Stories from Thursday, February 8, 2007

MAXWELL -- The Maywood boys basketball team fell to Maxwell 64-40 Tuesday. "We had a lot of time to work on our press break and I felt it really helped us get the lead in the first quarter," said Maywood coach Jeff Koehler. "We played very well the first quarter, handled the ball, rebounded and played solid defense. Five minutes left in the second quarter Maxwell got really physical and had 4 offensive rebounds with put back and fouls...

Dec. 5, 1920-Feb. 5, 2007 ST GEORGE, Utah -- Doris Lucille (Schmitz) Shepherd, age 86, passed away Monday (Feb. 5, 2007) in St. George, Utah. She was born Dec. 5, 1920, in McCook to Leo Joseph and Alice Maude (Nash) Schmitz. She married Kenneth Lee Shepherd on Jan. 26, 1941, in Phillipsburg, Kan. They moved to Denver, Colo., in 1942. From 1954 to 1980 they made their home in Salt Lake City, Utah where they raised their three sons...

Aug. 21, 1955-Feb. 6, 2007 GRAND ISLAND -- Stanley D. Jurgensen 51, formerly of McCook, died Tuesday (Feb. 6, 2007), at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Aug. 21, 1955, to Dan and Catherine Shirley (Harsch) Jurgensen in McCook. He attended schools in McCook and Grand Island, graduating from Northwest High School in 1973...

One of Randy Matheny's best friends calls the young soldier killed in Baghdad Feb. 4, "a true American hero." Another of Randy's friends, and a fellow 2004 graduate of McCook Senior High, promises Matheny, "Someday we will be together again." Randy's older brother, whose footsteps Randy followed into the military, wrote recently on a personal web page that his hero is "any person who has worn the uniform of the American fighting man/woman."...

Utility companies must wait seven days after notification to disconnect service, but between Nov. 1- May 31, disconnection must be done after 30 days, Sen. Mark Christensen said today. A faulty connection made it hard to hear at times, but those attending the Chamber Legislature conference call this morning still shared their perspectives with the senator...

By LORRI?SUGHROUE City Editor Citing unnecessary ex-pense to the county and a distraction, Pete S. Burger has removed himself as special prosecutor in legal proceedings pending against former city councilman Jim Kenny. District Court Judge David Urbom on Wednesday approved Burger's application to withdraw and appointed Jeff Meyer of North Platte as special prosecutor...

The five-year-old movie, "Catch Me If You Can," starring Leonardo DiCaprio as uber-swindler Frank Abagnale Jr., and Tom Hanks as the FBI agent who eventually caught him, was an eye-opener for the honest among us. The book, if a confessed fraudster can be believed, recounts even more amazing stories of deception...

If our leaders are going to take us to war, we justly demand that they meet some unavoidable basic standards. Absolute perfection is way too much to ask, but there are indispensable basics. 1. We need from them honesty, straightforwardness with us, accountability to us...

I used to be a firm believer in Murphy's Law -- "If anything can go wrong it will," but two weeks ago this Friday, my belief turned more to the miracle of prayer and the God-given wisdom of the medical profession. We got the call just as we pulled up to the house from picking up our supper -- my step-daughter's husband had been involved in a car-train accident in Moorcroft, Wyo. ...

Brothers Rusty, Egan and Teryn and their cousin Benjamin are contributing to the athletics scene at four different colleges. Rusty Grafel is a 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior guard at Fort Hays State University. He transferred from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he played two seasons...