Stories from Thursday, April 16, 2020

McCOOK, Neb. — It’s official: enough players are enrolled for the McCook Midget Baseball Association to begin both baseball and softball seasons on Monday, June 8. MMBA president Billy Davidson added entry deadlines have been extended to May 1 so more players can enter...

Every day, we make choices. We make the choice about what we will wear, what food we put into our bodies, what time we will get out of bed. For a couple of my kids, that is closer to lunch than to breakfast these days. Many of these decisions are made without much thought, but right now we have the chance to be very intentional about those choices...

Maxine Lorraine Talley FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Maxine Lorraine Talley, 88, formerly of Culbertson, Neb., died Wednesday (April 15, 2020), at Columbine West Health and Rehab in Fort Collins. Services are pending with Carpenter Breland Funeral Home of McCook...

Leonard R. Frecks July 15, 1932 – April 9, 2020 OMAHA, Neb. — Leonard Reinke Frecks, 87, of Elkhorn, Neb., was born July 15, 1932, on the family farm in Culbertson, Neb., and passed away on April 9, 2020, in Omaha. He was preceded in death by parents, John J. and Etta Dorthea Frecks; siblings: Marie Frecks, Margaret Michel, Erma Michel, Ervin (Bud) Frecks, Leona Wudtke, and Alvere (Butch) Frecks...

Eugene (Gene) A. Leitner Sept. 1, 1946 - April 10, 2020 SURPRISE Ariz. — Eugene (Gene) A. Leitner, 73, of Surprise, died Friday, April 10, 2020, at home. Gene was born Sept. 1, 1946, in McCook, Neb., to Arthur and Margaret (Jankovits) Leitner. He was raised in Herndon, Kan., and graduated from St. ...

Editor’s note: Eighth grade English students of Cindy Wilcox at the McCook Junior High finished up their poetry section and if schools had not been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would have presented them at the “Poetry Cafe.” The McCook Gazette will print some of these poems as space allows...

McCOOK, Neb. — One year ago today was quite the day for McCook Bison golf and tennis teams. At Heritage Hills, Brady Esch was firing a round of 75 to win the annual Ron Coleman Invitational. Esch’s Bison “Red” took third overall and Bison “White” were fifth among 12 teams...

LINCOLN, Neb. — Sam Francis from Oberlin, Kan., a two-sport star for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 1930s, was announced as the fifth member of the 2020 University of Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame class this week. Francis is being inducted posthumously, as he passed away on April 23, 2002, at the age of 88...

LINCOLN, Neb. — McCook and Cambridge’s great eights lead a strong contingent of Gazette-area students who’ve made the Winter 2019-20 Nebraska Chiropractic Physicians Association Academic All-State Team. All honorees are listed on nsaa.com this week. They’ve met the nominations from their schools for individual academic excellence, leadership and significant contributions in their winter sport or activity...

LINCOLN, Neb. — While assembling 1,500-1,800 face shields a day, staff at Nebraska Innovation Studio are also assisting coordination of an army of community workers and volunteers to make more personal protective equipment, namely gowns for first responders and fabric masks for essential workers...

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska State Patrol has partnered with two Lincoln businesses to develop a product that could save thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment. The product will allow NSP troopers and investigators to use gas masks with reusable filters rather than N95 masks at crime scenes...

McCook Gazette State and local officials and business groups are asking companies and nonprofits for input on what can be done to help them recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The Department of Economic Development, the University of Nebraska and the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry released a survey (https://bit.ly/3aeXazt) that asks business owners and nonprofits whether they plan to cut staff, what their top concerns are and whether they plan to seek federal assistance, among other questions.. ...