Gym Cracks By Jim January 15, 2003 HOMETOWN HITS BIG TIME The holidays out east and Greeley grabs headlines By Jim (Babe) Berryman MissingNebraska.com Western Nebraska I have not forgotten MissingNebraska.com. My Christmas holiday took me to the following locations: York, Grand Island, Greeley, Omaha, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., New Haven, CT., and the big apple itself--New York City. It was an enjoyable 17 days. We did look at homes in the Omaha, Carter Lake, IA, and western Iowa areas. We probably eliminated the Omaha and eastern NE area because of high taxes, at least for the present time. I live in a moderately priced townhouse in Wyoming. A comparable structure in Omaha would cost us an additional $2,500-$3,500 in yearly taxes. In addition to the property tax increase, I would have to pay the Nebraskas state income tax. Wyoming doesn't levy a state income tax. --- Greeley, Nebraska received state and national recognition over the weekend. The Omaha World-Herald carried an article in the Sunday edition titled "Legacy of Whistle Thompson lives on." The bar recently reopened under the name "The Famous Whistle Thompson Bar." U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson was a customer of Whistle's Bar during pheasant season. --- ESPN featured Greeley on their pre-game football show on Sunday. Mick McQuillan of Greeley spoke with some of the five ESPN employees that made the trip to Greeley. Their assignment was to interview people to determine their allegiance for the Jets-Raiders contest. McQuillan said, "They boarded a plane in Hartford, CT, and landed in Lincoln. A car was waiting to take the group to Greeley." According to McQuillan, the reason Greeley was chosen was because of it's location. It is an equal distance from the New York Jets home stadium and the stadium where the Oakland Raiders play their home games. --- The front page of Monday's World-Herald read, "Greeley man's idea will help guard Israel." Marty Callahan, who owns the Greeley Citizen newspaper, has developed an early warning sytem called SAM Emergency Alerting System. Callahan, a trained electrical engineer has developed an alarm-clock-size plastic box that, when attached to a cable television system, permits emergency personnel to broadcast an immediate, verbal message about approaching violent weather. The firm of five employees won a contract with the government of Israel to install 2,000 of the warning boxes in seven settlements in the West Bank. Feedback Previous Gym Cracks: 12-30-02: Count The Numbers Gym Cracks By Jim 12-18-02: Cream Of Coaching Crop Gym Cracks By Jim 11-28-02: The Big Picture Gym Cracks By Jim 11-18-02: 2 For 2 Gym Cracks By Jim 10-25-02: Sweet On Switzer Gym Cracks By Jim 10-17-02: Best Time Year Gym Cracks By Jim 10-11-02: Odds And Ends Gym Cracks By Jim 10-04-02: The Rating Game Gym Cracks By Jim 09-22-02: Fans Panned Gym Cracks By Jim 09-12-02: World Herald Calling Gym Cracks 09-05-02: Bit By Baseball Bug Gym Cracks 08-29-02: Caring Coaches Gym Cracks 08-22-02: Nebraska "Storm" Hits Colorado Gym Cracks 08-15-02: Cubs Win, Wallet Drained Gym Cracks 08-08-02: To Coors For Cubs Gym Cracks 07-25-02: Major League Madness Gym Cracks 07-18-02: Nebraskans In The Majors Gym Cracks 07-11-02: Kile Death Sheds Light Gym Cracks 07-04-02: Couch Potato Parking Gym Cracks 06-23-02: Top 10 Nebraska High School Nicknames Gym Cracks 06-06-02: Better In The 50s Gym Cracks 05-30-02: Dangerfield of Nebraska Gym Cracks 05-16-02: Baseball Sneak Aways Gym Cracks