Stories from Monday, September 20, 2010

Dear Fellow Nebraskans: Recently we unveiled the findings of a study that provided a detailed look at Nebraska's business climate. The report was compiled by the country's foremost researchers of innovation and research. The study recommended strategies to capitalize on existing resources in our state...

Waking up looking forward to college bowl games is a tradition on New Year's Day. But this year, those small businesses struggling to create jobs may wake up to find themselves dealing with a $3.8 trillion headache instead of watching football. Unless Congress acts, a $3.8 trillion tax hike is set to take effect on January 1, 2011. What does this mean for you? The average Nebraska family will see their federal income taxes skyrocket from $3,461 to $5,090 -- an increase of $1,600...

Aug. 1, 1920--Aug. 30, 2010 OBERLIN, Kansas -- Eileen M. Laird, 90, died Aug. 30, 2010, in Oberlin. She was born Aug. 1, 1920, on a farm in the Harlan Township of Decatur County, Kansas to Mildred Belle (Vernon) and Earl Landau. She was raised on the family farm and graduated from Decatur Community High School in 1938...

A new ad for a high-priced car touts its ability to warn drivers when they drift into the oncoming lane, and even apply the brakes when it senses a slow vehicle ahead. Despite common safety features that used to sound like science fiction, most of us don't feel as safe on the road as we did five years ago, according to the third-annual Traffic Safety Culture Index released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety...

During a medical career in Southwest Nebraska that spanned more than 50 years, Dr. Frederick M. Karrer of McCook witnessed vast changes in the practice of medicine. When he started his practice, in 1929, most of his work consisted of house calls, even surgery -- sometimes as far as 35 miles from his office. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- No matter what other excuse they may offer, several hundred teenagers from Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas will no longer be able to say, "Nobody told me," after Sunday night's "Sex Still Has a Price Tag" presentation at Memorial Auditorium by author and speaker Pam Stenzel...

Crowned 2010 royalty at the McCook Bison game Friday night, front from left, crown bearers and 6-year-old first-graders McKenzie Farr and Ryan Unger. Back, first attendants Hailey Esch and Kyle Craw, queen Gretchen Sehnert, king Wyatt Kain, second attendants Meagan Carfield and Cody Goltl...

NORTH PLATTE -- Perhaps one half-inning kept the McCook High School girls softball team from having an outstanding Saturday, Sept. 18, at the North Platte Classic tournament. The Bison girls finished second, losing to Class A Lincoln North Star, 11-4 in six innings, in the tournament championship game Saturday evening at the Armory Park Complex in North Platte...

McCook High School head volleyball coach Krystal Weber would love to have at least one of her Bison girls put on some big shoes in the coming weeks. The host Bison lost all three matches in the McCook Invitational Saturday, Sept. 18, with errors being a common theme for McCook in all the defeats...

Anyone who travels through Nebraska can't help but notice the number of small businesses we have in our state. The number of small employers in Nebraska totals 41,288 according to figures from the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. That amounts to nearly 97 percent of all employers in Nebraska and accounts for more than half of our private sector employment...

Southwest High School running back Thomas Sughroue (33) finds running room on the sideline on this kickoff return against the Hayes Center Cardinals last Friday night. Host Southwest downed the Cards, 38-14, on the Roughriders home field in Bartley.