Stories from Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Jack Lee DeVries Sept. 9, 1938 - Nov. 13, 2011 ARAPAHOE, Nebraska -- Jack Lee DeVries, 73, died Sunday (Nov. 13, 2011), at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska. He was born on Sept. 9, 193, at Arapahoe, to Tobias and Elsie Clara (Hein) DeVries...

80th birthday The family of Tillie Lucas of Wauneta, Nebraska is requesting a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday. She was born Nov. 21, 1931 in Brandon, Colorado. She and her husband, Kenneth, started their family in Lamar, Colorado and moved to Wauneta in 1970. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The Mid-Plains Community College Board of Governors will review a follow-up report pertaining to the Fire Science Program during a regularly scheduled meeting, 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, at McMillen Hall on the McCook Community College Campus...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook Public School system will join a new cooperative, with the goal of reining in heating costs. The McCook Board of Education unanimously approved Monday night at its regular meeting to participate in an interlocal agreement with the Nebraska Choice Joint Utilities Management Program -- CJUMP...

MCCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook School District will be looking for a new elementary school principal. At its regular meeting Monday night, the McCook Board of Education accepted with the resignation of McCook Elementary Principal Lynda Baumbach, who has been with the McCook Public School system for 24 years...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The recent "intruder drills" at McCook Public Schools highlighted a few areas that needed to be addressed, said MPS Superintendent Grant Norgaard. During the "Board and Administrative Comments" portion at the regular school board meeting Monday night, Norgaard said on the whole, the drills were conducted as planned and much was learned, but that he and staff realized that they weren't totally prepared for every issue that came up...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County commissioners got a first look Monday morning at what the exterior of a jail could look like sitting on lots north of the courthouse in McCook, Nebraska. The computer drawings are in their very early stages, "the first pass at it," architect Steve Riley of Prochaska & Associates, Omaha, told commissioners during the commissioners' weekly meeting. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County, Nebraska's planning commission is updating the county's 10-year-old zoning regulations to comply with state laws and to address structures, such as wind turbines and communication towers, that weren't common in the county in 2001...

Monday's surprise announcement that TransCanada will voluntarily shift the route of the Keystone XL pipeline was an early Christmas present for Nebraska legislators who are spending Thanksgiving week attempting to craft legislation to do just that. While TransCanada doesn't expect to spend a lot of money rerouting the pipeline, which it expects will be only a 30-40-mile shift, it will lose a lot of money because of the delay in time. ...

Veteran's Day has come and gone but the memories continue. As a reminder of the annual commemoration of service by American GI's someone went me a YouTube video, produced by the History Channel, of a World War II B-17E mission in the Pacific, circa 1943. ...

Kat was a 2-year-old Australian Shepherd cow dog. He came to our family as a gift from our kids to my husband as a Father's Day gift. He had long hair that was multicolored and had what some label as a glass eye, even though he had vision in both eyes. Natural instinct for him was to protect and serve. He protected our home by barking at various things he thought we needed to know about, he would sing to the train as it passed by and he would bark as we conversed together...

I'm alarmed that the congressional "supercommittee," which is working on a plan to reduce the deficit, is considering cuts in Medicare and Social Security benefits that seniors have worked for and rely on to make ends meet. For most seniors these benefits are a necessity, not extra icing on the cake...

The National Education Association's 90th annual American Education Week, Nov. 13-19, 2011, presents all Americans with an opportunity to celebrate public education and honor individuals who are making a difference in ensuring every child receives a quality education. ...

When Thanksgiving arrives, I think about the Mayflower and its brave passengers who left Plymouth, England, Sept. 16, 1620. Arriving at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Nov. 20, 1620, they began a whole new life. Dec. 26, 1620, they anchored their ship at the location where they decided to establish the Plymouth Colony...

A big thank you to the faculty, teachers and children of the McCook Elementary School for the awesome patriotic display and celebration for Veteran's Day. It was way beyond our expectations. A.M. Johnston, McCook, Nebraska...

KEARNEY, Neb. --The college football game Saturday, Nov. 12 between the University of Nebraska-Kearney and Colorado School of Mines had a definite Bison flavor. Three former McCook High School gridiron standouts met at Ron & Carol Cope Field on the UNK campus, and the Bison duo on the home team roster got the best of their former prep teammate now at CSM...