Stories from Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Senate is wrapping up its final days before adjourning until Labor Day. Even though no health care legislation has come to the floor in the Senate or the House of Representatives, health care remains a hot topic. Both houses have proposals working through the committee process, which have struggled in committee because they are significantly flawed. ...

Aug. 12, 1951 - July 10, 2009 SAN RAFAEL, Calif. -- Susan Jo Gibson, 57, died July 10, 2009, at her home in San Rafael, Calif., after a long struggle with cancer. She was born Aug. 12, 1951, in San Jose, Calif., to Dr. Wally and Hilda Ann Walker. She graduated from A.A. Stagg High School in 1969 and received an Associate Arts degree from San Joaquin Delta College in 1971...

I always look forward to August because I get more time at home with my fellow Nebraskans and this month we'll probably talk a lot about health care reform. It'll be good to be away from Washington. There, too many enjoy scoring political points and fanning controversy, rather than promoting civil discourse or honest debates to solve America's challenges like this one...

Red Willow County commissioners abandoned, on a 2-1 vote Monday morning, the entire length of the rural Indianola road that's been a major irritation for a year now. Commissioner Steve Dow-ner cast the lone vote to retain Road 221, in existence since 1889, insisting, "There are roads like this all over the county, and people get along. I can't see one landowner forcing a county to close a road."...

Red Willow County commissioners agreed Monday morning to almost double the county's cost of dispatching the sheriff's department through the City of McCook Public Safety Center's dispatch center. The county now pays the city $24,000 annually for dispatching sheriff's officers between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and on weekends and holidays. That cost will increase to $44,620 over the next two years...

The City Council Chambers was packed Monday night with pet owners, angry over certain sections in a proposed animal control ordinance that the McCook City Council is considering. After about two hours, during which citizens voiced their concerns, the council revised two sections of the ordinance, one that amended the number of pets allowed per household at three dogs with no limit on cats. The council also re-worked language in another section relating to the capture of dogs-at-large...

The McCook City Council approved a $23 million city budget on first reading Monday night and asked city officials to come back with the estimated costs of adding an animal control officer. Upon a motion by Mayor Dennis Berry, the council asked city staff to include in the budget for its next reading the costs of a civilian animal control officer, tentatively estimated at about $77,000. This amount includes salary, equipment, vehicle and training...

Is the Midwest economy turning around? Well, yes and no, according to a Creighton University professor who keeps track of things. Yes, in that a survey of the folks who buy things for companies say they'll be buying a few more things than they have been recently...

It was standing room only at Monday night's McCook City Council meeting, and while the council did advance the ordinance, it did decide to amend the proposal to concentrate on dogs and require that any dogs which have to be destroyed must pose an imminent threat to police officers or the public...

"It was sort of like dancing with a fat girl -- a lot of fun but I couldn't quite get my arms around her!" So was my response to Ann when I returned this week from attending AirVenture, the largest aviation expo and airshow on earth. It is held every year at the normally sleepy municipal airport near Oshkosh, Wis...