plus 4, From Impound to Christmas - Daily Record

From Impound to Christmas - Daily Record
Car-deer collisions common, but avoidable - Sierra Star
Chase ends in crash, gunfire, blackout - KHOU
Thomas' death dominates sports headlines in 2009 - Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier
Judge Judy Now - NBC40.NET

From Impound to Christmas - Daily Record

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 12:23 PM PST

Accustomed to working on bulkier models and larger motors, the Cañon City High School automotive department considered it a treat to refurbish bicycles once impounded by the local police department.

It began as a volunteer project that automotive service technology instructor John Duston brought to his three classes. Every single student was on board from the beginning, Duston said.

The Cañon City Police Department wanted to do something with the 20 plus bicycles sitting at the impound lot. The idea was brought up to CCHS resource officer Chuck Nish, who passed it on to Duston.

Within a few days, the students had taken the bikes, and, with a little elbow grease and a few donated parts, were able to make 15 usable bikes to donate to local school-age children.

"Officer Nish came to me and asked if we were interested in working on this project," Duston said. "I presented it to the students and gave them the choice. Every one of the students raised their hand wanting to participate in it. They were excited about it."

"The students were just awesome," officer Nish said. "I went in and saw one student literally on his knees with a toothbrush cleaning the chrome rims. These guys really stepped up."

The students, knowing time was tight, worked together through class three straight days to get the bikes ready before the Christmas break. Several of the students caravanned with officers to deliver the bikes all over town Sunday.

"It really made these guys feel good," Duston said. "They were so proud of being able to help out and participate in something like this. I was really proud of them."

This is not the first community-oriented project students from this program have taken upon themselves.

"We have adopted vehicles in the past from non-profits," Duston said. "We've done safety checks on them and performed vehicle repairs. The students enjoy that as well."

Senior Bryson Navarro was excited to join in on the community service project.

"Mr. Duston came in and told us about the bikes," Navarro said. "We started tearing them down and fixing them. Some of them we couldn't save — they'd been sitting out for just too long. But, we did save as many as we could. We did various things from fixing chains, refilling tubes, fixing leaks, fixing seats and replacing seats, tightening up the brakes — basically anything we could do to save them.

"It was a lot of fun. They're definitely a lot simpler than cars," added Navarro, who hopes to go into automotive repair after graduation. "I am hoping to go to college to get a degree. Working on cars is a lot of fun." Navarro said the most important part of the project was being able to assist others around town. "I'm just glad to help out the community. Maybe we'll see a couple of those bikes riding down the street one day."

Senior Justin McDuffie was honored local law enforcement felt they could come to the students for assistance in refurbishing the bikes.

"I thought it was pretty cool they came to us and asked us to help out. It shows that we're not a bunch of teenagers who don't care about anyone else," McDuffie said. "We still live in this town and we still look out for our community. We appreciate our community and we're trying to give something back. It was a fun project. It was nice to fix these up for kids who don't have bikes and donate them."

Karen Lungu can be reached at klungu@ccdailyrecord.com.

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Car-deer collisions common, but avoidable - Sierra Star

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 11:48 AM PST

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Living in the mountains puts residents close to nature -- sometimes a little too close for comfort. Collisions between cars and deer, as well as other animals, are common in the mountain area, said Paul Varner of the California Highway Patrol. Varner ...

Chase ends in crash, gunfire, blackout - KHOU

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 11:55 AM PST

by T.J. Aulds / The Daily News

Posted on December 24, 2009 at 1:59 PM

Updated today at 1:59 PM

******

TEXAS CITY — A robbery suspect led police on a high-speed chase before crashing and knocking power out to an entire block along Palmer Highway. Shots were fired during the chase when the suspect tried to ram a patrol car, but no one was injured, police said.

A convenience store at 20th Street and Texas Avenue was robbed about 9 a.m. by a man brandishing a knife, police Sgt. Joe Stanton said. The store clerk told police the bandit demanded money from the cash register, but when the clerk could not get it to open, the robber took off with $3,000 from a lock box that was under the counter, police said.

An officer responding to the call noticed a black Ford LTD matching the description of the getaway car, police said.

A chase ensued near 32nd Street and Palmer Highway, Stanton said. The suspect ran into a police roadblock at 32nd Street and Magnolia when he then tried to ram into a patrol car, Stanton said.

