Archive - Oct 2008

By MICKEY ALVARADO

A steady downpour of defense from Clinton's varsity football team helped shut down visiting Morenci in the final regular season game on Friday, Oct. 24, with the Redskins winning 35-0 on a wet, rain soaked home field.

A bit of luck also fell on the Redskins Sunday evening during the state playoff pairings. Clinton wasn't an automatic qualifier for the state playoffs but was one of 19 teams to go 5-4 and advance into the post season. The 'Skins will play again at Blissfield on Friday. The Division 6 pre-district contest kicks off at 7 p.m.

Jessie Sexton led Clinton's charge in the final Tri-County Conference contest, scoring three touchdowns and totaling a game-high 202-yards but it was starting quarterback Brandon Brewer who scored the first touchdown for the Redskins. Brewer held a keeper for a one-yard touchdown run with 3:16 remaining in the opening quarter. He then added two more points with a two-point conversion pass to Steven Embry.

Clinton worked its way to the Bulldogs 25-yard line in the second quarter but was held fast to a fourth down. Clinton coach Scott McNitt decided getting some points on a field goal was better than taking a chance on nothing and went to the accurate foot of Embry to add another three points to his team's lead.

Sexton began adding up a majority of his yardage with a 55-yard touchdown run with 2:16 left in the first half. Embry's ensuing kick failed but Clinton held a 17-0 lead that it would add to before the end of the quarter. Sexton hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes later. Embry's kick fell short and the Redskins went into halftime up 23-0.

By MICKEY ALVARADO

Jim Brown couldn't remember the last time, if ever, that Tecumseh's varsity cross-country team won the state regional competition but he'll remember forever his boys doing so this year.

Tecumseh's boys won the Division 2 regional title at Willow Metro Park in New Boston with 62 points while Trenton finished as runners-up with 83.

At the beginning of the season coach Brown detected something special about this group of runners and he quickly pointed out the way the group bonded right from the start. As the season progressed, Brown recorded consistent improvements in times and at every event at least one personal best was recorded, sometimes several at a time. During the regional run the Indians realized their potential and each runner pushed the other to the limit to do the impossible and win the event outright.

“We just started clicking after the Portage meet,” said Brown. “They just started dropping their times and we'd have five to seven PRs [personal best runs] every week, almost.”
Tecumseh's runners realized soon after Portage that their individual times were better than that of Trenton's and Airport's and they began believing the regional run was theirs for the taking.

“In the first mile and a half we had five of them in the top 20,” said Brown.
By the race's end, Tecumseh had four runners in the top 20 positions and one just out at 21.

“We're thinking it's the first time in our school's history that we've won it,” said Brown.

By DEB WUETHRICH

A “Unique Boutique for Baby and Little Ones” opened on Tuesday in downtown Tecumseh. Whimsey Hill LLC opened its doors at 116 W. Chicago Boulevard, in space formerly occupied by The Chocolate Vault. The shop will carry apparel, gift items, bedding and room décor, and some furniture. On Tuesday, a new display included a stack of soft, wooly lambs.

Opening a boutique for the needs of babies and little ones is more than a business proposition for Brenda Hill, Whimsey Hill’s proprietress. It’s a labor of love — and a way to honor the child she lost. A percentage of the shop’s profits will be donated to a group that researches SCIDS (Severe Combined Immuno Deficiency), the disorder that claimed her son, William, at 3 months. Brenda said SCIDS is familiar to some as “the bubble boy” disease.

Brenda grew up in California, but her husband, Keith, is a 1979 Tecumseh High School graduate who joined the U.S. Air Force. After 25 years in the military, he decided he wanted to come back to Michigan to live nearer to his family.

“So we came back,” said Brenda. She said the couple also has two other sons, Michael, 19, who is in college, and Tyler, 16, who attends Tecumseh High School. Tyler also was born with SCIDS, but had a bone marrow transplant shortly after his birth. He now plays football at Tecumseh, his mother said.

“SCIDS is genetic, but we didn’t know anything about it when William was born,” she said. She said it was after he passed away that they learned more about the disorder and by the time they went for genetic counseling, she was already pregnant with Tyler.

Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to elect a new President of the United States, choosing between Democrat Barack Obama, with running mate Joe Biden,  and Republican John McCain, with running mate Sarah Palin.

Michigan voters also will be asked to vote on two ballot proposals. Proposal 1 is a legislative initiative to permit the use and cultivation of marijuana for specified medical conditions. Proposal 2 would amend the state constitution to address human embryo and human embryonic stem cell research in Michigan.

Area voters also will choose who will represent them in the 7th District as a U.S. Congressman, opting for either incumbent Timothy Walberg, (R-Tipton), or Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek). U.S. Senator Carl Levin, an incumbent, will face Jack Hoogendyk, Republican, Michael Nikitin, U.S. Taxpayers Party, Harley Mikkelson, Green Party, Scotty Boman, Libertarian Party, and Doug Dern, National Law Party.
State Representative candidates for the 57th District are Republican Emma L. Jenkins, of Clayton, and incumbent, Dudley Spade, a Democrat from Tipton. Jonathan L. Poer is running uncontested as Prosecuting Attorney.

Sheriff candidates are Gail Dotson, Democrat, from Tecumseh, and Jack Welsh, Republican, from Adrian. Running unopposed for county office are County Clerk Roxann Holloway, County Treasurer, Marilyn J. Woods, and Register of Deeds, Vicki J. Daniels.

There is a race for Road Commissioner between Donald Isley, Republican, Blissfield and Dale Schug, an Independent from Adrian. Running unopposed for Drain Commissioner is Stephen R. May, and Surveyor, Glenn E. Richard.