Stories from Thursday, April 7, 2016

HAYS, Kan. -- Local students are among the 786 who completed associate, bachelor's or graduate degrees at Fort Hays State University in the fall 2015 semester. Degrees are listed with majors and, in parentheses, areas of concentration. FHSU does not release degree lists until transcripts have been verified as having met all requirements for graduation...

MCCOOK COMMUNITY COLLEGE KEARNEY, Neb. -- Students from McCook Community College brought home a dozen awards including a pair of first-place honors from the 2016 Nebraska Phi Beta Lambda State Leadership Conference held here April 1-2. MCC PBL students participating in the desktop publishing category swept the top two positions which earned them a trip to the national competition in Georgia later this summer. ...

In his book, "The Tipping Point," Malcom Gladwell contended that small changes can make a big change in society. Cleaning up graffiti helped New York lower crime rates, he claimed, by reducing the chaotic atmosphere that seems to tolerate crime. When a few Manhattan hipsters began wearing them, the Hush Puppies brand was revived, strictly by word-of-mouth. A college was able to boost visits to its campus clinic exponentially, simply by including a map on a brochure...

Anyone who has been aware of the obstruction that has recently occurred in the Nebraska Legislature must certainly be appalled, not to mention embarrassed for the great state of Nebraska. One senator, like the fly on an elephant's carcass, is able, by using legislative rules, to drive the other senators into a tizzy and produce all kinds of gridlock. What is it that the senators are dealing with by virtue of dealing with this obdurate senator?...

Dear Editor, Moving from one location to another can be painful. It is the death of the life with the people you knew in one place and a starting over from scratch in another. In his book Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World, writer Scott Russell sanders says a "house is a garment easily put off or on, casually bought or sold; a home is a skin. Merely change houses and you will be disoriented; change homes and you will bleed...

I don't know when it started or what all is going on, but something big is going down! Have you noticed it?? Just like all of the sudden too! Everything was fine one day and totally different the next. I'm so confused as to what I'm supposed to do because it's not getting any better. It's everywhere I look and affects most of everything I do. I shake my head in disbelief and wonder what this world is coming to and why would Big Government do this to us??...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Jeff Weintz has never found a puzzle he didn't like. Weintz is so enamored with them that his apartment walls are covered with jigsaw puzzles he's finished over the years, a colorful testament to the hours spent fitting together over a half million pieces...

McCOOK, Neb. -- The McCook Area Crime Stoppers is seeking help solving a burglary in rural Cambridge which occurred earlier this week. During the late evening hours of Tuesday, April 5, or early morning hours Wednesday, person or persons entered a farm quonset located on the Red Willow and Furnas County line. ...

McCOOK, Neb -- Legislation introduced at the state level and hoping to skirt work visa requirements for illegal immigrants has gained the support of District 44 State Sen. Dan Hughes. Sen. Hughes said this morning he would support the bill, LB 947, after indicating he was undecided last week. The bill was scheduled for debate Thursday...

Elvira May (Walker) Potthoff April 15, 1931 -April 6, 2016 McCOOK, Neb. -- Elvira May (Walker) Potthoff, age 84, died Thursday, April 6, 2016, at Kearney Regional Hospital. Mrs. Potthoff was born April 15, 1931, in Red Willow County to Emmett and Josephine Walker. She grew up in the Danbury and Lebanon, Neb., areas and graduated from Lebanon High School...

Douglas James West Sept. 15, 1971 - April 6, 2016 McCOOK, Neb. -- Douglas James West of rural McCook passed away Wednesday, April 6, 2016, at Community Hospital. Doug fought a long and courageous battle with kidney failure and dialysis issues. He was 44 years old...

Arthur Marks Sept. 28, 1933 - April 6, 2016 McCOOK, Neb. -- Arthur Marks, age 82, passed away Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at Hillcrest Nursing Home. Arthur was born on his family farm, Sept. 28, 1933, in Hitchcock County to Floyd R. and Flora L. (Osborn) Marks...