May 2015 – Page 57 – North Platte Post Archive

Pinning Represents Important Step for MPCC Nursing Students

Posted on May 5, 2015

It’s a brief moment, but it signifies a huge step on the pathway to nursing.

A total of 27 Mid-Plains Community College students will receive Associate Degree of Nursing pinsFriday during a special ceremony planned for noon at the North Platte Community College South Campus McDonald-Belton Theater.

The event is open to the public. Kristyn Clapp, of Culbertson, and Merry Sedlacek, of North Platte, will be the featured student speakers.

According to Cindy Lovette, nursing administrative assistant for MPCC, the act of being pinned doesn’t automatically make someone a nurse. However, it does signify that he or she has completed the necessary schooling to become one.

Graduates are eligible to take the NCLEX-RN examination through the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and, upon passing the examination, they are qualified to receive a registered nurse license.

MPCC students eligible for pinning include:

Kendra Ash – Sutherland
Holly Barrett – Ogallala
Joseph Benson – McCook
Lisa Bryant – North Platte
Dierdrie Christensen – North Platte
Kristyn Clapp – Culbertson
Tasha Clark – Oshkosh
Jami Comer – North Platte
Tessa Cumming – Hershey
Taylor Dunn – Cozad
Lynelle Foster – Big Springs
Brandy Harness – North Platte
Savannah Higdon – North Platte
Savanna Hollibaugh – Wallace
Todd Hovey – McCook
Jennell McGee – Ogallala
Nicole Miller – North Platte
Melinda Neill-Tyler – North Platte
Deirdre Nichelson – Sutherland
Elena Ramos – North Platte
Sarah Riddell – North Platte
Jamie Sosa – Sutherland
Lori Schanou – North Platte
Merry Sedlacek – North Platte
Justina Snider – North Platte
Tasia Stumpf – Ogallala
Kassandra Willey – North Platte

Action Packed Night Of Racing At Dawson County Raceway

Posted on May 5, 2015

The action was as fast as the wind was blowing during the opening night of the 2015 season at Dawson County Raceway in Lexington, Nebraska on Sunday evening.

Veteran wheelmen Mike Densberger, Josh Leonard, Chad Dolan, Mike Nichols and Kyle Bond all got their season started off on the right foot with trips to the winners circle on Sunday.

Leading from the drop of the green flag until the checkered flag flew, Mike Densberger of Lincoln put on his own Magic Show to win the IMCA Modified Feature in fine fashion. Densberger started his night by winning his heat race before starting on the outside of row one in the feature, which was all that he needed to roll to the victory. Coming from deep in the grid, fellow heat race winner Cozad’s Colton Osborn charged to the top five in the early going. Osborn tried to make a move on Densberger near the midway point of the race. Osborn was forced to settle with runner-up honors. Charly Brown of Maxwell was high up on the wheel to earn the third place accolades in the Feature.

No stranger to winning in late models at Lexington, Josh Leonard of Gibbon represented the family quite well in the Grand National division on Sunday evening. Leonard started on the front row and he never looked back once he got fresh air. Finishing second overall was Leonard Racing teammate Brandon Leonard of Gibbon as he took many chances to snare the lead from Josh. Kevin Safranek was able to post a rally in the final laps to earn the podium finish in third place on the evening. Cale Osborn of Cozad along with Josh Leonard won the opening night heat races.

Driving with gumption, Gibbon hotshoe Chad Dolan wasted no time in getting to the front and running away with the victory in the IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature. Dolan led every lap and had big leads that were extinguished by yellow flags that allowed runner-up finisher Josh Leonard of Gibbon to threaten Dolan on late re-starts until the race was finished early as a result of reaching their time limit. Jamey Kennicutt of Gothenburg was able to weather the storm and miss the accidents to finish third overall. Dolan was joined by Craig Howard of Lexington and Shelton’s Steve Kempt in winning heat races in the division earlier in the night.

