NEWS BRIEFS: Median Cost Of Dorchester Home Sees Slight Bump

• Median Cost Of Dorchester Home Sees Slight Increase Over Decade: The cost of housing in Dorchester has risen very slightly according to an online query conducted by the Times. According to Realtor.com, the 2009 median listing price of a Dorchester home is $69,900. That compares to the 2000 Dorchester median price of about $63,000, as noted by other online reports. Realtor.com reports that the current average listing price for a Dorchester home is $83,266. (Average price can be skewed when the distribution has extreme values on either end.) A home for sale in Dorchester sits on the market for an average of 162 days.

• Crete Budget Shortfall Gets Local Media Attention: A Sept. 9 story in the Lincoln Journal Star highlights the city budget woes of our next door neighbor Crete. The City of Crete faces a $300,000 shortfall. The best two options seem to be raising property taxes by $165 per $100,000 or laying off two of Crete's 11 uniformed police officers. Crete has more reported crimes than 12 other cities its size in the state and the second-most crimes per 1,000 population in that same grouping. Crete Police Chief Steve Hensel said population growth has contributed to gang activity in Crete, but he does not attribute its crime rate to its proximity to the Farmland Foods plant or to the ethnic mix at the plant. "The fact that demographics have changed a bit doesn't necessarily coincide with an increase in crime," Hensel said. Several members of the Times staff chuckled at that politically correct statement by Chief Hensel, who otherwise tends to keep his head out of the sand. "I guess this means we should be on the look out for rampant Czech and German gang activity," said one Times staff member who works in Crete, with her tongue firmly in cheek.

• Region Named 'Primary Drug Market' By Government: According to a recent report released by the National Drug Intelligence Center and published by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, the Omaha area and nearby counties are considered a primary drug market and a regional distribution center for illicit drugs -- cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana. According to the government report, Mexican criminal groups are the principal transporters and wholesale distributors of most illicit drugs to the Omaha metropolitan area. The report states, "In addition, Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) maintain connections throughout many smaller Nebraska towns (as far away as Lexington) ... where large numbers of Mexican nationals have sought employment in meatpacking and poultry processing plants. Mexican DTOs use their connections in these cities to smuggle illicit drugs into the Omaha metropolitan area." We believe area residents should be aware of this report, which has been ignored or gone unnoticed by local media.