LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bipartisan team in the Legislature is trying to reform Nebraska’s politically charged process of approving new legislative and congressional districts.

Sens. John Murante of Gretna and Heath Mello of Omaha argued Friday that lawmakers should create an independent commission to propose new boundaries.

Murante, a Republican, told the Legislature’s Executive Board he’s still sorting out final details on his bill with Mello, a Democrat.

Nebraska’s current process requires a special legislative committee to propose new boundaries once every decade, after the census, for lawmakers and the governor to approve. The system came under fire during the last redistricting in 2011, with Democrats accusing the majority Republicans of gerrymandering.

The bill was backed by Common Cause Nebraska and the Nebraska Farmer’s Union.

• Rusty William Foster, 20, North Platte and Delta Dawna Elsasser, 18, Hershey

 

• Robert Daniel Woodward, 42, North Platte and Summer Rae Neal, 35, North Platte

 

• Scott Allen Taylor, 34, North Platte and Shannon Amber Boyce, 36, North Platte

 

• Adam Dean Schweitzer, 37, North Platte and Robyn Louise Henke, 35, North Platte

 

• Zachary Lee Kaiser, 34, North Platte and Dixie Kay Howell, 33, North Platte

 

• Brandon Micheal Stenger, 24, North Platte and Brittney Belle DeBord, 23, North Platte

A North Platte man is in a Kearney hospital following a crash on Thursday.

At around 2:04 a.m., deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of an injury accident near US Highway 30 and Reigan Road, just west of North Platte.

Upon arrival, deputies located the driver, 22-year-old Brent Duran.

An investigation revealed that Duran was driving westbound on Highway 30, when he drifted off the road, over corrected and rolled into the south ditch.

Deputies say Duran was not wearing a seat belt, and was ejected from the vehicle.

He was transported by the North Platte Fire Department to Great Plains Health, and was later transported to CHI Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.

Investigators say they suspect that alcohol and marijuana use were a factor in the crash, as both were found in the vehicle.

Duran was the lone occupant in the vehicle.  The investigation is ongoing.

A 21-year-old North Platte man is facing a felony charge after he allegedly stole items from Walmart.

At around 11:04 p.m., on February 26, an officer with the North Platte Police Department was finishing up an unrelated case at Walmart, 1401 South Dewey Street, when he was contacted by loss prevention personnel.

Store staff advised that there was an active shoplifter in the store, and he was currently being monitored on surveillance cameras.

The officer began watching the cameras, and observed Taylor Rector removing tags and packaging from items in the store and concealing them on his person, and in a backpack he was carrying.

Police say Rector paid for one item at the self checkout station, and left the store.

The officer stopped Rector in the parking lot, and a search revealed that he had stolen over $1,000 in merchandise from the store.

Additionally, the officer found a set of brass knuckles in Rector’s pocket, along with several prescription pills.

Rector was placed under arrest and transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center.

He’s been charged with felony shoplifting, carrying a concealed weapon and felony possession of a controlled substance.