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Renovation of Scottsbluff High School Begins

scottsbluff-public-schoolsSCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Renovation of Scottsbluff High School in western Nebraska has begun.

Members of the architecture firm and school facilities team reported the project’s progress to the public school board on Monday.

Construction will take place over the next 2 1/2 years. There will be a gradual progress of renovation that will allow for more flexibility for the contractors and accommodate school operations.

Randy Scott, director of the district’s facilities and maintenance, says 80 percent of the school will be new or heavily remodeled when the project is complete. Some of the additions include a new media center, commons area, career center and classrooms that will be based on the needs of the different areas of Career Academy courses.

Kearney City Council Approves Rezoning, Annex Plan

Kearney,-NEKEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The Kearney City Council has voted to rezone and annex more than five acres of land just west of the Younes Hospitality Development.

The unanimous vote came Tuesday night. The approval paves the way for developers to build a new hotel, two or three restaurants and four apartment buildings.

Mayor Stan Clouse says any development is a good sign of growth for the city.

The council also approved plans for single-family housing in southwest Kearney near Yanney Heritage Park. Fourteen single family lots will now be part of the Park View Estates subdivision.

Nebraska Officers to Get New Tool for Child Abuse Cases

child-abuseLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska law enforcement agencies are slated to get another training tool to help officers who are working on child abuse cases.

Attorney General Doug Peterson announced Wednesday that all of Nebraska’s law enforcement agencies will receive an eight-part DVD series with instructions on how to handle reported cases of child abuse.

The DVDs and informational notebooks are aimed at new officers, with lessons such as the proper way to gather evidence and interview children. The series also discusses the role of Nebraska’s child advocacy centers and protective services hotline.

Peterson says the materials are intended for officers who have been hired but not yet completed all of their formal training.

The project is a joint effort of law enforcement groups, municipalities and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

Downtown Omaha Development to Include Kiewit Training Center

omahaOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A two-block tract in north downtown Omaha is to be transformed into a $50 million campus featuring a hotel, apartments, shops and a Kiewit international training facility.

What is now a surface parking lot known as “The Yard” near TD Ameritrade Park will be redeveloped by NewStreet Properties and Noddle Cos.

Anchoring the redevelopment site is Kiewit Corp.’s education, innovation and leadership facility, a two-story building that will span nearly 63,000 square feet and train more than 3,000 salaried employees a year from the U.S., Canada and Australia.

The development will also include a five-story apartment building, a five-story national brand hotel and about 6,000 square feet retail shops and services.

Construction is set to begin this fall.

UNL Suspends Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity

UNLLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has suspended its Alpha Tau Omega fraternity chapter, citing a culture within the fraternity of alcohol use.

The fraternity has been affiliated with UNL since 1897. Following Wednesday’s announcement, it will no longer be affiliated with the university and its chapter house will not be recognized as a university-approved housing unit. Freshmen will not be allowed to live in the chapter house.

The suspension is in effect until May 2017. That can be shortened by up to one year if the organization takes action to address the university’s concerns.

The Alpha Tau Omega national office, based in Indianapolis, said in a statement Wednesday that the Gamma Theta chapter agreed to the sanctions and that it is expelling fraternity members whose actions led to the suspension.

Mars Inc. to Build New Candy-Making Plant in Kansas

snickersKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mars Inc. announced plans Wednesday to build a new, $100 million candy-making facility in Kansas near where its first new plant in 35 years began churning out sweets last year.

The deal, which the company disclosed in advance of a Topeka economic development meeting, comes a little more than a year after the New Jersey-based company opened a $270 million plant south of the city.

Work on the new 90,000-square-foot facility will start next week, Mars said in a news release. After constructions wraps up in late 2016, the company will add 70 full-time employees to the 200 already working in the Topeka area.

The company has not determined exactly which candies it will make at the new plant. The facility is receiving state and local economic incentives, although Mars didn’t immediately disclose the amount of the incentives. The existing plant makes Snickers and M&M’s. Mars also makes Milky Way, Twix and 3 Musketeers candy bars.

A 2014 report by a marketing research firm called Packaged Facts found that chocolate has experienced “solid market growth,” with Hershey’s and Mars controlling a large chunk of the market share.

Tracey Massey, president of Mars Chocolate North America, said the company, which has no plans to close other facilities, was working to introduce more single-serve products with limited calories.

“By further growing our footprint in the U.S.,” she said in a news release, “we will better be able to introduce new treats to satisfy the most diverse consumer appetites.”

Many Visitors Expected to Attend Nebraska Museum’s Rededication

stuhrmuseum.org
stuhrmuseum.org

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Officials expect as many as 1,500 people to visit the newly remodeled Nebraska museum on Sunday, when the building’s rededication will be held.

The Leo B. Stuhr building’s renovation took 18 months and cost more than $7 million.

A wooden wagon is the only artifact on the building’s top floor that visitors will find familiar when the remodeled building reopens. New exhibits on the second floor are a wooden windmill and a gun collection.

Museum Executive Director Joe Black says staff decided to focus on different stories and artifacts because it would have been a disservice for the museum “to tell the same stories over and over.”

 

Nebraska Murder Victim’s Mother to Gather Death Penalty Signatures

signing-petitionLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The mother of a woman who was murdered in a 2002 Norfolk bank robbery is gathering signatures for Nebraska’s death penalty referendum campaign.

Vivian Tuttle will collect signatures at the Scotts Bluff County courthouse in Gering on Thursday. Tuttle is the mother of Evonne Tuttle, a customer who was fatally shot during the botched robbery. Three of the men involved are on death row.

The group Nebraskans for the Death Penalty has also received help from the parents of Andrea Kruger, one of four people killed by Nikko Jenkins in Omaha 2013. Jenkins was convicted in last year but has not been sentenced.

Nebraskans for the Death Penalty has to collect at least 57,609 signatures from registered voters by Aug. 27 to place the issue on the 2016 ballot.

Retired Schoolteacher Announces Candidacy for Nebraska Legislature

ne-legislature-13LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A retired teacher from South Sioux City has announced her candidacy for the Nebraska Legislature.

Ardel Bengtson says she is running to represent District 17, which includes Dakota, Wayne and Thurston counties. The seat is currently held by state Sen. Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins.

Bengtson taught elementary and middle school at South Sioux City Public Schools for 38 years before retiring in 2006. She says that if elected, she would focus on better funding for public schools, expanding career opportunities and taking steps to keep local taxes low.

Bengsten, an avid runner, was married for 41 years before her husband died of cancer in 2010. She has three children and eight grandchildren.

Demaryius Thomas signs five-year, $70 million contract

Demaryius Thomas

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas has signed a five-year $70 million contract with the Denver Broncos just before the deadline for NFL players who had franchise tags to sign long-term deals.

The contract is the biggest in franchise history, and includes $43.5 million guaranteed. Of that, $35 million is guaranteed over the first two seasons.

Had the sides not hammered out a deal Wednesday, Thomas would have played this season on the $12.823 million franchise tag, which still would have been about as much as he’d made in his first five seasons combined.

The three-time Pro Bowler is coming off his best season.

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