October 2012 – Page 13 – North Platte Post Archive

UNMC Investigating Integrity Questioned Research

Posted on October 25, 2012

The University of Nebraska Medical Center continues to investigate some of its own research to resolve questions about the integrity of the data.

Officials confirmed the investigation in August after the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine raised questions about a study it published online in February. The study was done jointly by UNMC and researchers from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

UNMC spokesman Tom O’Connor said this week that the investigation was still ongoing. But O’Connor declined to provide any details because the process is confidential until it is completed.

The study involved examined the role of some proteins involved in a lung complication associated with the AIDS virus.

Man Given Up To 50 Years Prison For Teen Sex Assault

Posted on October 25, 2012

A 44-year-old man has been given 30 to 50 years in prison for sexually assaulting teenage girls in southeast Nebraska.

The Beatrice Daily Sun reports that Ronald Lantz, of Fairbury, was convicted of three counts of sexually assaulting a child. He was sentenced last week.

Jefferson County District Court documents say Fairbury Police were notified about the assaults on Jan. 11, 2011. Two teenage girls say they were assaulted by Lantz during a sleepover at a Fairbury residence.

The documents say one of the girls also told a parent about a previous sexual assault by Lantz.

Man Pleads Not Guilty In Robbery Charge

Posted on October 25, 2012

An Iowa man has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge that he robbed a bank in northeast Nebraska.

The Sioux City Journal says, 67-year-old Max Lafferty, of Sioux City, Iowa, made his plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Omaha.

Lafferty is accused of robbing a Bank of the West branch in South Sioux City on Sept. 11. Police say he flashed a steak knife when he demanded cash from a bank worker and left the building with about $1,500. He was arrested about a block away.

Lafferty originally was charged in Dakota County Court, but the state case was dismissed after the federal charge was filed.

Man Denies Allegation That He Evaded Sales Tax

Posted on October 25, 2012

A man has denied allegations that he evaded sales tax on a sport utility vehicle he bought in Nebraska.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Mark Pieloch pleaded not guilty to a charge of failure to pay sales tax.

A judge earlier ruled against Pieloch’s motion to have the felony charge dismissed.

Court records say Pieloch failed to pay $2,900 in taxes in Nebraska on a 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche he bought in Lincoln.

He says he paid sales tax on the truck in South Dakota. But prosecutors say he should have paid the tax in Lincoln, where he has his primary residence.

Man has A Choice: Pay Almost $80,000 In Child Support Or Option B

Posted on October 25, 2012

A Lincoln man has been deemed in contempt of court orders to pay nearly $80,000 in child support involving 14 children.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that a Lancaster County District judge on Tuesday ordered 49-year-old Shekem Amsu Khnemu to start paying up, or face jail.

Khnemu was arrested Tuesday and released from jail Wednesday. Before his release, Judge Jodi Nelson found Khnemu in contempt in each of 11 cases and sentenced him to up to 180 days for each case. She suspended the sentenced to give him a chance to pay the back child support. He must pay $500 a month and another $800 in back support by Dec. 1. If he fails to do so, he’ll be jailed.

A phone number could not be found for Khnemu.

New Blend Of Gasoline Now Available

Posted on October 25, 2012October 25, 2012

The new blend of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol that was approved earlier this year is now available in Nebraska.

Motorists crossing Nebraska can now buy E15 fuel at Neal Hoff’s service station in Lexington. Uncle Neal’s Phillips 66 station started selling the new blend of fuel last weekend.

Kim Clark of the Nebraska Corn Board praised Hoff’s decision to offer E15 after the fuel that’s 85 percent gasoline cleared several regulatory hurdles.

In June, the Environmental Protection Agency approved the use of E15 in vehicles made since 2001.

But in northern markets such as Nebraska and Iowa, E15 can only be used after the weather turns colder, when federal regulators relax a vapor pressure requirement.

Public Notice From The City of Kearney Water Production Division: This Is Not An Emergency

Posted on October 25, 2012October 25, 2012

The City of Kearney Water Production Division released a public notice to announce a violation of a drinking water microbiological standard this month. Two total coliform samples tested positive in October, for water systems that collect less than 40 samples per month, the standard is that only one sample per month may test positive for total coliforms.

