Stories from Tuesday, September 13, 2011

May 22, 1932-Sept. 11, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- John "Jack" F. Rogers passed away Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. He was 79 years old. Jack was born on May 22, 1932, in McCook to Clarence Abner and Clara Orena (Tillery) Rogers. He graduated from McCook High School in 1950. He continued his education at the University of Nebraska and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism...

Nov. 29, 1935-Sept 9, 2011 OBERLIN, Kansas -- Charlotte Bowen, 75, died Friday (Sept. 9, 2011), at Decatur County Hospital in Oberlin, Kansas. She was born Nov. 29, 1935, at Watertown, South Dakota, to Charles and Angeline (Oestreich) Schmidt. She attended schools in Watertown and graduated from high school there...

Friends and family of Maxine Talley are requesting a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday Sept. 17. Cards of congratulations will reach her at PO Box 73, Culbertson, NE 69024.

MAYWOOD, Nebraska -- A Maywood man died Thursday at the Denver Health Medical Center while being treated for injuries he sustained from a motor vehicle accident. 38-year-old Wayne L. Schurr rolled his pickup several times and was ejected during the Sept. 4 accident that occurred just past 2 p.m. on Hayes County Road, 2.5 miles west of Maywood...

LORRI SUGHROUE McCook Daily Gazette McCOOK, Nebraska -- Thanks to $10,000 in anonymous donations, the high school FFA club will have its own classroom. The McCook school board unanimously accepted the donations of $4,000, $3,000 and $3,000 at its regular meeting Monday night at the Junior High conference room. Rick Haney, McCook School Business Manager, said the funds would be used to construct a classroom in the auto body shop for FFA...

MCCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook School Board approved the budget request of $5.7 million in local property taxes, to fund the 2011-12 school budget. After a public hearing Monday night at which no member of the public spoke, the board later adopted the $5.7 million tax request for the general fund, bond fund and special building fund...

LORRI SUGHROUE McCook Daily Gazette McCOOK, Nebraska -- It would cost Red Willow County an average of $340,000 per year for the next 20 years, if the county decided to use bonds to finance a new jail. Red Willow County Commissioners discussed financing options for a proposed jail at their meeting Monday morning, with Paul Grieger of D.A. Davidson and Co., the bonding company that worked with the county the last time a new jail was proposed in 2005...

Construction crews are making up for lost time, quickly pouring walls for the new $10 million McCook Community College Events Center. The 53,000 square-foot facility will feature a competition gymnasium with retractable seating for up to 2,000 spectators, and an auxiliary practice gym for the college's six intercollegiate sports program. ...

Politicians and activists debate the route of the Keystone XL and its potential threat to the Ogallala Aquifer, and the Republican River and the wells around it are a source of contention between Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska as well as the Natural Resources Districts involved...

Throughout America, people depend on their mobile devices more than ever before. From day-to-day business and keeping in touch with family and friends to public safety, reliable wireless service is a necessity everywhere Americans live, work and travel -- in both urban and rural communities...

Ah the joys of ever bigger government. Several years ago when the Omaha World Herald quit delivering newspapers to outstate Nebraska I subscribed to the North Platte Telegraph in addition to the McCook Daily Gazette. It is my judgment that in contrast to the Gazette, the Telegraph tends to favor a more liberal bent to its stable of writers and choice of national news articles. I tend to argue with some of those opinions...

MAYWOOD, Nebraska -- Maywood's football team would probably like to replay about a minute of its Friday, Sept. 9 six-man football game against Hitchcock County. The host Tigers surrendered three touchdowns in less than one minute elapsed off the clock as Hitchcock County ran to a 54-32 victory...

KEARNEY, Nebraska -- The McCook High School boys tennis varsity squad picked up a pair of dual meet victories at Kearney Monday afternoon. The Bison played tough in claiming a 7-2 win over host Kearney Catholic, followed by a 6-3 decision over Grand Island Central Catholic...