Stories from Friday, December 20, 2013

Hazel Lee Robbs Vermillion was born in Prescott, Ariz., to James Freddie Robbs and Naoma Wilkins Robbs on Dec. 15, 1929. She was the second child of six born to her parents and two more half-sisters followed in later years. She lost two brothers as infants and her other three brothers, Marion, Jerry, and Glen, all preceded her in death. Sisters surviving are Naoma Michael of Tucson, Ariz., and Freddy Goins of Globe, Ariz...

George Daniel Lusk, 60, Mound City, Kan., died Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, at Olathe Medical Center, Olathe, Kan. Family information and funeral arrangements to be announced by Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada. View obituary and send condolences online at www.ferryfuneralhome.com...

Nevada Daily Mail Rather than a traditional gift exchange, Hume elementary students paid it forward to those far from home this Christmas season. For the first time, Hume preschool through sixth grade students participated in the Adopt a Soldier for Christmas program by donating snacks like trail mix, jerky, cookies and candy, necessities like soap, shampoo and socks and gifts like books and movies to soldiers who will not be home for Christmas...

Nevada Daily Mail Repairs to the Bronaugh school roof may finally be underway. The Bronaugh Board of Education voted 7-0 to have Washington Roofing repair the roof, per approval of the insurance company at its meeting Dec. 12. In other business, superintendent Lyle Best reviewed the technology upgrades over the past year and what the board will have to address in the coming year...

Special to the Daily Mail Jack Oehring has his quarter-mile long Christmas card set up again this year as he has for 26 years. Jack doesn't send out Christmas cards, but has created a hand-woven tapestry of designs and figures using some 35,000 lights as a Christmas card to the community...

All along the highways there are signs warning against littering the roads. There is a fine if you are caught, but I have never noticed anyone being pulled over for tossing a paper cup out the window. On the county roads there are not even any signs against littering, and on parts of the roads where there are no houses, there is much evidence that no one worries about the messes they make. ...

During the Civil War, by the fall of 1863, the Union forces in eastern Kansas and western Missouri were occupying more territory and establishing additional routes of communication. This does not mean that the Confederate guerrillas in Missouri were becoming less effective, but it does mean that it was becoming more difficult for them to operate with impunity...

This Friday, Dec. 20, will mark the end of a career for Kevin McKinley, who has had a lasting impact on students, faculty and athletes in the Nevada R-5 School District through his roles as a teacher, administrator and coach for the past 27 years. I have had a relationship with Coach McKinley since the fall of 1992 when I was a freshman at Nevada High School. ...