What is total coliform? Coliform is a bacteria that can be found in the feces of warm-blooded animals in large numbers as well as an aquatic environment, soil or even vegetation. Coliform bacteria plays a role as an indicator for the presence of viruses, parasites and bacteria which derive from fecal origin. Coliform very rarely causes illness.

No need to worry, the notice is procedure as required. This is what part of the notice says,

“Usually Coliforms are a sign that there could be a problem with our treatment or distribution system pipes. Whenever we detect coliform bacteria in any sample, we do follow up testing to see if other bacteria of greater concern, such as fecal coliform or E.coli are present. We did not find fecal coliform or E.coli in the samples. All subsequent samples have been negative for total coliforms.

The City of Kearney Public Water Supply System is continuing to test and is working with the Nebraska Department of health and Human Services Drinking water program to identify the source of the problem and to return the water supply system to compliance.”

The notice also mentions that there is no need to boil your water. If you wish to see the public notice, click here.

Officer Charged In Plot To, Not Just Kidnap Women, But Also Torture, Cook & Eat Their Bodyparts

Posted on October 25, 2012October 26, 2012

A New York City police officer was charged Thursday in a ghoulish plot to kidnap and torture women and then cook and eat their body parts.

Gilberto Valle sent numerous emails and other Internet communications about the torture and cannibalism scheme, according to a criminal complaint. He identified and cataloged at least 100 women on his computer, investigators said, but there was no information that anyone was harmed.

“I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus … cook her over low heat, keep her alive as long as possible,” Valle allegedly wrote in one exchange in July, the complaint says.

In other online conversations, investigators said, Valle talked about the mechanics of fitting a woman’s body into an oven (her legs would have to be bent), said he could make chloroform at home to knock a woman out and discussed how “tasty” one woman looked.

“Her days are numbered,” he wrote, according to the complaint.

Valle was to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon to face charges of kidnapping conspiracy and unauthorized use of law enforcement records. The name of his attorney was not immediately available, and no one answered the door to his home in a quiet, middle-class Queens neighborhood.

A search of Valle’s computer found he created records of at least 100 women with their names, addresses and photos, the complaint says. Some of the information came from his unauthorized use of a law enforcement database, authorities said. He claimed, according to the complaint, that he knew many of them.

“The allegations in the complaint really need no description from us,” said Mary E. Galligan, acting head of the FBI’s New York office. “They speak for themselves. It would be an understatement merely to say Valle’s own words and actions were shocking.”

There was no immediate response to a message left with the NYPD on Thursday.

Valle met one potential victim over lunch, authorities said.

The complaint alleges that in February, Valle negotiated to kidnap another woman for someone else, writing, “$5,000 and she’s all yours.”

He told the buyer he was aspiring to be a professional kidnapper, authorities said.

“I think I would rather not get involved in the rape,” according to the complaint. “You paid for her. She is all yours, and I don’t want to be tempted the next time I abduct a girl.”

It says he added: “I will really get off on knocking her out, tying up her hands and bare feet and gagging her. Then she will be stuffed into a large piece of luggage and wheeled out to my van.”

Cellphone data revealed that Valle made calls on the block where the woman lives in March, the complaint says. An FBI agent interviewed the woman, who told them that she didn’t know him well and was never in her home.

Valle, 28, lives in Queens. He had been assigned to a Manhattan precinct before his suspension on Wednesday.

His Facebook page cultivated the image of a very different man. Postings were filled with photos of a smiling wife, a baby girl and an English bulldog puppy named Dudley. A Maryland football and Yankees fan, Valle had more than 600 Facebook friends, including dozens of young women.

Valle respected his colleagues on the force, took the sergeant’s exam and spoke out against Occupy Wall Street, cop killers and others who broke the law, according to the page. His current photo was a blue line, a sign of mourning for when an officer is killed, and expressed condolences for the family of a Nassau County officer who was shot to death this week.

“Keep Nassau County police in your prayers what a brutal week,” he wrote earlier this week.

The page was taken down Thursday afternoon.

