GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A Grand Island man has been appointed to the Nebraska State Fair board to fill a seat left vacant by the death of Bill Marshall earlier this year.

Gov. Pete Ricketts appointed Harry Hoch to fill the seat.

Hoch is a 40-year resident of Grand Island. He served as president of H&H Distributing, a local beer distributorship, from 1986 until he retired at the end of last year.

Hoch is also serves on the Central Catholic Development Foundation and the Central Catholic school board. He has also served on the boards of the Stuhr Museum Foundation and Grand Island Community Foundation.

This year’s Nebraska State Fair runs from Aug. 26 through Sept. 5.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Islamic Center of Omaha has again been targeted — this time in a threatening email — and a Muslim civil rights group is asking officials to investigate the matter as a hate crime.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has asked the FBI and local police to treat the email as a hate crime. The email, sent the day after Tuesday’s deadly attacks in Brussels, reads, “Your so-called peaceful religion just killed more innocent people. We think it is now time to fight back starting with you. Believe it. See you in hell.”

Mohammed Rasheed, a spokesman for the Omaha center, said he and other center members are concerned about the threat.

The center has been the target of vandalism in the last year.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Police have arrested four people on suspicion of counterfeiting and passing fake bills in western Nebraska.

25-year-old Crystal Hernandez and 27-year-old Andrew Nuss were arrested Thursday. Both have been charged with forgery. Nuss is also charged possession of a forgery device.

Two other men have been arrested in the case, but have not yet been formally charged.

Police say Nuss and another man used counterfeit $20 bills to buy merchandise at a Scottsbluff store earlier this year. Police say they later returned the items for cash.

Police obtained a search warrant for a home where Nuss was staying. Police say Hernandez was a resident in the home and arrested after police searched it.

 

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — It was raining eggs at a central Nebraska church this Easter weekend.

Grace Fellowship Church’s annual Easter egg hunt Saturday didn’t include the Easter bunny. But it did include a helicopter dropping 3,000 candy-filled eggs from 50 to 100 feet up in the air on the Kearney church’s lawn.

The egg drop was in addition to the 22,000 eggs already hidden on the ground.

The Rev. Mitch Ivey says the entire congregation pitched in to help make the event happen, from filling 25,000 plastic eggs with candy to having a local dentist cover the cost of the helicopter.

Church secretary Katie Adams says the egg drop went off without a hitch Saturday afternoon. About 3,000 children and parents showed up for the event.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Students can learn about computer programming and career options in cyber security at a camp in Kearney this June.

The event for middle and high school students will focus on science and engineering topics, and give students a chance to get hands-on experience.

Attendees will receive a Raspberry Pi computer as part of the camp’s registration that they can use to learn coding, browse the Internet or play games.

The Young Nebraska Scientists CyberCamp will be held at the University of Nebraska at Kearney from June 13-15.

The camp will cost $200 for students who stay on campus or $150 for commuters. Applications are due by May 1.

More information is available online at https://bit.ly/1q4I5cZ .

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse will lecture on the U.S. Constitution later this month at the University of Nebraska College of Law.

His address is scheduled to begin at noon Thursday in the Hamann Auditorium at the College of Law, 1875 N. 42nd St. It is free and open to the public, but seating will be limited. People may obtain two tickets per person at the law school’s reception desk beginning at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Sasse has a doctorate in American history from Yale.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Students ages 14 through 18 who want to learn about conservation, ecology, animal science, and wildlife are urged to attend the 53rd Nebraska Youth Range Camp.

The camp is scheduled to run June 6-10 at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp in Halsey.

Camp director Shelly Kelly with the Sandhills Task Force says rangelands cover nearly 50 percent of Nebraska and the state’s youth need education to become effective leaders in resource management.

Registration costs $325, but students will pay no more than $100, with sponsor organizations picking up the rest.

The camp application form can be found at the Nebraska Society for Range Management website at www.nesrm.org or by sending an email to Shelly@SandhillsTaskForce.org.

Applications need to be submitted by May 27.