Stories from Tuesday, May 10, 2011

BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Betty Joan Pinkerton, daughter of Paul R. and Jennie (Lucas) Headrick was born March 2, 1931, on her maternal grandparents farm near Palmyra, Nebraska. She attended schools in Holdrege, Alexandria and Beatrice, Nebraska, Creston, Iowa, Ashland and Mead Nebraska, where she graduated with the class of 1949. With her parents and two brothers, she moved to Benkelman on July 4, 1950...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Marjorie Bernadine (Blake) Hall, 94, died Monday (May 9, 2011) at Cambridge Memorial Hospital in Cambridge, Nebraska. Funeral services are Thursday, 2 p.m., at Memorial United Methodist Church in McCook with the Rev. Lance Clay officiating. Burial is in Indianola Cemetery in Indianola, Nebraska...

BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Wilfred M. Hansen, 77, died Thursday (May 5, 2011) at Medical Center of Aurora in Aurora, Colorado. Funeral services are Thursday, 10:30 a.m., at Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, Nebraska, with the Rev. Todd Burpo officiating. Interment with military honors will follow services at the Benkelman Cemetery at 2 p.m...

Feb. 9, 1922-May 7, 2011 ARAPAHOE, Nebraska -- Theodore "Ted" W. Luhman, 89, died Saturday (May 7, 2011) at Cambridge Memorial Hospital in Cambridge, Nebraska. He was born Feb. 9, 1922, in Cambridge to William G. and Martha (Frank) Luhman. He was raised near Holbrook, Nebraska and graduated from Holbrook High School with the class of 1940. After high school he went on to Midwest School for Welding in Omaha, Nebraska graduating in 1942...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Another scam attempt has been reported in McCook. A caller, promising a lottery prize of $1.2 million and a new Mercedes Benz, has called a McCook woman twice in the past two months, offering to deliver her package of winnings in exchange for a receipt showing that she had transferred $750 to a person in Nassau, Bahamas...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook Public Schools' board of education members accepted the resignation of a 39-year teacher and approved the hiring of seven new teachers at their monthly meeting Monday evening. The board also took the first steps in the annual evaluation of Superintendent Grant Norgaard. "My intent is to request a contract extension," board president Tom Bredvick told fellow board members...

Connie Jo Discoe Regional Editor McCOOK, Nebraska -- A Red Willow County, Nebraska, landowner and the Nebraska Bureau of Educational Lands and Funds -- BELF -- can't agree on what kind of road is appropriate for grain trucks and combines, and, Monday morning, asked county commissioners to decide for them...

It was sad to see that a young male mountain lion was shot and killed by Kearney police officers Monday, but the possible alternative -- injury or death of a child or adult -- is terrifying. About the time children were leaving for school, a mountain lion was seen walking around a Southwest Kearney neighborhood of newer, medium-sized homes, not far from a popular new park...

Yes Sir! Yes Sir, McCook will build a 12-foot high fence around our airport. Yes Sir, the citizens of McCook will be happy to pay our share of the $1.7 million fence, latest estimate being only $88,475 from local tax revenue. After all tax money is free and everybody knows we can't be too safe!...

The cost for a wildlife fence for the airport reaches over $1.7 million. I think that's a little over-priced. What kind of fence should have to cost 1.7 million dollars? I have never seen an animal that could jump over 12 feet, besides maybe a kangaroo. To top it off, they're putting barbwire on the top, how is that going to serve a purpose?...

As one of 30 graduates from McCook Junior College in 1947, I have been very pleased to witness the addition of many buildings to the site, as in a recent Gazette story featured the addition of a new event center complete with an artistic conception of the new building...