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Five Teens Killed In Horrific California Crash

fatal-accident(AP) — Coroner’s officials say five people killed in a fiery California crash that split a car in half were teenage high school students, including two sisters.

Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said Tuesday the teens were students in the Irvine Unified School District.

The names of the three girls and two boys were released a day after they were killed in the single-car accident in Newport Beach.

The driver was identified as 17-year-old Abdulrahman Alyahyan, a senior at University High School.

The passengers included 17-year-old Robin Cabrera, a senior at Irvine High School, and her 16-year-old sister Aurora, a sophomore at the same school. Also killed were Cecilia Zamora and Nozad Al Hamawendi, both 17-year-old juniors at Irvine High School.

Police say speed was a factor.

Lovers Quarrel Leads to Drug Charges for NP Couple

A lovers quarrel ended with a North Platte couple facing drug charges.

At around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to the report of a disturbance in the 1200 Block of East 4th Street.

Upon arrival, Officers determined that the couple residing there, Troy Deidel, 45 and Leann Grabbingbear, 46, had been involved in an earlier argument.  Both subjects called the police following the disagreement.

During the investigation, both were found to be in possession of controlled substances.

Deidel was charged with possession of Alprazolam, a drug used to treat panic and anxiety disorder.  Grabbingbear was charged with possession of Alprazolam and Methamphetamine.

Both were jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

New Buyers Found for Team Jack Trading Cards

team-jack(AP) — A 7-year-old cancer patient who had a trading card issued in his honor after he ran roughshod over the Nebraska Cornhuskers has found new buyers for cards set aside for his charity.

Among those stepping up: actor James Denton, who was on “Desperate Housewives.”

Video of Jack Hoffman’s run during Nebraska’s spring football game was an Internet hit. The Upper Deck Co. issued a card for Jack, with signed blow-ups for his foundation to auction off.

The winning bidder for the first card declined to pay, saying he hadn’t authorized the $6,100 bid. Jack’s father, Andy Hoffman, says news coverage prompted three buyers to offer $10,000 each for a signed card.

Denton lives in suburban Minneapolis, and the Hoffmans traveled there to meet him Tuesday. They are from Atkinson, Neb.

NE National Guard Adjutant General Leaves for National Post

nebraska-national-guard(AP) — The adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard has been named the deputy director of the U.S. Army National Guard.

Maj. Gen. Judd Lyons will assume his new role at the National Guard Headquarters in Arlington, Va., later this summer. His promotion was announced Tuesday by Gov. Dave Heineman.

The 50-year-old Lyons is Nebraska’s 32nd adjutant general. He assumed command of the Nebraska National Guard in August 2009.

The adjutant general serves as the senior uniformed officer responsible for leading nearly 4,700 Army and Air National Guard personnel in Nebraska. Lyons also is a member of the governor’s cabinet.

In his new role, Lyons will coordinate programs and policies that affect the Army National Guard and its 350,000 citizen-soldiers.

Colorado Governor Signs Six Marijuana Regulatory Bills Into Law

Colorado-MarijuanaColorado’s governor signed six marijuana regulatory bills into law Tuesday while the state awaits a federal response to recreational pot legalization. The new laws seek to regulate the newly legal drug and keep it away from children, without being so strict that weed stays in the black market. Some highlights from Colorado’s new green laws:

— YOU CAN COME BUY IT, BUT YOU CAN’T TAKE IT HOME: Visitors to Colorado will have purchasing limits of a quarter-ounce of marijuana in a single transaction. The law doesn’t ban adults over 21 from possessing a full ounce, residents or not. But the purchasing limits were seen as an effort to reduce interstate trafficking and help persuade the federal government not to crack down on recreational sales.

— THE POT BUSINESS ISN’T OPEN FOR BUSINESS, YET: Colorado’s marijuana industry will for the first few months be limited to people already licensed to sell or produce medical marijuana. Even once the grandfathering period expires, licensees will need to be Colorado residents for two years, and investors will face residency requirements, too. The residency requirements were added to try to prevent Colorado from becoming a production ground for criminal drug cartels.

— THE CAMERAS BETTER BE ROLLING WHEN YOU GROW IT: Colorado tried and failed to establish constant video surveillance of medical marijuana, establishing a seed-to-sale tracking system to keep the industry honest. The vaunted system hasn’t worked out as expected because of a lack of money, but the agency that oversees pot says it has learned its lesson and will have the money to follow through with seed-to-sale tracking next year.

— NOT EVERY TOWN WILL SELL IT: Colorado’s marijuana framework gives local and county governments broad power to ban retail pot sales if they wish, though home growing will be allowed statewide. Legalization backers say the next Colorado political battle to watch will be which communities ban pot shops, prompting the possibility that marijuana sales will be largely concentrated in big cities that currently allow retail medical marijuana shops.

— MARIJUANA CLUBS AREN’T SAFE: Entrepreneurs in Colorado have been testing the new marijuana law in recent months by opening private clubs that allow communal pot smoking, but no sales, for a membership fee. The legislation tries to crack down on the spread of such cannabis clubs by stating that they’re not exempt from clean indoor air laws, unlike membership cigar clubs.

