Stories from Monday, September 26, 2011

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Saying the 3rd District hasn't elected a U.S. Senator since Minden's Carl Curtis, State Sen. Deb Fischer said the district is vitally important in her campaign for national office. The 3rd District has 47 percent of the Republican vote, she noted...

DANBURY, Nebraska -- A 54-year-old Lexington, Nebraska, man died in a motorcycle accident on the north edge of Danbury late Saturday evening. The investigation by Red Willow County chief sheriff's deputy Alan Kotschwar indicates that Kelly Michael O'Toole of Lexington missed the curve on Highway 89 east of the highway's intersection with Danbury's Grandville main street. The motorcycle left the highway and rolled and tumbled into a field on the north side of the highway...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Plenty of sunshine and just-right autumn temperatures helped, as did new activities and a build-up of a couple weeks, as McCook celebrated its annual "Heritage Days" with true gusto. "It was an outstanding weekend," said Pam Harsh, director of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, which has coordinated Heritage Days for 41 years...

LINCOLN, Nebraska --Since Phase I of TransCanada's Keystone pipeline went into service in eastern Nebraska in June 2010, it is difficult to find a county or town official who has anything bad to say about it. But tracking down the economic benefits of TransCanada's Phase I pipeline--and by extension, the proposed Keystone XL project--presents a larger challenge. ...

Congratulations to the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, Fox Theatre, Norris Foundation, Optimists, McCook Art Guild, John Kugler and other balloonists, Micky Stubblefield and family, and countless other organizations and individuals who made Heritage Days 2011 an event to remember...

Oppose pipeline Dear Editor, We, the members of Green Bellevue, oppose the construction of TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline in Nebraska. To protect the over $17.2 billion agricultural industry in Nebraska, clean water resources must be protected. We must ensure the health of clean drinking water for millions of people who rely on the Ogallala Aquifer in the west, and on Nebraska's rivers and groundwater wells in the eastern part of the state. ...

School has opened and students are getting back to the routine of learning. One of the many programs offered by McCook Public Schools is TeamMates Mentoring. TeamMates, founded by Tom Osborne, matches an adult with a student grades 4-12. They meet once per week during the school day for one class period. ...

In 1882 working cowboys were a common sight in McCook. A McCook Tribune writer told about some of these cowboys. A Cowboy has qualities that many men, who have the veneer of civilization, do not possess. He is courageous, else he could not follow his hazardous vocation. He is courteous to women. He will make any sacrifice, undergo any discomfort, suffer any privation to help another in distress, be that other man friend or stranger. This when he is sober...

Nebraska has three seasons: winter, football, and road construction. It's an old joke but it emphasizes why we go all out in the summer months with road construction. Good roads are important to Nebraska's economy. Not only do they create jobs while they're being built, but they are our state's corridors of commerce that promote economic growth...

Elsie P. Gustafson Feb. 19, 1913 - Sept. 23, 2011 HOLDREGE, Nebraska -- Elsie Pearl Gustafson, 98, of (formerly of Axtell, Nebraska) died Friday, (Sept. 23, 2011) at Holdrege Memorial Homes. She was born Feb. 19, 1913, at Orleans, Nebraska, to Arthur Stanley and Julia Myrtle (Miller) Phelps. She attended school in Orleans and graduated from the Orleans High School with the class of 1931...

Evelyn Richards Feb. 2, 1918 - Sept 25, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Evelyn (Kincaid) Richards. age 93. passed away at McCook Community Hospital on Sunday Sept. 25, 2011. She was born on Feb. 2, 1918, in Danbury, Nebraska, the daughter of Grant and Hattie (Weatherwax) Kincaid. ...

Marion Christina Estergard Carter Gilbert March 11, 1924 - Sept 22,, 2011 McCOOK, Nebraska --Marion Christina Estergard-Carter-Gilbert passed away Sept. 22, 2011 at the Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook, Nebraska at the age of 87. She was born March 11, 1924 in Cambridge, Nebraska to Lizzie (Petersen) and Anton Estergard. As a young woman, Marion taught school in a one-room rural Nebraka schoolhouse...

Sharon L. Sitzman CULBERTSON, Nebraska -- Sharon L. Sitzman, 72, died Sunday (Sept. 25, 2011), at Community Hospital in McCook. Funeral services are 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Culbertson with the Rev. Corey Jenkins officiating. Burial will follow at the Culbertson Cemetery...