On Sunday, February 22, the North Platte Catholic Schools will hold the 40th annual Irish Fest celebration at St. Patrick’s High School, 500 S. Silber, from 12:00 Noon to 3:00 p.m.

Organizers say the entire community is invited to the event, which features a homemade turkey and noodles dinner served from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., mini carnival games and prizes, Fun Jumpz, a silent auction, bake sale, and raffle.

This year’s Irish Fest Raffle offers a 55” HDTV, $1,000 cash, a $500 Kwik Stop Gift Card, a $500 SCRIP certificate, and a 10” tablet computer. Raffle sponsors are: Bill Summers Ford, Computer Troubleshooters, and Kwik Stop.

Raffle tickets are $2.00 each (or 10 for $15) and are on sale now through Sunday.

They can be purchased from any McDaid or St. Patrick’s student, at the North Platte Catholic Schools Endowment, 601 S. Tabor, or at McDaid and St. Patrick’s schools.

Raffle tickets will also be sold at Irish Fest.

The raffle drawing will take place at 2:50 p.m. on Sunday, the 22nd . You do not have to be present to win.

The event originally called “Mardi Gras” was first celebrated by the North Platte Catholic Schools on Tuesday, February 11, 1975. In the early years it was held on “Fat Tuesday” prior to the start of the Lenten season. Later it was changed to Sunday, and has been a tradition since.

For the past 40 years, Irish Fest has involved hundreds of volunteers and proceeds have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to the operating budget of the North Platte Catholic School system.

A North Platte man who apparently took the lyrics, “This land is your land, this land is my land,” a little too serious, is now facing a felony theft charge.

On February 9, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a subject, in Heartwell, Nebraska, who claimed he was the victim of an internet scam.

The caller said he answered an ad on Craigslist to lease pasture land in Lincoln County.

The man set up a meeting with the advertiser in Sutherland, on February 6, to view the land.

The victim told deputies he met with 33-year-old Riley Hubert, who led him to an area north of Sutherland and showed him some open range land.

Hubert told the man he was currently leasing the land and wanted to sublease it for summer grazing.

Hubert and the alleged victim then came to an agreement on the lease, and the man paid Hubert the first half, a total of $19,500.

The man said after a few days he became suspicious of the lease and contacted law enforcement.

Deputies investigated and learned that Hubert didn’t have the original lease on the pasture land, and the land owner had no contract with Hubert.

Through their investigation, deputies learned that Hubert had purchased a pickup and fled to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Deputies contacted the Cheyenne Police Department and, on February 12, Hubert was arrested in Cheyenne on a Lincoln County warrant.

Authorities say Hubert was in possession of a large amount of cash at the time of his arrest, and also numerous items that he had recently purchased.

Hubert signed extradition paperwork and was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center on February 16.  He’s been charged with felony theft by deception.

According to the LCSO, Hubert had recently bonded out of jail for similar scams.  That bond has been revoked.

The investigation is ongoing.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has signed the first bills sent to him since he took office.

Ricketts approved nine so-called cleanup bills on Tuesday that are introduced every year to repeal obsolete state laws, often for pilot programs and commissions that are no longer in effect. Those measures were among the first passed by lawmakers this year.

Ricketts was sworn into office last month as the state’s 40th governor, replacing the term-limited Dave Heineman as the state’s chief executive.

 

A 24-year-old North Platte man has been charged with a felony after he allegedly assaulted a woman at a North Platte truck stop.

At around 12: 45 a.m., on February 16, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to Love’s Travel Stop, 3211 South Newberry Road, on the report of a domestic disturbance.

According to witnesses, a man and a woman were seen fighting and had, at one point, been down on the ground.

Officers arrived and made contact with a 22-year-old female, and 24-year-old Tristen Campbell.

The female told officers that she and Campbell had gotten into and argument, and he had “smacked her in the back of the head.”

She said Campbell then demanded that she remove her property from the vehicle.

As she began walking toward the vehicle, she said Campbell grabbed her and began to yell at her.  She stated that this caused her to fall to the ground.

Following further investigation, officers determined that there was probable cause to arrest Campbell and charge him with domestic assault.  Due to prior domestic assault convictions, the charge was enhanced to a felony.

According to arrest records, Campbell has a plethora of arrests for assault, including domestic, and other charges dating back to 2008.

Campbell is being held on $25,000 bond.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have started to debate a bill that would require voters to show government identification at the polls.

The proposal faces strong resistance, despite arguments from supporters Tuesday that Nebraska’s version includes safeguards to protect voters from being disenfranchised.

Republican Secretary of State John Gale says Nebraska hasn’t seen widespread voter fraud, although there have been isolated cases.

Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill says his measure would let voters cast provisional ballots without identification and would allow alternate forms of ID, including those issued by tribal governments.

Opponents say it’s a government mandate when there’s no evidence that voter fraud exists. They also say it contradicts Nebraska’s constitution, which forbids any hindrance or impediment on qualified voters to exercise their right.