An arrest has been made in the case of Landon Shcroeder, a three-year-old boy who nearly drowned.

On Friday, May 10, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Investigators arrested the boy’s stepfather, Trevor Perry, and charged him with Felony Child Abuse.

Through an extensive investigation, Deputies learned that Perry took Landon to a remote fishing spot near North Platte, where they fished from 12:00 p.m. until at least 6:30 p.m.

According to a Deputies, at some point during the day, Perry became inattentive for an extended period of time.  He eventually found Landon underwater about 15 feet from the shoreline.

Perry told Investigators that Landon was not conscious when he removed him from the pond.

Authorities say Perry did not call for assistance, instead, he walked Landon to his vehicle, loaded his property and drove to his residence.

Landon’s mother immediately recognized that Landon was in great distress and immediately took him to Great Plains Regional Medical Center.  Landon was then transferred to a Denver hospital via helicopter.

Perry was booked into the Lincoln County Detention Center.

Child Abuse is a Class II Felony in the State of Nebraska.

Landon remains in critical condition.  According to family members, he has been removed from life support and is breathing on his own.

A bake sale this weekend will benefit an amazing group of athletes.

The North Platte Special Olympics is hosting a bake sale this Saturday, May 11, at Gary’s Superfoods.  The group is made up of about 35 athletes who participate throughout the year in Bowling, Basketball, Swimming, Track and Field and Bocce Ball.

On May 22, the athletes will be traveling to Omaha for the Annual State Games which will involve 17 local athletes.  Events will take place from Thursday, May 23 through Saturday, May 25.

Because the athletes have special needs, they rely on others for support and transportation.  Also, many of the athletes have very limited budgets.

The athletes are responsible for raising all of their funding.

They will also accept any donation of merchandise, which could be used as raffle items, or cash donations to help with costs.

All proceeds from this weekend’s bake sale will benefit the North Platte Special Olympics.

A man who spent nearly 14 years in a Nebraska prison for a murder he did not commit is on pace to receive $500,000 from the state.

Lawmakers gave first-round approval Friday to the payout for Darrel Parker. Parker was wrongfully convicted in the 1955 killing of his wife in their Lincoln home.

A federal appeals court overturned his conviction in 1969, saying his confession was coerced. Parker was paroled, and later received a full pardon after another man confessed to the murder.

Parker filed a lawsuit against the state. Last year, Attorney General Jon Bruning conceded Parker’s innocence and announced that his office would not fight the claim.

The 81-year-old Parker now lives in Moline, Ill.

The Omaha-based Better Business Bureau is warning people about suspicious phone calls regarding medical alert devices.

The BBB says consumers from across its service area have inquired about the calls. The people report that the callers say medical alert devices have been purchased for the people but the callers need more information about the recipients for delivery.

The BBB says it made return calls and was told by one person who answered that the alarm devices carried a fee of almost $35.

BBB President Jim Hegarty says the calls to consumers were “very suspicious due to the secretive nature and lack of full disclosure to their real purpose.”

The Omaha-based BBB service area includes Nebraska and southwest Iowa.

A new grain-loading facility will be built near Superior to help Nebraska farmers get their crops to market quickly.

The new project will have a storage capacity of 1.25 million bushels and enough railroad track to handle loading a 120-car train.

The Aurora Cooperative and CHS Inc. announced the project on Thursday. The grain-loading facility is expected to be completed around this time next year.

The new facility will also have a 10,000-ton storage tank for liquid fertilizer and space for a ground piling system for grain.

Aurora Co-op president and CEO George Hohwieler says this project will help farmers in Nebraska and Kansas access global markets.