A man who identified himself as Valle’s younger brother but did not give his name told reporters outside the officer’s home that he was surprised by the arrest.

“You guys know more than I do,” he said.

Federal prosecutors say a New York City police officer’s scheme to torture women and eat their body parts was no fantasy.

Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman agreed on Thursday that Gilberto Valle should be jailed on allegations he called “unspeakable” and “profoundly disturbing.”

The shocking allegations against Valle, a six-year New York Police Department veteran, were revealed in a criminal complaint charging him with kidnapping conspiracy and unauthorized use of a database.

Public defender Julia Gatto had asked for bail, saying the purported plot was “fantasy in a sexual world.” She noted that there were no allegations that anyone was actually harmed.

A prosecutor disagreed, saying the Valle had to be arrested because he was too close to carrying out the plot.

Victims Identified From HWY 30 Fatality West Of Maxwell

Posted on October 25, 2012October 25, 2012

On the morning of Thursday, October, 25th, a fatal collision of two vehicles west of Maxwell took three lives and critically injured one. Deputies from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office were called at around 7:22 AM, on the report of a two vehicle collision which was located at the top of the Highway 30 railroad overpass near mile marker 190, west of Maxwell.

According to the sheriff’s office, when responding deputies arrived to the accident, they observed both vehicles were in the westbound lane of traffic.

One vehicle, a 1999 Kia Sportage, driven by 14-year-old Conner Gentry, was heading eastbound when he lost control of the vehicle. The Kia Sportage was also occupied by the Conner’s 10-year-old brother, Colton Gentry.

The Kia collided with a 1994 Chevrolet Lumina, occupied by the driver, 46 year old Terry Grasz and the passenger, 45-year-old Elaine Grasz.

Both Connor and Colton Gentry, traveling in the Kia, died as a result of the collision. The passenger of the Chevrolet Lumina, Elaine Grasz, also died from the collision. With help from courageous citizens, Terry Grasz was removed from the vehicle to be taken to Great Plains Regional Medical Center.

According to the release from the LCSO, Mr. Grasz was “severely injured and burned badly,”

“Terry Grasz, with the help of courageous citizens, managed to get out of the vehicle and was transport to Great Plains Regional Medical Center. Mr. Grasz was severely injured and burned badly; he was flown to Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln.”

The Gentry brothers were heading to school which was located in Brady and the married couple, Elaine and Terry Grasz, were on their way to work in North Platte.

After the accident, the vehicles set fire. The cause of the accident was determined to be the wet and slick roads. It is unknown if seat belts were used.

View Larger Map

Wednesday Sports Wrap – Giants Roll in Game One

Posted on October 25, 2012

Panda-monium as Giants clobber Tigers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pablo Sandoval sure picked a great time to become the first San Francisco Giant to homer three times at AT&T Park.

Sandoval’s three round-trippers powered the Giants to an 8-3 pounding of the Tigers in Game 1 of the World Series in San Francisco. He put the Giants ahead with solo shot in the first, added a two-run blast in the third and crushed another solo homer in the fifth.

Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols are the only other players to homer three times in a World Series game. Sandoval is the first to do it in his first three at-bats of a World Series opener.

The only other player to homer three times at AT&T Park was Dodgers shortstop Kevin Elster, who did it in the first-ever game at the stadium more than 12 years ago.

Two of Sandoval’s three homers came off Justin Verlander, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 0.74 ERA this postseason. The Giants tagged Verlander for five runs and six hits in four innings.

NLCS Most Valuable Player Marco Scutaro continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. He’s hit safely in 11 straight games since the NLDS and has collected at least two hits in seven of his last eight games.

The Giants also showcased some strong pitching by Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum. Zito blanked the Tigers over the first five innings and allowed only a run and six hits before leaving with two out in the sixth. He received help from left fielder Gregor Blanco, who made two diving catches.

Zito also chipped in an RBI single to make it 5-0 in the fourth inning

Lincecum struck out five while retiring all seven hitters he faced before the Giants needed three relievers to get the final three outs.

The Tigers’ scoring came on Miguel Cabrera’s RBI single in the sixth and Jhonny Peralta’s two-run homer in the ninth.

