Stories from Monday, January 30, 2012

This past week President Obama delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. Traditionally, this speech has been a chance for the President to outline his agenda for the coming year. After more than three years of economic hardship, this was the time to chart a new path forward to put our nation back on a sounder fiscal and economic footing...

Evelyn Belle Hansen Feb. 1, 1924 - Jan. 26, 2012 SUTHERLAND, Nebraska --Evelyn Belle Hansen, 87, of Sutherland died Thursday (Jan. 26, 201), at the Sutherland Care Center in Sutherland. Shewas born Feb. 1, 1924, to Merrit Weston and Gertrude Mae Griffith Quick at Quick, Nebraska, where she grew up. She graduated from the School of Technical Agriculture at Curtis, Nebraska, in 1941...

Looking out over a gathering of about 200 people in late January as I sat in an auditorium waiting to speak, my thoughts went to Nebraska's proud military tradition. The 200 people were members of the Nebraska National Guard, who had recently returned from Afghanistan, and their families. They were the latest in a long line of Nebraskans who have served their country...

Louise Amy (Swartz) Niblack March 1, 1926 - Jan. 27, 2012 BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Louise A. Niblack was born March 1, 1926, near Eddyville, Nebraska, to Samuel Edward and Myrtle Viola (Wright) Swartz. At age two, the family moved to Southwest City, Missouri. She lived there until age 14. After the death of her father, she moved with her mother and younger brother to McCracken, Kansas, to be near other family members...

Evelyn Belle Hansen Feb. 1, 1924 - Jan. 26, 2012 SUTHERLAND, Nebraska --Evelyn Belle Hansen, 87, of Sutherland, died Thursday (Jan. 26, 201), at the Sutherland Care Center in Sutherland. She was born Feb. 1, 1924, to Merrit Weston and Gertrude Mae Griffith Quick at Quick, Nebraska, where she grew up. She graduated from the School of Technical Agriculture at Curtis, Nebraska, in 1941...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A fire started by sparks from a welder destroyed a single-stall garage and car at 802 W. Third Street in McCook, Nebraska, early Sunday morning. The fire was reported at 3:23 a.m. McCook Fire Chief Marc A. Harpham said a resident of the house who had tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire was treated on the scene for smoke inhalation, but he was not transported to the hospital...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County, Nebraska, commissioners signed a real estate purchase agreement this morning to buy the last two privately-owned properties north of the courthouse in the 500 block of Norris Avenue in McCook. Commissioners agreed to purchase the two apartment houses at 520 Norris from Greg and Janet Hepp of McCook for $160,000, clearing the way for a jail if commissioners should decide to build one...

McCook High School Color Day royalty, crowned following the Bison-Kearney Catholic boys basketball game at the Senior High gym, includes, front from left, crown bearers Matthew Nichols and Bailey McGuire. Back, second attendant Betsy Hardin, first attendant Anna West, queen Emilyne Nichols, king Spencer Van Pelt, first attendant Dalton Bundy and second attendant Alan Goodenberger...

CONNIE JO DISCOE Regional Editor McCOOK, Nebraska -- When Jerry Miller's dad died in 1982, Jerry inherited an extensive collection of horse tack and saddles. When time and weather started wreaking havoc with the collection in storage, Jerry decided to share some of it with friends who knew her dad and share his -- and her -- love of horses...

Brendon Malcolm of McCook takes a practice shot Saturday morning before competitive play begins at Kelley Creek Pub. The Shoot for the Shelter pool tournament raised more than $2,200 for the McCook Humane Society.

If there's a recession in the construction industry, somebody forgot to tell McCook. The latest sign came this weekend with the demolition of a small house next to the McCook Public Library, purchased for possible future expansion by the Library Foundation. For now, it will serve as much-needed parking, and the library plans to add an elevator to allow better use of the existing basement...

Re: Stan White "God-given Plant" 27 Jan. Marijuana prohibition contravenes the God given right to free will, to liberty secured by the U.S. Bill of Rights, the Canadian Charter of Rights And Freedoms and the United Nations Declaration of Human rights...

I'm writing about Stan White's thoughtful letter: "God-given plant" (1-27-12). Is there any legitimate reason that a natural herb that has never killed anybody should be classified the same as heroin? I think not. Marijuana is a good substitute for potentially deadly painkillers such as Vicodin and is also a substitute for alcohol...

Most of the people who settled Southwestern Nebraska were hard working, honest folk who had come to make a better life than the one they left back east. But there were always some, the adventurers, that thought that might discover an easy path to riches by taking advantage of folks who were weaker, or not as smart as they were -- the gamblers, the professional gun men and rustlers...

Esther Sinner Dec. 8. 1914 - Jan. 29, 2012 McCOOK, Nebraska --Esther (Fahrenbruch) Sinner died Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, at the Hilicrest Nursing Home in McCook, Nebraska at the age of 96. She was born on the family farm north of Culbertson, Nebraska, on Dec. 8, 1914. Her parents were George J. and Katherine (Trautman) Fahrenbruch. At age three, the family moved to Loveland, Colorado and at age 6 they returned to Culbertson, Nebraska where she graduated from Culbertson High School in 1934...

Justin L. Floyd June 28, 1916 ~ Jan. 30, 2012 SUTHERLAND, Nebraska --Justin L. Floyd, age 95, passed away Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, at the Sutherland Care Center in Sutherland, Nebraska. Justin was born to Justin E. and Nora Belle (Hibbs) Floyd on June 28, 1916, on his grandfather Warren Floyd's homestead near Smithfield in Gosper County and departed on Jan. ...

Marjorie Elaine Koetter May 7, 1932 - Jan. 29, 2012 McCOOK, Nebraska -- Marjorie Elaine Owens (Berger) Koetter passed away at her home in McCook on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, surrounded by her family. She was 79 years old. Marge was born in Herndon, Kansas to Samuel Andrew and May (Weakley) Owens. ...

Alice L. Skinner Aug. 30, 1911 - Jan. 30, 2012 TRENTON, Nebraska -- Alice Luella Skinner passed away Monday (Jan. 30, 2012), at the El Dorado Manor Home in Trenton, Nebraska at the age of 100. She was born Aug. 30, 1911, in Hitchcock County, Nebraska, the daughter of the late Frank and Rebecca Jane (McDowell) Miller. ...