Stories from Tuesday, June 21, 2011

May 26, 1920-June 17, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Ruth E. Leopold, 91, passed away Friday, June 17, 2011, at Cedar Living Center in Oberlin, Kansas. Ruth was born May 26, 1920, to parents, Glenn Albert and Alta (Palmer) Murray in Arriba, Colorado. She was one of five children. Ruth grew up in Eastern Colorado, graduating from Arriba High School in 1936. She then went on to attend college, graduating with an associate's degree in business administration...

Dec. 4, 1923-June 19, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Janice M. Willet, 87, passed away Sunday, June 19, 2011, at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. Janice was born in Ainsworth, Nebraska on Dec. 4, 1923, to parents, Walter and Mary Etta (Mundorf) Wulf. She was one of four children. Janice grew up in Ainsworth, graduating from high school in 1942...

Oct. 8, 1921-June 20, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Gilbert "Bud" C. Reiman, 89, formerly of Benkelman, Nebraska, passed away Monday, June 20, 2011, at Hillcrest Nursing Home. Bud was born Oct. 8, 1921, in Dundy County, Nebraska to Charles and Sophia (Reining) Reiman. He attended rural schools in Dundy County...

Feb. 24, 1916-June 14, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Henry R. Butler, 95, of Topeka, Kansas, died Tuesday (June 14, 2011). He was born Feb. 24, 1916, in Schuyler County, Missouri, to Walter Thomas "Tom" and Alwidla Bell "Allie Harmon Butler. He married Pauline Walters on Aug. 27, 1939, and they had three sons. She preceded him in death on May 27, 1971. He later married Venice Owens on Aug. 30, 1972. She preceded him in death on Sept. 17, 2001...

Sept. 26, 1937-June 18, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Reuben Hoff Jr., 73, passed away Saturday, June 18, 2011, at Community Hospital in McCook. Reuben was born Sept. 26, 1937, in McCook to Reuben "Duke" and Mabel (Kentopp) Hoff Sr. He graduated from McCook in 1955...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County, Nebraska, Sheriff Gene Mahon said his officers' investigation into two horses found dead May 31 indicates there was no criminal activity involved. Mahon said that the owner of the two horses had explored many avenues to dispose of the aging horses. Each was 27 years old, Mahon said. "Nobody would take them," he said...

CONNIE JO DISCOE Regional Editor McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook residents headed for their basements for the second evening in a row, when tornado sirens blasted about 7 p.m. Monday. Red Willow County Sheriff Gene Mahon said this morning that he ordered that the sirens be sounded because the National Weather Service in Goodland, Kansas, issued a tornado warning for McCook...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook Municipal Facilities construction project saw its first major change from renditions that were presented to council members in February. Following an in-depth meeting earlier in the day with city department heads, representatives from Prochaska & Associates and Sampson Construction informed council members, Monday evening during their regularly scheduled meeting, that eliminating the basement of the facility was the plan going forward. ...

CAMBRIDGE, Nebraska -- A severe thunderstorm rolling through the area on Sunday evening brought high winds and hail causing damage to Cambridge Manor Nursing Home as well as to structural pieces within Cambridge Memorial Hospital's Imaging Department...

McCOOK, Nebraska - Red Willow County, Nebraska, commissioners will advertise for bids to build a new bridge over Red Willow Creek north of the former Republican Valley Junior/Senior High School between McCook and Indianola. Commissioners will open bids for a new bridge -- a 50-foot bridge with a steel substructure and a concrete deck -- in July, after they begin work on the county's 2011-12 budget. They'd like work to begin in August...

There's a new horror show coming to a convenience store checkout counter near you. The FDA released a new package of scary photos, such as a man exhaling smoke through a tracheotomy, a body with stitches from open-heart surgery, rotting teeth and lesions, which must be used to cover at least 50 percent of the front and pack of cigarette packages by October 2012...

We awakened this morning with a light, cool, crisp, mountain breeze wafting through the open window. Our motel room high above the town of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is away from traffic, hence the only sound of civilization is the echo of an occasional dog barking in the distance...

In conducting Project Gunwalker, operation Fast and Furious, the BATF elitists knew full well what they were doing--as did Attorney General Eric Holder and Pesident Barack Obama. These individuals intentionally facilitated the sale of weapons to Mexican mobsters, for the purpose of inciting political ire against lawful American gun owners--and did so with the expectation of increasing the Administration's draconian choke hold on our American liberties! The plot is a leap far beyond "high crimes and misdemeanors" or malfeasance in office--this crime entails a very particular offense, as defined in Article 3, Section 3 of the Constitution for the united States:. ...

Pending free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama are bad for Nebraska farmers and must be rejected if we are to preserve our way of life. All three trade treaties are based on NAFTA-style policies which have displaced American farmers while sending jobs that support Nebraska's rural communities offshore. In fact our leading export is jobs and we reward companies that outsource jobs. Since NAFTA took effect, the United States has lost 300,000 farms and millions of jobs...

March 21, 1918-June 17, 2011 BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Velma Helen (Hansen) Case was born March 21, 1918, to Albert (Bib) and Luella (Stamm) Hansen at their rural home in Yuma County, Colorado. Velma attended her first two years of school in rural Colorado before moving with her family to Dundy County, Nebraska, where she completed her eighth grade in the rural schools. She graduated from Benkelman High School in 1936, and then taught for two years in rural schools in Dundy County...