Stories from Wednesday, January 21, 2009

OBERLIN -- The Oakley girls hammered Rawlins County 70-26 in the opening round of the Oberlin Invitational basketball tournament.

The McCook High School sophomore boys basketball team snapped a two-game losing skid by edging the Chase County Longhorns 42-34 Tuesday night. The Bison overcame a Chase County 6-0 run in the fourth quarter to hang on for their first victory of the year...

Nov. 21, 1926 - Jan. 18, 2009 ELWOOD -- Iris I. Evans, 82, died Sunday (Jan. 18, 2009) at Elwood Care Center. She was born Nov. 21, 1926, in Gosper County to Oren and Inez (Whisler) McKenzie. She attended rural grade school north of Elwood and graduated from Elwood High School in 1944. After graduation, she taught for one year and then worked as a telephone operator in Lexington until she married in 1949...

Sometimes do you feel like somebody's watching you? The truth is, somebody probably is. Whether it's a security camera at a discount store, or someone aiming a cell phone camera, or even a satellite zooming over a back yard, there are few times when a nosy neighbor, friend or authority doesn't have a chance to check out what you're up to...

DANBURY -- Brian Welch saw joining the Army as a stepping stone toward college when he graduated from high school five years ago. Now, leaving active service, it's the Army that has given him direction not only to college, but to career possibilities after that...

Now, more than ever, the time is ripe for the Keystone Hotel renovation project, the McCook City Council was told Monday night. In fact, it's during financial downturns when large-scale construction projects like the Keystone are needed to keep economies productive, said Rex Nelson, executive director of the McCook Economic Development Corp. which is sponsoring the Keystone Hotel renovation project...

McCook Public Schools' business manager is one of the final four candidates who will be interviewed next week for the school district's superintendent position. Following a week of interview activities, board president Tom Bredvick said this morning, the school system should know its new leader by, at the latest, the board's regular meeting Monday, Feb. 9...

The city is cracking down on dilapidated houses and the McCook City Council Monday night accepted the McCook Health Board's recommendation to condemn three properties as unsafe and uninhabitable. The owners of the vacant properties have been notified and now have five days to improve conditions, according to City Manager Kurt Fritsch. If the property is not improved by then, the city will go in and clean up the property, which may require demolition...

GRAND ISLAND -- A Grand Island man wants two Nebraska communities -- McCook and someone else -- to compete for a customer call center that could create 600 new jobs and a $25 million annual payroll within 5 years. Gary Kelsch envisions in McCook a regional or national call center that would service the security patrol business he proposes to start in Lincoln and Omaha before going nation-wide...

My earliest writings, other than class assignments, were letters. We had a corner mail box and the red flag was frequently in the up position, signaling the postman to stop and pick up outgoing mail. Once a letter went out, I would check the mail faithfully, hoping to see my name written on the front of the envelopes delivered. It seemed to take forever...