Stories from Thursday, January 31, 2008

July 18, 1910 - Jan. 28, 2008 SHELTON -- Zona Belle Volgamore, 97, of Kearney and formerly of Beaver City, died Monday (Jan. 28, 2008) at Barb's Care Home in Shelton. She was born July 18, 1910, southeast of Beaver City in Furnas County, to James Adam and Elviria Alice (Vining) McCarty. She grew up in the Richmond Precinct area and attended country school at District 2, McCarty School. She also attended high school in Beaver City...

June 20, 1915 - Jan. 28, 2008 TORRINGTON, Wyo. -- Kenneth J. Wasia, 92, died Monday (Jan. 28, 2008) at Community Hospital due to complications from pneumonia. He was born June 20, 1915, in St. Ann to Andrew and Johanna (Pick) Wasia. He grew up on the family farm south of McCook. In his youth, he was an amateur boxer. In 1939, he and his brother moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho to work as farm hands...

June 17, 1938 - Jan. 30, 2008 WAUNETA -- Glen Richard Lewis, 69, formerly of Wauneta, died Wednesday (Jan. 30, 2008), at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He was born June 17, 1938, on the family farm in Hitchcock County to Isaac E. and Leretta S. ...

Oct. 29, 1916 - Jan. 29, 2008 Josephine "Jody" Braun, 91, died Tuesday (Jan. 29, 2008) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. She was born Oct. 29, 1916, at McCook to Joseph Franklin and Kathryn Elizabeth (Phillips) Downs. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, William Jerome Braun in 1989 and one son, William Franklin Braun on Nov. 1, 2003; and two sisters, Elizabeth (Lindbeck) Rollstin and Roberta Hawn...

MAYWOOD -- Hitchcock County's boys basketball team knocked out Maywood 46-27 Tuesday. Hitchcock County, ranked fifth in Nebraska Class D-2 by the Oamaha World-Herald, improved to 15-3. "We struggled offensively tonight but got a good defensive effort," said Falcons coach Mike Tines. "Maywood has improved a lot from last year and gave us some problems...

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- McCook High School alums Paul Putz and Willie Williams and Chase County-Imperial alum Ed Kaiser contributed for the Grace University men's basketball team, although the Royals lost to Briar Cliff 76-64 Thursday night at Des Moines...

The McCook High School Bison wrestling team will compete at the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference Saturday at Hastings. The meet starts at 9 a.m. Other teams competing at the GNAC meet are Hastings, Columbus, Norfolk, Scottsbluff, Lexington, North Platte and Kearney...

The McCook High School freshman boys basketball A and B teams both lost to Holdrege Tuesday at the MHS gymnasium. The A team was outscored 16-8 in the first quarter and trailed at halftime 38-11. Keith Wallace led the Bison A team with 14 points. Cody Goltl added 7, Ryan Powell 3, Nate Priebe 2 and Grant Wilcox 2...

The McCook eighth grade boys basketball team went 1-2 over Ogallala Tuesday. The Bison lost the A team game 58-28 and the B team game 20-7 and won the C team game 16-15. Matt Chitwood led the A team with 7 points. Joel Baker, Justin Terry and Tatem Stang all had 5 points...

Sen. Mark Christensen took a verbal lashing from Sen. Ernie Chambers last week over Christensen's resolution that would ban affirmative action. Christensen said he harbored no ill feelings toward the Omaha senator, and that the resolution will probably languish in committee...

A McCook Community College volleyball coach who was fired last weekend said it resulted from comments that other people posted on his social networking site. The coach, Gary Payne, said he should have used better judgment, but noted that his termination did not result from illegal activities or improper contact with players...

One of two new Bell 407 helicopters from "North Colorado Med Evac," North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, Colo., takes off after a demonstration flight at Dundy County Hospital in Benkelman Tuesday morning. The service, formerly Air Life of Greeley, has provided on-scene response and inter-facility transfers within a 250-mile radius of Greeley in northern Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska for 25 years. ...

There's a scary amount of information about all of us out on the Internet. "Google" youself, and click through a few links, and you'll be amazed what might show up. Web surfing turns into something more serious, however, when our safety and that of our family is involved...

My childhood memories from the neighborhood where I lived in Denver are full of interesting people and events. At age 8, I ran an errand for a neighbor and was paid for it. I spent the money on a double-decker ice cream cone. Unfortunately, this treat toppled to the sidewalk on the way home...

OK, I'll take the bait and put my 2 cents worth in regarding the pronunciation of Norfolk. In his Open Forum letter on 1-28-08, Mr. Housley is correct in his research that the original name for this northeast Nebraska city was spelled NORFORK. It was so named because it is located next to the north fork of the Elkhorn River...