Last Week's Most Read Stories

Wind power (05/03/08)
A fleet of trucks spent Friday night parked at the north sale barn in McCook, its drivers easily convinced of the power of the blowing wind. Gusts above 40 m.p.h. made it difficult for the southbound truckloads of wind turbine blades to stay on the road, so the drivers decided to find motel rooms in McCook for the night, and resume their journey Saturday, when winds were expected to abate...

McCook's Tyrone Sellers nominated for 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl (05/02/08)
The United States Army came calling for Tyrone Sellers Wednesday afternoon. Sellers, a highly recruited football standout from McCook High School, was officially nominated for consideration to play in the most prestigious high school all-star game in the country -- the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl...

Ex-Indianola man jailed on chase charges (05/07/08)
INDIANOLA -- A wild run through the hills southwest of McCook Sunday night led to a court appearance Tuesday and a stay in jail for a former Indianola man. Joseph D. Sitzman, age unavailable, pleaded not guilty to charges of operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest and driving while intoxicated (first offense) during his hearing Tuesday before Red Willow County Judge Anne Paine...

Dropping in (04/29/08)
Students from Medicine Valley High School in Curtis gather around the Nebraska Army National Guard Chinook helicopter that landed on the football practice field April 23. Staff Sgt. Adren Uhlig, above left, of Curtis was greeted after the landing by his 8-year-old son, Coby, a Medicine Valley second grader. ...

Republican River tour takes on new sense of urgency (05/02/08)
LINCOLN -- An early June water and natural resources tour will visit the lower Republican River basin in Kansas and Nebraska to help answer water use questions in the basin. The annual University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce water and natural resources tour is June 3-5, beginning and ending on UNL's East Campus...

Teacher terminated (04/24/08)
The McCook Public Schools board of education voted unanimously early this morning to terminate the contract of a special education language resource teacher at the end of the current school year. The board's 6-0 vote -- after a marathon public hearing that started at 6 p.m., Wednesday, and ended at 2:29 a.m. today, followed immediately by a three-hour closed session that lasted until 5:32 a.m., today -- ended Kim Christopherson's employment with the McCook school district effective May 27...

Boy survives lightning strike (04/25/08)
By LORRI SUGHROUE City Editor A 9-year old McCook boy who was struck by lightning in Wednesday's thunderstorm has a sore shoulder to remind him. Brandon Spatz, the son of Steve and Mindy Spatz, said he ran outside during the brief thunderstorm Wednesday to retrieve a cardboard box that he was afraid would blow away. Brandon said he wanted to save the box to play with it later...

Possible twister (05/07/08)
A possible tornado touches down Tuesday night, below what may be a funnel cloud in the upper right portion of the photo. The threatening clouds produced the eerie sight north of McCook around 7 p.m., traveling east across the northwestern part of Red Willow County for several minutes before disappearing. ...

McCook man leads cops on high-speed chase (05/07/08)
A McCook man led law enforcement on a high-speed chase through the city Tuesday afternoon before he was finally stopped. Red Willow County Chief Deputy Alan Kotschwar was leaving a training session at the Heritage Senior Center when he noticed a vehicle speeding north 60-70 mph hours on West First. The alleged driver, Dustin Stuck, 25, of McCook, continued through stop signs as Kotschwar pursued the vehicle...