• Jason Andrew Lamp, 30, North Platte and Penny Jean Short, 36, North Platte

 

• Marvin Louis Donnelly, 66, Hershey NE and Frances Diane Brown, 63, North Platte

 

• Martin Matthew Schmidt Jr., 34, North Platte and Amanda Grace Juarez, 28, North Platte

 

• Blake Allyn Whitson, 31, Canute OK and Michelle Diane Boeshart , 27, Canute OK

 

• Anthony Michael Redden, 38, North Platte and Julie Ann Erickson, 54, North Platte

 

• Robert Lyle Martinson II, 34, North Platte and Amber Dawn Goos, 28, Mason City NE

 

• Kelly Ray Nelsen, 48, North Platte and Lisa Ann Blea, 48, North Platte

 

• Michael Lynn Wilson. 44, Curtis NE and Amy Lynn Klemke,43, Curtis NE

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A trial has been scheduled to begin next month for a 27-year-old man accused in the death of a 2-year-old Gering girl in 2008.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Aug. 11 for the trial of Dustin Chauncey. He’s pleaded not guilty to intentional child abuse resulting in the death of Juliette Geurts in July 2008.

Chauncey was the boyfriend at the time of the girl’s mother, Charyse Geurts. Charges against her have been dismissed because of the statute of limitations.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — More and more people have been buying new license plates that proclaim that Nebraska is “The Beef State.”

The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles began printing the special slogan plates last month after 500 people applied for them, exceeding the threshold for production to begin.

Betty Johnson is administrator of the driver and vehicle records division for the DMV, and she says that as of Thursday morning, 118 more of the plates had been sold. The plates cost $70 beyond the price for a normal plate, and the $70 must be paid each year with the licensing renewal.

The Nebraska Cattlemen had pushed to return the slogan to state plates, celebrating an industry that officials say contributes billions of dollars to the state economy.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the denial of a death row inmate’s efforts to have his conviction overturned.

Jeffrey Hessler was convicted in 2004 of kidnapping, raping and killing 15-year-old newspaper carrier Heather Guerrero the year before. His conviction and death sentence were upheld on direct appeal in 2007.

Friday’s ruling is the second time Hessler has had a motion for post-conviction relief denied. Inmates typically file post-conviction relief motions after they have exhausted all other appeals.

This time, Hessler issued a myriad of claims, including that he was too mentally ill at the time of the crime to know right from wrong.

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court agreed with a lower court judge’s ruling that Hessler’s claims had already been addressed or should have been appealed earlier.