No New Year's baby yet in Gazette contest

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The Gazette hasn't heard from the parents of a "New Year's Baby 2013."

Remember -- parents of New Year's babies must contact the McCook Daily Gazette to qualify the new one for honors as "New Year's Baby 2013" for the Gazette area in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas.

The new baby must be born within the Gazette trade area of Dundy, Chase, Hayes, Hitchcock, Frontier, Red Willow and Furnas counties in Nebraska, and Rawlins and Decatur counties in Kansas, to parents who live within the same area.

Parents or grandparents, or proud aunts and uncles, cousins -- some relative -- MUST contact the Gazette with information regarding the new baby's arrival.

Hospitals DO NOT release this information.

Someone MUST contact the Gazette: by phone, (308) 345-4500, extension 113 and leave a message if necessary; by fax, (308) 345-7881; or by e-mail, regionalnews@mccookgazette.com

The Gazette needs the baby's name; date and time (be very specific) of the baby's birth; his/her parents' names, address and contact numbers; and the hospital and attending doctor's name.

The contest continues on a day-to-day basis until the newest baby makes his or her appearance.

Elsewhere around the state -- and not eligible for the Gazette's contest -- Colton Alexander Ray likely was the first baby born in 2013 in Nebraska.

Officials say the 6-pound, 21-inch lad arrived at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday at Bellevue Medical Center.

The early morning delivery came too late for Colton's parents, Air Force Staff Sgt. Ross Ray and his wife, Kayla Ray, to claim him on their 2012 tax return.

Other babies born early on New Year's Day in Nebraska include a girl born at 1:51 a.m. at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha and a boy born at 2:44 a.m. at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.