Stories from Monday, March 9, 2009

Recently, President Obama submitted his budget proposal to fund the government for the next fiscal year. This proposal marks the starting point for what will hopefully be a bipartisan discussion on how we deal with the challenges our economy currently faces...

LINCOLN -- Aquinas Catholic's Katie Holoubek put Ravenna in a big hole. Mallory Irvine dug the Blue Jays out. Irvine scored six of her 10 points in the fourth quarter and Ravenna rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to finish a perfect season with a 45-40 victory in the Class C2 final at the girls state tournament Saturday...

STERLING, Colo. -- Without Anthony Harris in the lineup, Northeastern Junior College needed a big time performer. Freshman Will Bell was that big time performer. Coming off the bench, Bell had 21 points, 13 of which came in the first half, giving the team enough cushion to run away with a 74-57 victory over McCook Community College in the second round of the Region IX Tournament.

Boys State Tournament March 12-14 http://www.nsaahome.org/textfile/bask/bbpair.pdf

NEBRASKA/KANSAS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SCORES NEBRASKA GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT By The Associated Press CLASS A First round Thursday At Devaney Sports Center Lincoln Southeast 58, Omaha Westside 38 Millard West 73, Millard North 58 Bellevue West 64, Lincoln East 54...

The McCook Community College baseball team split its conference home opener against Lamar Community College Sunday at Jaycees Sports Complex. McCook dropped game one 6-3 and came back in game two to win 9-4. McCook improves to 2-2 in the conference while Lamar improves to 5-1...

Aug. 3, 1954-March 5, 2009 LINCOLN -- John R. Jilg, 54, died March 5, 2009. He was born Aug. 3, 1954, in McCook. He was employed by Pavers as a heavy machine operator. He was a foster father to several children who survive him. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister...

July 15, 1927 - March 6, 2009 HOLDREGE ‚ Mass of Christian Burial Services for Erna "Jean" Wakefield will be conducted from All Saints Catholic Church in Holdrege, Neb., on Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 2 p.m. with Father Thomas Lux officiating. Interment will be in the Prairie Home Cemetery at Holdrege...

Jan. 6, 1926 - March 5, 2009 CULBERTSON -- Fred W. Mustion, 83, died Thursday, March 5, 2009, at Community Hospital in McCook. He was born to Gail Cecil and Pearl Victoria (Brindle) Mustion Jan. 6, 1926, at El Dora, Iowa. He graduated from Bartley High School in 1945. He and his brother, Roy were able to purchase their first car, a new Chevy Sedan, after saving $170 from their milking money...

Aug. 29, 1941 - March 7, 2009 BARTLEY -- Jean Marie Ellis age 67 of Bartley, Neb., died at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney on March 7, 2009. She was born in McCook Aug, 29, 1941, at St. Catherine's Hospital. Jean attended and graduated from Bartley High School in 1959...

The children of Lawrence and Ruth Kentfield are hosting a combined birthday celebration in honor of the couple's 80th birthdays. The open house will be Saturday, March 14, 2009, from 2-4 p.m., at Hollinger United Methodist Church east of Beaver City...

Friend of Kathryn "Kay" Clesson is requesting a card shower in honor of her 90th birthday on March 15. Cards will reach her at 609 East 6th Street, McCook NE 69001

CURTIS -- Despite limited funding, the Middle Republican Natural Resources District will consider purchasing water from an irrigation company, at its regular meeting Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., at the Community Center in Curtis. The Middle, Upper and Lower natural resources districts in the Republican River Basin have had conversations with Frenchman Valley Irrigation District and the Riverside Irrigation Company concerning leasing water, according to Dan Smith, MRNRD general manager. ...

The McCook Police Department is investigating an incident over the weekend when the bridge south of Barnett Park was destroyed with a chainsaw. Police were notified Saturday morning that the bridge, an Eagle Scout project constructed in the early 1980s, had been left in ruins. City officials are not sure at this point if the bridge will be re-built...

A glance at the gas pump provides a lesson in free market forces -- or does it? The average U.S. price of gasoline is $1.96 a gallon, according to the national Lundberg Survey of fuel prices. That's better than the $3.20 we were paying a year ago, and a whole lot more palatable than the record $4.11 we were paying last July, but it's still uncomfortably close to $2 a gallon...

In 1941 the United States was ill prepared for war. It had been little more than 20 years since the country had fought "The War to End All Wars." We should have been more wary of the hostilities going on in Europe -- and the Japanese were certainly making war overtures in the Pacific, but both these trouble spots were a long way from the United States...

ATWOOD -- The third volume of a series of books detailing the history of Rawlins County, Kan., will focus on what has happened in the past 20 years. Gertie Kastens of Atwood, co-chairman of the history book committee, said organizers are seeking historical information not contained in the first two books, although they also want family histories that are not in the two earlier volumes...

The budget submitted by President Obama is filled with some eye popping numbers that will need to be cut back. That said, the president is to be commended for sending Congress an honest budget that doesn't play hide and seek with the government's revenues and expenses...

LINCOLN -- The fifth-seeded Cambridge High School girls basketball team worked their way through the Nebraska Class C-2 state championship bracket, blowing out the No. 2 seed Perkins County 55-36 Saturday to capture third place.

Stephanie and I will never be able to fully convey to you just how much your support means to us and to our family. There is something special about Nebraskans, a caring and compassion that I can't imagine being as vibrant in other parts of the country...