The series continues tonight in San Francisco, where Madison Bumgarner will start for the Giants against Doug Fister.

Union wants Tags to take a hike

UNDATED (AP) — The NFL Players Association will file a motion in federal court in New Orleans trying to get former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue out of a position to hear the appeals of the four players suspended in the Saints bounties case. The players’ union wants Tagliabue to recuse himself because of a conflict of interest.

Commissioner Roger Goodell removed himself from hearing this set of appeals and appointed Tagliabue last week. The players and their union say Tagliabue should be disqualified because of his employment by a law firm which has handled bounty-related matters for the league and represented Goodell in Jonathan Vilma’s defamation lawsuit against him.

The hearings are scheduled for next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, former Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey says he was not a whistle-blower in the bounties case, and that Warren Sapp’s accusation he was has made it difficult for him to go back to New Orleans. Shockey said on Showtime’s “Inside The NFL” that he would never have done that, adding that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell “even came out and said I wasn’t the person who did it.” Shockey says he confronted Sapp about the report the former defensive lineman made on NFL Network and Sapp replied he “wanted to stick by his source.”

Chiefs running back Peyton Hillis back in practice

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs running back Peyton Hillis was back at practice on Wednesday and could play this weekend against Oakland. It’d be his first game since Week 3.

Hillis sprained his right ankle in the Chiefs’ win over New Orleans on Sept. 23. The bye week helped him get back on the practice field.

Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel says he wasn’t sure whether Hillis will play against the Raiders until he saw him practice in pads, but Hillis says he thinks he’ll be ready to go.

Elsewhere around the NFL:

— The Browns are placing starting linebacker Scott Fujita on injured reserve with a neck injury, ending his stormy season and maybe his football career. Fujita is one four players suspended by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for his role in the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal. The 11-year-veteran was inactive the past two games.

— Browns starting guard Jason Pinkston has been released from the hospital after being treated for blood clots in his lungs. Pinkston was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic last week with the life-threatening condition. The 25-year-old was placed on injured reserve earlier this week, ending his second NFL season.

— Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee has been placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season because of a right big toe injury. Lee calls defensive signals for Dallas and is also the team’s leading tackler.

— London Fletcher’s never-missed-a-game streak could be in jeopardy. The Redskins linebacker did not practice Wednesday because of a sore hamstring and a problem with balance that had him scheduled to see a neurologist. Fletcher has played in 231 consecutive games since entering the league in 1998. That’s first among active players, one ahead of Tampa Bay safety Ronde Barber.

— Buffalo Bills high-priced defensive end Mario Williams missed practice and did not attend team meetings while visiting a specialist to determine whether to have surgery to repair a nagging left wrist injury.

— Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert expects to play Sunday at Green Bay despite an injury to his non-throwing shoulder that knocked him out of last week’s game. That’s good news for a team that just lost star running back Maurice Jones-Drew to a foot injury for an extended period.

— The Titans have signed veteran linebacker Xavier Adibi to the roster and placed linebacker Zac Diles on injured reserve with a broken leg. The 6-foot-2, 242-pound Adibi has played in 38 games over four seasons with eight starts. He was with Chicago in training camp this year.

— The NFL says officials will be using pink penalty flags for Sunday’s Dolphins-Jets game after an 11-year-old wrote Commissioner Roger Goodell with the suggestion. Some of the officials are already using pink whistles while players and coaches are wearing pink shoes, wrist bands and caps, among other things. The league has invited Marlboro, N.J. fifth grader Dante Cano and his family to MetLife Stadium to present the penalty flags to the officials before the kickoff.

Isles getting new home

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL’s New York Islanders have agreed to move to the recently-completed Barclays Center in Brooklyn starting with the 2015-16 season. They’ve got a 25-year lease.

Officials in nearby Nassau County, N.Y., struggled for years to approve plans to either renovate or build a new arena to replace the Nassau Coliseum, which opened in 1972. Team owner Charles Wang had long threatened to move the team from its home in Uniondale after the club’s lease expired, citing a dilapidated building unsuited for a professional sports franchise.