Stories from Friday, January 5, 2007

SEWARD -- McCook High School alum Krae Dutoit fired in nine 3-pointers on 10 attempts and scored 31 points to lead the Hastings College men's basketball team past Concordia University 94-73 Wednesday night in Seward. Dutoit also chipped in with 7 rebounds...

HAYES CENTER -- Hayes Center's girls basketball team rolled past North Platte-St. Patrick's 58-39 Thursday. "After not playing a game for three weeks the girls came out and played a great game," said Cardinals' coach Krystal Sauser. "Offensively they put it together and really worked well with each other. Communication was the key to their outstanding defensive play. I was really proud of the way the girls came out and played."...

The first semester was a tough one for the McCook Community College men's basketball team. The Indians completed 15 games and finished the semester with a 6-9 record, including a 5-5 home mark. "This was the strongest schedule that we have played in the last five years. I strongly believe that this is a the best 6-9 team in the nation," said MCC men's coach Ty Orton...

NORTH PLATTE -- Bobbi Davis, a first-year North Platte Community College student and a member of the NPCC softball team, was killed in a car accident Thursday night near her home in Payette, Idaho. No further details are known at this time, according to a short release of information to the college faculty and staff by Dr. Michael R. Chipps, President of Mid-Plains Community College...

GOTHENBURG -- The McCook High School junior varsity wrestling team was back on the mat for the first time since before the holiday break. Ten wrestlers competed with three individuals taking home the championship medal. "All of the competitors gained some good experience and wrestled hard in every match," said McCook coach Nick Umscheid...

LEXINGTON -- McCook's sophomore girls and boys basketball teams took on Lexington Thursday. The Bison girls won their game 37-23 and the boys won 58-50. "It took us one half to get back into the basketball playing mode after a long Christmas break," said Bison sophomore girls coach Lynne Kinne. "The girls played sparadic at times but once they settled down they won easily."...

The McCook High School freshmen boys basketball team posted a 45-38 win over Lexington Thursday afternoon at home. "This was a great win against a good Lexington team for our kids," coach Bill Beckenhauer said. "I thought we did some very good things defensively, an outstanding job of rebounding defensively and making adjustments in our zone to their offense...

The McCook freshman girls basketball A and B teams dropped a pair of games to Lexington on Thursday at home.  The A team lost 64-29 and the B team lost 21-8. The Lady Bison were led in scoring by Katie West with 11 points, and  Morgan Chitwood added 10...

The McCook Knights of Columbus free throw contest will be Sunday at 1 p.m. Boys and girls from ages 9-14 are eligible to compete. The event will take place at the the St. Pats gym in McCook. Registration is noon to 1 p.m. For more information contact Tony Spilinek at 308-345-4457...

Area basketball teams return to the floor tonight, for the first Friday night of the new year. Several teams are also ranked considering the cancellations of several tournaments due to the weather. One game to watch will be the Wauneta-Palisade and Hitchcock County boys game.The Broncos are ranked number one and are 7-0 in the Class D-1. The Falcons are also ranked coming in seventh in the D-1 Class and are 9-1. Both teams have been quite competitive this season...

Oct. 13, 1920 - Jan. 3, 2007 William Bill Jensen, 86, died Wednesday (Jan 3, 2007) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. He was born Oct. 13, 1920, at Gem, Kan., to Jens and Mette (Axelsen) Jensen. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II from January 1942 to December 1945. He was a truck driver for many years and settled in McCook after 1976...

Foot imprints left in the snow, along with accurate physical descriptions from the public, helped police to identify two juveniles who have been apprehended in a string of car thefts and the Dec. 21 burglary of a McCook church. Police officers followed the footsteps visible in the one-inch snowfall that fell after the ice storm, to connect the 15-year old male juveniles to the burglary at the McCook Christian Church, as well as to additional car thefts that occurred a week prior, said McCook Police Chief Ike Brown. ...

The parts department at Klein's Motor and Electric in McCook sits cold and wet after the roof fell in under the weight of 12-14 inches of snow that fell last Friday and Saturday. Owner Don Klein said Wednesday he plans to move parts shelves into repair bays in the shop, and continue business as usual. ...

McCook Community College is one of those things we always seem to take for granted. Unless something unusual happens -- such as the arbitrary, unilateral demotion of the facility to the "McCook Campus of Mid Plains Community College a few years ago -- most of us don't give the college a second thought...

Perhaps there is another reason that the national media does not delve more deeply into the other crimes of Saddam Hussein. ["We won't wring our hands for Saddam Hussein" (http:// www.mccookgazette.com/story/1183836.html)] The U.S. supported and condoned Saddam Hussein's actions. ...

I'd like to share one of the most heartless, greedy stories, that you might of ever heard. Friday night, at about 7 or 8 in the evening, my husband, who is trying to make it home to us, (we live about five miles southwest of McCook) goes off the road, and almost completely on his side in the pick-up that he was driving, (during the winter storm) so there he and his brother were, stranded out in the country, in a snow storm, at night, with no coats or gloves, with the pick-up in the ditch...

Middle Republican Natural Resources District The four Natural Re-sources Districts that cover the Republican River Basin have been the focus of much of Nebraska's water issues for several years. In fact, these four NRDs have been actively engaged in proactive water management for more than 30 years...

Ten items or less: Of course, that is easy for me to say since I have electricity, since I have a four-wheel drive vehicle to get through the snow, since I have a furry, fluffy yak which looks cool standing in a three-foot snow drift and I can feed him without wading through a 15-foot snow drift...

Nov. 29, 1925 - Jan. 4, 2007 BENKELMAN -- Dale V. Lutz, 81, died Thursday (Jan. 4, 2007) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He was born Nov. 29, 1925, to Martin and Ella (Penn) Lutz in Dundy County. He grew up and attended rural schools in the area...