Stories from Monday, November 27, 2006

"Ill-luck, you know, seldom comes alone," noted Cervantes in Don Quixote. Misfortune seems to arrive in truckloads for the Missouri Valley College football team, yet somehow it keeps surviving. The fifth-ranked Vikings scored 17 straight points during the first half, but let that lead slip away due to the usual assortment of miscues, bad breaks and official blunders Saturday -- only to pull out a 33-26 victory over No. ...

There weren't many major upsets Saturday, but there were enough reasonable possibilities of one to make the final week of The Marshall Democrat-News' Football Contest treacherous. For example, there was unranked Maryland's 6-0 home record to consider, although the Terrapin turtles were unable to keep up with No. 20 Wake Forest -- which posted a 38-24 win to trip up five of the 11 players with only one incorrect selection...

Blackwater fundraising concert Dec. 9 The Blackwater Preservation Society will host a fundraising concert Saturday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the West End Theatre. Renowned ragtime piano player and composer Bob Milne will perform. Milne has performed annually at Blackwater since 1999 to help raise money for local projects...

Editor's note: This is the third article in a four-part series about holiday decorating. The series will conclude on Friday. Gorgeous holiday centerpieces don't always require a lot of time or expensive materials. It doesn't always have to be a floral arrangement that you buy and then store for a year, and then take out to find it's squished or faded!...

A Columbia man was killed in an automobile accident in Saline County last week and two people received injuries in a separate accident in Saline County over the holiday weekend. Harold L. Gordon, 28, of Columbia, was driving a 1991 Buick westbound on Highway 240 just west of County Road 120 in Saline County at about 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22, when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a ditch. The vehicle overturned and came to rest on its top, police said...

While children awaited a visit from Santa Claus, carolers sang Christmas favorites and members of the community festooned the boardwalk eaves with evergreen boughs as Arrow Rock marked the beginning of the Advent season. The annual Hanging of the Greens is an old tradition that was resurrected in Arrow Rock about 30 years ago, according to Mary Burge, who has organized the music for the event since it began...

What began as a blowout ended up being won in the closing minutes, fifth-ranked Missouri Valley College moving on to the semifinal round of the NAIA Championship Series with a 33-26 victory Saturday over visiting Northwestern (Iowa). The Vikings led 24-7 late in the first half, but missed multiple opportunities to put the game away. ...