Stories from Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Raymond George 'Ray' Kehler March 11, 1928 - March 9, 2013 GRAND ISLAND, Nebraska -- Raymond George 'Ray' Kehler, 84, of Grand Island, died Saturday, March 9, 2013 at Hamilton Manor of Aurora, with his family at his side. Service will be held 10 a.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church of Grand Island. Reverend Caroline Price-Gibson will officiate. Burial will be in Grand Island City Cemetery with military honors provided by the United States Army and the Grand Island Veterans Honor Guard...

CONNIE JO DISCOE Regional Editor McCOOK, Nebraska -- Members of McCook, Nebraska, Elementary School's Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) plan their annual "Family Fun Night" Friday, March 15, starting at 4 p.m., in the Commons Area at the school in the 1600 block of West Third...

CHADRON, Nebraska -- Chadron State College scores well in the U.S. Department of Education's College Affordability and Transparency Center rating system of public and private post-secondary institutions. The college's indicators are all near or better than the national average. President Barak Obama announced the new scoring system in his recent State of the Union address...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- MNB Student of the Month Scholarship finalists and their families were recognized at the third annual MNB Scholarship Banquet and Ceremony March 4 in McCook. The $500 tuition scholarships were awarded to Brendan Johnsen of Medicine Valley High School and Sara Larington of McCook High School...

McCook Elementary teachers took orders, wiped down tables and handed out orders for four hours, at McTeacher Night at McDonald's Tuesday night. Twenty teachers plus principal, Tim Garcia, participated. For their hard work, McDonald's owners Richard and Jane Stull donated $1,000 to McCook Elementary, that will go to the school's building fund, Garcia said. ...

The red-winged black bird is the first migratory songbird to come in the spring and these appeared on Valentine's Day 2013 near the Wilsonville home of Mike and Roxy Lang, bringing with them the hope of an early spring. The McCook Daily Gazette would love to showcase your weather photos. ...

Application even has a one-touch 'I'm safe' feature.

Well, yes, we executed the famous 180 and got the heck out of there. The maneuver is one new pilots are taught when they "accidentally" stumble into clouds. Do the 180 degree turn and return to where you just came from because having just been there you know what the weather was like. The turn can be scary the first time a pilot flies into a cloud, very scary...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Spotlight Studios dance team returned from a Denver, Colorado, competition earlier this month with top three finishes for three of their five competing routines. The strong showing came against more than 20 competing dance studios, during a three day Starquest Competition at Pinnacle Charter High School, and despite the team only having seven weeks preparation time with their new dance director...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Incoming freshmen at McCook Senior High will start one day earlier next year than the rest of the Senior High, according the school calendar approved by the McCook Board of Education. The board approved the school calendar for the 2013-14 year at the its regular meeting Monday night. Ninth grade students and students kindergarden through eighth grade will begin their school year on Aug. 19 with a 2 p.m. dismissal for the freshmen...

Swedish immigrants McCook, Nebraska, business owner Otto Nilsson, left, and Max, Nebraska, rancher Torsten Anderson died over the weekend. Torsten immigrated to Max in 1925, and Otto to Omaha, Nebraska in 1935. The two became close friends in 1950 after Otto and his wife, Frances, moved to McCook to start an automotive parts, sales and service outlet called Automotive Sales and Services. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The fear is that services will be lost. The belief is that they won't be. Red Willow County commissioners have created the two sides with their discussion over the past few months of the possible termination of the county's health department. ...

Higher cost, lack of time to study issue cited as reasons to delay bid award

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Virginia M. Bedore, age 78, of McCook, died at the Community Hospital in McCook on Monday, March 11, 2013. Virginia was born in McCook, Nebraska, on June 28, 1934, to George and Edna (Koch) Desen. She grew up in Culbertson, Nebraska and graduated from Culbertson High School in 1951. She then attended the McCook Junior College for one year. On May 18, 1954, she was married to Melvin "Mel" Bedore. The couple made their home in McCook. During this time, Virginia was employed by the Telephone Company, REA and as the office manager for the JC Penny Company. She later worked for an accounting office and Gore Oil Company. Virginia was a member of the Memorial United Methodist Church, Women's Circle, Bible Study Group, the Christian Women's Fellowship and volunteered as a Pink Lady at McCook Community Hospital. She enjoyed square and round dancing, gardening and bell collecting. Virginia will be remembered as a wonderful cook and beautiful housekeeper. She was loving and loyal to her family and friends Virginia was preceded in death by her parents; infant son, Steven Ray, in 1958 and her husband, Mel, on April 4, 1996, and also a brother, Raymond Desen. She is survived by her daughter, Denise and husband, Roz Buddenberg of McCook; one granddaughter, Hailey Jo Buddenberg of Lincoln; sister, Ann Drew of Loveland, Colorado; and many nieces and nephews. Services will be on Saturday March 16, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. at the Memorial United Methodist Church in McCook with Pastor Lance Clay officiating. Interment will be in the Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday, March 14, 2013, from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on Friday, March 15, 2013, from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Memorials may be left in Virginia's name to either the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association. Herrmann-Jones Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The Fund Advisory Committee of the McCook Community Foundation Fund is very aware of the need for dedicated, enthusiastic, and informed citizens who are willing to serve on boards of non-profit organizations. As a non-profit organization that operates with mostly volunteer staffing, MCFF understands that one of the many struggles non-profits face is keeping volunteers engaged and educated about their responsibilities...