Stories from Monday, October 1, 2012

Note: Part #2 of 3. Since Senator Nelson is leaving Washington after this term, we are revisiting a few of the columns we have written about him over the years, ahead of the retirement party McCook is hosting for "Our Ben" on Oct. 13. Ben Nelson, as a boy in McCook, had always been interested in China, so when he got the chance to join a trade mission to the Orient, he jumped at the opportunity. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska - Alan Gunther, past President of the McCook Rotary Club, was recently honored with a Paul Harris Fellow. The Paul Harris Society is named after the founder of Rotary International and recognizes friends of The Rotary Foundation who annually contribute $1,000 or more to the Annual Programs Fund, PolioPlus, or the Humanitarian grants Program. ...

It may be time to do more than just take out the trash.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Six-year-old Isaiah Casillas of McCook, Nebraska, met University of Nebraska Husker football running back Rex Burkhead, who, along with other Husker athletes, participates in "Uplifting Athletes," a national nonprofit organization that aligns college football programs with rare diseases...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Runza will support the upcoming Alzheimer's Memory Walk tonight, with a portion of all sales proceeds from 5-8 p.m., donated to the cause.

CULBERTSON, Nebraska -- The Culbertson Improvement Program will be hosting an appreciation reception in honor of the Culbertson Fire Department and Culbertson Rescue Squad on Sunday, Oct, 7 from 3-5 p.m., at the Ambulance Barn in Culbertson. CIP members urge the public to join us for a cake and ice cream social to say "thank you" to all of these volunteers...

IMPERIAL, Nebraska -- On Sept. 27, the Frenchman Valley Farmers Cooperative, Inc. (FVC) Board of Directors accepted, with regret, the resignation of General Manager, Jim Chism effective Oct.31. Chism has accepted the CEO position with Farmers Cooperative (FC) in Ames, Iowa. FC has corporate headquarters in Ames and is the largest farmer-owned local agriculture cooperative in Iowa, serving its 5,500 members with 450 full-time employees from their 60 locations...

The community of Wauneta, Nebraska, celebrates with the residents and staff of "Sunrise Heights of Wauneta," during a grand re-opening of the nursing home Saturday afternoon. After Vetter Health Services of Elkhorn, Nebraska, announced in mid-summer 2011 that it intended to sell the "Heritage of Wauneta" nursing home by June 20, 2012, members of the village board and community pulled together to buy the facility and preserve homes for residents and jobs for staff members. ...

Kacy Anderson of McCook is a very happy "dictionary," in the 2012 Heritage Days parade Saturday morning. The McCook Rotary gives out dictionaries to area students and Anderson was part of the McCook Rotary parade entry. Also in the parade was Spotlight Studies, with Jill Hill, left, driving and dance instructor Chandra Bush. More pictures are on page 12 in today's McCook Daily Gazette...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- According to the owner of the City of McCook's contracted trash hauler, Fritz Trucking, the city's emergency purchase of two 2006 Freightliner semi trucks last month was unnecessary. Steve Fritz told the Gazette this morning that the city getting into the trucking business was not the right solution and information in tonight's City Council meeting agenda pertaining to the item was inaccurate...

It's that time of year again when many of Nebraska's farmers reap the fruits of their labor over the past growing season. However, this year, the drought has presented new challenges. Record temperatures and a lack of rain will likely yield a smaller harvest relative to recent years...

After the news finally soaked in that one of Nebraska's most successful sons was retiring as Athletic Director at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I got to thinking about the impact Tom Osborne has had on Nebraska. After Tom graduated from Hastings College in 1959, he left Nebraska to play pro football. ...

Robert I. 'Ike' Malcolm July 3, 1926 - Sept. 30, 2012 McCOOK,Nebraska -- Robert I. "Ike" Macolm, 86, died Sunday (Sept. 30, 2012), at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. Services are pending with Carpenter Breland Funeral Home in McCook.

McCook Daily Gazette McCOOK, Nebraska -- Sandra (not her real name) knows how valuable the McCook Food Pantry is. "I used to be the type of person who never asked for help, I did things on my own," the 55-year old grandmother said. "But, sometimes it doesn't hurt to put your pride aside and ask for help...

Willa Marie Arent (Owens) Mortimore Feb. 13, 1916 - Sept. 28, 2012 CURTIS, Nebraska -- Willa Marie (Arent) Owens Mortimore, 96, of Curtis died Friday (Sept. 28, 2012), at Linden Court in North Platte, Nebraska. She was born Feb. 13, 1916, to Fred Fredrick and Elizabeth Marie (Podewitz) Arent in Kearney County near Minden, Nebraska. They later moved to Cambridge, then Culbertson. In the spring of 1928, her family moved to Frontier County south of Stockville, where they built a home...