Stories from Monday, May 9, 2011

Nov. 8, 1955-April 29, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Randy Neal Callan, 55, passed away Friday, April 29, 2011. Randy was born to Neal and Anita Callan, Nov. 8, 1955, in Alliance, Nebraska. He grew up and received his education in Alliance. Randy enjoyed spending time with family and friends, hunting, golfing and cooking. ...

April 3, 1949-May 2, 2011 CHEYENNE, Wyoming -- Thomas "Tom" "Tommy" Hilon Gass, 62, of Cheyenne, former resident and businessman of McCook, Nebraska, passed away on May 2, at University Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Thomas was born on April 3, 1949, in Sidney, Nebraska, the son of Bernard Hilon and Colleen Clare Gass...

Think "stroke" and we usually think about an elderly relative or friend who may have suffered one. Maybe that's why some experts have taken to using what they think is a more accurate descriptive term, "brain attack," which is what happens when the arteries leading to the brain are blocked or rupture...

Last week the Legislature took up the budget bills for the next biennium. Very little was changed as they advanced through the first and second rounds of debate. I would like to focus on some of the highlights of the budget. Eight bills make up the budget package this year, and they have advanced through the first two rounds of debate to Final Reading. The Nebraska Constitution requires that the budget is finished by the 80th legislative day, which is Tuesday, May 17...

When seniors in rural Nebraska can't make it to larger cities to see a geriatric specialist, the University of Nebraska Medical Center is finding a way to take the specialty care to them with a new state of the art mobile medical facility resulting from a local and federal partnership...

Girls softball fans enjoyed a full plate of action Saturday, May 7, at the Jaycees Sports Complex in McCook. A total of 16 youth girls softball teams from McCook and several other communities from southwest Nebraska came to town for the sixth annual McCook Optimist Club's Spring Slam tournament...

COLUMBUS, Nebraska -- McCook High School is the little fish in the big pond when it comes to the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference track and field ranks. But that didn't stop the Bison teams from turning in strong efforts at the annual GNAC meet held Friday, May 6, at Memorial Stadium in Columbus...

GREATER NEBRASKA ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (GNAC) TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS Friday, May 6, at Memorial Stadium, Columbus Top Six Finishers In Each Event Plus Additional McCook Results (Running Events Clocked in Fully Automatic Timing) GIRLS DIVISION Team Standings -- Kearney 152, Lexington 97, McCook 81, Norfolk 68, Scottsbluff 48, Columbus 45, North Platte 18, Hastings 18...

Rulon Gardner, the champion Olympic wrestler from Wyoming, via the University of Nebraska, has been compared to a wild jungle cat. Beyond the obvious reference to his strength and quickness, Gardner tends to be a loner, difficult to tame, ferocious when cornered, and like the proverbial cat, seems to have nine lives...