Stories from Thursday, January 17, 2008

Another close game, another win for the McCook Community College men's basketball team.

HASTINGS -- The McCook Community College men's basketball team handed the Hastings College junior varsity an 86-79 loss Wednesday at Hastings. MCC won its fourth straight game and improved to 13-8. All four wins in the streak have been by 7 points or less...

Area boys and girls basketball teams are ending the week with several large and competitive basketball tournaments. The RPAC begins Saturday for a number of teams along with the 39th annual Oberlin Invitational which started today. McCook's basketball teams will travel today to Colby to compete in the annual Paul Wintz Orange and Black basketball classic...

June 30, 1946 - Jan. 14, 2008 NORTH PLATTE -- Dennis G. Awtry, 61, of North Platte, died Monday (Jan. 14, 2008), at Great Plains Regional Medical Center. He was born to Gerald and Doris Nelsen Awtry on June 30, 1946, near Curtis in his grandparents sod house. He grew up in McCook and graduated from McCook High School in 1964...

The McCook St. Patrick's boys basketball team played Hayes Center Jan. 10. The Knights A team fell to the Cardinals 36-24. The B team won over Hayes Center 14-2. Kyle Gaston led St. Pats with 12 points and had 2 two points shots and 1 three pointer. He was also 8 for 5 in free throws. Alan Goodenberger had 6 points...

Area IMCA race track promoters are gearing up for another racing season after a meeting last Saturday in McCook. Chuck and Janet Gray along with Jim Lewis are local track promoters and were among 11 track officials from Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado planning the 2008 season...

March 11, 1918 - Jan. 14, 2008 ARAPAHOE -- Morris Jennings Ems, 89, of Arapahoe died Monday (Jan. 14, 2008), at C. A. Mues Good Samaritan Center in Arapahoe. He was born March 11, 1918, at York to Robert and Irene (Miller) Ems. He attended school in Arapahoe and graduated in 1936 from Arapahoe High School...

May 2, 1974 - Jan. 5, 2008 Matthew Wayne Felder, age 33, passed away on Jan. 5, 2008. Matthew was born on May 2, 1974, in Houston, Texas. Matthew graduated from Denver High School in Denver, Colo. He was employed by Baker Concrete Construction, as a Lead Field Engineer...

HOLDREGE -- Once rare, federal protections have helped increase the numbers of bald eagles in Nebraska, and winter is definitely the best time to observe this magnificent species. According to Nebraska Game and Parks Wildlife Biologist T.J. Walker, eagles follow the waterfowl migration south during the winter and frequently winter over at reservoirs, natural lakes and along the rivers of the Chicken Dance Trail which runs throughout southwest and south central Nebraska...

A variety of topics will be covered during this year's Women's Winter Conference "We Are His Masterpiece" at the McCook Evangelical Free Church Jan. 25 and 26. The featured speaker, Ruth Calver, is originally from England, where her father was an evangelical leader for 30 years. ...

What happens next between Nebraska and Kansas concerning water used from the Republican River may depend on a pending lawsuit, Sen. Mark Christensen told McCook Chamber of Commerce members during today's weekly conference call. A lawsuit that goes to trial Jan. 24 in Lincoln challenges the constitutionality of LB701, alleging it levies property taxes for a state obligation, the Republican River Compact between Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado...

LINCOLN -- A grain truck in the Cambridge area was found to be nearly two tons overweight, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. Fines totaling $6,050.00 were issued over the past week by troopers with the patrol's Carrier Enforcement Division, for vehicles violating state weight laws...

Judge Kent Florom has been named County Court Presiding Judge of the 11th Judicial District (Arthur, Chase, Dawson, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper, Hayes, Hitchcock, Hooker, Keith, Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Perkins, Red Willow, and Thomas Counties) beginning January 15, 2008.. The Nebraska Supreme Court approved the nomination of Judge Florom, whose name was submitted by his fellow county court judges for the leadership position...

Cambridge, Holbrook and Arapahoe firefighters have had very little sleep the past two nights, fighting fires in the early-morning hours Wednesday and today. The Matt Curran family of Holbrook lost its home and belongings in a fire about 2 a.m., Wednesday. It is believed the fire started with a space heater in an upstairs bedroom...

The Nebraska Legislature seems poised to enact a law to decriminalize the act of leaving a baby in a safe place. Like most laws, it is likely to be a compromise that leaves both sides slightly disappointed. But the main purpose, saving the lives of newborns, should be achieved...

The recent overflow of unwanted puppies at the McCook Humane Society animal shelter has prompted me to send this letter to remind the animal caretakers the importance of spaying and neutering their pets. Thank you, McCook Humane Society Volunteer...

I need to make a correction on my letter to the editor on 1-15-08, "Pay Attention." I stated "The people in those counties do not know how much they are being stiffed by the NRD's increased general fund, how much they are paying out for noncompliance by the irrigator's, one county even have an increase in taxes for the new NRD building." I stand corrected that I should have said "one NRD district, which is several counties, has an increase in taxes for a new NRD building."...

Three cheers to Gloria Masoner for her article about Hillary Clinton. We really don't need more terms in the White House by the Clintons. Incidentally, we do have term limits, and I think Hillary, indirectly, has had hers. "Crocodile tears" should not captivate the pencil of the voters. No suh!...

Since I started writing my column six years ago, I've stirred up a little trouble here and there and been called a few names but I think the best one came from a response on the Internet last week to my article, "Don't We Have a Two-Term Limit?" "David--X--Machina" wrote the following … "I'm wondering why anyone would heed the political musings of a second rate columnist at a second rate rag newspaper in a cultural, social, and intellectual backwater town in a flyover state?"...

OMAHA -- A federal grand jury has returned unsealed indictments against two Southwest Nebraska women accused of embezzlement in separate cases, according to U.S. Attorney Joe W. Stecher. The first, Diane L. Rich, of Cambridge, is charged with embezzling approximately $58,000.00 on or about Jan. ...