Stories from Tuesday, May 26, 2009

HAYS, Kan. -- Cheylin High School track athletes Naomi Reeh and Tia Sager qualified for the Kansas state meet after competing in the 1A regionals Friday at Fort Hays State University. Reeh won the 3200 with a time of 12:26.4 and the 1600 in 5:38.35. Sager was second in the shot put with a throw of 37-09.25 and the discus with 112-09...

April 3, 1915 - May 21, 2009 BENKELMAN -- Idabelle (Smith) Harper, 94, died Thursday (May 21, 2009) at Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home in Benkelman. She was born April 3, 1915, in Rawlins County to Clarence Demby and Lena Mae (Blakeley) Smith. She grew up on the farm in Kansas and graduated from McDonald High School...

March 4, 1923 - May 23, 2009 COZAD -- Harold Junior Wenburg, 86, died Saturday (May 23, 2009) at his home in Cozad. He was born March 4, 1923, at Cozad to Harold B. and Mae (Griffis) Wenburg. He attended Cozad schools. On May 9, 1944, he entered the U.S. Navy where he served in World War II...

Aug. 28, 1913 - May 23, 2009 OSCEOLA -- Bernice W. Crook, 95, died Saturday (May 23, 2009) at Osceola Good Samaritan Society in Osceola. She was born Aug. 28, 1913, to Lewis Elmo and Katherine Edna (Boyd) Humphreys at North Bend. She attended school in Benkelman graduating in 1932...

The Cornhusker State Games Torch Run, sponsored by the Nebraska National Guard and Air Guard, will be running its way through McCook and more than 24 other Nebraska towns beginning Saturday. The Torch Run is the kick-off to one of the largest amateur sports festivals in the nation, The Cornhusker State Games...

The 2009 Holiday Home Tour is six months away, but planning has already begun. "We're starting early in order to make this year's tour a very special occasion," said Mary Seybold, the director of housing for the McCook Economic Development Corp." "We have already selected the date -- Saturday, Dec. 5 -- and are now actively seeking homes, volunteers and sponsors."...

So it turns out the fix was in after all. In hindsight, state officials in charge of selection of Nebraska's new license plate design definitely underestimated the power of the Internet. The plain-jane plate design was crowned winner last week with official assurance that, no, collegehumor.com's link to Nebraska's Web site, urging visitors to vote for the most boring design didn't skew the online voting...

This last weekend I flew family members to Ogden, Utah to celebrate the graduations of niece Marta's two daughters. Portia graduated from college and Katelynn from high school and I call that exceptional planning. Ogden is normally a two-day drive so the four hours of flying time port to port made the trip a breeze. Adding to our pleasure was the view of the Rockies from much closer than the upper flight levels favored by airliners...

Memorial Day 2009 has come and gone. Personally, I am very grateful for this opportunity to honor our veterans'. Memorial Day is a time of remembrance and reflection, not only for veterans, but for family and friends Each year the American Legion Post 203, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Boy Scouts, and a group of proud citizens put over 400 American flags on known veterans' grave sites in Memorial Park and Riverview cemeteries in McCook. ...

OMAHA -- McCook High School claimed two first-place showings in the Class B girls division at the Nebraska State Activities Association Track and Field Championships and finished fifth with 37.33 points. The state meet took place at Omaha Burke Stadium...

The Nebraska Legislature recently passed LB 340 directing the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education to investigate the role and mission of the state's community colleges, the weighting of courses for reimbursement purposes, the role of the Nebraska Community College Association or a similar entity, membership in such an entity, and coordination in the absence of such an entity...

Maywood celebrates Memorial Day with its annual "Old Glory Days" parade Saturday morning. An historic 1905 Reo led a pack of a hundred-or-so cyclists in town for a Memorial Day weekend poker run and bike show. Joe Knox of Wellfleet and his "assistant engineer" were in town with their home-made train, offering rides in the parade and throughout the morning. ...

LINCOLN -- It's been one month since Nebraska began preparing for the novel influenza A (H1N1) and activities are ongoing, according to the state's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Joann Schaefer, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. "Like I said at the beginning when this virus appeared, we will know much more how this virus will affect us in one to two months," Dr. Schaefer said...

Grant Strunk/McCook Daily Gazette Jacey Schultheiss of Eustis-Farnam clears the bar at 5 feet for sixth place in the Class D high jump.

"At last, my love has come along, my lonely days are over, and life is like a song." Those were the words to the song that World War II Veteran Artie Lebsack, 88, of McCook, Neb., sang to Monica Harvey as he greeted her at his door. His daughters, Patsy Botts of Denver, Colo., and Lori Backer of Boise, Idaho, responded to the invitation for a Veteran to have his picture taken by one of the NEBRASKA VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY 83 signs. ...