February 2015 – Page 18 – North Platte Post Archive

Escaped Western Nebraska Inmate Turns Himself In

Posted on February 23, 2015

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A sheriff says an inmate has turned himself in to authorities after not returning to jail from a work release program.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman says 25-year-old James Thorpe turned himself in Saturday night to the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center.

Thorpe didn’t return to the jail earlier this month as stipulated in his work release agreement. He was serving a sentence for forgery charges.

A warrant had been issued for Thorpe’s arrest. Overman says Thorpe is expected to be arraigned on Monday.

Prosecutor: Inmate Killed His Cellmate So He’d Have His Own Cell

Posted on February 23, 2015

CLEARFIELD, Pa. (AP) — A prosecutor says an inmate killed his cellmate at a Pennsylvania prison because he wanted his own private cell.

Forty-five-year-old Lawrence Peterson Jr., formerly of Easton, will now serve a life sentence on top of the 40- to 80-year term he had been serving for a violent robbery.

Clearfield County District Attorney Bill Shaw planned to pursue the death penalty but decided to skip the trial after Peterson said Friday he was willing to plead guilty to first-degree murder and take a life sentence for the Aug. 2, 2013, beating of 59-year-old William Keitel.

Keitel died in the infirmary at the state prison in Houtzdale nine days later.

Shaw says it would have been a “terrible waste of tax dollars” to push for a trial.

Tobacco Companies Fighting Over Claims on Smoking’s Effects

Posted on February 23, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s biggest tobacco companies say they’re ready and willing to pass along factual public health information about cigarettes.

But they say they won’t go along with being forced to underwrite an ad campaign that would have the companies brand themselves as liars.

In 2006, a federal judge in Washington ordered the cigarette makers to admit publicly that they had lied for decades about the dangers of smoking.

The companies are heading to an appeals court on Monday to argue that those ads should be set aside and new ones put in their place.

The preamble to the ads says a federal court ruled that the companies “deliberately deceived the American public.”

The companies say the statement is overbroad and misleading.

Lincoln Quilt Museum Exhibition Features Wartime Quilts

Posted on February 23, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new exhibition at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln will explore the role quilts had throughout U.S. history during wartime.

“Covering the War: American Quilts in Times of Conflict” opens at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Quilt House on March 6 and will be on display through Nov. 21.

The exhibition features 10 quilts spanning 150 years of history. The exhibition also will feature two recent acquisitions at the quilt center. The first is an 1898 album quilt from the Spanish-American War. The second quilt was made circa 1918, the time of World War I.

2nd Person Arrested in Fatal Omaha Park Shooting

Posted on February 23, 2015

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Another person has been arrested in the slaying of a 46-year-old man who died two days after being found shot at a north-central Omaha park.

Police say 26-year-old Anthony Hollins was arrested on a warrant alleging first-degree murder and two weapons crimes. He and 20-year-old Janessa Arias are suspected in the death of Ray Patterson. Patterson was shot at Norwick Park on Jan. 26 and died Jan. 28 at a hospital.

Arias has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. She and Hollins remained in custody on Monday. Online court records don’t list an attorney for Hollins in the case.

Woman Fatally Struck on I-80 Near Gibbon Exit

Posted on February 23, 2015February 23, 2015

GIBBON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 79-year-old woman who stepped onto Interstate 80 in south-central Nebraska has been killed.

The accident occurred around 5 p.m. Sunday near the Gibbon exit in Buffalo County. The Nebraska State Patrol says Darlene Harders, of Cairo, pulled over onto the eastbound shoulder and was struck by a passing semitrailer when she got out of her car.

The accident is being investigated.

North Platte Weather-February 23

Posted on February 23, 2015

Today: Sunny, with a high near 29. Wind chill values as low as -7. Southwest wind 6 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 15. Southwest wind 10 to 13 mph becoming west northwest after midnight.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 46. North northwest wind 8 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph after midnight.
Wednesday: A slight chance of snow before noon, then a chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. West northwest wind 9 to 18 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 7.

MacKinnon’s Hat Trick lifts Avs to 5-4 Win over Lightning

Posted on February 22, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Teenage center Nathan MacKinnon had the first hat trick of his young career, Matt Duchene also scored and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 on Sunday.

Alex Tanguay had a goal and Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves for the Avalanche, who have won four of five. Ryan O’Reilly added two assists for Colorado

MacKinnon, at 19 years and 5 months, became the youngest player in Avalanche history to score three goals in a game. It was Colorado’s first hat trick since Duchene did it Nov. 4, 2011, at Dallas, a span of 258 games.

Tyler Johnson had a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay, and Nikita Kucherov added a goal and an assist. Ondrej Palat and Brett Connolly also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 13 saves.

Westbrook leads Thunder past Nuggets Without Durant

Posted on February 22, 2015

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Russell Westbrook had 21 points and a career-high 17 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 119-94 on Sunday night without Kevin Durant.

Durant was out after a procedure on Sunday to replace a screw that was causing soreness in his surgically repaired right foot. The reigning NBA MVP is expected to return this season.

Westbrook, playing with two new starters, put on a show. He had 10 assists in the second quarter and 12 in the first half.

Enes Kanter had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder, who have won six straight and eight of nine. Serge Ibaka added 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Ty Lawson scored 17 points and Danilo Gallinari added 16 for Denver, which has lost seven of eight.

Nebraska Coach Bans His Players from Locker Room after Loss

Posted on February 22, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Tim Miles is so steamed about his team’s 28-point loss to Iowa that he’s locking his players out of their locker room.

The Cornhuskers’ 74-46 loss Sunday was their fifth straight and seventh in eight games. They’re 13-14 overall and 5-8 and in 10th place in Big Ten after finishing fourth and making it to the NCAA tournament last year.

Miles also said players would not speak to the media until further notice, adding, “If there’s anyone who’s going to represent us right now, it’s me.”

Nebraska’s $19 million training facility opened in 2011 and features a deluxe locker room with heated towel racks and I-pod plug-ins in the showers.

Asked where the players will shower after practices, Miles said, “Good luck. They’re creative young people.”