March 2015 – Page 49 – North Platte Post Archive

‘Yarn Bombing’ Plans in Lincoln Unraveled by City

Posted on March 12, 2015March 11, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln officials have pared down a proposal for putting knitted artwork in Union Plaza in celebration of World Wide Knit in Public Day.

A local group of knitters proposed “yarn bombing” the park to celebrate the day in mid-June.

Yarn bombing is done in defiance of city rules. But this this group wanted to receive permission before it placed a stocking cap on the sculpture of a large head. The knitters also had plans to colorfully cover tree trunks.

Not much of the proposal was left after city officials scrutinized the group’s plans, ruling that yarn bombing cannot embellish any outdoor sculpture and may only be applied to nonliving objects.

Parks and Recreation Director Lynn Johnson says he’s willing to discuss the matter.

Grand Jury: No Wrongdoing in Separate Shooting Deaths by Omaha Police

Posted on March 12, 2015March 11, 2015

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury has found no criminal wrongdoing by four Omaha police officers who were involved in the fatal shootings of three people.

Grand jurors returned no charges Wednesday against Officer Alvin Lugod, who fired the shots that killed 39-year-old Danny Elrod. Authorities later determined Elrod was unarmed.

The grand jury also cleared the three officers who killed a robbery suspect and a crewman of the long-running TV show ‘Cops’ at a fast-food restaurant in August.

State law requires grand juries to investigate whenever someone dies in custody or while being arrested.

Lugod and other officers confronted Elrod on Feb. 23, and police say Elrod wouldn’t comply with their commands. Elrod was shot when he turned and reached for a fence behind him.

Creighton Tops DePaul 78-63 in 1st Round of Big East Tourney

Posted on March 11, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) — James Milliken scored 22 points and Creighton took charge of a tight game in the second half for a 78-63 victory over DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday night.

Devin Brooks added 12 points and senior guard Austin Chatman had 11, surpassing 1,000 for his career. Will Artino provided energy down low, finishing with nine points and eight rebounds to help the 10th-seeded Bluejays (14-18) advance to the quarterfinals Thursday night against No. 23 Georgetown, the tournament’s second seed.

Jamee Crockett scored 15 points to pace seventh-seeded DePaul (12-20), which lost its final eight games of the season and 11 of the last 12. Billy Garrett Jr. had 10 points and eight assists.

The score was tied at 46 before Artino’s putback with 12:45 left started Creighton’s decisive 13-2 surge.

Nuggets Beat Eastern Conference-Leading Hawks 115-102

Posted on March 11, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Danilo Gallinari had 23 points, Will Barton added 16 and the Denver Nuggets beat Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta 115-102 on Wednesday night for their eighth straight home win over the Hawks.

By the end of the third quarter, Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer had seen enough and inserted his bench players, who went on a 24-1 run midway through the fourth quarter to make the score respectable after trailing by 32 with 7:32 remaining. The Hawks haven’t won in the Mile High City since Dec. 6, 2006.

Kyle Korver had 18 points to lead Atlanta. He hit five 3-pointers to give him 1,697 in his career and move him past Kobe Bryant (1,694) for 12th in NBA history.

Denver turned it into a rout with a 45-21 run in the first half. The Hawks’ backups closed the gap by holding the subs for the Nuggets to 5-of-23 shooting in the fourth quarter, but it was a too late.

NPCC Knights Softball Sweep Dawson

Posted on March 11, 2015

The North Platte Community College Knights softball team swept the Dawson Community College Lady Buccaneers on Wednesday at the Wayne Dowhower Softball Complex 4 – 3 and 6 – 0.

The first game started with the Lady Buccaneers scoring two runs in the second inning by Alissa Keeler and Haley Swan. Keeler added a home run in the third to make the score 3 – 0.

In the fourth inning the Knights Sara Villalobos and Brittney Odum hit back-to-back home runs and Sara Runia scored on a single by Audrie Conner to tie the score at three.

The Knights scored the go ahead run in the fifth on an error by the Lady Buccaneers center fielder scoring Mehana Chang.

Shannon Lieber pitched seven innings for the win allowing three runs on eight hits. Lieber struck out five.

In the second game, Baileigh Oleson pitched a gem, allowing one hit and no runs. Oleson struck out four batters in seven innings.

The Knights scored in the third inning on a two-run home run by Lieber, scoring Conner who had singled earlier. Odum added her second home run for the day in the fourth inning to put the Knights up 3 – 0. The Knights added three insurance runs in the sixth inning on doubles by Chang and Jessica Jarvis. Jarvis, Chang and Odum scored the runs.

The Knights improve to 6 – 12 on the season and the Lady Buccaneers fall to 3 – 3.

The Knights take to the road this weekend to play six games in three days. On Friday they travel to Columbus to play Central Community College in a doubleheader. On Saturday they travel to Beatrice for a doubleheader with Southeast Community College. All four of these games are National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Division II games, which will help determine seeding for the Region IX tournament at the end of April in North Platte. Game times for the Central games are at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.; Southeast games are at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. CDT.

The Knights conclude their road trip on Sunday by playing a doubleheader against Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Game times are at noon and 2 p.m. CDT.

