Stories from Wednesday, January 14, 2015

60th birthday The family of Richard Miner of Pailisade, Nebraska, is requesting a card shower in honor of his 60th birthday Jan. 16. His family includes his wife, Kellie Miner; children, Randy Miner and wife, Sarah of Stratton, Lindsay and Adam Brusoe of Culbertson, Nebraska; and six grandchildren, June and Austin Brusoe, Lilith, Hunter and Draven Miner and Dillon. Cards of congratulations will reach him at P.O. Box 35, Palisade, NE 69040...

McCOOK, Neb. -- College is back in session, students are back on campus and work is scheduled to begin this week for the $2.082 million addition to Brooks Hall on the McCook Community College campus. Cheever Construction of Lincoln, Nebraska, is on site for the project which includes an elevator and addition to the cafeteria. The project is expected to be completed by the end of July. The upgrade will also include $215,117 of upgrades for kitchen equipment in the Brooks Hall Cafeteria...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The McCook Board of Education approved more than $70,000 for stainless steel upgrades at the junior high cafeteria. Equipment now at the cafeteria is original to when the building was first built in 1967, said McCook business manager Rick Haney at the regular school board meeting Monday night...

McCook, Neb. -- With the arrival of the new year and most patients having their deductibles restart in January, Community Hospital wants to remind outpatients that most will be asked to make a $75 "Point of Service" deposit upon arrival for an outpatient test, procedure or surgery. Point of Service deposits allow patients to make relatively small deposits in advance of care, and help them understand how their insurance will process the charges and plan for paying their share of the bill...

McCOOK, Neb. -- A pair of thieves charged in connection with a string of local thefts was sentenced to probation and jail time last week in Red Willow County District Court. The offenders, 18-year-old Javier A. Casarez of 1413 West 14th Street and 30-year-old Kenneth Capps of McCook, were arrested along with Patrick Brooks of 1412 West 14th Street and charged in connection with items stolen from several local vehicles and garages in July...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Tom Bredvick retained his position as board president, at the first meeting in 2015 of the McCook Board of Education Monday night. The board uses the nomination method to elect officers, with no voting unless there are two nominations for a position. If two are nominated, then the board votes by secret ballot...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The McCook Board of Education approved more than $70,000 for stainless steel upgrades at the junior high cafeteria. Equipment now at the cafeteria is original to when the building was first built in 1967, said McCook business manager Rick Haney at the regular school board meeting Monday night...

Red Willow County is the poorest in Nebraska, reports USA Today, citing a 24/7 Wall St. analysis of the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Yes, we have an unemployment rate of just 3.1 percent, and only 13 percent of people lived in poverty between 2009 and 2013, compared to a national figure of 15.4 percent, according to the figures...

Are you tracking the Venus/Mercury pair each evening just after sunset? You should be. Tonight, Wednesday, Jan. 14, bright Venus and speedy Mercury will be at their closest in the southwestern evening sky, look at about 30-minutes after local sunset. They are quite visible together in the same binocular field of view...

I was sad to learn of Bob Fraker's passing and read his obituary Jan. 5. He influenced me tremendously, running two successful businesses in Oberlin and McCook. I worked summers for him in the mid-70s at Red Willow Aviation. He hired me, said get a notebook to keep track of my own hours, gave me a key to the hangar and said feel free to ask questions. Being trusted and allowed to learn made this job the best opportunity ever...