Stories from Friday, September 13, 2013

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 --Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) congratulates McCook Public Schools on their commitment to emergency preparedness. Central Elementary and McCook Elementary added 38 shelter-in-place buckets to their schools, ensuring that each classroom is prepared for an emergency situation...

GRAND ISLAND, Nebraska -- Traci Scheel of Grand Island, Nebraska, and Clayton Gaunt of McCook, Nebraska, were united in marriage Sept. 8, 2012, in Grand Island at the Liederkranz reception hall. Parents of the bride are Duane and Pat Scheel of Grand Island. Parents of the bridegroom are Carole Gaunt of McCook and Mattthew Gaunt of Arlington, Texas...

40th anniversary The family of Bill and Linda Zahl of Stratton, Nebraska, is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 40th wedding anniversary. They were married Sept. 15, 1973, at Cairo United Methodist Church in Cairo, Nebraska. Their family includes children, Brendan and wife, Trina Zahl of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Travis Zahl of Higginsville, Missouri, Marci and husband, Aaron Sis of McDonald, Kansas, Kelsi Zahl of Los Angeles, California and four grandchildren, Devan, Darian, Dawson and Luke. ...

By SUSAN DOAK SW Nebraska Genealogy Society McCOOK, Nebraska -- Several times over the last year I have mentioned SWNGS reference library on the third Saturday of each month. You do not have to be a member to use this genealogy library! One of the first items that drew my attention was a compilation called: "Red Willow Babies" by Josephine Whittaker Jackson, who was a mid-wife and nurse in the early 1900's. ...

KEARNEY, Nebraska -- Community Action of Nebraska has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fund a statewide network of Marketplace Navigators to assist families and individuals enrolling in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. ...

McCook, Nebraska -- The McCook Community Foundation Fund has announced plans to welcome the Community Chest of McCook as an account within the Fund. The move is designed to strengthen Community Chest's support of local social service agencies, enhance services for donors and allow Community Chest to focus on "what it does best."...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Marilyn Cline Cuellar of McCook was in high school when her cousin disappeared in an intense Chinese mortar attack on an outpost near the "Main Line of Resistance" between North and South Korea. Six days later, on July 25, 1953, hostilities ended...

I voted for Obama in both presidential elections. I'm not sorry that I did because I could have never supported either Republican candidate and their reactionary positions on issues crucial to tens of millions of Americans. Having said that, I'm deeply disappointed in the president for saying one thing in the campaign and doing another after being elected...

Most of us have been glued to the media -- traditional and social -- to find out the latest news from the Rocky Mountain Front Range, which has been inundated with flood waters following heavy rains over the past few days. The area is a popular vacation spot for Nebraska flatlanders, and even those of us who don't make it to Colorado that often have friends and relatives who live there...

Two wreckers working in concert are required to pull an SUV over the embankment at the west intersection of U.S. Highways 83, 6-34 this morning. A Kansas man called the McCook Police Department at 3:58 a.m. to report he was in an accident and didn't know where he was, except it was in a deep ditch. ...

OXFORD, Nebraska -- A Colorado man plans to transform Oxford's former "Walker Post Manor Nursing Home" into two- to three-bedroom apartments. The Oxford Standard reports that Rob Fisher purchased the property. His brother-in-law, Rich Carpenter of Oxford, told the Standard that the roof and water system need attention before construction can start on apartments in October and through the winter...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A plea agreement was reached Monday in Red Willow County District Court with a Wilsonville, Nebraska, man accused of stealing a Bristol Windows company vehicle from the Chief Motel in July. The offender, 18-year-old Jesse J. Maret, will subsequently face sentencing on a Class IV felony offense of theft by unlawful taking, stemming from the crime...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- An inmate who escaped from the Work Ethic Camp in July was apprehended by the Evanston Wyoming Police Department earlier this month. The inmate, Drew Steier, was suspected of being responsible for the theft of a 1996 Subaru station wagon from McCook, shortly after his escape from the work ethic camp. The vehicle was later identified as being involved in a gas drive-off in Ogallala, Nebraska...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Although the City of McCook property tax levy for the upcoming fiscal year is proposed to remain at the same amount, the property tax actually collected by the city is projected to increase by more than $63,000 in the 2013-14 budget...