Toyota Recalls Cars, SUVs for Steering, Software Issues

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

DETROIT (AP) — Toyota is recalling 112,500 cars and SUVs to fix problems with electric power steering controls and electric vehicle software.

The largest of two recalls announced Wednesday covers about 110,000 2015 Camry midsize sedans and Highlander SUVs, as well as 2014 and 2015 RAV4 SUVs.

Toyota says a circuit board in the electric power steering may have been damaged at the factory. Power-assisted steering could fail, increasing the effort needed to steer and raising the risk of a crash.

Dealers will inspect and replace power steering controls if needed.

The other recall covers 2,500 RAV4 electric vehicles from 2012 through 2014. Software in a motor assembly can make the vehicles shift into neutral on their own. Dealers will fix the motor assembly.

Toyota says it knows of no crashes or injuries in either case.

AP Source: Chiefs Agreed with OL Fanaika on 3-Year Deal

Posted on March 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs and offensive guard Paul Fanaika have agreed to terms on a three-year deal, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the Chiefs have not announced the deal. Fanaika still must pass a physical for it to be complete.

The Chiefs were looking for help on the offensive line after losing three starters to free agency last offseason, and then watching starting center Rodney Hudson sign a five-year, $44.5 million deal with AFC West rival Oakland this week.

Fanaika was a seventh-round draft pick of the Eagles in 2009, when Chiefs coach Andy Reid was in charge. He’s come into his own in Arizona, starting all 30 games he played in over the past two seasons.

Nine Huskers Qualify for NCAA Championships

Posted on March 11, 2015

Nine Husker wrestlers earned spots in the 2015 NCAA Championships when the field was announced on Wednesday.

Senior Robert Kokesh leads the team with the No. 1 seed at 174 pounds. Kokesh, a two-time All-American, is 33-0 this season after capturing the Big Ten title last weekend. He is one of five seeded wrestlers for Nebraska.

Three-time All-American James Green is the fourth seed at 157 pounds. The senior is looking to become the second wrestler in school history to capture All-America honors on four occasions. He is 30-4 this season after taking third place at the Big Ten Championships.

Anthony Abidin (No. 9 seed at 141), Aaron Studebaker (15th seed at 197) and TJ Dudley (16th seed at 184) are also seeded. Tim Lambert (125), Eric Montoya (133), Austin Wilson (165) and Collin Jensen (HWT) will also compete for the Huskers at the NCAA Championships.

The tournament begins on Thursday, March 19 at 11 a.m. (CT) and runs through Saturday, March 21 in St. Louis, Mo.

Nebraska’s NCAA Qualifiers
125: Tim Lambert
133: Eric Montoya
141: #9 Anthony Abidin
157: #4 James Green
165: Austin Wilson
174: #1 Robert Kokesh
184: #16 TJ Dudley
197: #15 Aaron Studebaker
HWT: Collin Jensen

Huskers Learning Under Riley

Posted on March 11, 2015

Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska football team continued its 2015 spring practice season Wednesday afternoon, as the Huskers practiced outside at the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields in sunny, 70-degree weather. The Huskers were in full pads for the first time this spring, as the team was again split into two groups, and each group practiced for about an hour and 45 minutes.

Nebraska Head Coach Mike Riley spoke with media members following Wednesday’s practice, as he mentioned that the Huskers had a really good first day of contact practice in full pads.

“I thought it was really good, it was a beautiful day, we added pads for the first time which means we were able to do our first ‘inside run’ period,” Riley said. “I thought the guys handled that very well, a lot of what we are doing is not only teaching the plays and how to run the plays, but basically it is how to practice.”

Riley added that the intensity at practice has been really good so far this spring.

“For the most part I really liked the enthusiasm at practice, I thought they got into the first day of pads and hit pretty well without a lot of craziness going on.”

According to Riley, the team is really starting to mesh and learn the playbook, not only the players, but the coaching staff as well.

“I think it is going pretty well, there is always some frustration for the coaches and for the players, when it doesn’t quite click all the time,” Riley said. “That is understandable, but for the most part for what we have done so far, both coaches and players are handling the newness pretty well.”

The first day of contact practice also brought the first day of practicing the inside run with both the offensive line and running backs. This was something Riley had been eager to see because as he said, the Huskers have to run the football to be successful.

“I was looking forward to today because of that, with everything being said, we really need to run the football. We need to have a little variety in the run game, so far we have probably more shotgun run than we have ever had in our offense to this point. That has been interesting.

Nebraska returns to the practice field on Friday for its fourth workout of the spring. Check back at Huskers.com for updates.

Nebraska Gas Tax Increase for Bridges Voted Out of Committee

Posted on March 11, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A proposal to raise Nebraska’s gas tax to pay for bridges and roads has advanced for debate by lawmakers.

The Revenue Committee voted 5-2 on Wednesday to approve the measure for debate in the Legislature. The 6-cent increase, phased in over four years, would bring Nebraska’s total gas tax to 31.6 cents per gallon.

The bill would generate an estimated $19 million a year for aging roads and bridges. Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion describes the tax as a “user fee” for motorists, saying it’s a better alternative than tapping the state’s general fund or issuing bonds.

Smith says the bill will reduce pressure on counties that use property taxes to pay for bridge and road repairs.