Stories from Thursday, April 9, 2009

NORTH PLATTE -- The McCook High School boys golf team placed fifth at the North Platte Invitational Wednesday on the Iron Eagle course with a 350 score. Grand Island ran away with the team title with a 308 score. Ogallala and Scottsbluff tied for second at 345, followed by Grand Island Central Catholic at 347. North Platte was sixth with a 351 score...

The McCook High School boys tennis dual against Ogallala today at home has been postponed to 2 p.m. Monday, April 20 at the Bison Courts. The Broken Invitational, where the McCook High School track team was slated to compete, was postponed today. No make-up date has been announced...

LINCOLN -- If there was one position on the Nebraska football team that appeared locked up going into spring, it was Jacob Hickman at center. But Hickman was working at right guard and Mike Caputo moved into the middle on Wednesday, a sign that the Cornhuskers coaching staff is not comfortable standing pat at any spot...

Little Bison Preschoolers perform the "Tootie Tah" dance -- "thumbs up, elbows back, feet apart, knees together -- a tootie tah, a tootie tah, a tootie tah tah." When "education" is disguised as fun, students learn to follow directions without even knowing it. Going through the motions of the entertaining dance are Tazmin Noe, main photo, left, and Aliyah Redfield, Izabella Schmidt, top left, and Dylan Rouse, and Joslyn Hammond, above left, and Dakota Gerard...

The McCook City Council approved the lowest bid of $38,446 for two new outdoor sirens, just in time for severe weather season. The two new sirens are replacing older ones on Gemini Court and behind Video Kingdom on the 100 block of West 11th. While the older devices were stationary, the new sirens rotate like one at the McCook City Library, said McCook City Fire Chief Marc Harpham. ...

As it stands now, those who paid the LB 701 property taxes and filed a protest are the only ones who will get a refund, State Sen. Mark Christensen said this morning. And those who paid the taxes without a protest are out of luck. About $2.5 million has been collected by the three Republican River Basin natural resources districts since 2007, under the additional tax authorized by LB 701. ...

A new road will be needed for the joint Nebraska National Guard/Army Reserve Center planned near the McCook Regional Airport and the McCook City Council authorized Monday the mayor to sign a lease agreement for the additional land. The lease addendum between the city and the State of Nebraska was requested so than an access road off of U.S. Highway 6 and 34 can be constructed for the joint military facility...

Storm chaser Eddie Weiss's recent McCook talk sponsored by the Rotary Club offered some interesting and potentially life-saving information. As Weiss pointed out, real storm-chasing is nothing like the popular "Twister" movie, but it is an important task -- tornadoes have caused billions of dollars of damage over the years and kill dozens of people each year...

I had an absolutely exciting experience recently when I was in Hastings, Neb. I visited my friend, Dan Glomsky, who is the director of the J.M. McDonald Planetarium at the Hastings Museum. He was showing me the new all-digital projection system they had recently installed...

The Nebraska Choice Gas selection period is set for April 17 through April 30 this year. This is an opportunity for residents of McCook to choose their natural gas supplier for the year. McCook is a member community of ACE, the Public Alliance for Community Energy. Formed in 1998 by Nebraska communities, ACE is the only not-for-profit, community-owned supplier in the program...