Nebraska sophomore Mara Weekes was honored by the Big Ten Conference on Wednesday after being selected as the Big Ten Track Co-Athlete-of-the-Week. Weekes took home the honor after recording three first-place finishes at the Nebraska Invitational, claiming top honors in the 100-meter dash, 200- meter dash and 4×100-meter relay. Her 100- and 200-meter dash efforts rank third in the Big Ten, while her relay team’s time is seventh in the conference.
Month: May 2012
This week brings great Mother’s Day Specials to GARY’S Superfoods!
Virginian sentenced for beating hitchhiker in Neb.
SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old Virginia man has been given 30 to 40 years in a Nebraska prison, convicted of severely beating a hitchhiker in western Nebraska.
Justin Adolph, of Lynchburg, Va., was sentenced on Tuesday in Cheyenne County District Court to consecutive terms of 15 to 20 years. He’d been convicted of attempted first-degree assault and conspiracy to commit attempted first-degree assault.
Authorities say Adolph beat a hitchhiker that he and a traveling companion had picked up in North Platte on June 1 last year. The hitchhiker, Tommy Crawford, later was found badly beaten alongside Interstate 80 about 130 miles west. He has since recovered.
Court records say Adoph’s companion, 33-year-old Stephanie O’Neal, of Clarksville, Tenn., was convicted of four misdemeanor counts of compounding a felony. She is awaiting sentencing.
Nebraska mom jailed for leaving infants unattended
PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A 22-year-old La Vista woman who left her young children alone in a home so she could go drinking at a friend’s house has been given six months in jail.
Sarpy County court records say Michelle Polan was sentenced on Monday to two terms of six months, to be served at the same time. Polan was given credit for six days already served. She was convicted of two counts of negligent child abuse.
Police say Polan admitted she left the children alone in her sister’s basement in September. Polan’s sister called police after she came home to find the 9-month-old twins crying in the basement.
Nebraska man gets 5-8 years in teen sex case
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A 40-year-old western Nebraska man accused of sending sexually explicit texts and videos to a 14-year-old girl has been given five to eight years in prison.
James Jay, of Bridgeport, was sentenced last week and given credit for 104 days served as he awaited trial.
Jay had made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of attempted enticement by electronic communication device. They dropped another charge.
Court documents say the girl told her mother about the communications. An investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol later used the girl’s cellphone to electronically pose as her.
Authorities say Jay was arrested last July after he showed up for a sexual encounter the investigator had set up.
GOP US Senate candidate Stenberg to tour Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Stenberg will visit 13 Nebraska cities over the next two days in his final push for supporters before next Tuesday’s GOP primary election.
Stenberg, the state’s treasurer, will fly to Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney, North Platte, Scottsbluff and Chadron on Wednesday. On Friday, he’ll visit South Sioux City, Norfolk, Columbus, Fremont, Beatrice and Hastings.
Stenberg’s campaign says his message in the last week of the primary campaign will center on “his lifelong conservative record and willingness to stand up to both Republican and Democrats leaders in Washington.”
Lake McConaughy below capacity and falling
OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) — Lower water levels at Lake McConaughy in western Nebraska could be the new normal.
The lake is Nebraska’s biggest, supplying water for a variety of uses, including recreation, irrigation and power generation.
The water supply is tied to the snowmelt. It was nearly full last year, thanks to an above-average snowpack in Wyoming and a late melt.
It won’t happen this year. The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District says Tuesday that an early melt from a well-below-normal snowpack is to blame.
The district says the lake is at 82 percent of capacity and falling. The lake’s lowest reading of 18 percent was in 2004 as drought gripped the region.
District engineer Cory Steinke says the lake is in decent shape now, but future levels are uncertain.
Nebraskan gets prison for Social Security fraud
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 57-year-old Grand Island man has been given a year and a day in prison for Social Security fraud.
Jesus Chavez-Flores was sentenced in Omaha by U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon. Chavez-Flores must serve three years of supervised release after he leaves prison.
Prosecutors say that in April last year, Chavez-Flores used the name and Social Security number of a Texas resident to apply for benefits at the Social Security Administration office in Hall County.
The fraud was discovered when the Pasadena, Texas, resident applied for benefits in July.
Prosecutors say Chavez-Flores had bought the Texas man’s identification documents in Chicago in the mid-1980s and had used them to get jobs in several states.
Red Willow County eyes McCook jail cells
MCCOOK, Neb. (AP) — McCook and Red Willow County officials have been discussing the county’s use of the city’s old jail cells.
If a deal were worked out, the county would use the 96-hour holding cells until the county begins operating its new jail in late 2013.
The cells would become available when the city moves out of its public safety center in December.
The commissioners didn’t make a final decision at their meeting Monday morning but will discuss the idea again next week and at their May 21 meeting.
Without use of the city’s cells until the new county jail is ready, the county would have to immediately send inmates to jails in other counties.
NP “Santa” sent to prison for porn
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A North Platte man who played Santa Claus during the holidays has been sentenced to five years in prison on federal child pornography charges.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Omaha says 58-year-old Daniel Davis was sentenced on Tuesday for receiving child pornography.
Investigators searched Davis’ home in October 2010. They found videos of child pornography on his computer. Officials say a Santa suit from a retail store where Davis worked was in a closet.