Stories from Tuesday, April 15, 2025

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Obituary Bradley Dean Sides Dec. 30, 1978 - April 12, 2025 SEWARD, Neb. - Bradley Dean Sides was born on Dec. 30, 1978, in Cambridge, Neb. to Pat and Janice (Fimple) Sides and passed away on April 12, 2025, at his home in Seward, Neb. at the age of 46 years, 3 months and 13 days. Brad was baptized on Feb. 25, 1979, at St. Catherine’s Church in Indianola, Neb...

Obituary Dee Messinger Dec. 5, 1922 - Dec. 14, 2024 BOISE, Idaho. - Dee Messinger, age 102, passed away peacefully in his sleep Dec. 14, 2024 in Boise Idaho. Dee was born Dec. 5, 1922 on the family farm south of McCook, Neb., to Edwin and Frieda Marie (nee Ruby). He graduated from Danbury High School in 1940 and enrolled at the University of Nebraska studying Electrical Engineering...

Obituary Heidi Ann Johnson Nov. 14, 1965 - April 2, 2025 PRINCETON, Ill. - Heidi Ann Johnson, 59, of Princeton, Ill. passed away on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at her home in Princeton. Heidi was born on Nov. 14, 1965 in Princeton, Ill. the daughter of Harold “Owen” and Etta “Kay” (Sullivan) Johnson. She had an older sister and younger brother...

Dorothy Lucille Evans McCOOK, Neb. - Dorothy Lucille Evans (née Smith) passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, leaving behind a legacy of love, laughter, and the best peony bushes in McCook. A celebration of Dottie’s life is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, April 19, 2025 at Herrmann-Jones Funeral Chapel in McCook. Inurnment in the Memorial Park Cemetery Columbarium will take place at a later date...

Danny Ruf WILSONVILLE, Neb - Danny Ruf, 70, of Wilsonville, Neb., passed away at his home on Monday, April 14, 2025. Services are pending at this time. Online condolences may be left at lockenour.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to Lockenour-Jones Mortuary of Cambridge...

McCOOK, Neb. - Cambridge High School artist JoLie Farr received the Best of Show award Friday at the 50th anniversary of the McCook Community College Paint-In and Art Show Competition. In addition, four winners in each of seven categories were announced. This year there were 338 entries from 19 area high schools that competed in the event...

McCOOK, Neb. — April 5 marked a milestone for McCook High School, as its Esports team claimed the school’s first state championship in program history. The team secured the Divison 2 Fortnite title, the esports equivalent of Class B, competing against 13 other schools, including familiar rivals like Chase County and Grand Island Northwest. Each team consisted of four players, with McCook’s squad dominating the field in an intense online tournament hosted virtually...

McCOOK, Neb. - At least two dozen people attended Monday’s meeting of the Red Willow County Board of Commissioners to show support for Earl McNutt, a former commissioner and longtime county employee. McNutt has worked for the county since 1978, most recently as foreman of District Three. He also served as the District One Commissioner from 1998 until 2022, when he lost a primary race to Nebraska State Patrol officer Ted Gans...

McCOOK, Neb. - The McCook School Board is preparing to launch another bond campaign. At Monday evening’s meeting of the McCook School Board, Business Director Jeff Gross told the board that a survey among McCook community members showed enough support to proceed with a bond campaign. Gross told the board that the bond must address the top three community concerns: student safety, career and technical education (CTE), and the structural stability of the school building...

McCOOK, Neb. — The new Explore McCook app is gaining traction, with an increase of slightly more than 100 downloads over last month’s total. The Red Willow County Visitors Committee reviewed funds spent on promoting the app at its regular meeting last week at the Keystone Business Center. The Visitors’ Committee and the McCook Chamber of Commerce are sharing marketing and promotional costs for the app...

In early 2024, the FBI launched an operation to dismantle a sophisticated malware campaign targeting thousands of U.S.-based computers. The action, focused on malware known as PlugX, was part of the agency’s broader effort to thwart a Chinese-backed hacking group known as Volt Typhoon. ...

Happy Income Tax Day. We filed early and have already received our refund. The IRS doesn’t pay much (any!) interest, so overpaying is not a real good practice! Will have to adjust my withholding amount. Still, it is encouraging that Elon Musk and his DOGE team are finding and eliminating so much fraud and unnecessary spending of federal funds that we may experience less need for tax money. Hope reigns eternally!...

The McCook Community College baseball team took its first Region IX series of the season three games to one with a doubleheader split Saturday. MCC took the first game 15-6 and lost the finale 11-5. “It was good to get back going in the right direction this weekend, but a disappointing final game,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook Community College baseball team dropped a 13-9 decision Monday at home to Colby Community College. “They just got a couple more swings on it than we did today,” said MCC Coach Jon Olsen. “I thought we had some guys on the mound that stepped up and threw well.”...

CAMBRIDGE, Neb. — Champs stepped jup from across the region during Saturday’s 12 team Don Stine girls track-field invitational. Chase County emerged as team champions with almost 60 points more than its cloest challenger. The Longhorns just overwhelm teams with talent and depth even though they only won one individual event: Landree McNair in her 1600-meter run...

The two-time defending state champ Chase County boys ruled Saturday’s Don Stine Invitational. Team scores and all area top four boys placers. TEAMS: 1. Chase County 248, 2. Dundy County-Stratton 112, 3. Cambridge 35, 3. Hershey 35, 5. Arapahoe 30, 6. Wauneta-Palisade 16, 7. Lexington 15, 8. McCook JV 11, 9. Cozad 9, 10. Southwest 6, 10. Southern Valley 6, 12. Maywood-Hayes Center 4...

KEARNEY, Neb. — McCook High’s boys made a truly respetable team showing against 19 other varsity golf lineups at Friday’s Kearney Invitational. Coach Ben Vetrovsky provided these insights: “McCook Bison Boys Golf traveled to Kearney to play in the Kearney High School Invite at Meadowlark Hills Golf Course...

BROKEN BOW, Neb. — Everyone from senior champion Josiah Wilkinson to freshman jumping star Blake Willis contributed for a McCook boys team finishing fourth at Friday’s Broken Bow Invitational. Wilkinson cracked two minutes again while winning the lates 800-meter showdown...

LAMAR, Colo. – The McCook Community College softball swept two more games at Lamar Sunday to take the four-game series 4-0. MCC won 7-2 in the first game and took a 4-3 win in extra innings in the second game. These were MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall’s 100th and 101st wins at McCook...

LINCOLN, Neb. — McCook High girls made a triumphant return to Lincoln as seniors Izzy Clause, Roslyn Wiemers and Brooklynn Gillen all went unbeaten through Lincoln Christian events last weekend. Following a 12-0 dual sweep of the Crusaders Friday, McCook outscored seven eastern Nebraska teams including perennial Class B contender Grand Island Central Catholic on Saturday...