Stories from Thursday, March 28, 2013

"Les Miserables" is one of the world's most popular musicals. Based on Victor Hugo's literary classic, it is a story of love and hate, of honesty and treachery, of redemption and damnation. The famed version produced by Cameron Mackintosh has traversed the globe, playing on stages large and larger, eventually leading to the 2012 film adaptation, now available on DVD and Blu-ray from Universal...

Sandra Sue Van Kirk June 1, 1943 - March 4, 2013 SAN JOSE, California -- Sandra Sue Van Kirk of San Jose, California, formerly of McCook, Nebraska, passed away on Monday, March 4, 2013, at her home in San Jose. She was 69 years of age. Sue was born in Hastings, Nebraska, to Elton Howard and Jessie Roberta (Ball) Morgan on June 1, 1943. She attended McCook Public Schools and moved to California in 1963...

The full moon, both rising and setting, has been spectacular over the past several days. Charlie Payne took this shot Wednesday. The McCook Daily Gazette would love to showcase your weather photos. Readers can contribute to our daily weather page, subject to space and color availability, by emailing photos to editor2@ocsmccook.com or bringing them into the Gazette offices at West First and E Streets. ...

LINCOLN, Nebraska --The Nebraska Tourism Commission has announced 23 tourism marketing grants totaling nearly $125,000 for entities across the state. Grant funds are used to promote attractions and activities in Nebraska. "The grant program helps Nebraska communities spread the word about what Nebraska has to offer potential travelers," said Nebraska Tourism Director Kathy McKillip. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Sen. Mark Christensen hopes to find ways to encourage surface and groundwater irrigators in the Middle Republican Natural Resource District to work together more closely and end some of their debates. Sen. Christensen said the two types of irrigators are able to better cooperate in other resource districts, but given the scenario it was understandable why there was so much friction between the two...

OBERLIN, Kansas -- A newspaper photographer and reporter deleted photos to avoid being sentenced for contempt of court following a guilty verdict in a murder trial Wednesday. Oberlin Herald reporter Stephanie DeCamp was found in contempt of court by Judge Pratt for having taken photographs in the courthouse hallway following the trial in which Dylan Coryell was found guilty of the second-degree murder of Corey Cook in 2011...

It has now been more than three years since the controversial health care law was pushed through Congress and signed by President Obama. Since the law was passed premiums have increased, health care costs continue to rise, small businesses have been burdened, and the estimated price of the law continues to increase. Unfortunately, several recent reports and studies conclude the effects of the law are more painful than initially expected...

Riding the basket of Hixson Construction's crane Thursday morning, A.J. McDonald, left, and Jason Schultz of Volz Plumbing and Heating measure the chimney top at St. Alban's Episcopal Church's two-story-plus Canterbury House in McCook, Nebraska. Mark Latta, also of Volz's, said his crew will now create a cap for the chimney in an effort to evict and keep pigeons from returning to take up residence. The Canterbury House is home to the church office and the McCook Pantry...

TRENTON, Nebraska -- Speaker Darrel Draper will present the program "Theodore Roosevelt, "Rough Rider President" at 7:30 p.m., central time, on Saturday, April 6, at the TCDC Building in Trenton. (One block east of Main St., 402 East 1st St.). This unique "edu-taining" (educational+entertainment) costumed program is made possible by the Nebraska Humanities Council, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment and the Hitchcock County Historical Society, as part of the NHC Speakers Bureau. ...

Spend any time on Facebook or at the coffee shop and you're likely to run across a couple of controversial topics. One is gun control -- that's what it's called by Second Amendment proponents -- or gun violence, which is what it's called by those attempting to impose new laws...

OK space fans, let's go to the mailbag for this week's question. "What is the brightest star in the sky?" Okay, good one. I have heard some who have said that Polaris, the North Star, is the brightest star in the sky; too bad they are wrong. In fact, there are about 50 stars in the sky that are brighter than Polaris...

So when it comes to being a health nut, I'll admit I'm far from it. I love me some cheeseburgers, nachos and fries, and there's nothing better than a foot-long chili dog washed down with a throat-burning cold Coca Cola. Makes me hungry just thinking about it!...

Few Americans will ever forget being told Congress had to first pass the healthcare law "to find out what is in it." Well, almost exactly three years ago, the bill was passed and now we know the secret ingredient: 20,000 pages of new federal regulations, amounting to a towering stack of paper 7 feet 3 inches tall...

Robert S. 'Bob' Myers SIDNEY, Nebraska -- Robert S. "Bob" Myers, 81 of Sidney and former Gurley resident, died Tuesday (March 26, 2013), at the Golden Living Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Funeral services are 10:30 a.m., Saturday, March 30, at the First United Methodist Church in Sidney with the Rev. Tom Hyde officiating. Services will conclude at the church with cremation to follow. Private family inurnment will be held in the Greenwood Cemetery at a later date...

Zelda Maret CAMBRIDGE, Nebraska -- Zelda Maret, 95, died Wednesday (March 27, 2013), at the Cambridge Manor. Services are Monday, April 1, at the Congregational Church in Stockville, Nebraska, with the Rev. Rick Eldred officiating. Burial will be at the Arbor Cemetery in Stockville...

OBERLIN, Kansas -- The jury that found Dylan Coryell guilty of the October 2011 shooting death of Corey Cook also gave Judge Preston Pratt the authority to increase Coryell's sentence with its decision, also Wednesday morning, that "aggravating factors" exist in the case...