Stories from Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Stella (Stute) Bash BENKELMAN, Nebraska -- Stella (Stute) Bash, 93, died Monday (Oct.1, 2012), in Lincoln, Nebraska. Funeral services are 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012, at the Zion Lutheran Church in Benkelman with the Rev. George Matthews officiating. Interment will follow at Benkelman Cemetery, Benkelman....

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...

Courtesy photo Sworn-in Michael G. McHale of Cambridge, Nebraska, was sworn into the Nebraska Bar Association, receiving his license to practice law in Nebraska on Sept. 18, 2012. McHale is a 2012 graduate with distinction of Nebraska College of Law, having graduated with high distinction in 2009 from University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and from Cambridge High School with distinction in 2005. ...

On display through the end of the month at the Wrightstone Fine Arts Gallery is "Impact's Best" a collaboration of the Nebraska's top artists, including MCC Art Instructor Rick Johnson. Impact is a non-profit Nebraska visual arts organization founded in 1985 with a mission to educate through outreach programs and exhibitions. Impact maintains a membership of 25-30 Nebraskans...

HAYS, Kan. -- As part of the senior-level class requirements, Fort Hays State University agriculture students will present seminars in Albertson Hall, room 235, through Nov. 5. The student seminars, which began Sept. 24, will cover a variety of topics including crops, agricultural economy, diseases affecting farmers and ranchers, and agriculture controversies...

Editor, As the November elections draw near, it is important to distinguish the difference between Republican and Democrat. A Democrat puts his shoes on one foot at a time. The Republican does exactly the same, except different. For this reason I have invented a new political party: Republicrat...

Editor, Certainly, evil men like Bernie Madoff, who wantonly consume the dreams and futures of innocent, unassuming citizens, should find themselves in jail for the rest of their lives. But, unfortunately, some people got away with it. There has always been and always will be people that cheat, steal and engage in fraudulent behavior. ...

A reader responded to my last column on the Gazette's Blog the electronic version of the newsprint McCook Daily Gazette. A person with the appellation "hulapopper" wrote: "Just like requesting a song on the radio, may I request a column? Before the election why don't you do an expose of the mentality of the electorate. ...

'The problem with coffee is trying to make it when you haven't had any yet.'

Maggie Mae Hilliard of Oxford, Wisconsin, RFD TV and the stage at Branson, Missouri, clowns on and off the stage during her first-ever performance in Nebraska, during McCook's annual Heritage Days Celebration Saturday evening. Maggie Mae, her "Heartland Country" band and her husband, Roger (AKA "Mr. ...

Fragile freedoms

CURTIS, Nebraska -- The Nebraska Department of Roads will begin work on a bridge repair project on Highway 18. The bridge is located two tenths of a mile south of Curtis. Travel will be reduced to one 12 foot lane. One way traffic will be maintained by traffic signals. Weather permitting, work will begin on Oct. 9, and be completed by Oct. 29...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A Life Chain will form Sunday, 2:30 -- 3:30 p.m., along B Street in McCook, Nebraska. Life Chain is a peaceful and prayerful public witness of pro-life individuals praying for our nation and for an end to abortion. Signs proclaim "Abortion Kills Children," "Adoption - the Loving Option," "Jesus Forgives & Heals," "Lord, Forgive Us and Our Nation" and others...

Gary Worthy of Atwood, Kansas, second from the right, fires up his "Pork Choppers" "helicopter/chopper" smoker to compete in the ninth annual "Smokin' on the Beaver" barbeque contest Saturday on the Beaver Creek in Atwood. Worthy said 45 teams -- the most ever -- competed for the title of "best Beaver barbecuer." Worthy and his team mates, Mark Leitner of Norton, Kansas, (above) who tried to smile through the smoke, and Duaiwn Hofer, also of Atwood, were smoking brisket, ribs, pork butt, beans and chicken -- and Leitner's surprise, red snapper fresh from the Gulf of Texas. ...

Bob Brown of Trenton, Nebraska, tries a second time to back his tractor and trailer around -- not over -- a barrel in the backing contest of the first-ever Stratton, Nebraska, Days antique tractor rodeo Saturday morning. Bill Ellis of Bartley, Nebraska, kept a close eye on his egg throughout a circle track designed with speed bumps, and Jesse Sis of Atwood, Kansas, hit a bulls-eye with a horse shoe tossed from his 930 Case during a figure-eight barrel pattern. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Amidst criticism for not keeping the public informed and questions whether an emergency actually existed, the McCook City Council confirmed the city's emergency purchase of two 2006 Freightliner semi trucks and subsequently denied a rate increase request from the city's contracted trash hauler, Frtiz Trucking...

Delbert Fritz Aug. 9, 1927 -- Oct. 2, 2012 BARTLEY, Nebraska -- Delbert Fritz, age 85, died at the Cambridge Hospital. Services are pending with Carpenter Breland Funeral Home in McCook.