New tools available to fight crime

Many Nebraskans take pride in being able to leave their doors unlocked and keys in the ignition of their pickup trucks.

They used to, anyway.

Unfortunately, there has been an uptick in certain crimes, especially those involving theft of items left in unlocked, unattended vehicles.

The McCook Police Department issued a warning this week about leaving cars unlocked, and urged anyone with information about such thefts to call Crime Stoppers toll-free at (866) 345-5440 or drop a cyber-tip at crimestoppers.swnebr.com. You may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

But there's more you can do than simply locking your doors, keeping valuable items out of sight and reporting crime after it's already happened.

A story elsewhere in this issue explains a new link of the Red Willow County Sheriff's website, www.rwcso.org where you can store information about your valuables that will make it easier to identify your stolen property, return it to you, and prosecute the person who stole it.

The insurance industry offers free online home inventory software that will walk you through the process of storing your information. It's also recommended that you walk through your home videotaping your property, checking your insurance policies and recording major purchases at least once a year.

Criminals don't hesitate to use the latest in technology to take advantage of their victims, it's time potential victims use the same technology to turn the tide.

Touching performance

Congratulations to McCook Community College theater instructor Clay Grizzle, actress Linsey Dugan, newly-minted actor Matt Sehnert, Fire Chief Marc Harrpham and the rest of the fire departments and theater crews and everyone else who had a hand in Thursday night's production of "The Guys."

The material, presented with just the right intensity, brought back emotional memories, sympathy, empathy and respect for the sacrifice and loss that resulted from that day.

We hope to see more from Matt Sehnert, who usually limits his stage appearances to introducing songwriters at his Bieroc Cafe, but did a masterful job of portraying a fire chief tasked with eulogizing the lost members of his crew.

Kudos, too, to the capacity crowd that turned out for Thursday's performance, contributing $4,400, so far, toward the purchase of two new saws for the McCook Fire Department.