Stories from Tuesday, June 28, 2011

HILO, Hawaii -- Frederick L. Helm DVM, U.S. Army Colonel retired, died at his home in Hilo, Hawaii. He was born on May 2, 1945 to John Francis and Helen Margaret (Sughroue) Helm. He had one older brother and later two more brothers and four sisters made up the Helm family. The family lived on their farm in Decatur County, Kansas...

Authorities are looking at a cell phone recovered from the burned out wreckage of a semi truck that struck an Amtrak train in Nevada on Friday to see if the driver might have been using it when the accident occurred. Conditions were clear and drivers of two following trucks saw no reason why the lead truck should have struck the passenger train, killing six including the driver, train conductor and four passengers, including a Seward, Nebraska, woman and her granddaughter...

It is evidently the age of electronics and the neat little devices certainly are making an impact on our lives. For father's day, my baby daughter sent me an Amazon Kindle on which one can download and read books. It is small and light, just ideal to carry with me to indulge in a favorite pastime of reading whenever I have a few unstructured moments while waiting for passengers that sort of thing. Handy is the word...

I would like to respond to Mike's comments in A very peculiar thing. My name is Kevin Darling and I've known Mike for a long time and there's a lot of folks out there on both sides of the fence that know me and what I do. What I've written below brings me no shame and I don't apologize for my opinion...

As part of the Gazette's centennial celebration, Mike and Linda Nielsen of McCook took us along when they and their daughter, Adrienne Zhang, her Chinese husband, Guang, and their 2-year-old daughter, Isabelle visited China in May. Clockwise from the top, Dr. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The chairman of the Red Willow County, Nebraska, board of commissioners doesn't want to start road maintenance for one subdivision because then every other subdivision will want the same treatment. And, commission chairman Earl McNutt said he's worked hard to treat the county's six subdivisions the same -- no county maintenance on roads that are not publicly owned. McNutt said he's set a precedence in the past, that the county does not maintain roads in subdivisions...

CONNIE JO DISCOE Regional Editor McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County, Nebraska's weed control superintendent told county commissioners Monday morning that landowners he's "had to pester" about letting invasive weeds grow on their land seem to be tackling the problem of noxious weeds and thistles...

WILSONVILLE, Nebraska -- Wilsonville, Nebraska, residents plan two meetings in the hope of keeping their post office open. The U.S. Postal Service is studying the closure of 26 rural post offices in Nebraska, including the one in Wilsonville. The Southwest Star/Cambridge Clarion newspaper reports that Brian Sperry, a regional spokesman for the USPS, told the Grand Island Independent that the closures are being studied because the Postal Service lost $8.5 billion last year and forecasts a loss of $8 billion this year.. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook's 1-cent sales tax revenue receipts for May, which were for March sales, came in at $137,710 according to city administration. That amount is a $14,148 increase over the prior year and $22,513 more than the budgeted amount of $115,197. Only one of the last 13 months has not come in as an increase over prior year's number and budget...

Dalton Downing of McCook, Nebraska, a rookie firefighter with the Red Willow Western Rural Fire Department, ascends a sheer cliff with a "patient" during training Monday evening. Assisting the ascent from the base of the cliff is fellow Red Willow Western firefighter Jeremy Bain. Members of the Red Willow Western and City of McCook Fire and Rescue learned about the team effort it takes to rappel and then return to the top with a patient...