Santa Cop auction to help needy
By Marissa Carstens
Staff Reporter
An almdsphere of charity mixed
with one of purchase power Saturday
as the Lincoln Police Union auc
tioned more than 100 items to bene
fit its Santa Cop program. v
Bidders gathered in the Auld
Pavilion at Antelope Park, 3140
Sumner St., Saturday night to buy
authentic collectibles and useful
goods donated by local businesses
and firms. The money will be used to
buy and deliver toys to underprivi
leged children for the holidays.
This year’s items included a gui
tar autographed by. Brooks and
Dunn, a pair of Wrangler jeans auto
graphed by Garth Brooks, original
art, an autographed Nebraska
Husker football and volleyball,
Maverick hockey tickets, gift certifi
cates, cellular phones, cookies and
tires.
But many people attending did
not come merely to buy the goods.
“I showed up to support the orga
nization,” said Judi Gierlich, one of
the people attending the auction:
Gierlich heard about the auction
through mail and phone calls from
the police department. Others, like
Jim and Carol Thoms and Julie
Gade, heard about the auction on
local country station KZKX-FM
96.9.
The auction marks the beginning
of the Santa Cop program, a much
larger effort to “keep the magic of
Christmas alive for all children,”
according to banners and fliers at the
event.
The program began 17 years ago
^-■■■■_____—
when a group of police officers real
ized that current programs were
inadequate, said Officer Thomas
Duden, Lincoln Police Union chari
ties president.
Duden and other officers created
the program when they realized that
some underprivileged families were
not eligible to get help from
Lincoln’s low-income programs.
Usually people associate the
police with bad things, Duden said.
Through the Santa Cop program,
they can be associated with some
thing positive.
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Former TV
anchorman
eyes House
SCOTT from page 1
that’s something people want in a con
gressman - someone who listens
well.”
Scott said he was concerned, but
not deterred from running, by the
media scrutiny he is sure to face as a
public figure in the “rumor mill” that,
he said, is Omaha.
“I know how we in the media go
after politicians,” he said. “I would
have to be a lion-tamer at the podium
to keep everyone at bay.”
Although Scott said he was moti
vated by a chance to make a change in
government, he said he would wait
until he has made his decision before
discussing issues that would be cen
tral to a campaign.
He expressed concern about the
two-year terms served by members of
the U.S. House of Representatives.
The short terms force congressmen to
campaign almost continuously, he
said, and give new representatives lit
tle time to learn on the job.
Gary Randall, 2nd District chair
man of the Nebraska Democratic
Party, said Scott has assessed his
prospects in a potential campaign
with elected officials, corporate rep
resentatives and organizers of previ
ous political campaigns.
Randall speculated that Scott, a
former junior high and high school
teacher in New York City, would stress
educational issues in a campaign.
Wilson would
strengthen
crime laws ....
WILSON from page 1
whether the 2nd District seat in the
U.S. House of Representatives would
be the best place to continue his
efforts for tougher crime legislation.
Wilson, himself a long-time
homicide investigator, founded the
James B. Wilson Jr. Memorial
Foundation in memory of his son.
He has worked for passage of a
law that would make it easier for
killers of police officers to receive
the death penalty by making the vic
tim’s status as a police officer an
aggravating circumstance in sen
tencing. He also worked to place
video cameras in police cars and
helped gather support for the Omaha
Police Department’s helicopter pro
gram.
Wilson said he was encouraged
by the public’s rallying around his
efforts in the wake of the tragedy.
But he said he didn’t know whether it
would be better to try to take his
efforts to Congress, or to continue
his present work.
“Do I think one person can make
a difference in oik term in Congress?
Probably not,” he said. “If I thought I
could do it, I’d tear my shirt off and
start walking to Washington.”
Also, Wilson said he was con
cerned that he wasn’t as knowledge
able on many issues outside of law
enforcement.
I don t know if I could fit this
round body into the square pegs in
Washington,” he said. “I probably
wouldn’t be too politically correct. I
would tell my constituents the truth,
even if it hurts.”
Chuck Sigerson, state GOP
chairman, said Wilson’s name recog
nition would be a good base on
which to build a campaign.
He said the public realizes candi
dates aren’t fully informed on every
issue. Thus potential candidates like
Wilson need to articulate their basic
philosophies to give the electorate an
idea of how they will vote, he said.