March 2014 – Page 10 – North Platte Post Archive

Former Neb. Teacher Gets Prison for Sexual Assault of Students

Posted on March 27, 2014

(AP) — A former Ralston elementary school teacher has been sentenced to 14 to 15 years in prison for inappropriately touching young students.

A Douglas County district judge issued the sentence Wednesday to 60-year-old Nicholas Richter. He has more than 100 days of credit for time served, and he must serve about seven years before he is eligible for parole.

Richter was found guilty in December of three counts of sexual assault of a child. His first trial in August ended in a hung jury.

Three young boys ranging in age from 10 to 12 testified that Richter groped them during classes. A middle-aged man also testified that Richter groped him three decades ago, when Richter was teaching in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Family Weatherfest Set at UNL

Posted on March 27, 2014

(AP) — The annual Family Weatherfest and Severe Weather Symposium at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will explore the wonders of weather and share techniques for surviving weather’s bad side.

The free event is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 5 at Hardin Hall on the East Campus. A spotter training workshop will immediately follow the event.

Among the event speakers will be Jeremy Bower, who will discuss the myths of weather safety and provide tips on how to be prepared for severe weather.

There will be an array of activities and hands-on experiments.

Neb. First Lady Advocates Healthy Food Shopping

Posted on March 27, 2014

(AP) — Nebraska first lady Sally Ganem will speak this weekend at an event intended to show low-income residents how to shop for healthy food on a budget.

The Visiting Nurse Association will help with Share Our Strength’s “Cooking Matters” classes on Saturday at three Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market stores in Omaha. At the classes, some 300 low-income residents will learn to compare unit prices, purchase fruits and vegetables on a budget, read food labels and pick out whole grains.

Ganem will speak Saturday at a 10 a.m. class in southwest Omaha.

Lincoln Boy, 8, Misses School to Watch Siblings

Posted on March 27, 2014

(AP) — Authorities removed six children from a Lincoln home after police learned that an 8-year-old boy had been left in charge of his siblings.

The boy showed up at a youth center around 11 a.m. Tuesday and told an employee that he had stayed home from school to care for his sisters. They range in age from 2 to 6.

Officers called to the center said the boy reported that his 9-year-old brother had gone to school, leaving him in charge. Officers soon found the boys’ 6-year-old sister at their home watching the three younger girls.

Officer Katie Flood says the children’s mother was at work. The mother was later cited for child neglect.

Official: Fatalities to Go Up Substantially in Washington Mudslide

Posted on March 27, 2014

(AP) — Washington state authorities say the number of mudslide fatalities will go up substantially within the next two days.

Sixteen bodies have been recovered, but officials say at least nine more had been found as of Wednesday night.

Snohomish County District 21 Fire Chief Travis Hots said Thursday that officials are not going to count additional recovered victims until the medical examiner’s office has caught up with the recovery effort.

He says the number of fatalities is expected to increase substantially within the next 24-48 hours, as the medical examiner catches up.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office so far has identified one victim, 45-year-old Christina Jefferds.

That are 90 people confirmed missing from the Saturday morning mudslide 55 miles northeast of Seattle.

Microsoft Unveils Office for iPad

Posted on March 27, 2014March 28, 2014

(AP) — Microsoft is unveiling Office for the iPad, a software suite that includes programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and works on rival Apple’s hugely popular tablet computer.

The app will be available for download on Thursday in the App Store at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

Office for the iPad corrects layout problems that users experienced when accessing files they had saved on Microsoft’s cloud storage platform, OneDrive.

The app has touch-enabled features that allow users to drag photos around Word documents and grab elements like pie charts in Excel.

The software giant unveiled the app at an event in San Francisco where Satya Nadella addressed reporters on his 52nd day as the company’s chief executive.

Police: Lincoln Woman Faked Fatal Illness to Get Gifts

Posted on March 27, 2014

A 31-year-old Lincoln woman is facing charges after lying about having a fatal illness in order to collect nearly $12,000 in gifts from fellow church members.

Lincoln Police said April Nesslein was arrested on suspicion of felony theft after preying on other people’s sympathies for two months by claiming to have cancer and brain tumors.

Officer Katie Flood says Nebraska Health and Human Services officials contacted police last fall because they believed Nesslein might be improperly receiving benefits.

Flood says Nesslein received $11,888.39 in rent payments, new furniture, groceries, clothing and other household items.

Medical documents refuted the her cancer claims.

Brule Man, 77, Injured in NP Rollover

Posted on March 27, 2014March 27, 2014

A slushy, wet snow that fell in North Platte Thursday morning is being blamed for a rollover accident that injured a Brule man.

According to Officer Rodney Brown, at around 8:30 a.m., North Platte Police responded to a single vehicle rollover accident at the 177 exit on the eastbound off ramp of Interstate 80.

Brown said a 2004 Toyota Scion XA being driven by Hank Schep, 77, of Brule, exited the interstate and lost control due to the icy road conditions.

The vehicle went off the roadway as Schep began to round the cloverleaf that merges onto South Jeffers, and rolled onto it’s top.

A passing motorist from Ogallala came upon the scene immediately and, after smelling gas, was able to break out the windshield and pull the driver to safety, Brown said.

Schep, the lone occupant of the vehicle, was transported to Great Plains Regional Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Brown said Schep was not wearing a seatbelt, and alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash.

Neb. Industrial Hemp Research Bill Passes

Posted on March 27, 2014

(AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have approved a bill that would allow the state to grow industrial hemp for research.

The measure won final approval Thursday with a 39-2 vote. The bill would allow the University of Nebraska and the state Department of Agriculture to grow industrial hemp.

Industrial hemp is a close plant cousin to marijuana, but it has only a tiny fraction of the ingredients that allow marijuana users to get high. Supporters say industrial hemp could become a good alternative crop for farmers. Opponents argue that legalizing hemp is a move toward legalizing marijuana.

The measure, by Sen. Norm Wallman of Cortland, was modeled after the federal farm bill that makes such research an exemption to federal drug laws.

Firefighters Battle Central Neb. Wildfire

Posted on March 27, 2014

ST. PAUL, Neb. (AP) — Firefighters are working to extinguish a wildfire that already burned nearly 11 square miles of pastureland in central Nebraska.

The fire north of St. Paul had been mostly contained Wednesday, but it flared up Thursday and ignited some trees.

Howard County emergency manager Michelle Woiltalewicz two fire departments are battling the latest flare-up on the fire that began Monday. More than a dozen fire departments were involved Wednesday.

Woiltalewicz says the fire destroyed one abandoned home and barn, and it killed several cattle but it was unclear how many. One firefighter also sustained minor injuries.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Woiltalewicz says she hopes the snow falling in the area now will help firefighters contain the fire.