Stories from Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Coach receives Milestone, Farrand Awards; George Briggs also recognized LINCOLN -- Last Thursday, McCook High School's Jeff Mollring was awarded the Level 4 Milestone Award in Boys Track at the Nebraska Coaches Association's annual banquet. The awards were presented in the Great Hall at the Train Station in the Haymarket in Lincoln...

LINCOLN -- Christina Houghtelling needs a hug. In confirming Monday that she will miss the entire 2006 volleyball season, last year's national player of the year said she only recently hit rock bottom in her emotional recovery from surgery to repair her injured right shoulder last month...

The McCook City Council plans a special meeting Monday to deal with changing personnel. The council is expected to accept the resignation of Bill Longnecker, who resigned for personal and business reasons. Then, the council will consider a resolution to put the vacancy on the general election ballot, Nov. 7...

Six-year-old Bralynn Henry twirls around on the merry-go-round in the park in Haigler during the annual Haigler bluegrass festival Sunday. Bralynn and her grandparents, Carolyn and Gary Bird of Colby, were among the hundreds of spectators to listen to the Bluegrass Sheiks, Sons & Brothers, the Woodys and the McLemore Family...

LINCOLN -- Many rural Nebraskans seem ambivalent about newcomers to their communities, perhaps missing opportunities to embrace new blood that could enrich their towns, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln rural sociologist says. That's one of Randy Cantrell's conclusions as he looks at findings in the 11th annual Nebraska Rural Poll, which included questions about rural Nebraskans' awareness and perceptions of newcomers...

We're paying again for the excesses and short-sightedness of the past. Drill a well, throttle up the pump engine, pour on the nitrogen fertilizer and produce a bumper crop. It worked for a long time, but now we're paying the piper. That over-fertilization polluted our groundwater, forcing thousands of towns to find new sources of clean water...

This probably isn't a surprise to anyone out there, but this is the only Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2006, that has ever been or ever will be. True fact. That seems like something to be celebrated, doesn't it? Happy Aug. 9, 2006 everyone! Monday, the only Aug. ...