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McCOOK, Neb. - No McCook property tax or sales tax dollars will be used to purchase the long-stalled St. Catherine’s Hospital property, City Manager Nate Schneider told council members. The second portion of Monday’s meeting of the McCook City Council was, in fact, a meeting of the council acting as the McCook Community Development Agency (CDA), and the proposal before the agency would allow the city to temporarily take title to the property in order to facilitate a private redevelopment project.. ...

Oh, but Nebraska got lucky when Nebraska native Tim Walz moved to Minnesota. Yes, it was an honorable move when he relocated to his wife’s home state. Born and raised in Nebraska, West Point and later in the Alliance area, he graduated from Chadron State University...

Sadly, your old columnist just learned of the passing of a dear friend from being a roommate in college, in this case at the brand-new Air Force Academy. Jon Black was his name, and he came to McCook to stand with me in Grannie Annie and my wedding. ...

CULBERTSON, Neb. - Ten-year-old Kellan Shuler lives for ranch work. Whether he’s helping his dad with cattle or roping steers in the arena, he’s happiest in the saddle, chasing the life he dreams of building on his family’s ranch. But this summer, that dream was tested in a way no one saw coming...

We are in the season of lists. Santa is looking at his naughty and his nice lists. Many are working on their New Year’s resolution list. Others are making their way through their long gift lists. One of the lists we should be considering is what we want to be involved in and what we need to remove from our schedule as we start the new year...

McCOOK, Neb. - Nearly two years after a Piper Malibu Mirage plunged into a McCook neighborhood, killing the pilot and seriously injuring his passenger, federal investigators have released their final report on the accident, citing a combination of excess weight, improper loading and a loss of engine power that left the pilot with no chance to recover...

I know that I’m in the minority on a lot of thoughts and opinions. Perhaps the most obvious is my love of winter versus summer. Every June and July, I hear people expressing their desire for hot weather over cold temperatures. With sweat dripping in their eyes and their thighs sticking to their carseats, people relish the sun and heat...

McCOOK, Neb. - The renewal of the contract for Carol Schlegel as Red Willow County Tourism Director has been rejected on a 3-0 vote. That was one of many developments at Monday’s meeting of the Red Willow Board of Commissioners. Earlier in the morning, Charlie McPherson, Executive Director of the McCook Economic Development Corporation and Director of Housing Development, Amanda Engell addressed the board during the citizens’ comments opportunity. ...

Once an obscure figure to most Americans, the European holiday character, “Krampus,” has emerged in recent years as a darkly comic symbol of holiday counterculture. Although Krampus feels like a recent arrival in the American holiday landscape, his roots run far deeper than pop culture...

McCOOK, Neb. - Rita Messersmith has been in the framing business for 44 years, but she is preparing to retire by the end of this month. She started framing at McCook Fabrics and Crafts, located in the building on Norris Avenue near West B St. (where Anytime Fitness is today). Her love of crafts had brought her to work there, but she was not interested in framing at first...

Here we go again. A single shooter, then a father and son using personal guns to kill and/or injure crowds of people: Brown University in Rhode Island and the Hanukkah (or Chanukah) celebration in Australia. As usual, our liberal media is quick to attempt to pin the blame on inadequate gun laws. A minor detail is that Australia already has those gun laws which only restricts innocents from using a personal weapon to defend themselves in a mass shooting situation...

McCOOK, Neb. - Nearly two years after a Piper Malibu Mirage plunged into a McCook neighborhood, killing the pilot and seriously injuring his passenger, federal investigators have released their final report on the accident, citing a combination of excess weight, improper loading and a loss of engine power that left the pilot with no chance to recover...

It has been a while since anything out of the Governor’s Office invited genuine optimism, but yesterday brought welcome news. Gov. Jim Pillen announced that Nebraska will participate in the next round of the federal Opportunity Zone program, a tool designed to direct private investment into communities that have struggled to attract it. ...

Before World War II there were a number of Greek restaurants across Nebraska. Trano’s, in Norfolk, was my favorite. Petro’s, in Fremont, was my wife’s favorite. But there were others in Grand Island, Kearney, and McCook as well. And in the ’50s Indianola had its Greek restaurant too, run by two brothers, George and Jim Theros. These men had run a sizeable Greek restaurant in Lexington, but had downsized in Indianola to a very small operation, on the north side of Highway 6 & 34...

Here we go again. A single shooter, then a father and son using personal guns to kill and/or injure crowds of people: Brown University in Rhode Island and the Hanukkah (or Chanukah) celebration in Australia. As usual, our liberal media is quick to attempt to pin the blame on inadequate gun laws. A minor detail is that Australia already has those gun laws which only restricts innocents from using a personal weapon to defend themselves in a mass shooting situation...

McCOOK, Neb. - No McCook property tax or sales tax dollars will be used to purchase the long-stalled St. Catherine’s Hospital property, City Manager Nate Schneider told council members. The second portion of Monday’s meeting of the McCook City Council was, in fact, a meeting of the council acting as the McCook Community Development Agency (CDA), and the proposal before the agency would allow the city to temporarily take title to the property in order to facilitate a private redevelopment project.. ...

LINCOLN, Neb. - Nebraska State Board of Education President Elizabeth Tegtmeier said misappropriated funds distributed through the state’s school aid formula were the primary topic of discussion at the board’s December meeting, according to a statement released following the session. The funding in question involves TEEOSA, the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act, Nebraska’s long-standing and often controversial formula for allocating state aid to public schools...