Stories from Wednesday, June 4, 2014

McCOOK, Neb. -- National Homeownership Month is celebrated each June to recognize the importance of homeownership in communities and to families across the nation. In Nebraska, USDA officials will be holding a number of community informational meetings to highlight programs to help rural residents buy or repair homes used as their permanent residence...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The Fox Theatre Operations and Events Committee is proud to announce the cast of this season's summer melodrama which will be presented in five performances during the month of June. The first performance is scheduled for Sunday June 8, at 2:30 p.m. ...

U.S. Highway 83 is cleaner now, at least for the first two miles into Nebraska from Kansas, thanks to the efforts May 17 of Elks Lodge No. 1434 volunteers, front from left, Wyatt Meyers, Alex Anthony, Staci Meyers, Brody Anthony and Jaci Meyers. Back, Logan Vrbas, Katie Anthony, Elks Secretary Roger Moreau, Christian Olson, David Anthony and Anthony Star. Not pictured in Susan Moreau...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Dozens of antique tractors that plowed the fields of the plains in the middle of the last century will roll into McCook Friday near the end of their Tractor Relay Across Nebraska. The machines will parade through the Willow Ridge retirement center on East 11th beginning at 3:30 p.m., with Willow Ridge providing free snowcones, popcorn, ice tea and lemonade to residents and the public...

The McCook Public Library plans an open house Monday to celebrate recent renovations at 802 Norris Ave. The event will be 4 to 7 p.m., with a brief presentation on the details of the project beginning at 5:30 p.m.

CAMBRIDGE, Neb. -- A body has been sent in for identification after being found in Medicine Creek on Sunday. Furnas County Attorney Tom Patterson said the body is believed to be that of a person who has been missing about a year and a half, an apparent victim of suicide...

People who went through Tuesday's storm in other parts of the state probably don't believe the old adage that "every cloud has a silver lining." At least one credit expert thinks it is true, however, if we're talking about the 2008 recession. Bad financial times apparently caused more couples to take steps to have good marriages, Becky Frost of Experian Consumer Services told CNNMoney...

Count me among those people who have changed their mind about the death penalty. Sure, the recent bungled execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma had something to do with it. Sure, listening - repeatedly - to the arguments against the death penalty by Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha had something to do with it...

One of the most identifiable star groupings of the summer sky is the three-star association of the Summer Triangle. I can't say it is a constellation, because it isn't. The Summer Triangle is an asterism, a group of stars made up of stars from other constellations. One of the other best-known asterisms is the Big Dipper which is made from stars of the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear...

Donald Duane Troyer June 17, 1938 - May 27, 2014 WESTMINSTER, Colo. -- Donald (Don) Troyer, 75, passed away May 27, 2014, in Westminster. Don was born June 17, 1938, in La Grange, Wyoming. Don was involved in industrial construction his entire life. He began as an apprentice carpenter with his father and older brother, Earnest, in Cheyenne...

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...

Frank Finley Carter Nov. 29, 1925 - June 4, 2014 PLANO, Texas -- Frank Finley Carter of Plano, formerly of Palisade, Nebraska, passed away Wednesday, June 4, 2014, at Emeritus Collin Oaks Assisted Living in Plano, Texas. He was 88 years old. Frank was born on Nov. 29, 1925, at Palisade to parents, Robert Morris and Bernice (Finley) Carter. He graduated from Palisade High School in 1944...