Stories from Thursday, June 19, 2014

69th birthday The family of Harvey Esslinger of McCook is requesting a card shower in honor of his 69th birthday. He was born June 19 in Arapahoe, Nebraska. He and his family moved to McCook in the 1970s from Denver and beginning with one job, built up a business that is now known as Esslinger's Home Improvement Co., that has been in McCook for over 40 years. ...

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 -- A McCook man is facing multiple felonies in Red Willow and Frontier County alleging sexual assault of a child. The accused, 65-year-old Benito Garcia, has been charged with a pair of Class IIIA felonies in Red Willow County alleging third degree sexual assault of a child and child abuse...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A McCook man pleaded not guilty to multiple felony weapon and drug charges stemming from a raid on a West Third Street residence in May. The accused, 29-year-old Thomas R. Ortiz, is facing a pair of Class III felonies for possession of methamphetamine and possession of a deadly weapon by a felon, in addition to a Class IV felony alleging possession of a destructive device and an infraction for possession of drug paraphernalia...

BENKELMAN, Neb. -- USDA Rural Development has awarded $2.3 million to the City of Benkelman, Nebraska, to fund water improvements that will help the community's municipal water system meet Nebraska Safe Drinking Water Act requirements. The city plans two new wells and a transmission line...

CAMBRIDGE, Neb. -- Abbie Jean Benson, the owner of "The Quaint Little Farm" south of Cambridge, Nebraska, schedules her second festival Saturday, June 21, from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., on the farm located 2 miles south of Cambridge on Highway 47 and 2 1/2 miles west on County Road 719...

Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas Cleveland, a machinist's mate from Stratton, Neb., is serving aboard the USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) Blue Crew in the U.S. Navy protecting and defending America on the world's oceans aboard one of the world's most advanced submarines.The Navy's ballistic missile submarines, often referred to as "boomers," serve as an undetectable launch platform for intercontinental ballistic missiles. ...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Spencer Skolout of McCook will be one of 71 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students participating in the 26th annual Nebraska at Oxford Program July 20-Aug. 16 at the University of Oxford in England, the oldest university in the English-speaking world...

These words are being written on a 5-year-old Macintosh computer, using 4-year-old software, the image eventually finding its way onto a 50-year-old press to be distributed around the southwest corner of an 150-year-old state. The technology is functional and well-taken care of despite its age, but someone was needed to invent it, get it working, and restore it to working order when something inevitably goes wrong. (Keeping the state in order is a question for another time.)...

For those of you that don't know me, let me describe myself in one word ... tall. Let me describe my girls ... tall. Okay, maybe not the middle daughter so much but she's starting to stretch. Now let me tell you why I felt the need to describe us, because apparently the world feels it necessary to point it out to us all the time, like we didn't already know we were taller than the majority of girls and women in town. ...

John Jay Ruppert Dec. 23, 1929 - June 19, 2014 McCOOK, Neb. -- John Jay Ruppert of McCook passed away Thursday, June 19, 2014, at Hillcrest Nursing Home. He was 84 years old. John was born Dec. 23, 1929, at McCook to parents, Jay John and Doris (Meissner) Ruppert. He attended school at rural District No. 101...

Donovan Lee Jones April 25, 1930 - June 18, 2014 McCOOK, Neb. -- Donovan Lee Jones passed away Wednesday, June 18, 2014, at Hillcrest Nursing Home with his family by his side. He was 84 years old. Donovan was born on April 25, 1930, at Lebanon, Nebraska, to parents, William Earl and Etta Marie (Huff) Jones. He graduated from Danbury High School in 1948...