Stories from Wednesday, February 10, 2010

LINCOLN -- Gov. Dave Heineman today encouraged Nebraska taxpayers to consider using the free e-file option when reporting individual income taxes for tax year 2009. Last year, 70 percent of all Nebraska individual income tax returns were e-filed. "The ability to file and pay taxes online is another way our state is providing the services Nebraskans need, while also helping ensure greater efficiency in government," Gov. ...

Oct. 10, 1926 - Feb. 9, 2010 Julia Marie Cappel, 83, died Tuesday (Feb. 9, 2010) at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. She was born in Winona, Kan., on Oct. 10, 1926, to Thomas and Nellie M. (Snider) Page. She attended Emily Griffith School in Denver...

May 27, 1955 - Feb. 6, 2010 OBERLIN -- Scott H. Dolan, 54, died Saturday (Feb. 6, 2010) at Culebra, Puerto Rico. He was born May 27, 1955, in Lincoln to Philip D. Dolan and Bonnie J. Brooks. He grew up in McCook and Oberlin, attending Oberlin Elementary and graduating from Decatur Community High School in 1973...

June 21, 1909 - Feb. 6, 2010 LINCOLN -- Grace Joy Hutchins, daughter of John and Louisa Guthrie was born June 21, 1909 at Exeter, Nebraska and passed away on Feb. 6, 2010 at age 100. She graduated from the Exeter Public Schools, attended Hastings College and taught in the Exeter and Lincoln Public School systems...

Feb. 24, 1924 - Feb. 8, 2010 TRINITY, Texas -- Georgia Cobb, 85, of Trinity, Texas was born Feb. 24, 1924, and passed into eternal peace on Feb. 8, 2010. Georgia was raised in the Houston, Texas, area and married Robert "Bob" Cobb, her husband for 68 years. ...

The baby who sleeps through the night wakes up at 2 a.m., crying inconsolably. The toddler starts tugging at his right ear, and all his peas have disappeared from his lunch plate. The kindergartner fell off her new two-wheeler and bumped her head, and now all she wants to do is sleep...

Col. Delbert L. Townsend's legacy of generosity, evident in the creation of college scholarships for seniors graduating from McCook and Southwest high schools, continues despite the colonel's unexpected death on Jan. 26, 2010. Townsend scholarships have been presented to two students graduating from high schools in Red Willow County each spring since the program's implementation by Col. Townsend and the University of Nebraska Foundation in 1998...

LINCOLN -- Nebraskans widely support the statewide smoke-free air law, according to a report issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. The report is titled "Six Months of Smoke Free Air: The Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act" and is on the DHHS Web site at www.dhhs.ne.gov...

Some things we take for granted until they're taken away. In this case, it's the water in Hugh Butler Lake, backed up by the Red Willow Dam, which is being inspected after tension cracks were discovered in the dam's earthen embankment last fall. To find out what's going on, plan to attend a public meeting with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation next, week, Feb. 18, 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Community Building on the Red Willow County fairgrounds...

Many years ago, I joined two of my sisters-in-law in one car while the guys piled into another. The band at the bar in Kirby, had proven to be a disappointment, so we headed back to Worland to finish our "night on the town." I was in the back seat, where I could see, in the rear view mirror, as the headlights from Wayne's Ford Maverick followed us down the deserted Wyoming highway. As we chatted, I occasionally glanced in the mirror, keeping tabs on the menfolk...

Local basketball fans probably won't ever hear McCook Community College men's head coach Brandon Lenhart say his team played a perfect game. Lenhart, like most coaches, is a tough critic when it comes to his team, and he found faults with the MCC effort Tuesday, Feb. 9. But one thing Coach Lenhart couldn't criticize was the final score, as his Indians upset North Platte C.C. 76-69...

Several University of Nebraska football players offered testimonials on their religious beliefs and how their respective faiths carry over to the gridiron during the 2010 FCA Husker Tour Friday, Feb.5. The FCA Husker Fifth Quarter was held at the McCook Senior High School gym following the McCook-Ogallala boys basketball game. The event was sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes...