Stories from Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Dec. 15, 1917 - Jan. 14, 2008 TRENTON -- Elaine G. Mizell, age 90, died Monday, Jan. 14, 2008, at El Dorado Manor in Trenton. She was born on Dec. 15, 1917, to Hugo A. and Anna Selma (Stramp) VonSchuetz at Kanona, Kan. She graduated from Jennings High School in 1935, and then went on to Stewarts Beauty Academy in Topeka. She became a beautician from 1936 and retired in 1991...

Nov. 1, 1933 - Jan. 12, 2008 LUDELL, Kan. -- Charles Adrian Vap, 74, died Saturday (Jan. 12, 2008), at his home near Ludell, Kan. He was born Nov. 1, 1933, in rural Ludell, to Charles and Theresa (Kopriva) Vap. He attended school in Atwood and graduated from Atwood High School in 1953. He later attended Colby Community College...

The family of Dwight and Susanna Gallatin is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary Jan. 18. Cards of congratulation will reach them at 38425 Rd 719, McCook, NE 69001.

McCook Community College volleyball coach Gary Payne announced the signing of two players for the 2008-09 season -- Cozad's Brittney Halligan and Leyton's Danielle Ernest. Both girls bring some height to the team. Hallagin is 5-foot-10 and Danielle is 5-11. Hallagin is projected to be an outside hitter and Ernest is going to be a middle hitter...

OBERLIN -- The Rawlins County-Atwood girls basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Oberlin Invitational by blasting St. Francis 61-24 in the first round Tuesday night. Sara Miller ripped the nets for 22 points. Sydney Carlson scored 17 and Laura Wolters 10...

The McCook High School freshman boys basketball team lost to the Chase County Longhorns a 52-43 setback Monday night at the MHS gymnasium. Chase County outscored McCook 20-11 in the fourth quarter. Nate Priebe led McCook with 13 points, Nate Weintz added 10 and Cody Goltl 9. Branden Yost scored 4, Dion Schultz 3, Keith Wallace 2 and Ryan Powell 2...

KEARNEY -- The McCook Junior High School eighth grade boys basketball A, B and C teams opened the season against the Kearney Horizon Tuesday at Kearney. The Bison A team lost 57-24, the B team lost 15-12 and the C team won 12-11. Matt Chitwood and Justin Terry each scored 9 points for the A team. Tatem Stang added 4 and Marcus Golden 2...

The 2008 Legislative Session has arrived and it is the second week of the second session. I would like to share with you what bills will be introduced in the upcoming weeks and what bills I have already been introduced this past week. The 2008 session will be a short one but I believe it can be a successful one...

The president of the McCook Public Schools board of education started his seventh presidency following his re-election at the board's annual reorganization meeting Monday evening. Greg Larson, who is in his ninth year as a member of the school board, defeated Michael Gonzales, 4-2, for the president's position. Larry Shields, in his first year on the board, defeated Tom Bredvick for the vice president's position. The vote was 4-2...

Straightening section lines in northwest Red Willow County and making them correspond with county roads and survey maps could keep the county's roads superintendent busy "the rest of his natural life." County Attorney Paul Wood asked commissioners, during their meeting Monday morning, to allow him to contact John Hanson, a McCook attorney who specializes in real estate and land title issues, to help the county decide what to do with section lines and county roads that do not match the large "cadastral" maps that county assessor Sandra Kotschwar uses to apportion taxes.. ...

The phenomenon is not new. Nor is it particularly rare. It goes by many names, the most recognizable is the "Change of Location Solution." I hate to be the one to break this to you, but it doesn't work. I know. I packed enough boxes over the years trying that particular solution to know that it never works...

Taxes are still too high -- ask any farmer, small business owner or retired person, Gov. Dave Heineman said this morning in McCook. Gusty winds didn't stop Gov. Dave Heineman from stopping briefly at McCook Regional Airport in his state fly-around to about 20 cities in Nebraska. He recapped his annual State of the State address delivered to the Legislature Tuesday and reiterated his commitment to tax relief...

Justin Kershaw (left) meets "Smokey," a Charolais steer shown by Will Miller, a member of McCook Senior High's FFA Chapter which sponsored its first-ever "Bison Ag Day" today in the Kiplinger Arena on the Red Willow County fairgrounds. Will's dad, John Miller, taught Kershaw and other Hitchcock County Public Schools fifth graders how to approach show cattle at events such as a county fair. ...

Plains pioneers did without a lot of creature comforts, but one thing they didn't lack was exercise. Study old photos of sodhouse settlers, and you'll notice most of the subjects seem to be in good physical condition. They had to be; survival demanded plenty of manual labor, and household chores from laundry to cleaning to cooking had to be performed in the crudest possible fashion...