One of the officers fired a shot at the car that struck the vehicle's passenger side door. The suspect continued on before crashing into a utility pole in the 1300 block of 31 ½ Street.

The crash knocked out power to several businesses along Palmer Highway, including Texas First Bank and Etheredge Real Estate. Power was restored about an hour later.

The suspect took off on foot and ran into a nearby auto repair business, where police found him in the back of a Chevy Tahoe that was in the shop for service. No one was injured in the chase or gunfire.

David Darvell Dixon, 28, of Texas City, was charged with aggravated robbery and evading arrest in a motor vehicle. He was taken to the Texas City jail, where he was waiting to be transferred to the Galveston County Jail and held on bonds totaling $310,000, Stanton said.

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Thomas' death dominates sports headlines in 2009 - Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 11:40 AM PST

DES MOINES (AP) - The shooting death of Aplington-Parkersburg High football coach Ed Thomas was the tragic end of an extraordinary life. Thomas spent 34 years shaping the lives of the young men who played for him, using a 100-by-58 yard patch of grass tucked between the cornfields of Northeast Iowa to teach lessons that transcended his "Sacred Acre."

Unfortunately, Thomas' passing was the moment that defined Iowa's sports scene in 2009. But Iowans and many others around the nation rallied around the Falcons for their nationally televised season opener, where they honored their fallen coach and, more important, played the game the way Thomas taught them.

Here are some of the other memorable moments in Iowa sports that stood out in 2009.

HAWKEYES EARN TRIP TO ORANGE BOWL

Iowa barely survived its season opener against Northern Iowa and quickly fell out of the Top 25. The Hawkeyes kept winning, though, and by early November they were 9-0 and in the discussion for the national title. Iowa's luck ran out when quarterback Ricky Stanzi sprained his ankle against Northwestern, which promptly knocked the Hawkeyes from the ranks of the unbeaten. Iowa then lost an overtime heartbreaker at Ohio State, 27-24, in one of the most memorable Big Ten games of the decade.

The Hawkeyes, behind freshman quarterback James Vandenberg of Keokuk, rallied to shut out Minnesota in the season finale and earn a trip to the Orange Bowl to face Georgia Tech. Coach Kirk Ferentz was named the league's coach of the year for the third time and the Hawkeyes dominated the Big Ten's all-league honors, proving that the program's mid-decade struggles were more of a blip than a trend.

RHOADS LEADS CYCLONE REVIVAL

First-year Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads, a native of nearby Ankeny, made his enthusiasm for the Cyclones apparent from the moment he accepted the job, firing up the fan base with a passionate and emotional introductory press conference.

Rhoads then went out and proved that there's a pretty good coach underneath all that fire and brimstone.

Rhoads and his staff squeezed six wins and a trip to the Insight Bowl out of a team that was a near-unanimous pick to finish last in the Big 12 North. Along the way, the Cyclones won at Nebraska for the first time since 1977 - forcing eight turnovers - and posted more victories than they did in two seasons under current Auburn coach Gene Chizik.

Iowa State fans were briefly disillusioned when Chizik bailed on them last December. Twelve months later, many of those same Cyclones supporters would say that, thanks to Rhoads, it was the best thing that could have happened to the program.

PANTHERS NEARLY PULL OFF KINNICK STUNNER

Even casual football fans around the state knew that Northern Iowa had build a powerhouse football program under coach Mark Farley - regardless of division. But few of them thought the Panthers could knock off the Hawkeyes in Kinnick Stadium.

If Iowa hadn't pulled off something that's never been done before, though, that's exactly what would have happened.

The Panthers trailed 17-16 when quarterback Pat Grace drove them from their own 8-yard line with 2:14 left. Billy Hallgren's first game-winning field goal try was blocked, but Northern Iowa somehow recovered the ball to set up yet another try. Jeremiah Hunter, who failed to pick up Hallgren's first blocked kick, swatted away the second attempt to give Iowa a thrilling victory.

Hunter's block marked the first time in Football Bowl Subdivision history that a team blocked consecutive field goal attempts, though the close win hurt Iowa's national reputation all season.

Northern Iowa won their next five games and looked to be a serious contender for the FCS title. But the Panthers lost three of their final five games and missed the playoffs.