— KIDS GET NEW PROTECTIONS: Colorado’s new laws aim to prevent youth marijuana use as much as possible. The laws create a new crime of sharing marijuana with someone under 21, an analogy to current delinquency laws and alcohol. The laws also mandate child-proof packaging for marijuana sales, and bans types of marketing thought to appeal to kids, such as cartoon characters in advertisements and packaging. The new 10 percent marijuana sales tax will be used in part on educational campaigns telling people under 21 to avoid the drug.

— DON’T SMOKE AND DRIVE: After years of debate, Colorado now has as blood-level limit for marijuana and drivers. The law says that juries can presume drivers are too stoned to drive if their blood contains more than 5 nanograms per milliliter of THC, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient. Washington state adopted the same driving standard on the ballot last year, but Colorado left the question to the state Legislature.

U.S. Marine Goes on Shooting Rampage

marine-corps(AP) — A West Texas sheriff wounded by a man who killed a woman and injured four other people in a rampage Sunday says the shooter “was intent on shooting anybody and everybody” as he drove.

Concho County Sheriff Richard Doane said Tuesday that Lance Cpl. Esteban J. Smith pulled up behind one car carrying three people and started firing at them. Doane says the shooter hit one passenger in the cheek before the driver slammed on his brakes, turned around and headed toward Eden where he hide the vehicle in a car dealership lot.

Doane says Smith later wounded him near his left ear after the Marine pulled over following a short chase.

Doane says he’s unsure whether Smith killed himself or was killed by authorities.

Officials Hope to Limit Missouri River Flooding

missouri-river-flooding(AP) — After several days of heavy rain across the lower Missouri River basin, the amount of water released into the river is being reduced to help minimize flooding.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it began reducing the amount of water flowing into the river on Sunday because of concerns about flooding downstream.

Last week, 24,000 cubic feet of water per day was being released from the Gavins Point dam on the South Dakota-Nebraska border. By Wednesday morning, half as much water will be released.

The corps is also reducing the amount of water released from Fort Randall dam in South Dakota.

The corps’ Jody Farhat says the reductions should alleviate some downstream flooding along the Missouri River.

Nike Cuts Ties with Livestrong

livestrong(AP) — Nike Inc. is cutting ties with the Livestrong cancer charity founded by cyclist Lance Armstrong.

The move by the shoe and clothing company is the latest fallout in the doping scandal surrounding the former cyclist, who now admits he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France seven times.

Nike had a licensing agreement for Livestrong apparel and footwear, and helped push the Livestrong brand globally. Most notable was Nike’s creation of the yellow wristband with the foundation’s Livestrong logo that became an international symbol for cancer survivors.

Nike dropped its personal sponsorship of Armstrong in October after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency outlined years of doping by Armstrong and his former U.S. Postal Service teammates.

Officials at Livestrong said Tuesday the charity remains strong and committed to helping cancer patients worldwide through its survivorship programs.

Two Minor Injuries Reported After NE Storms

severe-weather(AP) — Officials began a damage and site survey on Tuesday to confirm whether tornadoes or straight-line winds battered houses and farm buildings and ripped up trees and road signs in south-central and southeast Nebraska.

Clay County emergency manager Loren Uden says two minor injuries were reported after a storm that struck Edgar a little after 7:30 p.m. Monday, including a driver whose car was lifted off a road.

Uden says 10 to 15 Edgar houses were damaged, some by the wind and some by blown-down trees or tree limbs. He says five grain bins were heavily damaged at the Edgar Co-op.

National Weather Service meteorologist Van DeWald (deh-WAWLD’) says a storm caused some minor damage a little after 9 p.m. Monday near Diller in Jefferson County.

Great Plain’s Callahan Cancer Center Celebrates Cancer Survivors

national-cancer-survivors-dayOn Sunday, June 2, Great Plains Callahan Cancer Center will be hosting a cancer survivor’s event to celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day (NCSD).

“NCSD provides an opportunity for cancer survivors to connect with other survivors, celebrate milestones, and recognize the healthcare providers, family, and friends who have supported them along the way,” said Nan Hynes, case management supervisor at Great Plains Regional Medical Center.

According to ncsd.org, NCSD started in the United States in 1987 and is now celebrated worldwide in countries including Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Malaysia. The purpose of the day is to honor everyone who is living with a history of cancer, including America’s nearly 14 million cancer survivors.

“From family members to close friends, everyone knows someone whose life has been touched by cancer,” Hynes said, “We see this event as a way for us to give back to our patients and their families.”

The Callahan Cancer Center event will be held from 1 to 3 p.m., in the Callahan Cancer Center lobby at 601 West Leota, North Platte, NE 69101. The ice cream social will begin at 1 p.m., with the cancer survivor ceremony beginning at 1:30 p.m.

For more information about the NCSD Callahan Cancer Center event, please contact Nan Hynes at 308.696.7544.

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