Final Results
North Platte Sophomore Kort Steele finished the 2015 Class A State Golf Tournament at +6 (150) to tie for 15th place. It’s the second consecutive year that Steele has placed at Class A State Golf.
Month: May 2015
Hastings Police: Not Enough Evidence to Prosecute Fake Kidnapping Suspects
HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — Southern Nebraska authorities say four people accused of pretending to kidnap children to scare them won’t face charges due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
Hastings Police Chief Pete Kortum says authorities believe the motive to fake-kidnap the kids in March was for the suspects’ amusement.
Police were notified about three separate incidents on March 7. Children told police that a black car with four occupants approached them and that one of the people inside tried to grab them. Each of the children was able to escape and call for help.
Authorities identified four suspects to be involved and interviewed several subjects. But they say there’s not enough evidence that could be used to successfully prosecute the suspects.
Nebraska Legislature to End This Year’s Session Early
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are expected to end this year’s session with one day to spare.
Speaker Galen Hadley says lawmakers will meet for their final day on Friday, the 89th day of the session. The last day had been scheduled for June 5, after several layover days.
The session has been marked by high-profile votes to increase gas taxes and abolish the death penalty. Lawmakers also passed a bill that would end Nebraska’s ban on driver’s licenses for youth who were brought to the country illegally as children but allowed to stay under a federal program.
BNSF, Power Plant Owner Settle Long-Running Rate Dispute
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln Electric System and other owners of a coal-fired power plant in Wyoming have settled their rates dispute with BNSF Railway.
The settlement terms haven’t been released.
The dispute began more than 10 years ago when the Missouri Basin Power Project, which owns the plant, and the coal supplier filed a complaint with the federal Surface Transportation Board, saying the railroad was gouging them on coal deliveries to the Laramie River Station. In 2009 the board awarded the project members $345 million in rate relief. BNSF appealed, and the dispute has since been argued before the board and in federal courts.
The plant produces power for about 2 million consumers in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Broncos left tackle Clady tears ACL, likely out for season
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Broncos left tackle Ryan Clady has torn his left ACL and will likely miss the season, leaving Denver to search for someone to protect Peyton Manning’s blind side.
The injury happened Wednesday during offseason training activities. This isn’t the first time Clady has blown out his left knee: He hurt it in a pickup basketball game in April 2010, only to return and still start every game that season.
Clady also injured his left foot in the second week of 2013 and missed the rest of the season, not long after signing a five-year, $52.5 million contract.
He returned last season and started every game as he made his fourth Pro Bowl squad.
With Clady sidelined, the Broncos may slide over Chris Clark, who filled in for Clady in 2013.
Nebraska State Senator Nordquist to Resign
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska state Sen. Jeremy Nordquist is resigning from the Legislature to take a job with Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford.
Nordquist announced Wednesday night that he will step down on June 30 from the seat he first won in 2008.
He will serve as Ashford’s chief of staff in Washington. The two served together in the Legislature before Ashford left office due to term limits.
Nordquist was the lead sponsor this year of legislation to end Nebraska’s ban on driver’s licenses for youth brought to the country illegally as children but allowed to remain under the federal deferred-action program. He also was a leading figure in the 2014 ballot drive to increase the minimum wage.
Nordquist is in his seventh year in the Legislature, representing District 7 in south Omaha.
Driver Died 5 Days After Fiery Omaha Crash, Police Say
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a car driver has died after a fiery Omaha crash that also killed his passenger.
The Omaha Police Department says 22-year-old Michael Harnett, of Bellevue, died early Thursday morning. He’d been hospitalized since the crash early Saturday morning.
Police say Harnett lost control of his car and it slid across several lanes of traffic in southeast Omaha, running into a cement truck. The car then caught fire.
Police have identified the passenger as 33-year-old Misty Vetrovsky, also of Bellevue.
Crash investigators say they believe speed and alcohol were crash factors.
Nebraska State Patrol Still Investigating Calls to Lawmakers
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol is still investigating five “concerning calls” to legislative offices in the heat of a debate over the death penalty, but the calls haven’t been deemed a criminal matter.
Spokeswoman Deb Collins said Thursday that three state senators reported calls to their legislative offices in recent days. Lawmakers voted Wednesday to abolish capital punishment, overriding Gov. Pete Ricketts’ veto.
Collins says investigators have concluded so far that the calls do not rise to a criminal matter.
One of the phone messages was left at the office of Sen. Heath Mello, a death penalty opponent. Mello, of Omaha, says the caller didn’t explicitly make a threat but suggested that he should be harmed because of his vote.
Nebraska Ends Ban on Licenses for Immigrant Youth
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature has overridden the governor’s veto and ended the nation’s last ban on driving privileges for young people brought into the United States illegally as children.
Senators in the one-house Legislature voted 34-10 to override Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, who has backed the strict policy of his GOP predecessor to deny the licenses.
President Barack Obama announced an executive action in 2012 that gives the youths a Social Security number, a two-year work permit and protection from deportation. Although a few states initially announced that they would deny licenses to those youth, only Arizona and Nebraska ultimately adopted policies to exclude them. A court blocked Arizona’s law in July.
Supporters of the plan in Nebraska say the youth shouldn’t be penalized for their parents’ actions.
Google Unveils Android’s Latest Technological Tricks
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google’s next version of its Android operating system will boast new ways to fetch information, pay merchants, and protect privacy on mobile devices as the Internet company duels with Apple to make its technology indispensable.
The upgrade will give Android’s personal assistant, Google Now, expanded powers of intuition that may be greeted as a great convenience to some and a tad too creepy for others.
The Android renovations unveiled Thursday at Google’s annual developers’ conference won’t be available until late summer or early fall. That’s around the same time that Apple is expected to release the latest overhaul of the iOS software that powers the iPhone and iPad.
The annual changes to Android and iOS are becoming increasingly important as people become more dependent on smartphones to manage their lives.