Stories from Tuesday, August 16, 2016

A Texas tornado of power has arrived just in time to help McCook Community College's volleyball team charge into Hastings on Wednesday...

Leo Porter WAUNETA, Neb. -- Leo Porter, 82, of Wauneta, died Sunday (Aug. 14, 2016), at his home. Survivors include his wife, Onita of Wauneta; children, Marvene Roe and husband, James, Christine Lytle and husband, Terry, Bonita Lawler and husband, Don, Cynthia Engel and husband, Robert, all of Wauneta and Lisa Wolcott and husband, Kim, of Palisade, Neb.; sister, Sandra Warvi of Cheyenne, Wyo.; 20 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren with three more on the way...

Paul Kitt WAUNETA, Neb. -- Paul Kitt, 88, of Wauneta, died Thursday (Aug. 11, 2016), at the Sunrise Heights Nursing Home in Wauneta. Survivors include children, Craig Kitt and partner, Ken Miller of East Hampton, N.Y., and Paula Kitt of Lenexa, Kan.; and one grandchild...

McCOOK, Neb. -- It was literally the dog days of summer recently at the McCook City Library. Molly, a three-year-old German Shepherd that's been certified as a therapy dog, joined preschool story hour Wednesday, as youth librarian Diane Lyons read books to the kids about dogs...

McCOOK, Neb. -- Red Willow County commissioners fine-tuned two county departments' proposed budgets during their weekly meeting and 2016-17 budget workshop Monday morning. Commissioners asked Deb Lafferty, secretary of the fair board, to shift more costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the Kiplinger Arena from the County Fair budget (which is funded by tax payers) to the Kiplinger Arena budget (which is self-supporting with proceeds from arena activities)...

McCOOK, Neb. -- City leaders approved the upcoming fiscal year budget on first reading Monday evening, advancing a bump in local trash rates and an across-the-board city employee wage hike while indicating the city property tax levy would likely see a 3-cent or higher increase this year...

PHOENIX, Arizona -- An American radio and television evangelist who lived in the McCook area in the late 1950s and early 1960s is gaining worldwide attention as an exorcist who provides counseling for people who have problems with violence, self-mutilation, multiple personality disorders, Satanic ritual abuse and molestation...

A sail boat named "Rock 'n' Roll" grabs a lot of attention sitting on the dry, high plains, in McCook, Nebraska -- about three states away from any state with water deep enough to sail her. A dispatcher for Deep Water Transport Enterprises of Washington, N.C., said Monday morning that the boat is en route from the Atlantic Ocean harbor city of Riviera Beach, Florida, to the Pacific Northwest and the city of Anacortes, Wash, on Fidalgo Island. ...

Dundy County-Stratton High School Tigers Dominic Sis and Reice Haines (left) and their team mates volunteer muscle for the one-day Mobile Pantry in Benkelman Saturday, Aug. 13. Mobile Pantry coordinators report that 119 households -- 398 people -- benefited from the event co-sponsored by the Hitchcock County Pantry and Food Bank of the Heartland, Omaha. ...

Donald Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly called for the repeal of Obamacare, but it looks like market forces might do that job for them. What isn't clear is what Republicans or Democrats will come up with to replace it. Is a Canada-style single-payer system as inevitable as many believe?...

To review a bit. Retired Senator Ben Nelson had a distinguished political career in Nebraska. In college young Ben worked for then governor Frank Morrison. Then on to a successful career in the insurance business. Eventually Ben ran for the Nebraska Legislature and was elected from a majority Republican district even though he was an unshakable Democrat. ...

I watching the TV coverage of the wonderful new $8.4 million high school in Kearney. Quite a bargain compared to the cost of the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, built on the south side of Kearney. Built at the turn of this century at a cost in excess of $60 million. Congratulations, Kearney...