Stories from Wednesday, October 23, 2013

LANDOWNERS SHOULD APPLY NOW FOR RESOURCE CONSERVATION FUNDS Those interested in applying natural resource conservation measures on their farm or ranch are encouraged to sign up for program dollars by Nov. 15th. LINCOLN -- October 18, 2013 -- Farmers and ranchers interested in soil, water and wildlife conservation are encouraged to sign up now for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). ...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- Farm Service Agency (FSA) Director, Dan Steinkruger announced that USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Nebraska is distributing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) annual rental payments to participants this week. Payments originally were scheduled to be issued earlier in the month, but were delayed due to the lapse in Federal funding...

Jon W. Leitner Jan. 18, 1950 - Oct. 18, 2013 SEDONA, Arizona -- Jon W. Leitner, 63, died Oct. 18, 2013 in Sedona. He was born Jan. 18, 1950, in McCook, Nebraska to Elmer and Betty Leitner and graduated from McCook High School in 1968. He attended Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska as a scholarship recipient in the areas of painting, athletics and academics. ...

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 -- If God is in the details, as the saying goes, then he must have been thinking of hospice volunteers That's because hospice volunteers take care of the little details to make the caregiver's family as confortable as possible, said Kathleen Dinges, RN, BSN, director of Home Health Hospice Servces from Community Hospital...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook Community College chapter of Phi Theta Kappa is selling tickets for the "Best Seat In The House; for the Nov. 9 home-opening game for the MCC women's basketball team. This raffle is for the chance for two people (thanks to Samway Floor Covering and Furniture) to sit on a courtside recliner with complementary concessions...

KEARNEY -- The University of Nebraska at Kearney has announced the members of student government for the 2013-2014 academic year. Dallas Doering of Trenton, Nebraska, is a senator. Trevor Lee of Madrid, Nebraska, is the secretary of student organizations and affairs...

Mike Gonzales, left, executive director of the Ed Thomas YMCA, 901 East E Street, McCook, Nebraska, and Jeff Crick, human resource manager at Parker Hannifin Corporation, and past president of the YMCA board of directors, position the new LG EZ sign television that Parker Hannifen donated to the YMCA. ...

HASTINGS, Nebraska -- Twenty resident assistants have been hired for the 2013-14 academic year at Central Community College-Hastings. An alternate resident assistant also was selected. Resident Life Director Cindy Foxhoven said that resident assistants are student leaders who help the housing coordinator with the operation of the campus' dorms. The new area resident assistants are:...

KEARNEY -- University of Nebraska at Kearney sororities hosted formal recruitment in early September and added 116 new members to the Greek community on campus. Each new member received a bid to join a particular sorority, and chapters hosted celebration events welcoming new members...

Sponsoring scholarship and loan programs for full and part-time students attending McCook Community College was one of the McCook College Foundation's founding commitments, and is a continuing cornerstone of support. Here, some of the latest scholarship recipients meet in von Riesen Library. ...

Sabrina Sandoval of Wauneta, Nebraska, took this photograph Wednesday, Oct. 16, showing the rime formed on her mums by the first frost of the season. The McCook 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. ...

The City of McCook was selected to receive the quarterly Honor Business Award by the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce last week. City staff, city council members and chamber representatives gathered at the Municipal Center in recognition of the award...

McCook, Nebraska, Head Start students invite their friends and families to an open house to celebrate Head Start's new location at 712 West 12th, the light-colored brick building on the southwest corner of the intersection controlled by four-way stop signs. ...

A study of 777 students at six universities in five states didn't yield a lot of surprises when it comes to smart phones, tablets and laptops in the classroom. Barney McCoy, an associate professor of broadcasting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, lead a study that found 35 percent of students used their digital devices for non-classroom purposes 1-3 times a day, 27 percent did so 4-10 times, 16 percent 11-30 times and 15 percent more than 30 times a day. ...

A study of 777 students at six universities in five states didn't yield a lot of surprises when it comes to smart phones, tablets and laptops in the classroom. Barney McCoy, an associate professor of broadcasting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, lead a study that found 35 percent of students used their digital devices for non-classroom purposes 1-3 times a day, 27 percent did so 4-10 times, 16 percent 11-30 times and 15 percent more than 30 times a day. ...

Kids know if they behave in church they're likely to get a treat, or money. Do well in school, same thing. Do well in life; good things will come your way. We reward good behavior for good people. But what about bad people? Can rewards make a difference in how they behave? The Nebraska State Corrections System has used "good time" for years to help reward inmates who behave well and also to give them an early release date, which eases prison overcrowding. ...

I have often been asked why I like astronomy so much. Well, that is a difficult question to answer. I would have to say it started when I was in grade school. Someone gave me a book about the stars as a gift and I was hooked. At age 12 my parents gave me a telescope for Christmas. It wasn't a big, fancy one. Just a small three-inch Newtonian reflector, but with it I could see Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and other things in the sky...

DENVER -- McCook sculptor and former City of McCook council member Jon Leitner, 63 years old, died Friday (Oct. 18, 2013) in Denver, Colorado, after battling lung cancer. Leitner was a 1968 graduate of McCook Senior High, and he earned a bachelor of arts degree from Hastings College in 1972...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Health care and tax reform were main topics as Gov. Dave Heineman addressed the McCook Rotary Club and guests at the Willow Ridge retirement community. Heineman told the group that at the state level, Nebraska has reduced the cost of health care for state employees by controlling costs and working with the private sector to develop a wellness program, focusing on employee participation. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Their stories over the past 30 years are happy, and sad. Of accomplishment and disappointment. Of outrage and compassion. Theirs are tears of heart-breaking sadness, and heart-warming joy. Over the past 30 years, volunteers have built an animal shelter and found homes for countless dogs and cats, puppies and kittens. They've taught just as many lessons of spaying and neutering and pet responsibility...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The Col. Delbert L. Townsend Scholarship Program will kick off the 2013-14 school year with four graduating high school seniors in May 2014 to receive a Townsend Scholarship to attend college at one of the University of Nebraska locations (Lincoln, Kearney, Omaha or Curtis)...