In many ways, that was as stunning as their near-upset of the Hawkeyes.

NASCAR NATIONWIDE DEBUTS IN IOWA

In just a few short years, the Iowa Speedway transformed from a cornfield in Newton into one of the nation's fastest-growing racetracks. The track's sterling reputation was cemented this summer when it played host to the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck series races as well as the third IRL Iowa 250. Over 57,000 fans packed the stands to watch Brad Keselowski pass Kyle Busch on the final few laps to take the checkered flag in the inaugural Nationwide race.

Though a Sprint Cup Series race - the Holy Grail of auto racing - might not be in the track's immediate future, Iowa Speedway's status as one of the best tracks in the Midwest is no longer in doubt.

PANTHERS WINS VALLEY, REACH NCAA TOURNAMENT

Northern Iowa entered 2009 as a scuffling Missouri Valley Conference program in danger of fading back into irrelevance. Less than three months later, the Panthers were cutting down the nets after the Valley title game in St. Louis and celebrating their fourth NCAA tournament trip of the decade. It was the year that coach Ben Jacobson, Greg McDermott's hand-picked successor, came into his own, winning the league's coach of the year honor.

Though the Panthers fell to Purdue in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, they opened the 2009-10 season with wins over Iowa and Iowa State and look to be strong contenders for another trip to the Big Dance come March.

HAWKEYES TAKE NCAA WRESTLING TITLE, SANDERSON LEAVES FOR PENN STATE

Top-ranked Iowa won its second straight NCAA wrestling title in March under coach Tom Brands. The Hawkeyes won their 22nd national title without winning a weight class, and 149-pound Brent Metcalf, the Hawkeyes' lone finalist, had his 69-bout winning streak ended and was later whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Iowa State finished third, and coach Cael Sanderson was finished with the Cyclones soon thereafter. Sanderson left his alma mater for Penn State and was replaced by Kevin Jackson, who watched the Cyclones fall to No. 1 Iowa in Ames, 18-16, in early December.

IOWA BASKETBALL IN DECLINE

The Hawkeyes finished coach Todd Lickliter's second season with a 73-45 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament. Four players bailed on the program shortly thereafter, and Iowa heads into 2010 facing an uphill battle to avoid the worst season in school history.

The Hawkeyes are just 5-7 entering Big Ten play. Anthony Tucker, their second-leading scorer, is on an indefinite suspension after being arrested on public intoxication charges, and Lickliter only recently returned following surgery to repair a tear in his carotid artery.

OTHER NOTABLE MOMENTS

Donny Schatz takes his fourth straight Knoxville Nationals title...Iowa State star forward Craig Brackins decides to skip the NBA Draft and return for his junior season...Des Moines native Lolo Jones pulls up during a hurdles event at the Drake Relays and fails to finish the race...Mark McNulty sinks 30-foot putt to win playoff at the Principal Charity Classic, a Champions Tour event in West Des Moines...Iowa routs Iowa State 35-3 at Trice Stadium.

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Judge Judy Now - NBC40.NET

Posted: 24 Dec 2009 11:33 AM PST

PLEASANTVILLE--- She thought she was just stopping by Fred's Complete Auto Repair to check on her car and see how the pricey repairs were going, but instead, Pleasantville resident Gene Washington got the ultimate surprise Christmas gift.

"...Its just unbelievable...this is one of the best Christmas's I've had in my life," said the retired Pleasantville school teacher upon learning that the over $3,000 dollars in repairs had been done free of charge.

Washington and her family have had a recent streak of bad financial luck, and on top of it, she's been without her 2008 Nissan since its engine died well over a year ago -- that's where the staff at Fred's Complete Auto come in, "....she's a very genuine person and we thought no better person to help but Gene," said Service Manager, Burt Wright.

Along with the help of several local sponsors, owner Fred Ray said that his garage has worked on the car for the last two weeks, finally finishing the engine over-haul just in time, "....and finally yesterday late in the day, we got the car running right, it was like a miracle."

Washington, who was also thrilled that her entire family was there to share the moment, said that it just shows how the people in the community that she loves, can come together and show that they care, "....I know there's a God and I thank God for people like you all that came to my rescue...I just thank you."

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