Stories from Tuesday, May 15, 2007

OGALLALA -- McCook's boys finished the season in the Nebraska Class B-4 district meet in Ogallala Monday. The tournament was played at the West Wind Golf Club. The Bison ended the day in ninth place with a team score of 354. Sidney, Scottsbluff and Gering earned a trip to the state tournament...

The McCook Midget Baseball Association, Inc. will kick-off the 2007 summer baseball season with a free-will offering hamburger feed at 5 p.m. Friday at Felling Field. The evening will kickoff with an infield parade of teams and coaches, prize drawings for the players...

The family of Bill Conroy is requesting a card shower in honor of his 80th birthday on May 16. Cards will reach him at 107 N. Cherokee, McCook, NE 69001.

The family of Kathleen Collins is hosting a card shower in honor of her 88th birthday on May 17, Cards will reach her at 1500 E 11th Street No. 218, McCook, NE?69001.

Sept. 15, 1925 - May 13, 2007 BENKELMAN -- Lloyd Benjamin Foster, 81, formerly of Max, died Sunday (May 13, 2007) at Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home in Benkelman. He was born Sept. 15, 1925, to John Benjamin and Carrie Hansena (Hoff) Foster on the family farm near Max and graduated from Max High School in 1942...

Nov. 24, 1909 - May 12, 2007 CAMBRIDGE?-- Kenneth Robert Phillips, 97, died Saturday (May 12, 2007) at the Cambridge Manor.  He was born Nov. 24, 1909, near Freedom to Robert Fletcher and Lillian (Allen) Phillips. He graduated from the Nebraska School of Agriculture at Curtis in 1927...

May 8, 1918 - May 14, 2007 Verna Leisetta Brehm died Monday (May 14, 2007) at Hillcrest Nursing Home.  She was 89 years old.  She was born May 8, 1918, in Clay County. She attended school in Clay Center finishing the eighth grade.  She was baptized in the German Congregational Church in Clay Center...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Michael "Mike" D. Barron, 37, died Saturday (May 5, 2007) in Jacksonville, Fla. Mike was born in Canadaigua, N.Y., was raised in Punta Gorda, Fla., and was a 1987 graduate of Charlotte High School. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and was a firefighter at Mayport Naval Base and an entrepreneur. He was a loving dad to his children, a wonderful husband, son, brother and friend. He will be greatly missed by all who loved him...

Digging out potential is near to Judy Mousel's heart, as it took her 32 years to find her own. Her belief in her students has earned the fourth grade teacher at Cambridge Elementary and high school volleyball coach the 2007 McCook Area Educator of the Year award, presented Monday night at the Cambridge School Awards convocation...

McCook Public Schools will most likely hire an interim superintendent for a year or so, rather than rush into the process to replace Dr. Don Marchant, whose resignation the board of education made effective at a special meeting May 8. Board member Diane Lyons said this morning, following a regular board meeting Monday evening, that superintendents and superintendent candidates have already signed extensions and/or new contracts at this time of the school year...

McCook Public Schools' board of education voted during its regular meeting Monday evening to discontinue the schools' involvment with the controversial Reading First grant program. The move is effective at the end of this school year. The board asked that elementary principal Kathy Latta and her staff select/develop a reading curriculum for use during the upcoming school year and make a presentation at the board's July meeting...

The U.S. military's edict banning soldiers from using its network to post YouTube movies shows just how different a world we live in today. It also shows how a powerful tool like the Internet can help or hurt the military's effort to complete its mission...

A "mistake" is what must have occurred if your checkbook fails to balance. A "mistake" is what color-blind individuals realize when wearing one black and one navy-blue sock. A "mistake" is what occurs when you are wrongly identified to be the perpetrator in a crime --which brings us to the point -- criminal intent...

In recognition of May is Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, People's Family Health Services encourages parents to get involved to help continue the effort to reduce local rates of adolescent pregnancy. Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, and only about a third obtain a high school diploma. Teen pregnancies are associated with an increased rate of delinquent behaviors in the fathers, including alcohol and substance abuse, lower educational level, and reduced earning potential...

Dear Editor, This may tie in with your recent editorial about re-treeing Nebraska. We also need to take care of what we already have. We have so few trees that really thrive in our region, and ash is one that has been overplanted, only because they generally perform well. The drawback to ash is that they can be attacked by borers when they are young and, if uncontrolled (spray) the borers can be responsible for extensive secondary damage...

Are you excited about observing yet? Have you had a chance to go outside and just look at the sky? Remember, you don't have to go outside on purpose, if you are outside for any reason, look up. It doesn't even have to be after dark, just look up. Anyone have a chance to see the Moon during the daytime last week, I did, twice...