The duel between Mike Nichols and Casey Woken has been epic throughout the early portion of the 2015 season as they have clashed on the oval throughout the Midwest. Nichols of Harlan, Iowa was able to garner the lead on the third circuit and score the IMCA Stock Car Feature victory. Casey Woken of Ogallala led the first lap and then never dropped back any further than second overall, pulling up to the back bumper of Nichols many times through the feature. Up on the wheel in a very good way, Gothenburg’s Jeff Whiting showcased great consistency throughout the feature to earn a podium finish in third place. Earning heat race wins in the division were Whiting, Casey Werkmeister of Maywood and Wallace’s Kyle Clough.

The action packed IMCA Hobby Stock feature was a battle of survival with many wrecks that also included some tight-knit competition that kept a fan on the edge of their seats throughout the 15 lap thriller. The Gibbon Gambler Kyle Bond snared the led on the seventh lap and he never looked back from that point on to claim the checkered flag and victory. Leading the way from the onset, Grand Island’s Caleb Hetrick was the leader for the initial three laps and he was able to stay inside the top three throughout to finish second overall. Coming from deep in the field, Jacob Olmstead of Overton was able to finish third while avoiding major incidents throughout the contest. Kyle Bond and Travis Kernick of Kearney were the heat race winners in the division.

Unofficial Results:

–IMCA Modified Feature: 1. 81-Mike Densberger; 2. 50c-Colton Osborn; 3. 4c-

Charley Brown; 4. 14-Matthew Kiner; 5. 50-Scott Smith; 6. 34jw-Cole Hodges; 7. 19-

Chuck Stryker; 8. 71-Vince Leibert; 9. XII-Jay Steffen.

–Grand National Late Model Feature: 1. 85-Josh Leonard; 2. 88-Brandon

Leonard; 3. 28-Kevin Safranek; 4. 6c-Cale Osborn; 5. 90-Steve Kempt; 6. 55-Jake

Neighbors; 7. 51-Les Siebert; 8. 11-Dillon Thompson; 9. 13t-Tyler Andreasen; 10. 83d-

Denton Duncan; 11. 22-Chris Avery.

–IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature: 1. 87d-Chad Dolan; 2. 85-Josh

Leonard; 3. 15k-Jamey Kennicutt; 4. 20b-Brandon Clough; 5. 41g-Justin Gibbens; 6. 1x-

Denny Egge; 7. 33-Chad Young; 8. 2c-JR Ewing; 9. 1c-Cole Egge; 10. 15j-Herb Slough.

–IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. 63-Mike Nichols; 2. 35jw-Casey Woken; 3. 16w-

Jeff Whiting; 4. 42w-Kyle Werkmeister; 5. 24w-Casey Werkmeister; 6. 45-Mikey

Dancer; 7. 72h-Jim Hagan; 8. 09h-Bob Hoing; 9. 3z-Zach Canas; 10. 31-Darin Racek.

–IMCA Hobby Stock Feature: 1. 0-Kyle Bond; 2. 44-Caleb Hetrick; 3. 88j-Jacob

Olmstead; 4. 22w-Brady Weinman; 5. 29-Jeromy Wagner; 6. 01-Jacob Wolsleben; 7. 2c-

Tyson Canas; 8. R89-Nate Refior; 9. 30pk-Ethan Kenney; 10. 5-Chuck Ledbetter.

Heat Race Winners: 1. 81-Densberger; 50c-Osborn.

Heat Race Winners: 85-Josh Leonard; 6c-Cale Osborn.

Heat Race Winners: 87d-Dolan; 68-Craig Howard; 190-Steve Kempt.

Heat Race Winners: 16w-Whiting; 24w-Werkmeister; 11k-Kyle Clough.

Heat Race Winners: 0-Bond, 2x-Travis Kernick.

Lady Bulldogs Advance to District Championship, Boys Fall in District Playoff Opener

Posted on May 5, 2015

North Platte Lady Bulldogs (11-5) advanced to the District A-3 Championship game with a 2-1 win over Omaha Burke (7-11) on Monday night at Buell Stadium in Omaha. North Platte got a pair of second half goals from Sami Mauch (Fr) and Kaylynn Kissinger (So). Abby Stark (Sr) made eight saves in net for the Lady Bulldogs to preserve the win. North Platte girls will face top-seeded Millard West (13-2) on Wednesday night in the district A-3 championship game at Buell Stadium at 7:00 pm. Millard West defeated Omaha Bryan (4-11) 10-0 on Monday evening.

