Stories from Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Amy (Miller) Limbach May 2, 1970-Aug. 15, 2012 KEARNEY, Nebraska -- Amy (Miller) Limbach, 42, of Kearney died Aug. 10, 2012 at her residence. Funeral services will be held 10 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, at the Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Kearney with the Rev. Duane Duley officiating. Interment will be at 3 p.m., in the Woodland Cemetery in North Bend, Nebraska...

OGALLALA, Nebraska -- Mid Plains Community College will be bringing even more educational opportunities to Ogallala and the surrounding communities with its newly opened Ogallala Extended Campus Building, located at 512 E. B Street in Ogallala. The official grand opening of the building took place Thursday with a ribbon cutting, tours of the facility and a free lunch for those attending. Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy served as the keynote speaker...

The family of Hubert M. Haines is requesting a card shower in honor of his 80th birthday. He was born Aug. 21, 1932, raised in Dundy County Nebraska, a life-long farmer and rancher. His children are Dan and wife Linda of Culbertson, Nebraska, Linda and Ron Sorenson, of Omaha, Nebraska, Kenny and wife, Francie of Benkelman, Many grandchildren and the joy of his life, great-grands. Cards will reach him at 33176 River Road, Benkelman, NE 69021...

The family of Howard Hoffman of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of his 90th birthday. He was born in Salina, Kansas, Aug. 18, 1922. Cards of congratulations will reach him at 139 West O, McCook, NE 69001.

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook Economic Development Corporation will conduct the next homebuyer education workshop this Tuesday and Thursday Aug. 14 and 16. Class will be held at Keystone Business Center at 402 Norris Avenue, in the 3rd floor training room...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Dena Beck, central and southwest Nebraska Business Specialist with the Center for Rural Affairs' Rural Enterprise Assistance Project will hold office hours in McCook on Aug. 24. Hours will be 10:00 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. McCook Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) will handle the appointments; (308) 345-1200. MEDC office is located at 402 Norris Avenue, Suite 301 (Keystone Business Center - 3rd Floor)...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- Cora Berry, wife of McCook mayor Dennis Berry, was one of the select tour guides the weekend of Aug. 4-5, for the open house at the Nebraska Governor's mansion and gardens. At the invitation of Gov. Dave Heineman's wife, Sally Ganem, Berry has served on the mansion renovation committee. The renovations began when Sen. Ben Nelson served as the state's governor...

This information is gathered at the McCook Public Safety Center, the McCook office of the Nebraska State Patrol, the Red Willow County Courthouse, the Red Willow County Sheriff's Office and the McCook Humane Society. ------ Police activity Activity log...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The Girl Scouts may have the record when it comes to cookie sales, but Emeritus at Willow Ridge is giving them a run for their money. Recently, while most of the area has been busy with county fair activities, residents and staff at Willow Ridge have taken on the additional work of order taking, baking, bagging, tagging and sorting cookies as a fund raiser for the Casillas family of McCook...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County, Nebraska, commission chairman Earl McNutt said he knew the county's tax levy for 2012-13 would increase. "But," he said during the commissioners' weekly meeting Monday morning, "I was hoping it would be 41 ... 42 cents, max."...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The sheriff's office in Frontier County, Nebraska, is offering to dispatch Red Willow County sheriff's officers, Red Willow County Sheriff Gene Mahon told his county commissioners during their weekly meeting Monday morning. Frontier County Sheriff Dan Rupp said in conversations with Mahon and in a written proposal to commissioners that his dispatchers can also dispatch other services such as volunteer fire/rescue, county roads or weather spotters...

McCook drivers are just too nice. And they're also rude, careless and irresponsible. Come to think of it, they come in all types, just like anywhere else. But with McCook's many open intersections, it seems that many of us need a refresher course on right of way rules. It's frustrating to approach an intersection and signal a turn (rare in itself), only to have an approaching driver hesitate, then wave you through...

Nebraska Public Power District, the state's largest generating utility, is preparing to spend more than $1.5 billion to retrofit Gerald Gentleman Station, an old, dirty, and increasingly expensive coalfired power plant. This investment will be financed by you, Nebraska's ratepayers...

Reflections from a "has been" farmer. The pastures are dried up, actually dormant, and crops have all failed. Doom is us. At least that seems to be the current feeling in the local area. The politicians push it so they can step in and throw money at the problem...

McCOOK, Nebraska --The sale of McCook School district property on West Q will be held up for a while, contingent on the re-zoning of the property. The bus barn property on West Q Street, approximately three and half acres with metal buildings, was listed by the school district for $175,000. Superintendent Grant Norgaard told the school board at the regular meeting Monday night that the property has been sold but the sale is not final until the area is re-zoned...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- If a McCook student cannot afford to participate in a school activity due to financial difficulty, that need is always taken care of, said McCook Schools Business Manager Rick Haney. "I don't think we have ever looked a kid in the eye and said we wouldn't take care of it," Haney told the McCook School Board Monday night at the regular meeting, during the discussion of "Student Fees" school policy...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A McCook man who assaulted his wife, just prior to her locking herself in her car and calling police, was sentenced to 240 days in jail during a hearing in Red Willow County Court. The man, 42-year-old Joe S. Lopez of 1107 E. Third Street, was convicted of third degree domestic assault stemming from a March 14, 2012, incident...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook Police Department is seeking information about the driver of a van which struck at least three vehicles, Thursday evening at about 11:30 p.m., parked on East Third Street and East I Street. The van, a 2001 Pontiac Montana, is owned by Jerome F. Yost of 402 Missouri Ave Circle and was reported stolen by 37-year-old Lirin T. Yost of 807 E. Third Street the day following the collisions...

Ambulance personnel Justin Davis and Joy Molcyk visit with the tiny victim of a two-vehicle accident at West Third and H in McCook, Nebraska, about 4 p.m., Monday. The little girl and her mother were transported to Community Hospital of McCook after their car and a Tahoe collided in the intersection. More information will be released by the McCook Police Department after officers finish their investigation...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A McCook man arrested in February as part of a joint operation that involved several law enforcement departments, including an agent from Homeland Security, was sentenced to probation last week in Red Willow County District Court...