Stories from Wednesday, August 3, 2016

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...

Meteorologists warned of heavy rain, chunky hail and high winds in summer storm clouds sitting and spinning over Furnas County late Monday afternoon and early evening, with views of towering clouds all the way from the city pool in Culbertson and from the center of McCook. ...

OMAHA, Neb. -- The University of Nebraska Medical Center has announced its spring 2016 dean's list for students enrolled in nursing, dentistry, pharmacy and the allied health professions of medical imaging and therapeutic sciences program and medical laboratory science...

CURTIS, Neb. -- The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis announced academic honors for the spring semester of 2016. Forty-three students were named to the Dean's Honor Roll with 3.50-3.99 GPA, said Ron Rosati, NCTA dean. Students must be fulltime enrollees, with at least 12 credit hours for the semester to be eligible for this designation...

Members of the McCook Chamber of Commerce and McCook Cordials welcome "Pristine Clean" Commercial Cleaning to the Chamber and to the business community of McCook during a ribbon cutting Thursday morning. Owners Steve and Rachelle Kotschwar (with the ceremonial scissors), their children Tyler, Aaron and Megan (holding the ribbon), and their employees, Rex and Jennifer Eschliman and their children Andrew and Sierra offer cleaning services for small businesses and churches; special event and reclaimed property services; and "Cabin Care" and "Cancer Care" programs. ...

Terri Shipshock, second from left, Executive Director of Community Hospital Health Foundation and Bill Burton, second from right, Foundation board of directors chair accept a $56,416.68 check from Tom Baker, left, and Stan Goodwin, right, both representing the estate of Richard Baker Racine. ...

Local law enforcement agencies pose with board members and employees of the Southwest Public Power District, which is encouraging customers to show their support of law enforcement by installing a blue light on their porches or an outdoor lighting fixture. ...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Final preparations are coming together for the Prairie Roots Festival this weekend in McCook. The key event is the free, family-friendly Hear Nebraska concert which begins at 5:30 pm. Sunday on the west end of the park near the Army tank on display...

McCOOK, Neb -- Registration for McCook High School students will start Monday, Aug. 8 and run through Thursday, Aug. 11. The registration isn't mandatory, but is encouraged for parents and students as a way to streamline all the paperwork necessary before school starts Aug. 17, said McCook High School principal, Jeff Gross...

Hayes County 4-H'er Coy Hale of Hayes Center wins purple ribbons in the 4-H team roping competition during the Hayes County Fair horse show Tuesday afternoon. Coy's heeling time was 18.97 seconds; his heading time was 12.44 seconds. County fair 4-H, FFA and open class exhibits will be entered today, and the swine, sheep and beef shows are all scheduled Thursday. ...

Any traffic death is a tragedy, but the news from the Interstate 80 crash Sunday seems to get worse. A sixth victim was declared brain dead Monday, but his body was being kept on life support so that organs could be harvested to keep others alive. The man, Terry Sullivan, 56, was in a minivan struck by a van carrying a family of five from St. Paul, Minn., which was struck by a semi that failed to slow for a construction zone in Keith County...

August-- one good thing that we can say about this month is the rest of the year is downhill from here. Another good thing that we can say about August is the Perseid meteor shower. Another thing that can be said about August is that it is arguably the hottest month of the year. Although we had several days of 100+ temperatures in July, it remains to see what August does...

One nine-run inning more dismal than the latest presidential race news couldn't spoil what nine McCook National Bank Seniors achieved during their Legion baseball careers. "In five years, we've continued to get better each year and those nine guys have aboslutely turned the program around," assistant coach Scott Smalley said even though McCook fell 11-2 to Seward in Tuesday's Class B state tourney elimination game. ...

A decade after moving out-of-state to begin college and her coaching career in volleyball, Hershey High School graduate Hayley Kobza has returned to her home state to become the new head coach of volleyball at McCook Community College...

The McCook Gazette's new sports and feature writer, Gabe Gauthier, knows what it's like to be a star, even if it was -- oh so briefly -- during his senior year at Kearney Catholic High School....

Listen up, sports fans! There's a new guy in town. His name is R.B. Headley and he's the McCook Gazette's new sports editor. Going forward, sports fans in the Golden Plains are going to have a lot of fun trying to figure out what the R.B. stands for...