Stories from Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Jan. 31, 1932 - Dec. 7, 2009 OGALLALA -- Duane Mark Prohaska, age 77, of Ogallala, passed away on Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, at the Indian Hills Manor nursing home in Ogallala. He was born Jan. 31, 1932, in Britt, Iowa, the son of Lloyd Prohaska and Albina (Rayhons) Prohaska of Duncan, Iowa. ...

Sept. 29, 1919-Dec. 7, 2009 ADEL, Iowa -- Eleanora Galloway, 90, died Monday (Dec. 7, 2009), at Sunnybrook of Adel, Iowa. She was born Sept. 29, 1919, in McCook, to Jacob and Elizabeth Lebsack. She graduated in 1937 from McCook High School and was the valedictorian of her class...

The family of Roselin Doss is requesting a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday Dec. 10. Her family includes sons, Michael of Austin, Texas, David of Johnson Lake, Bob of Lincoln, Richard of Eugene, Ore., daughter Amy (Hoff) of Lincoln, and four grandchildren. The family is meeting at the Kearney Event Center on Dec. 13, 4 p.m., for the Charlie Daniel's Christmas show and would welcome others. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 71611 Road 381, McCook, NE, 69001...

Concession stand bids were awarded at the Monday night council meeting, with one councilman abstaining from voting because of a possible conflict of interest. Councilman Jerry Calvin pulled the items from the consent agenda and stated he would not be voting as he works for Pepsi-Cola company and supplies pop to the concession stands...

The city's Property Resolution Team is cleaning up neighborhoods in the city, one lot at a time. For the past 18 months, the PRT has worked with property owners to clean up nuisances like abandoned, burned-out houses or junk-littered yards. McCook Police Chief Ike Brown, PRT team leader, gave a summary at the McCook City Council meeting Monday night on what kind of progress is being made in cleaning up dilapidated lots in the city...

Leon Wright of Indianola works to remove the cornerstone of the Masonic Temple Building in downtown McCook in September 2008. Masonic Lodge No. 135 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons plans to rededicate the cornerstone on Saturday, at 1:30 p.m., on the third floor of the Temple Building, 322 Norris. ...

Eight-year-old Morgan Fawver, above, and friends John Morgan and Hunter Trosper, both 10, find the going tough in heavy, swirling snow Tuesday afternoon. "We're OK! Really, we are," they shouted to passersby, laughing and explaining that they were out in the snow "'cause there's nothing else to do!" School in McCook was canceled when a dangerous winter storm blew out of the Rocky Mountains and across the plains, burying much of the McCook area under eight to 10 inches of snow...

Kudos to state and city workers who spent long overnight hours clearing the streets and highways to make sure emergency traffic could get through and the rest of us could make it to work and school this morning, provided our schools and places of business were open this morning...

When the Gazette first moved toward pagination more than a decade ago, the new computers had an interesting feature that seemed endearing, at least initially. It lost its allure after about the sixth recitation, however. When a mistake was made, a computer-generated robot-like voice would intone, "It's not my fault." It didn't take us long to find the necessary tool to silence the voice. ...

The rules of the U.S. Senate can be confusing and they seem to have confused W.O. Wagner who wrote a letter to the editor Dec. 3 about Sen. Nelson's vote on the health care reform bill. To put it as plainly as possible, it took 60 votes to get the bill to the floor to start debate and it will take 60 votes to end the debate ... not a simple majority of 51 as W.O. Wagner maintained in the letter...

Skyrocketing health care costs are undermining the foundations of the rural economy -- self-employment and small business. Family farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses are among the hardest hit by premium hikes. And as premiums rise, fewer rural entrepreneurs can take the leap of faith to start a farm, ranch or business...

By now, most readers are aware of the closing down of the St. Catherine apartment building. The residents being forced to move should be thankful they don't live in a foreign country under communism. If they don't like private ownership, they should go elsewhere...

The wintry blast of weather earlier in the week forced changes in the 2009 Cattle Trail Invitational Basketball Tournament schedule. The annual McCook tournament, featuring eight Gazette-area high school basketball teams, was set to open Tuesday, Dec. 8, with 16 first round games in boys and girls varsity divisions. But heavy snow and hazardous driving conditions forced tournament officials to postpone first-round action until Thursday, Dec. 10...

I'd love to complain about the recent frigid weather that has rolled into our area, but I can't forget it was shirt-sleeve weather about a week ago. What were the temperatures last week, the first few days of December, perhaps in the 60s for a day or two? Sixties in western Nebraska in early December? I'll take that any December, even if it means suffering the cold and snow that we've seen these past few days...