Girls District A-3 Playoffs
Monday at Buell Stadium (Omaha)

North Platte (11-5) 0 2 – 2

Omaha Burke (7-11) 0 1 – 1

* Goals- North Platte: Sami Mauch, Kaylynn Kissinger; Omaha Burke: Brooke Lawson

* Assists- North Platte: Sami Mauch, Kaylynn Kissinger; Omaha Burke: Maddie Judkins

* Shots on goal- North Platte 19, Omaha Burke 13.

* Saves- North Platte: Abby Stark 8, Omaha Burke: Katherine Worden 17.

The North Platte boys were not as fortunate in their district tournament opener, falling 1-0 to Columbus (12-6). The lone goal of the day was scored in the 44th minute by Columbus’ Colin Kruse. The Bulldogs end the season 9-7 and won seven of their final ten games.

Boys District A-4 Playoffs
Monday at Lincoln High

North Platte (9-7) 0 0 – 0

Columbus (12-6) 0 1 – 1

* Goals- North Platte: None; Columbus: Colin Kruse, 44:00

* Assists- North Platte: None; Columbus: Jorge Pedraza

* Shots on goal- North Platte 5, Columbus 12.

* Saves- North Platte: Will Phillips 8, Columbus: Christian Stutzman 4.

Northern Nebraska Man Gets 20-40 Years for Killing Baby Son

Posted on May 5, 2015

O’NEILL, Neb. (AP) — A 26-year-old Atkinson convicted of killing his infant son has been given 20 to 40 years in prison.

Michael Schroeder was sentenced on Monday in Holt County District Court. In March he’d pleaded no contest to intentional child abuse resulting in death. Prosecutors dropped a second charge in return for Schroeder’s plea.

A court affidavit filed by an Atkinson police officer said Schroeder’s son, Kalium Ebsens, was taken to West Holt Memorial Hospital on Oct. 26 after he was found unresponsive. The almost 9-month-old boy was then flown to an Omaha hospital, where he died a few days later.

STORM PLAN FOR FUTURE, SELECT 9 IN PHASE ONE

Posted on May 5, 2015May 5, 2015

KEARNEY, Neb. – The Tri-City Storm started to shape the future of its roster Monday night in Phase One of the 2015 USHL Draft, selecting nine players who were born in 1999.

The picks were headlined by first round selection Reilly Walsh, a defenseman from Proctor Academy in New Hampshire. Walsh, who is already committed to attend Harvard University, is an offensive defenseman who scored 45 points in 35 games last season on 13 goals and 32 assists.

Next, Tri-City took forward Joey Cipollone from the Connecticut Wolf Pack U16 team in the third round. Cipollone is committed to the University of Vermont.

In the fourth round and fifth rounds, Tri-City chose two products of the Belle Tire U16 team in forward Brenden Stanko and defenseman Blake Kryska.

The sixth round brought Sean Keohan, a defenseman from Milton, Mass who is committed to play at Dartmouth College.

Tri-City chose skaters from north of the border in rounds 7 and 8 in forward Kyle Olson and defenseman Nicholas Doyle. Olson hails from Calgary, Alb., while Doyle is from Winnipeg, Man.

Goaltender David Tomeo from the Shattuck St. Mary’s U16 team was selected by the Storm in the ninth round, while defenseman Ronnie Attard of White Lake, Mich. was Tri-City’s final selection in the 10th round.

A full list of the team’s selections can be seen below.
This portion of the draft allows teams to choose players who are traditionally not ready to play in the USHL the following season, but will continue to develop at lower levels of hockey in preparation for USHL play in future seasons.

The draft continues with Phase Two on Tuesday morning, beginning at 8 a.m. In this phase, USHL teams will select players from multiple birth years who will compete for roster spots for the 2015-16 season.