When time allows, take a drive to the northeastern edge of McCook. There -- where the town turns to country -- you will discover a large connected village of one- and two-bedroom apartments and garden homes. The impressive retirement living center is called Emeritus at Willow Ridge and, during the past 20 years, it has made a tremendous difference in how senior citizens in the McCook area spend their Golden Years...

LilBit, a rescue from the McCook Humane Society, waits patiently for whatever comes next during "Girls Night Up." Although all boy, he was welcomed to the annual celebration earlier this summer, attentive to the needs of his young humans, Haili and Maddy. Share your favorite Whisker photo with readers of the McCook Daily Gazette. Bring photo and information to the Gazette offices at West First and E Streets, mail them to PO Box 1268, McCook, NE 69001, or email them to editor2@ocsmccook.com...

The relentless rain along the Front Range of Colorado, is taking its toll, changing lives and landscapes. This once-carefully tended rock garden, belonging to Nancy Burke of Loveland, Colorado, the mother of McCook, Nebraska, resident Angie Burns, went sliding after the sodden soil let loose Thursday. ...

Dear Friend, INTRO Syria is quite an old country, in human terms, about 2500 years old. After Alexander The Great died, his four top generals divided up his empire amongst themselves and Antiochus Epiphanes ended up with Syria, Israel and other lands as well. ...

When I first met Father Thad I was a Baptist minister and he was the priest at the neighborhood Catholic parish. A complete stranger to me, he popped into my office and stated that he must use our church baptistery. A brief reminder about baptism: Baptists practice baptism by immersion. They dunk converts completely under the water...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency and local emergency managers along the South Platte River are urging citizens in western Nebraska to prepare for the potential flooding as early as Tuesday, Sept. 17. Heavy rains in Colorado have closed highways and caused evacuations, and emergency managers in Nebraska want to be prepared in the event waters reach outside river banks in Nebraska...

I love to work a crossword puzzle! I try to make the time do the crossword puzzle each night in the McCook Daily Gazette. I have read that it is good training for your mind, but that isn't why I do it. It is sometimes quite a challenge to come up with all the right answers and while I like a good challenge that isn't my main motivation for doing the puzzle either. ...

Eighteen McCook Community College basketball players and two coaches show up to help with the Helping Hand truck, Monday. According to Alisa Parde, associate pastor at Memorial United Methodist Church, the work started at 8 a.m., and the truck was loaded by 9:15 a.m. ...

The familiar statue containing the Ten Commandments on the grounds at St. Patrick's Catholic Church is under cover against the elements until repairs can be made after a lawn mower damaged part of the structure.

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- Lincoln-based performing arts group The Angels Theatre Company is bringing What the Wind Taught Me to seven cities across Nebraska in the month of September. Performances include the Fox Theatre in McCook at 1 and 7 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 17...

NORTH PLATTE, Nebraska -- After two public hearings, the Mid Plains Community College board of governors took action to approve the 2013-14 budget recently in North Platte. First, the board unanimously moved to the use of property taxes to fund the 2013-2014 budget in the amount of $11,985,029. ...

September often means readjusting to busy school and sports schedules. Having kids back in school means hungry kids coming home from school. The September Prairie Land Food offers a couple of Specials that can really help with that, and the regular Prairie Pak includes protein and produce items to make meal time quick and healthy...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- he Nebraska Department of Economic Development has awarded $1,767,100 in Nebraska Affordable Housing Program funding to a city and five housing organizations based in western Nebraska to undertake various activities. The include:...

90th birthday The family of Betty Gillen of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of her 90th birthday Sept. 18. Her children are Clarence and Lexie Gillen, Susie and Ed Townsley of McCook and Tom Wiess of Imperial. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 401 Missouri Ave., No. 9, McCook, NE 69001...