Stories from Monday, December 9, 2013

CAMBRIDGE, Nebraska -- Smarting from the loss of 40,000 acre feet of water during the 2013 irrigating season, farmers from the Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District are giving consideration to a class action lawsuit to protect their interests. More than 100 F-CID irrigators gathered Friday at the Cambridge Community Building for a briefing by Dave Domina, a veteran attorney with extensive experience in the water field...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- One of McCook's most influential and compassionate citizens, Peter M. Graff, died early Saturday at his home. Fittingly, his death came on the 72nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor because that was the day--Dec. 7, 1941--when Pete expressed his patriotism by joining the United States Navy...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A 56-year-old rural McCook, Nebraska, woman was flown by helicopter from the site of a one-vehicle roll-over accident in Frontier County early Friday afternoon. Phyllis Wallen was trapped inside her Chevy Tracker, which was discovered by passersby at 1:19 p.m. after it rolled out of a curve on a country road about one mile north of the St. Ann Catholic Church, on Road 379, and dropped down a six-foot embankment...

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- Matthew Blomstedt, originally from Palisade, and Virginia Moon, Omaha, who began her career as a teacher at Maywood in the late 1960s, are two of the final four candidates named Friday morning to fill the position of Commissioner of Education for the state of Nebraska, according to a news release from the Nebraska Department of Education. ...

With 2,000 lights on the ceiling alone, plus 22 trees, various tables of mechanical toys, stockings, stuffed animals and of course, Santa, Dennis and Cathy Shannon's "Santa's Winter Wonderland" opened Friday, Dec. 6, at 110 1/2 West C. Kids can visit with Santa and browse among the toys and trees every Friday and Saturday from from 5:30-8 p.m. ...

First of all, we want to express our thanks to Pat Redfern, president of the Danbury American Legion Auxiliary, for the wonderful "Remembering Pearl Harbor" letter she contributed to the McCook Gazette's Open Forum column. We are so very fortunate that a person lives within our midst who possesses vivid recollections of that horrible day 72 years ago when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor to pull the United States of America into World War II...

In November 2013, the new Alexander Payne movie, "Nebraska" had its Nebraska Premier showing in Norfolk, to an appreciative audience, including a large delegation from Plainview. One of the towns featured in that movie was called "Hawthorne," but they couldn't fool Plainview-ites...

The Red Willow County Health Department will host Children's Immunization Clinics at their McCook headquarters Tuesday afternoon, plus Wednesday morning and afternoon.