Stories from Tuesday, April 21, 2009

BOSTON -- McCook runners Wade Fornander, Stacy Priebe and Troy Swartz posted strong showings at the 113th Boston Marathon Monday.

The Dundy County girls and the Cambridge boys won the Medicine Valley Invitational track meet Monday at the McCook High School track.

The McCook High School varsity girls tennis team improved its dual record to 7-0 by taking all nine matches against Ogallala Monday at the Bison Courts.

Oct. 8, 1927 - April 20, 2009 Donald J. Harr, 81, died Monday, April 20, 2009, at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. Don was an active businessman and community leader in McCook for many years. He served on the McCook City Council, McCook Chamber of Commerce, Community Hospital Board of Directors and McCook National Bank Board of Directors...

March 22, 1920 - April 18, 2009 BARTLEY -- Loy M. Teter, 89, of Wolbach, died Saturday (April 18, 2009) at Veterans' Affairs Medical Center in Grand Island. She was born March 22, 1920, at Bartley to John F. and Edith L. (Parmalee) Teter. She received her education in Bartley...

July 29, 1967 - April 19, 2009 Timothy Lee Grafel, of Holdrege died Sunday, April 19, 2009 at Mary Lanning Hospital in Hastings. He was 42. He was born in McCook to Elmore L. and Beverley A. (Young) Grafel on July 29, 1967. He graduated from Culbertson High School in 1984...

The family of Elaine (McClure) Keene will host a card shower in honor of her 87th birthday. She was born April 22, 1922, at the same address of her current residence. Her children are Dian and Chuck Trail and Steve and Patty Keene. She has seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 111 West G, McCook, NE 69001...

Hayes County has partnered with Chase County to contract with Emergency Communications Network Inc., of Ormond Beach, Fla., for its "CodeRED" high-speed telephone emergency notification services. The CodeRED system gives county officials the ability to deliver pre-recorded emergency telephone notification/information messages to targeted areas or the entire county at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour...

A trip to the lake is one of the joys of springtime, but nothing can ruin an outing like encountering a beach strewn with disgusting or even dangerous trash. CleaNebraska, in cooperation with the Izaak Walton Leagues of Nebrsaka, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with KLKN TV of Lincoln, is looking for volunteer and public service groups to do something about the problem...

Members of McCook Senior High's 2009-10 "Starz" dance team gather after spring tryouts April 6. Dance team coach/sponsor and MHS band director Donita Priebe said that 37 girls tried out for 13 positions, and were judged by members of the University of Nebraska at Kearney Dance Team. ...

Since its establishment in 1926 as Nebraska's first two-year college, "McCook College has consistently provided superior educational instruction and skills training at an affordable cost" said Lloyd Benjamin, a lifelong McCook resident and 1958 graduate of McCook Junior College...

Acting as the McCook Community Development Agency, the McCook City Council received a Redevelopment Contract proposal from the McCook Economic Development Corp. and approved a resolution that allows tax increment financing to be used in renovating the Keystone Hotel into a business center...

Requests for qualifications for architectural services for the design of a city fire station were approved Monday night by the McCook City Council. The item was pulled from the consent agenda by Councilman Aaron Kircher. About $210 million has been appropriated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for competitive grants to modify, upgrade or construct non-federal fire stations...

On Dec. 19, 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, named after the daughter of Nancy Baker and the granddaughter of former Secretary of State, James Baker. Graeme Baker died in a tragic incident in June of 2002 after the suction from a spa drain entrapped her under the water. ...

American folklore implies that you can never go back home. The quote is about returning to the home of your childhood but my experience last week contradicted that well worn thought. You see, last week I went back home, back to my Air Force Academy "home" of four years. Memory of the uncomfortable experience of cadet life was blurred by distance, it being merely a short lifetime ago...