Stories from Friday, December 28, 2007

OMAHA -- Jean Robinson Kappert, 72, died Friday (Dec. 21, 2007). She spent more than 25 years teaching in Nebraska. She also taught in Germany for 10 years and in Namibia while serving in the Peace Corps. She ran a Bed and Breakfast and owned The Book End while she lived in McCook...

The McCook High School boys and girls basketball teams played hard but came up short in the first round of the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference tournament. McCook is the host for the eight-team tournament, which started Thursday, continues tonight and concludes Saturday...

ARAPAHOE -- The Arapahoe Holiday Basketball Tourney tipped off Thursday. The host Warriors played Pleasanton in Games 3 and 4, while Red Cloud and Sumner-Eddyville-Miller battled it out in Games 1 and 2. Arapahoe fell to Pleasanton in both the boys and girls games. Red Cloud also won both divisions against SEM...

With control, comes responsibility. And, if one has responsibility, one is entitled to as much control as possible. It's a principle that applies all the way from the first days of preschool to the highest halls of government. It's not surprising, then, that a majority of state senators don't want more control over water, or are unsure about having more control...

By STEVE SMITH WaterClaim Some believe that groundwater pumping has caused there to be much less water in the stream now than there was decades ago ("Response to Smith," http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1299676.html). We have proven that conservation is the primary reason that there is less water in the stream. ...

As we drove south on Norris Avenue by the old 1907 Museum (once the McCook Carnegie Library), my son, Kenneth Burton remarked, "That building was 100 years old in 2007. You should write this up in the local newspaper." His remark prompted me on Christmas Day to recall that my grandfather, Randolph Arthur Winters, contracted and built this old ornate landmark 100 years ago...

May 17, 1923-Dec. 25, 2007 JENNINGS, Kan. -- H. Claudine Bennett, 84, died Tuesday (Dec. 25, 2007), at Decatur Health Systems in Oberlin. She was born May 17, 1923, at Atlanta, Kan., to Claud and Ruby Lee (Ivy) Wright. She was raised in Atlanta and Oklahoma and graduated from Atlanta High School...

March 15, 1924-Dec. 25, 2007 CURTIS -- Vern Pete Jorgensen, 83, died Tuesday (Dec. 25, 2007), at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. He was born on March 15, 1924, to JP "Pete" and Anna Elsie (Jepsen) Jorgensen in Lincoln County. He grew up in Lincoln County and attended school at Denmark School there. He also attended school at Liberty School and NSA...

Jan. 15, 1915-Dec. 27, 2007 Hazel Helena (Richter) Miller died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, at Heritage of Wauneta Nursing Home. She was 92 years old. Hazel was born on Jan. 15, 1915, in Wallace to George Bayard and Grace B. (Morehead) Clough. Her family moved to Dickens when Hazel was a small child and she received her education there...