Stories from Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Jack Dean Bahl Jan. 21, 1938 - Nov. 21, 2013 NORTH PLATTE, Nebraska -- Jack Dean Bahl, 75, of North Platte, passed away Nov. 21, 2013, at Gothenburg, Nebraska. Jack was born in McCook, Nebraska, on Jan. 21, 1938, to Leopold "Bus" and June (Sines) Bahl. ...

Wagner Ford Toyota in McCook, in conjunction with 96.1 KICX/High Plains Radio, sponsored an all-day food drive recently for the McCook Food Pantry. An estimated 600 pounds of food was donated by the community, with Wagner Ford Toyota matching that with another 600 pounds of food. ...

GENE O. MORRIS McCook Gazette AUTHOR'S NOTE -- Long, long ago -- in the early 1950's -- a gentleman named Bob Morris worked as a radio and newspaper reporter in McCook. Because he was a good storyteller, he was a popular guy and went on to be an announcer on KHOL-TV, the then black-and-white tv station headquartered between Holdrege and Kearney. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Tears were trickling from the eyes of Cathy McDowell Monday when she arose at the conclusion of the McCook Rotary meeting at McCook Community College's Hormel Business Center. "Excuse me," she said. "I'm overwhelmed." Then, choking back tears, she told her fellow Rotarians why. ...

CURTIS, Nebraska -- Curtis United Methodist Church will present a special Women of Faith Christmas event, Friday, Dec. 13, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. The program, described as "an evening of hope and joy for the entire family," will take place at the University of Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Education Center Auditorium, located at the junction of University Street and Siminoe Drive in Curtis. Parking will be available on the north side of the building...

LORRI SUGHROUE McCook Gazette McCOOK, Nebraska -- With McCook school board members in negotiations for teacher salary increases, one board member asked them to remember who's footing the bill. McCook School Board member Larry Shields, an ag producer, cited an article from Farm Progress magazine during the regular school board meeting Monday night, that said agriculture landowners represent less than 3 percent of Nebraska population but pay about 24 percent of the total property taxes statewide. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- After serving highway travelers and hometown customers for more than three quarters of a century, the three-level restaurant building at 218 West B Street has been reduced to rubble, with only a scarred side wall and a gaping basement hole left to remind McCook area residents of its long, fabled life of service...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The McCook School Board formally accepted, with gratitude, a donation for the wrestling program at the high school. The $900 donation from Earth Sound Inc. (Jim Kenny) will be used for the MHS wrestling team, to buy a mat lamp and mat hoist for the wrestling team...

McCook, Nebraska, Central Elementary fifth graders Kelsie Vette, left, and Sydney Rowe tell their audience, "Here we come a-caroling" during their school's Christmas music program Tuesday evening. Fourth and fifth graders and the select Central Starz choir entertained with traditional Christmas carols, fun holiday songs like "The Reindeer Prom" and a two-part song in Latin called "We Sing Gloria." Directors are Abbey Misfeldt and Kathy Latta...

How did you do on your New Year's resolution's last year? Don't be too discouraged, you'll have a chance to make them again in a couple of weeks. If one of them was finishing your GED, however, you may be in for disappointment. That's because you may have to start all over again after the first of the year...

Well, the hoped-for grandeur of Comet ISON during December will not happen, so what else do we have to look at? A lot actually. But before we get to that, we have some unfinished business; what to get our grown-up astronomer for Christmas. Since the more experienced astronomer is likely to already have a lot of the basic equipment to pursue his or her avocation, what would make a nice gift for them?...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Back in the 1970s, my family and I had the good fortune to move into a plain, but special bungalow at 1108 First Street East in McCook, Nebraska. What made the house special was not the beauty of the home, nor the quality of the neighborhood. What made it special was that one of McCook's grandest ladies -- Mary Walsh Brady -- lived in the corner house down the block, just two homes north of us...