Stories from Tuesday, March 23, 2010

WASHINGTON -- Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson issued this statement on health care reform and the reconciliation bill before the Senate: "Congress has passed historic health reforms that will insure 220,000 more Nebraskans and 30 million Americans who today have no health coverage. ...

If there's one thing Nebraskans enjoy less than bad roads, it's road construction projects that never seem to end. Slow progress on needed transportation improvements, or projects that never seem to get off the ground, are about as welcome as traffic congestion, crumbling asphalt, and project delays...

Last Sunday night, the House of Representatives passed an overhaul of our health care system. In a series of late-night votes, the House approved the Senate legislation that passed in the upper chamber last Christmas Eve. As I write, the President is announcing plans to sign this bill into law this week. ...

Oct. 12, 1950 - March 9, 2010 LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Rick Lee Kotschwar died Tuesday (March 9, 2010) at Kendred Hospital in Las Vegas, Nev. He was 59 years old. Rick was born on Oct. 12, 1950, in McCook to Stanley D. "Jiggs" and Patricia Ann (Schleeman) Kotschwar. He entered the U.S. Marines and was honorably discharged shortly thereafter due to health problems...

Aug. 3, 1915 - March 21, 2010 INDIANOLA -- Elwyn "Al" Krous was born on Aug. 3, 1915, to Ruth Marie Shafer and Winfield Caswell Krous in La Crosse, Idaho, and died on March 21, 2010, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Washington and finally to Medford, Ore., where he graduated high school. ...

May 11, 1931 - March 20, 2010 BENKELMAN -- Daisy May "Dee" Fries, 78, died Saturday (March 20, 2010) at Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home in Benkelman. She was born May 11, 1931, to Frank and Hattie (Bevans) Silvester at Champion and attended school near her home...

How much is a prototype helicopter worth? Who's going to determine its value? And if the helicopter and its technology are sold, how much of Red Willow County's $300,000 loan can be recouped? Should the county pay storage costs accruing on the helicopter?...

These 3-week-old puppies were found in a box Saturday along a Southwest Nebraska highway, the mother anxiously pacing around the box, trying to get in the box to nurse the puppies. An alert motorist notified Lorie Prestes, McCook Humane Society Shelter director and the dam and puppies are now safely housed at the shelter. ...

KEARNEY -- Miss Deb McCarter of Hitchcock County Schools was selected by the Nebraska Rural Community Schools Organization as its outstanding secondary teacher of the year at its annual spring conference, in Kearney today. McCarter has served the schools that make up Hitchcock County Schools for the past 23 years as a teacher, coach and guidance counselor...

By CONNIE JO DISCOE Regional Editor The fire chief's goal was to save the houses and worry about the fields and pastures second. Red Willow Western Rural Fire Department Fire Chief Bill Elliott said this morning that unusually early, fast-spreading grass fires along Highway 83 north of McCook scorched about 800 acres of grass and crop stubble, but no houses or outbuildings were lost...

Red Willow County commissioners accepted a boxful of files during their meeting Monday morning when the county's surveyor delivered to the courthouse all the records on the county's 48 bridges. County surveyor Gary Dicenta told commissioners in November 2009 that the federal government now requires that all bridge inspection reports "stay with the owners" and be organized according to federal requirements. ...

It's hard to cheer for lawyers, but when the other choice is politicians, what alternative do we have? President Obama is expected to sign a massive health care reform bill today that is among the most heavy-handed measures ever imposed on American citizens. Passed during off-hours with nearly half the Congress and more of the public and a majority of Nebraskans opposed, the bill will do more to insert Washington into our every-day lives than any law previously imagined...

Sitting in church Sunday, the day that our Democrat Congress voted in Obamacare, my mind wandered a bit. It was the week before Palm Sunday and our preacher illustrated the fact that Jesus knew what fate was awaiting him in Jerusalem the next few days. Yes the leaders of the Jewish "church" of the time managed to have this upstart murdered...

I hope the conservative people of Nebraska who pay their own bills and have pride in their independent values were watching last night's vote in Congress. I hope they never forget that McCook's native son, Ben Nelson, had an opportunity to stop this nightmare but chose to sell out for the Husker Kickback that proud Nebraskans did not want...

McCook Community College head coach Jon Olsen hopes whatever his team caught Monday evening becomes an epidemic. The Indians had a case of big hit-itis in a 21-14 win over Southeast Community College in a nine-inning single game Monday, March 22, at the Jaycees Sports Complex in McCook...