Stories from Tuesday, September 15, 2015

McCOOK, Neb. -- When it comes to the need for housing, McCook is not alone. Communities throughout the wide plains of western Nebraska are facing a similar challenge, and -- it's encouraging to report -- several are finding success. Take Sidney, for example. The far western Nebraska town -- which has many similarities to McCook -- is on a roll, with a new 72-unit apartment complex already completed and a massive residential development in the works...

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. -- Kyle Lauer, of McCook, Neb., is the winner of the Mid-Plains Community College raffle car. His name was drawn at 2 p.m. Saturday during the Colonel Cody's Cruise Show and Shine in downtown North Platte. Hundreds of people gathered around the raffle car prior to the drawing. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The McCook school board approved a "neutral" annual budget asking for $7.156 in local taxes of .9511 cents per $100 of valuation. With state and federal funding, receipts are about $14 million, and while the school has a total budget authority of $23.450 million, expenditures are alway far below that, Superintendent Grant Norgaard said...

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. -- The Mid-Plains Community College plans a budget hearing at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday and a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Room 200 of the W.W. Wood Building on the North Campus of North Platte Community College. At the regular meeting, the board will consider a budget to decreasy the levy by .4 cents per $100 assessed value to 5.9500 cents, down from 6.500 cents for the 2014-15 budget...

Tyler Brown of NPPD in McCook took first place in four out of five apprentice events at the Lineworkers Rodeo at the Nebraska State Fair, and will advance to nationals in Minnesota. He took first in crossarm relocate, double dead end bell, the written test and individual overall. He and his wife, Kelsey, have a baby son, Jackson...

A lot of us would argue with a recent study that money CAN buy happiness, even if the study suggests it's only effective up to $75,000 a year. Actually, the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that income improves "evaluation of life" up to that amount, but not emotional well-being, according to an analysus of 450,000 responses to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a daily survey of 1,000 U.S. residents...

Next week we are hosting a reunion for the McCook High School class that graduated way back in 1955. Sixty years! For the class members that may not have returned to this fair city in all that time I will attempt to point out a few changes. Now of course we classmates haven't changed any, well maybe the hair is a bit thinner and lighter in color, or possibly a few pounds have settled in more comfortable places but what the hey at heart we are the same eager 17-18 year olds that set out to change the world. ...

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- A second rocking chair -- the first one in maple, the second of walnut -- qualified a McCook, Nebraska, woodworker for the very prestigious "All-Nebraska Artist" designation at the 2015 Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island. Jim Suiter's elegant rocking chair of Turkish walnut, with accents of ebony, won first place, Best of Division, Best of Choice, Judges' Choice Fine Crafts and People's Choice. ...

Lindsey Lewis' "Miss Lilly" contemplated chasing tennis balls during last year's "Dog Day in the Park" sponsored by the McCook Humane Society. The shelter's third annual "Dog Day in the Park" will be Saturday, Sept. 19, at Kelley Park, next to the city swimming pool in McCook, Nebraska. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Lloyd Vernon Myers, age 89, passed away Sunday (Sept. 13, 2015) at his home in McCook. Lloyd was born Jan. 2, 1926 to Louis and Bertha May (Rhoad) Myers in McCook. On October 25, 1942, Lloyd married Violet L. Ruzicka in Oberlin, Kansas...

ARAPAHOE, Neb. --Fred Hoffman, age 91, of Arapahoe passed away on Friday (Sept. 11, 2015) at the C.A. Mues Good Samaritan Center in Arapahoe. He was born Sept. 14, 1923, on a farm near Culbertson, Nebraska, the seventh of ten children, to Jacob and Kathryn (Bell) Hoffman...

Veanna Orr Carman March 23, 1933 - Sept. 14, 2015 OBERLIN, Kan. -- Veanna Orr Carman, 82, died Monday (Sept. 14, 2015), at Cedar Living Center in Oberlin. She was born March 23, 1933, in Decatur County, Kansas, to Leo F. and Aleen P. (Vernon) VanVleet Sr. She graduated from Decatur Community High School in 1951. She married Loyde Ray Orr March 13, 1951. After his death, she married Roger Orr on Feb. 1, 1953. After his death, she married Max Carman on March 20, 2005...

Laryl L. 'Tuck' Richards Dec. 15, 1932 - Sept. 13, 2015 WAUNETA, Neb. -- Laryl L. "Tuck" Richards, age 82, of Wauneta, passed away Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, at Sunrise Heights in Wauneta. Tuck was born Dec. 15, 1932 in Wilsonville, Nebraska, the son of Harold Lee and Halcyone Mae (Lyons) Richards, Sr. He was one of four children. The family made their home near Hayes Center, Nebraska, where Tuck attended school. Tuck graduated from Hayes Center High School in 1950...

Edith Joyce Weyeneth July 4, 1921 - Sept. 15, 2015 McCOOK, Neb. -- Edith Joyce Weyeneth of McCook, formerly of Danbury, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015, at Hillcrest Nursing Home. She was 94 years old. Joyce was born on July 4, 1921, at Danbury, to parents Absalom and Isabelle M. (Ruby) Gregory. She graduated from Danbury High School...

Betty J. Johnson Sept. 1, 1928 - Sept. 13, 2015 McCOOK, Neb. -- Betty J. Johnson, 87, of McCook, passed away Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook with her husband and daughter at her bedside. She was born Sept. 1, 1928, in Huron, South Dakota, to Agnes Dahlgren Swanson and Arthur Edward Swanson. ...