Stories from Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Earnest D. ten Bensel Oct. 26, 1915 - Dec. 17, 2013 CAMBRIDGE, Nebraska -- Earnest D. ten Bensel, age 98, of Cambridge, died at the Cambridge Manor on Dec. 17, 2013. He was born near Cambridge on the family farm on Oct. 26, 1915, to Henry and Mildred (Thompson) ten Bensel. Earnest rode a horse to school in Wilsonville, graduating from Wilsonville High School in 1933. He celebrated his 80th graduation from high school last summer...

Central Elementary fourth grader Jadalyn Berry, right, leads fellow students in a cheer for the holidays during the school's annual Christmas music concert Dec. 10 in the auditorium at McCook, Nebraska, Senior High. Performing solo parts in "Away in a Manger" were, from left, Carley Peters, Ainsley Taylor and Chesney Latta. Fourth and fifth grade choir directors are Abbey Misfeldt and Kathy Latta...

GRAND ISLAND, Nebraska -- Central Community College-Grand Island recognized 97 mid-year graduates Dec. 5 at a graduation reception in their honor. Area December graduates included: McCook: Mishae Lepper, business technology. Carole Tharnish, an information technology instructor at CCC-Grand Island, was the keynote speaker. Other speakers were Dr. Greg Smith, college president; Alan Hartley, campus president; and Dean Moors, executive director of the Central Community College Foundation...

McCook Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) has announced that Dena Beck, central and southwest Nebraska Business Specialist with the Center for Rural Affairs' Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP), will hold office hours in McCook on Friday, December 20, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

LINCOLN, Nebraska -- Nebraskans spoke out during several tax hearings recently and one topic stood out from the rest, a desire for a reduction in property taxes. The committee tasked with coordinating the public hearings issued their report Friday and recommended increasing state aid to schools and reducing agricultural land value percentages as options that could trigger the desired decrease...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Santa's elves need gifts for 'tween and teen boys to be given away at the 32nd annual "Christmas Toy Box Collection" give-away Sunday, at 1 p.m., at the McCook, Nebraska, city auditorium at the corner of West Fifth and C streets...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A foreclosure case targeting the defunct St. Catherine's Apartments building on West Fourth Street is working its way through Red Willow County District Court. City Attorney Nate Schneider said the property could be foreclosed on and sold via a Sheriff's auction within a couple of months...

Admit it, you've dreamed of winning millions of dollars, maybe even dropped down a few bucks for a lottery ticket from time to time. Local outlets didn't seem to be overly crowded this morning with people buying tickets in hopes of winning today's Mega Millions lottery drawing, which hit $586 million on its way to a possible billion-dollar payoff if no one wins in the next couple of weeks...

Your humble columnist walked into the Bank President's office and took a seat. His open door policy was in effect, as always, and the Bank President gave his usual eye twinkling greeting. "Pete I have just returned from the Offutt (AFB, Omaha, Nebraska) Open House and Airshow. ...

"Haste Makes Waste." I have that reminder on a slug of 72 point lead type made on a Ludlow by the first publisher for whom I worked after leaving journalism school 44 years ago. It showed up on my desk at the Nebraska weekly where I worked after I failed to catch a page proof that resulted in the same grocery store ad running on the back of both sections, at the expense of the second grocery store whose ad didn't appear. ...