SHELTON, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say tall corn that obscured
sight lines at a rural intersection was a factor in a collision in
south-central Nebraska.
Hall County Chief Deputy Sheriff Chris Rea (ray) says
16-year-old Seth Johnson, of Doniphan (DAHN’-ih-fuhn) was driving a car west about 12:15 a.m. Saturday when he collided with a southbound pickup driven by 22-year-old Jacob Wissing (WIH’-sihng), of Shelton. The accident occurred about two miles west of Shelton. Rea says Johnson and his passenger, 17-year-old Dylan Foster, of Shelton, were taken to Good Samaritan Health Center in Kearney with serious injuries. A passenger in Wissing’s truck reported minor
injuries. Rea says there were no stop signs at the intersection and that
the tall corn blocked both drivers’ views. The deputy says neither speeding nor alcohol use were suspected in the collision.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – The eastern Nebraska city of Fremont now
owns the Guinness World Record for the largest open-faced sandwich
ever created.
Earlier this month, a group of volunteers created a 1,652-pound Spamwich at the annual John C. Fremont Days festival on July 10.
The Fremont group received official certification of their record not long after building the giant sandwich, which was 300 pounds bigger than the previous record.
Organizer Don Cunningham told the Fremont Tribune the project helped bring the community together.
The sandwich featured more than 11,500 slices of Spam donated by the local Hormel plant.  It’s one of two places where the canned meat is made. The giant slice of bread was baked on a specially designed tray inside a trailer that was converted into an oven.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the recent heat and humidity in Nebraska is putting stress on livestock, but it helped farmers harvesting wheat and hay.
The USDA released its weekly update on the state’s crops Monday.
The temperatures across Nebraska averaged 4 degrees above normal last week with highs mostly in the upper 90’s.  And little rainfall fell in the state.
Ranchers and feedlot operators continue to watch livestock for
signs of heat stress.
The USDA says the wheat harvest is 66 percent done, up from 28
percent last week. That’s still about six days behind the average
of 84 percent done, but it’s much improved.
About 72 percent of the hay crop has been harvested. That’s
better than last year rate of 65 percent harvested at this point.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A Mexican national convicted of killing a 3-year-old Nebraska girl has been sentenced to life in prison.
A three-judge panel convened Monday in Dakota County District Court. It handed down the sentence more than a year after Melecio Camacho-De Jesus was convicted of first-degree murder in the May 2009 death of Evelyn Verdugo Paniagua.
Prosecutors in the case had argued for the death penalty, noting
Camacho-De Jesus killed the girl during a sexual assault. The jury
found there were aggravating circumstances that warranted the death
penalty during the first phase of Camacho-De Jesus’ sentencing.
Prosecutors say Camacho-De Jesus broke into the preschooler’s
home, sodomized her, then killed her as her family slept.
Camacho-De Jesus had lived in the home until about two weeks before
the killing.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – Hall County authorities have released the name of a motorcyclist who died in a crash along Interstate 80.  Chief Deputy Chris Rey, of the Hall County Sheriff’s Department, on Monday identified the man as 55-year-old Rodney Towler.  Towler lived in Shelton, which is west of Grand Island, in Buffalo County.  Rey says Towler was headed west about 3:30 p.m. Saturday when he veered too far onto the roadway shoulder while changing lanes near Grand Island. The motorcycle hit a rumble strip and rolled several times.  Towler was pronounced dead at the scene.