Stories from Thursday, May 12, 2011

OBERLIN, Kansas -- Three out of five Wisconsin men charged with poaching in Kansas have pleaded guilty to amended charges. In December, the men were accused of illegally killing and possessing trophy mule deer. John Jacobs III, 53 his son John Jacobs IV, 30, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Joseph Jacobs, 23, of DePere, Wisconsin, will all lose their hunting privileges for the next three years, while also having to pay fines and restitution of more than $6,100...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- During his weekly conference call at the Keystone Business Center in McCook, State Sen. Mark Christensen reiterated that he is pleased with the version of the redistricting map that he anticipates will be adopted, but encouraged members of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce to attend a video conference Friday in McCook...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Cara Hunt has been selected as the student Commencement speaker for the 2011 McCook Community College Spring Commencement ceremony. She was chosen through an all-campus competitive selection process. She is the daughter of Carl and Gina Hunt. She was born in St. Francis, and attended school at St. Francis Elementary School and St. Francis Community High School...

A semi tractor is burned beyond recognition, above, but another nearby truck was pulled to safety and damage was apparently limited in a fire Tuesday at the Ag Valley Co-op in Bartley. A company spokesman was not immediately availble to provide more information today. There apparently were no injuries in the incident...

The car had a 2.9 liter, four cylinder engine and unfortunately got only 13 to 21 miles per gallon, but it was flex-fuel, burning gasoline, kerosene or ethanol -- farmers were even encouraged to brew their own fuel. Today's vehicles have a lot better mileage than the 1908 Ford Model T, specifications listed above, but rarely burn as much alcohol as they are able to, thanks to misconceptions about ethanol and unavailability of E85 and flex-fuel pumps...

It is interesting to note that the Redistricting Committee failed to follow its own guidelines as set forth in LR102. Some such deviations are addressed below. Paragraph 3: "...boundaries shall follow county lines whenever practicable and shall define districts that are compact and contiguous as articulated by the United States Supreme Court ..."...

In the "Launch the Shuttle Derby" we are still at the "any minute now and holding." At last word from NASA, the launch will not be before May 16. Since this is being written well before that date, I won't know if they did or didn't. There won't be much good viewing this week as the moon will be full on May 17. That will erase almost everything in the sky worth looking at...

Maybe it was a full moon, maybe the planets weren't aligned correctly, I don't know, but I started the week on Monday by backing into my garage door ... while IN the garage. I know, I know, how the heck does anyone do that? Well, it's like this. I was late leaving the house to pick up my two older girls from school, my phone was ringing as I'm loading up, and my 4-year old buckled in the backseat was insistently whining for a snack. ...