A 62-year-old Minnesota man is dead he fell nearly 35-feet at an ethanol plant near Sutherland.

On Wednesday, at around 2:21 p.m., deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to Midwest Renewable Energy, just east of Sutherland, after it was reported that a male subject had fallen from some scaffolding.

Witnesses on scene provided first-aid until Sutherland Rescue arrived and transported the man to Great Plains Health in North Platte, where he was pronounced dead.

Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says Charles Danielson, of Buffalo Lake, MN, was working on some scaffolding about 35-feet in the air when he fell.  Kramer said Danielson was wearing a safety harness but, for some reason, it had been temporarily unhooked.

The case remains under investigation, but Kramer said it appears to be accidental in nature at this time.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a body was found in the Nebraska Public Power District canal near the Gerald Gentleman Power Plant, south of Sutherland.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to the plant at around 2:15 p.m., on Wednesday, after they were informed that a body had been found in the canal leading to the plant.

Deputies responded and were able to secure the body and remove it from the canal.

Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says the body is that of an unidentified male and an autopsy will be conducted.

According to Kramer, deputies found tire tracks leading into the canal upstream from where the body was found.  The Lincoln County Dive Team will attempt to locate the vehicle on Thursday.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is available.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is inching closer to ending enforcement of a federal law that bars people with felony convictions from receiving food benefits from the government.

Senators advanced a measure 31-5 Wednesday to opt out of the restriction that leaves these individuals the only group ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Supporters say the ban creates a barrier to successful re-entry and hurts children and family members who rely on felons for basic needs.

But opponents say these individuals are likely to reoffend, and the measure would directly finance drug dealers.

The 1996 law allows states to opt out, and 18 others have done so, including Nebraska’s neighboring states Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would relax weight and load restrictions for farm equipment on Nebraska’s roads has won first-round approval in the Legislature.

Senators advanced the bill Wednesday with a 39-0 vote.

The proposal would exempt tractors, combines, fertilizer spreaders and other heavy farm implements from the restrictions on the state’s roads. Some producers have complained that the current rules haven’t kept pace with modern farm equipment, which is larger and heavier than in the past.

Weight and load restrictions would remain in place for bridges.

The Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation and the Nebraska Cattlemen Association have identified the bill as one of their top priorities in this year’s session.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A woman who says she was sexually assaulted by a jail guard who was later imprisoned for having sex with inmates is suing the former guard, Phelps County and several county officials.

The lawsuit was moved to federal court Tuesday from Phelps County. In it, the woman says she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Louis Campana while she was in the jail in 2012 on bad check charges.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they’ve been sexually assaulted.

Campana pleaded no contest in 2013 to two counts of sexually abusing an inmate. He was sentenced to 20 months to four years in prison.

He has since been released and is a registered sex offender. A phone number for Campana could not be found Wednesday.