11-13-12

Posted on Nov 13th, 2012 at 7:35 am

Happy Birthday Wishes to:

Micaela Anderson, John Arehart, Jane Brockman, Andrea Clark, Teresa Gerbers, Ron Hilliges, Richard Krepela, Steve Miller, Christina Paulson, Marie Porter, Doug Speidel, Veryle Winter

Skywatch Weather:

Today, a blend of clouds & sun, high 52. Tonight, partly cloudy, low 24. Wednesday, a blend of clouds & sun, high 54.

Sports:

ESPN Radio now at 105.9 WJAG-FM & 780 WJAG-AM Mon-Fri at 5:00 PM & Sat & Sun at 4:00!

The Creighton men's basketball team moved up two spots to 13th in this week's USA Today Top 25 Coaches poll, which was released yesterday. They also moved up from 16th to 15th in the Associated Press Poll. The jump comes on the heels of CU's 71-51 win over Sun Belt Conference favorite North Texas last Friday. Indiana remained in the top spot after a 97-54 win over Bryant. Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State and Michigan round out the top-five.

The Nebraska volleyball team remains ninth in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll released yesterday. The Huskers went 2-0 last week with wins over Indiana and Purdue. The Huskers are now 20-5 overall and 12-4 in the Big Ten. Stanford remains number one. Creighton jumped from 25th to 23rd. They went 2-0 last week with home wins over Indiana State and Illinois State. The Bluejays are 24-3 on the season and 15-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The high school football playoffs continue for Class “C-1” & “C-2” today with semifinal action. In Class “C-1”, in a game that can be heard on 106 KIX & 106KIX.com, in the east bracket, top seed 10-1 Norfolk Catholic visits three seed 10-1 Pierce at 6:00. Pregame coverage at 5:30. The Two-time Defending State Champions are looking to become the only team ever in Class “C-1” to win three consecutive titles. The Knights are outscoring their opponents on average 41.8-13.8 while the Bluejays are outscoring their foes on average 41.4-12.4. Pierce edged Norfolk Catholic in Norfolk 20-19 on October 12. The Knights have won six of the last seven meetings. In Class “C-2”, in the east bracket, second seeded 11-0 Lutheran High Northeast visits Defending State Champion David City Aquinas at 6:00. The 11-0 Monarchs are the top seed. The Eagles are beating their foes on average 42.3-20.3 while David City Aquinas is outscoring their opponents by an average score of 47.6-6.8. The Monarchs beat Lutheran High Northeast in the second round of the playoffs last year in David City 14-7.

Local Schedule: Midland JV at NECC (WBB-6:00); York College at WSC (WBB-7:00).

Area High School Class “D” Playoff Football Scores: Elgin Public/Pope John 42 Arapahoe 6 (D-1); Humphrey St. Francis 38 Falls City Sacred Heart 13.

NFL Scoreboard: Pittsburgh 16 Kansas City 13 (OT).

Kwifax:

The band Queen used to be known as Smile

News Briefs:

It's official - Norfolk's Mike Flood is running for Governor. At an announcement party last night in the Divots Conference Center, Flood said he and his family have decided the time is right for him to enter the race. The 37-year-old Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature said he is proud to have helped lead the state through the latest financial crisis without raising taxes. And he said Nebraska has the unique problem of having more jobs than people right now.

Representatives of the Norfolk Area Visitors Bureau were welcome guests at last night's meeting of the Norfolk Public School Board of Education. Visitors Bureau Executive Director Kim Kwapnioski brought along a $15,000 check to be used at the Johnny Carson Theatre. School Board President Clark Froehlich said some renovations are needed at the Carson Theatre, and he thanked Kwapnioski and the Visitors Bureau Advisory Board for the grant.

The focus of several meetings being held on the Northeast Community College campus this week is student success - and a signing ceremony was held yesterday to formalize the commitment to helping students achieve success. Dr. Rod Risley is the executive director of Phi Theta Kappa, an organization that recognizes and acknowledges scholarship among students at 2-year colleges. He says there are several things that lead to high graduation rates - including the high number of full time students and full time faculty members in Nebraska. Risley says there are also other things that contribute to student success. Risley says making classes available in a variety of ways and a variety of settings also helps students graduate. Northeast Community College President Mike Chipps says that's one of the strengths of community colleges. Chipps says Northeast's graduation rate is 49 percent, the highest of the state's community colleges. But he says he would like to see every student achieve the goal of graduation.

The U.S. Senate has completed its work on a farm bill - months ago. And the House Ag Committee voted out a version that had bipartisan support but was never debated on the House floor. Dale Moore, deputy executive director for public policy with the American Farm Bureau Federation, says either version of the bill would be OK with his organization. House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor have said they plan to "raise the issue of the farm bill" after the elections. Moore says it remains to be seen exactly what that means. Moore says he IS encouraged that the elections did nothing to change the ag committee leadership in either the House or Senate.

The U.S. Forest Service has eased fire restrictions on land within the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands. Officials say the fire danger has been reduced by the arrival of shorter days and cooler weather, but people are still asked to be careful with fire. Visitors to federal land are now allowed to have campfires again as long as they use developed campgrounds or improved sites. Smoking is only allowed inside a vehicle or building or in an area that has been cleared of flammable vegetation within a 3-foot-wide circle. Several wildfires burned large sections of the Nebraska Sandhills and Panhandle regions this summer. Drought created prime conditions for fires.