Stories from Friday, November 24, 2006

June 28, 1951 - Nov. 21, 2006 HILDRETH -- James R. Price, 55, died Tuesday (Nov. 21, 2006) at his home in Hildreth. He was born June 28, 1951, in McCook to William Glenn and Laura Maxine (Broeder) Price. He grew up on the family farm in Stockville and graduated from Bartley High School in 1969. He graduated from Kearney State College in 1973...

Sept. 12, 1939 - Nov. 22, 2006 MORTON,Ill. - Richard J. Thomas of 401 Ken St., died on Nov. 22, 2006, at St. Francis Medical Center. Born Sept. 12, 1939, in Indianola to Emmet and Alice Sughroue Thomas. He married Dorothy L. Davitt in Churchville, Iowa on Oct. 29, 1966. She survives...

On what is traditionally the busiest day of the year for shopping, most area stores contacted reported strong sales this morning. "It's been great, people are really responding to the door busters," said Steve Loyd of JC Penny's. What was surprising to him was how popular home furnishings have sold he said, such as pillows, throws and blankets. Other top selling items have been women and men's leather coats, girls' velour hoodies and in all the departments, denim...

Cars have had seatbelts in them for more than 40 years, yet more than a third of the people killed in motor vehicle accidents in 1995 through 2005 didn't have them on. The effects of alcohol on our driving ability are well known, yet more than 30 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes had blood alcohol content levels of .08g/dL or higher -- the level at which a Nebraska driver is deemed to be legally drunk. ...

With the Christmas rush beginning unofficially today, many consumers will be purchasing gaming systems to put under the tree. Don't look for any new systems at my house Christmas morning. The thought never even crossed my mind to stand in line to purchase the new Sony Playstation 3 last weekend...

Kamilliah Brown, a sophomore at McCook Community College, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Nebraska-Omaha next year. Brown was recruited to MCC from Kansas City, Mo. last year and as shooting guard was the leading scorer on the team, averaging 15 points per game, said Michelle Orton, head coach at MCC...

After being in the Santa business for more than 20 years, Dennis Shannon knows all the tricks of the trade. For kids wanting to tug on his latex-affixed beard to see if it's real, he presses the side of his head tightly against his shoulder so kids can pull to their hearts content...