Stories from Thursday, April 25, 2019

BOWLNG GREEN, Ky. — Jake Sanford, a 2018 graduate of McCook Community College has been garnering some national awards this spring for his hitting prowess at NCAA Division I Western Kentucky. Sanford’s 18 home runs this season are tied for third best among all Division I hitters according to the NCAA statistics updated today. He is the nation’s second best slugger with an. 868 mark and his 132 total bases are second best -- six behind the leader...

Leona Nelson Nov. 20, 1935 - April 23, 2019 McCOOK, Neb. — Leona Nelson, age 83, of McCook, passed away at her home on April 23, 2019. She was born in Decatur County, Kan., on Nov. 20, 1935, to Arthur and Elsie (Wesch) Berndt. She attended grade school in Cedar Bluffs, Kan., and graduated from the Decatur Community High School in Oberlin, Kan., in May of 1953. ...

Ronald George Tophane Oct. 18, 1944 - April 24, 2019 NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — Ronald George Tophane was born on Oct. 18, 1944, at St. Catherine’s Hospital in McCook, Neb., and passed away at the age of 74, surrounded by his family, friends and loved ones, on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, at Centennial Park Retirement Village in North Platte...

STAMFORD, Neb. — Spencer Brown’s 38 led the Southern Valley golfers to a nine-hole dual win over Bertrand Monday afternoon. The Eagles fired a 167 team score with Brown, Ryder Lewis (41), Carter Brown (42), Chaston Burgeson (46) and Beau Baily (46) delivering their low rounds...

ST. FRANCIS, Kan. — Anna Carter’s all-time best throw of the shot put helped power the Rawlins County girls into a close second-place team finish at Tuesday’s St. Francis Invitational. Team scores and all-McCook Gazette area top five placers on Tuesday:...

St. FRANCIS, Kan. — The Dundy County-Stratton boys won two relay races to highlight a strong top three finish at Tuesday’s St. Francis Invitational. Those Tigers should take plenty of momentum into RPAC championship competition at Southern Valley on Friday...

Latest results from TJ’s Family Fun Center in McCook: Men’s Major Burton Well Drillng 305-205 J&L Construction 278-227 Stockman’s Feed 272.5-237.5 Five Loners 263-247 Diamond Vogel 258-252 Family Issues 251-256 TJ’s Family Fun 247-256...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook Community College softball team let Game 1 slip away Wednesday against Central Community College but came back strong in Game 2 to win 8-0 to salvage a split on the day. In Game 1, the Raiders overcame a 3-0 deficit in the sixth innings and exploded for nine runs in the final two frames. MCC Sophomore Kayla Harrison (Richmond, British Columbia) tossed a three-hit shutout in Game 2...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook Community College baseball team split a pair of Region IX games Wednesday at the Jaycees Sports Complex against Southeast Community College. The Indians won the first game 2-1 and dropped the second game 7-2. In Game 1 MCC starter Jesse Bloom (Centennial, Colo.,) went six strong innings and turned the ball over to Isaac Vargas who picked up the save...

FELLING FIELD — The McCook Calves 10-and-under baseball team fell behind early and couldn’t come back in a 9-5 loss to the Holdrege Titans 10-U as baseball action began at Felling Tuesday night. Lee Davidson started the game for the McCook Calves. He lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and four runs while striking out nine...

McCOOK, Neb. — Best of the west in Nebaska prep tennis are all venturing east for McCook’s huge home weekend Friday and Saturday. The Bison are hosting duals against Alliance at 1 p.m., Gering at 3 p.m. and Scottsbluff at 5 p.m. on Friday. Saturday brings a round-robin invitational where Ogallala, Hershey, Scottsbluff and Gering will challenge McCook’s lineup which just finished a sweep of both Kearney schools Tuesday afternon...

HASTINGS, Neb. — From Adult Black Belt to Beginner’s division, Botsford Taekwando/Karate proved its team could compete with the best at their 30th annual South Central Regional showdown on April 13. Botsford’s five competitors captured five first places including Robert Botsford winning Grand Champion among all Adult Black Belts...

McCOOK, Neb. — Scott Martin Construction of McCook was awarded a $435,160 contract for interior demolition of the McCook Community College East Campus. The Mid-Plains Community College board of governors took the action Wednesday night during its meeting in McCook...

McCOOK, Neb. — County-owned Hillcrest Nursing Home is in better financial shape than many long-term care centers, but that won’t ccontinue if state Medicaid funding doesn’t improve. Even so, it isn’t able to provide health insurance to its employees, and is fined a couple hundred thousand dollars a year as a result...

McCOOK, Neb. — Let me set the scene for you….a college play set in England in the late 1940s, in the library of the famous Walloman family. With three generations living under one roof the matriarch Lavinia, (Kim Johnson)- Archibald Wallomen-Lavinia’s son ( Will Babbit) and daughter Elvira (Mary Kain)...

Social media helped spread a long-debunked theory linking vaccinations to autism, to the point that the anti-vaxxer message has even reached those who spend no time on the internet. The U.S. is on track to break a 25-year-old record number of measles cases, with 695 reported so far this year, with eight months to go...

This week has been a short week. We had two recess days off in observance of Easter. Last Thursday, we passed multiple bills through final reading which will head to the Governor’s desk. Notably among them was LB472, known as the Qualified Judgement Payment Act, to allow Gage County to levy a sales tax for payment of a federal judgment against the county. ...

If you’re an empty nester, you might not want to get too comfortable. These days, young and not-so-young adult children are moving back at much larger rates than 50 years ago. Thirty-nine percent of adults ages 18-34 report that they live with their parents or that they moved back home for financial reasons...