Stories from Thursday, July 10, 2014

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. Activity log These items are taken from reports filed by the McCook Police Department. The locations refer to block numbers, not specific addresses. If you have information about any of these reports, call the police department at (308) 345-3450...

50th anniversary The family of Gerald Eugene and Gloria Ann (Joseph) Hilton of Cambridge, Nebraska, is requesting a card shower in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. They were married July 12, 1964, at Trinity United Methodist Church of Cambridge. Their family includes children, Neil and Pam Hilton of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Andela and Dave Taylor of Cambridge and four grandchildren. Cards of congratulations will reach them at P.O. Box 218, Cambridge, NE 69022...

Lee C. Dutcher Jan. 15, 1925 - July 7, 2014 ROLLA, Missouri -- Lee C. Dutcher, 89, formerly of McCook, Nebraska, died Monday (July 7, 2014), in Rolla. Graveside services are Monday, July 14, 2014, 10 a.m. at Riverview Cemetery in McCook with military honors. Visitation will be Sunday, July 13, 2014, 4-8 p.m. at Carpenter Breland Funeral Home. Memorials may be given in his name. Friends may go online at www.carpenterbreland.com to extend condolences to the family...

Louis Andrew 'Andy' Grenier HASTINGS, Neb. -- Louis Andrew "Andy" Grenier, age 64, of Hastings, passed away at the Mary Lanning Hospital in Hastings on June 27, 2014. He was born in Seattle, Washington, to Raymond and Phyllis (Wentz) Grenier. Andy grew up in McCook, Nebraska...

Linda K. (Peterson) Bauer Dec. 6, 1940 - June 29, 2014 LITTLETON, Colo. -- Linda K. (Peterson) Bauer, 73, died June 29, 2014. She was born Dec. 6, 1940, to Alden and Mildred Peterson in McCook, Nebraska. She attended Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado...

Jeffry Robert Hafner April 23, 1970 - July 3, 2014 OGALLALA, Neb. -- Jeffry Robert Hafner was the oldest son born to Robert and Julie (Hutfles) Hafner on April 23, 1970, in Grand Island, Nebraska. He died in a car accident Thursday, July 3, 2014, in Ogallala, Nebraska...

Luana A.M. Gray May 22, 1959 - July 8, 2014 LINCOLN, Neb. -- Luana A.M. Gray, 55, died Tuesday (July 8, 2014), in Lincoln of cardiac arrest. She was born May 22, 1959, in Stratton, Nebraska, to Ozro James and Phyllis (Merklin) Gray. She grew up and attended school in Benkelman, Nebraska. She married Scott Sis and to this union three children were born...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Firefighters responded to an electrical fire in the attic of a East 12th Street residence early this morning. The fire was traced to wiring in the attic but not before the home and contents sustained approximately $20,000 in damage. Emergency responders arrived at 503 East 12th Street at 4:37 a.m. ...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Community Action of Nebraska will be mailing 10,000 surveys to residents all across Nebraska. The survey aims to discover the most pressing challenges Nebraskans face so that the Community Action agencies across the state will be better equipped to address those challenges. This survey is different from the Census survey...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Farm Service Agency, would like to reminded foreign investors who buy, sell or hold a direct or indirect interest in agricultural lands in the United States that they are required under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act to report their holdings and transactions to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The McCook School board will be asked to approve $31,912 in salary and benefit increases for school administration, Monday night at the regular meeting, 6:30 p.m. at the junior high conference room. The salary and benefit package, reflecting a 2.9 increase, is being brought to the board for approval by Superintendent Grant Norgaard and includes raises and insurance increases based on individual evaluations done by Norgaard...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A local felon with a lengthy history of assault arrests was sentenced to probation time Monday in Red Willow County District Court after being convicted on a pair of weapons charges and misdemeanor domestic assault. The offender, 37-year-old Brian A. ...

City of McCook paramedics and EMTS respond to a motorcyclist injured in a hit-and-run accident about 6 p.m., Wednesday, in the West First and J intersection. McCook Police Chief Ike Brown said this morning that the driver of the car has been located. Information about the incident will be released when officers' investigation is completed...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The Cat Pack's at it again. Chloe and Sarah Dixon and their gang of cat lovers are starting their third calendar, and are developing a new project to support the dog- and cat-saving efforts of the McCook, Nebraska, Humane Society. While the Cat Pack's "Cats and Dogs of McCook" calendars are one-year projects and raise a couple thousand dollars for the animal shelter each year, the girls' new endeavor will take a couple years to complete and they're looking at making a much larger donation to the shelter when it's all said and done.. ...

Official reports put the hailstones at 1.75 inches, but the early-morning storm produced many larger than that, including this one that fell near McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport. Residents watched another hailstorm, which earlier hit North Platte, skirt McCook to the northeast, only to be surprised by a "supercell" that built up quickly west of McCook to produce the hail later in the night...

A certain ritual used to be part of every 18-year-old's life in certain parts of Southwest Nebraska -- a trip to Julesburg, Colorado, to partake of beer with 3.2 percent alcohol, legal for young people of that age. We don't know whatever happened to the 3.2 beer ritual, but a new one has appeared to take its place...

Getting pulled over by a highway patrolman is never fun, by any means, but I've realized that getting pulled over when you're alone beats getting pulled over with your kids any ol' day. Here I preach to my girls all the time about obeying the law and the dangers of breaking the rules and then all that talk is wasted when I'm toodling down the highway and suddenly have flashing lights behind me...

Just what gives? In an affirmative nod to their mounting reputation as a government body of ill repute, the NRDs, at the June meeting of the Lower Platte River Basin Coalition, denied my public comment -- conceivably violating, once again, the state's open meetings laws. No wonder the public is sheepish and feels their attendance is all for not. It's almost Tammany Hall-esque but for the fact that the infamous Boss Tweed at least listened to the people...

Walter May OBERLIN, Kan. -- Walter May, 90 of Oberlin, died today (July 10, 2014), at Community Hospital of McCook in McCook, Nebraska. Services are pending with Pauls Funeral Home in Oberlin.