Stories from Tuesday, August 20, 2019

McCOOK, Neb. — Team has become a full-swing driving force in the McCook girls’ golf gameplan once again. With only three players last fall, the Bison couldn'tr impact team standings at most tournaments. All that changes on Thursday during their 2019 season debut...

Bradley Wayne Fawver April 16, 1976 – Aug. 8, 2019 GEORGETOWN, Texas — Bradley Wayne Fawver, 43, of Georgetown, passed away suddenly on Aug. 8, 2019. He was born April 16, 1976, in Stayton, Ore., to Thomas W. Fawver and Darlene S. (Franke) Fawver. He graduated from Elko High School at Elko, Nev. ...

Sheila Dawn Ritter March 6, 1968 - Aug. 15, 2019 SELDEN, Kan. — Sheila Dawn Ritter, 51, died Thursday (Aug. 15, 2019), at her home. She was born March 6, 1968, in McCook, Neb., to Loyal and Lynda (Martin) Springer. She attended Beaver Valley High School and graduated in 1986. She married Michael Ritter on April 9, 1994, in Selden, Kan. She worked as a special education para for Golden Plains Elementary...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook City Council approved on first reading new ordinances to city law that prohibits the use and possession of vaping products by minors. State law prohibits the use of vaping products by minors but not the possession of them, said McCook City Police Chief Ike Brown at the city council meeting Monday night. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — Red Willow County commissioners approved a very short-term loan/transfer to the county fair fund during their weekly meeting Monday morning. Commissioners authorized the transfer of $67,000 from the county budget general fund to the county fair fund, a transaction that commission chairman Earl McNutt described as "a cleaner way to handle" post-county fair expenses/payments that fair board secretary Deb Lafferty used to handle through a petty cash fund. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — A new police vehicle has been retained but a secondary firing range for the police department has not, in a slighted pared down version of the City of McCook’s 2019-20 budget. With property valuations just being released today, until those are plugged in, a significant part of the budget is still unknown, City of McCook Nate Schneider told the McCook City Council Monday night at the regular meeting.The Council unanimously approved on first reading the preliminary budget for next year. ...

I received a note from a friend saying that my messenger account got hacked. What in the world is hacked? Seems that some enterprising (as in crooked!) soul stole access to the addresses I’d used to communicate with friends on the computer application called messenger. Then this scamming crook would make a phone call impersonating me telling whoever answered that they were in line to collect some $40,000 in free money from the U S Government...

“Always eat avocados ‘cause lions just hate onions.” That was a memory trick one could use to retrieve the arcane “aeacljho” code that it took to log into the Gazette’s computer system late last century. That was before computers went through a transformation, about 30 years ago, when “GUI” or the graphical user interface system became the point-and-click system so familiar to Mac and Windows users today...

Careful what you believe! It could be fake news. And it could be threatening our democracy. “Fake news” has become a political weapon, a term of derision. And a meme. No matter how we use it now, the meaning has changed since the term first entered the popular lexicon...

OMAHA, Neb. – Across Nebraska, more than 82,000 children face hunger and food insecurity. Most Saturdays in the fall, 90,000 fans fill Memorial Stadium to cheer on the Husker Football team. This fall, Husker football players will have added motivation to make every yard count...

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — The 2019 Mid-Plains Community College Stampede will be Sept. 12-14 at the Wild West Arena in North Platte. It’s the first time that the rodeo will be three days instead of two. The Stampede is sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association and is also a qualifying rodeo – meaning any points contestants earn will count toward an end of the year shot at nationals...

The Wauneta-Palisade Broncos were focused on their footwork (above) and improving their jumping ability (below) during conditioning in Monday’s volleyball team practice at Wauneta. Coach Terra Higgins watched her team continue their preparations for a Jamboree match this week leading ino the Aug. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — Six volleyball teams from three states and one Canadian Province will be in action this weekend for the Mid-Plains Subway Invite at North Platte’s McDonald-Belton Gym. In addition to North Platte Community College and McCook Community College, the other teams playing this weekend include Hesston and Garden City from Kansas, Eastern Wyoming and Durham College from Oshawa, Ontario – in Nebraska for a week long training and cultural exchange with the McCook volleyball team...