Phase Two continues until all USHL teams have 45 players on their Initial Protected List, which is made up of affiliate players from the 2014-15 season and players selected on Monday and Tuesday in Phase One and Two.
Stay tuned to stormhockey.com for updated information during the USHL Draft, as well as the Storm social media networks on Facebook and Twitter.

Tri-City Storm 2015 USHL Phase One Draft Selections

1st Round: Reilly Walsh – Defense – Andover, NH – Proctor Academy
3rd Round: Joey Cipollone – Forward – Connecticut Wolf Pack U16
4th Round: Brenden Stanko – Forward – Howell, MI – Belle Tire U16
5th Round: Blake Kryska – Defense – Grand Blanc, MI – Belle Tire U16
6th Round: Sean Keohan – Defense – Milton, MA – Cape Cod U16
7th Round: Kyle Olson – Forward – Calgary, AB – Calgary Buff. AAA
8th Round: Nicholas Doyle – Defense – Winnipeg, MB – Winnipeg Warriors
9th Round: David Tomeo – Goalie – West Caldwell, NJ – Shattuck U16
10th Round: Ronnie Attard – Defense – White Lake, MI – Victory Honda U16

Officials: Nothing Found in Initial Search for Missing UNL Student

Posted on May 5, 2015May 14, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say initial search efforts didn’t turn up the body of a missing University of Nebraska-Lincoln student believed to have fallen into a creek and been swept away in strong currents.

Lincoln officials say a nine-hour search Wednesday that spanned from Lincoln to the Platte River east of Ashland turned up nothing but debris. Crews began combing the area after a local business released security footage of a woman believed to be 30-year-old Anwesha Dey falling into Antelope Creek and being carried away.

Dey was last seen leaving a friend’s house May 3.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Eric Jones said recent flooding “increased the area that needed to be looked at tenfold.” The search was suspended at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

North Platte Weather-Cinco de Mayo

Posted on May 5, 2015

Today: Showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. High near 68. East southeast wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 11pm. Cloudy, with a low around 55. Southeast wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 70. Southeast wind 13 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Wednesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. South wind 9 to 11 mph becoming west northwest after midnight.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. West northwest wind 8 to 11 mph.
Thursday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49.
Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Nebraska Senators Back Bill to Strengthen College Readiness

Posted on May 4, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska school districts could receive reimbursement for preparing students for college and careers under a bill that cleared a first-round vote in the Legislature.

Senators voted 27-15 Monday to advance a broad education measure by Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids, which senators initially called a “clean-up bill” to clarify existing laws.

But Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha successfully tacked on another bill that had lacked support earlier in the session. The addition would designate $2 million to reimburse qualified school districts that offer college readiness programs like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs.

Some senators worried the move would set a precedent for other senators to use amendments to revive bills that failed.

Nebraska Senators Vote for Livestock Friendly Development

Posted on May 4, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska counties looking to expand livestock operations could receive extra funds for planning and improving infrastructure under a bill that cleared a first-round vote in the Legislature.

Senators voted 37-0 Monday on a measure by Sen. Ken Schilz of Ogallala that would funnel $1.5 million to counties approved by the Nebraska director of agriculture as livestock friendly.

Schilz says the measure puts the control in the hand of local authorities to seek out the livestock friendly designation and apply for grants.

During debate, some senators tried to expand the bill to other agricultural operations, with specific emphasis on certified organic food systems. But Schilz says broadening the language could detract from the emphasis on livestock development.

Agreement Reached on Aid for Nebraska Families Despite Veto

Posted on May 4, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts says he has reached a compromise with a state senator over a proposed increase in government aid for low-income families.

The announcement on Monday came four days after the Republican governor vetoed the increase, which he described as well-intentioned but unsustainable.

The bill by Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln would increase monthly payments to families participating in the Aid to Dependent Children program.

Under current law, a family of two gets $293 a month plus $71 for each additional person. Formula changes under the bill would increase the average payment by $112 a month.

Ricketts says in a press release that based on the agreement, Campbell will not try to override his veto.