred and Mary (Tines) Reiners. She attended school at Red Willow Schools. She studied nursing at Kansas City, Kan. and worked for many years as an R.N. at St. Catherine's Hospital in McCook and later at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook...

April 17, 1958 - April 1, 2006 Jeff Davis Lasater Jr., 47, of McCook died at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Saturday (April 1, 2006). He was born in April 17, 1958, in San Angelo, Texas to Jeff Davis and Dorothy LaVerne (Sprinkle) Lasater, Sr. He graduated from McCook High School in 1978. He worked at the Dayco Rubber Hose Plant for 17 years...

For many years Don Thompson was looked upon as one of the most prominent and respected citizens in McCook, and in Nebraska. He represented the McCook district in the Neb-raska Unicameral, as did his father before him. Don served for five consecutive terms, from 1955 through 1965, serving as the Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature in 1961. ...

Have you voted yet? It's not a silly question. Starting today, registered voters can obtain and cast early voting ballots for the May 9 election. That's more than a month early. And it's not just military personnel, people in hospitals or under other extenuating circumstances who are voting early these days...

Aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws in Southwest Nebraska are beaming with pride after hearing about the good fortune of Dirk Koetter, the head football coach at Arizona State University. After leading the Sun Devils to two straight winning seasons, Dirk has been rewarded with a guaranteed annual salary of $950,000, plus incentives which could boost his total compensation to more than $1.5 million per year...

The final countdown of the 2006 Legislative Session is upon us. With only seven days left to resolve issues and advance legislation, members of the legislature continue to aggravate, accuse, and argue with one another on the legislative floor. It has been an extremely long, short session, however; senators are managing to get legislation adopted and advanced through the process. Surprisingly, the Legislature as a whole has buckled down these past days to get the job done...

From suturing in "surgery" to intubating a "patient," nearly 65 area high school students explored the possibility of health careers at the first-ever High School Career Discovery Day on Thursday at Community Hospital in McCook. Students had the opportunity to learn first hand by meeting and learning from practicing health care pro-viders and using actual medical equipment...

A McCook woman re-mains hospitalized after being assaulted with a knife at a local restaurant. According to witnesses, Yoshi Liebrandt was attacked at about 9:11 p.m. Saturday at Fuller's Restaurant, where she works. Sgt. Kevin Darling of the McCook Police Department arrived to find Liebrandt with profuse bleeding from a severe laceration to her throat. She was transported to Community Hospital of McCook where she remains hospitalized. No information was available on her condition...