January 2017 – Page 8 – North Platte Post Archive

Private school leaders rally for Nebraska tax credit bill

Posted on January 26, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — School choice advocates are urging Nebraska lawmakers to approve a tax credit that would reimburse donors for every dollar they give to scholarship funds that send students to private schools.

The bill presented to a legislative committee on Thursday would add Nebraska to a list of 17 states with similar tax credits, including Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota.

Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion says he introduced the measure to help more families afford a private education if they choose. The state would cap the total amount of tax credits at $10 million in 2018, an amount that would increase annually if more than 90 percent of the tax credits are claimed in the previous year.

Some senators say it’s a backdoor way to provide state funding for private schools.

Iowa woman pleads not guilty in Omaha cold case killing

Posted on January 26, 2017

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Iowa woman charged with first-degree murder for what police say was the killing of a romantic rival has pleaded not guilty.

A judge on Thursday also granted 41-year-old Shanna Golyar’s request for a bench trial, set to begin May 10.

Golyar, Persia, Iowa, is charged in the 2012 disappearance-turned-homicide case of 37-year-old Cari Farver. Golyar was arrested in December of 2016 in connection to Farver’s disappearance, who was last seen in Omaha.

Police say Golyar posed as Farver online and by phone for years after Farver’s disappearance, and also posed as other people confessing to having murdered Farver. A sergeant testified Farver had been dating Golyar’s ex-boyfriend for some weeks when she disappeared.

Farver is presumed dead, although her body has not been found.

Body of teen missing for week pulled from western Iowa river

Posted on January 26, 2017

DENISON, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials say the body of a 15-year-old Denison girl missing for a week has been pulled from the Boyer River.

Crawford County Sheriff Jim Steinkuehler says searchers found the body of Yoana Acosta around 3:45 p.m. Thursday in the western Iowa tributary.

The teen disappeared Jan. 19 after a car she was riding in crashed into the river. A 25-year-old man driving the car and three other teens managed to escape.

The driver, Ramon Hernandez of Denison, is in the Crawford County jail on charges of drug distribution to minors, marijuana possession, reckless driving, driving under suspension and failure to maintain control.

Hernandez’s attorney did not immediately return a message Thursday seeking comment.

Nebraska bill would require stand-alone budget hearings

Posted on January 26, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Cities, counties and school districts in Nebraska could be in for longer budget hearings under a bill designed to promote public awareness of how local governments spend tax revenue.

Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte presented a bill to a committee Thursday that would require local officials to hold special budget meetings with no time limits, in which anyone from the public could speak.

Local governments would also have to give detailed budget presentations and provide copies of their proposals to the public.

Groene says a lack of clarity in Nebraska’s open meetings law may prevent residents from realizing they already have a right to see the budget documents used by local elected officials.

Nebraska Gov. Ricketts approves new death penalty protocol

Posted on January 26, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts has approved a new protocol for carrying out death sentences in Nebraska.

The protocol announced Thursday gives the state corrections director more flexibility to choose and obtain lethal injection drugs.

The old protocol required the use of three drugs to render inmates unconscious, paralyze their muscles and stop their breathing and heart. It had never been used in Nebraska because of repeated legal challenges and the state’s inability to acquire sodium thiopental, one of the required drugs.

Corrections officials had originally proposed a change that would have allowed drug suppliers to remain hidden from the public. The newly approved protocol allows officials to acquire the drugs from the department’s pharmacy or “any other appropriate source.” The confidentiality provision has been removed.

Nebraska opponents of Keystone XL preparing for new fight

Posted on January 26, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska are planning to convene in anticipation that President Donald Trump will approve the Canada-to-Texas project.

The group Bold Nebraska is hosting a community meeting Monday afternoon in O’Neill to discuss their options.

Bold Nebraska played a critical role in organizing opponents of the pipeline in the state and keeping the project from moving forward. The meeting will follow a court hearing involving landowners who are still in a legal fight with TransCanada over attorneys’ fees.

The Keystone XL would travel from Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, where it would connect with the existing Keystone pipeline network to carry crude oil to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

Committee to reschedule hearing on Kintner abortion bill

Posted on January 26, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A hearing on an abortion bill sponsored by Nebraska state Sen. Bill Kintner is getting postponed now that Kintner has announced his resignation from the Legislature.

The chairman of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee announced Thursday that lawmakers will schedule a new hearing date for the proposal. The bill had been set for a hearing on Feb. 2.

Kintner will officially resign on Monday. He announced he was stepping down under the threat of expulsion from the Legislature after he retweeted a comment implying that three demonstrators at a Women’s March event weren’t attractive enough to sexually assault.

Sen. Merv Riepe of Omaha says the bill will get a new hearing once a new sponsor takes it.

The bill is LB59

Man arrested in gun slaying of Omaha resident

Posted on January 26, 2017

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have arrested a 33-year-old man suspected of killing an Omaha resident.

Police say Malik Stelly was arrested Thursday and jailed. Online court records say he’s charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and use of a firearm. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for Stelly.

He’s accused of shooting to death 28-year-old D’Angelo Branch on Jan. 11.

Man gets 30-40 years for shooting 2 men in Lincoln

Posted on January 26, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man has been given 30 to 40 years in prison for shooting two men in a botched marijuana deal.

Online court records say 28-year-old Leshawn Rogers was sentenced Wednesday in Lancaster County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest to two counts of assault after prosecutors reduced them in exchange for Rogers’ pleas.

Police say the shootings of the two Omaha residents occurred Feb. 11 last year at a home in Lincoln.

Hershey Panthers Sports Update – 1/26/17

Posted on January 26, 2017