Post VIII: Gang Problems in Lincoln, NE

One of the biggest issues facing the local community today is the Scheels gun heist. On Monday, October 1, 2007, a total of 82 guns were stolen from Scheels sporting goods store. According to the police, the heist was gang-related. Three people were arrested: Michael Nimox, Cleophus Collier, and Jameal Gaines. The concern that this causes me, and a lot of other people, is that this seems to demonstrate that gangs here in Lincoln are becoming more and more prevalent through time. This is disconcerting because I believe that nearly everybody is, or should be, desiring gang-related activity to decrease rather than increase. However, as of right now this is not happening. As a matter of fact gang-related activity is getting to be more and more prominent throughout the capital city. I am certain that we need to start trying harder to put an end to this rise of activity among local gangs. There has to be something that we can do to assist the police force in trying to stop it.

All this said, I believe that I do need to point out that, as a whole, Lincoln has been pretty good with not having that many gang-related problems of a large extent. This year, there have been 471 crimes that were suspected to be committed by a gang, and of all those crimes 350 of them were vandalism, mostly graffiti. That is not that bad of a number, although vandalism is not a good thing, it is certainly much better than homicide and other alternatives. However, from this latest robbery at Scheels, it appears that gangs are beginning to become bolder in the extent of the seriousness of the crimes. I think that this is something we, as a city, definitely want to avoid. So I believe that we need to try our hardest to find something that we can do to help our city move in the direction of putting a stop to gangs, rather than simply ignoring them and pretending that they are not a problem.

Post VII: Freewrite about Boston Red Sox

It happened again! The Boston Red Sox swept the Los Angeles Angels in the first round of the MLB playoffs. The last time these two teams faced each other in the playoffs, the Red Sox swept the Angels just like they did this time. Right now, the Red Sox are looking very good. Their pitching is incredible. They have only allowed four runs combined in three games. Their hitting has been very good. So far, they have averaged just over six runs a game. As of right now, they look like the team to beat in the World Series.

In their series against Los Angeles, Boston completely dominated games one and two, and were able to get some clutch hitting and walks from big players like Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz in game two. In game one, Boston’s pitcher Josh Beckett pitched a complete game and didn’t allow a run. In game three, the Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling, was nearly as dominant, allowing no runs in seven innings pitched. However, game two was a little bit of a different story. In this game, the Angels actually had the lead at one point, three to two. The Red Sox battled back later in the game to tie the score at three apiece. After that both teams’ bullpens shut the hitters down until the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, with the score still tied, three to three, The Red Sox got two men on base with only one out. Then Manny Ramirez came up to bat. With the count at one ball and no strikes he hit a three run home run out of the ballpark giving the Red Sox the win six to three. With this kind of pitching and this kind of hitting, it’s easy to see why Boston finished the regular season with the best record in baseball. It’s also another reason why I think that the Red Sox will end up as World Series champions again.