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Nebraska governor approves mammogram notification law

Gov. Pete Ricketts
Gov. Pete Ricketts

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new law in Nebraska will require doctors to tell women if their mammograms reveal dense breast tissue.

Gov. Pete Ricketts signed the law Wednesday surrounded by family members of a woman who died from breast cancer after years of normal mammograms.

Sen. Joni Craighead of Omaha says she sponsored the bill because dense breast tissue shows up on mammograms and signifies a high risk of eventually getting breast cancer.

Ricketts also signed a law requiring doctors to give information about perinatal hospice care to parents who learn their unborn child has an anomaly that will result in death. Perinatal hospice services let families experience firsts such as holding, bathing, and diapering a stillborn baby.

Sarpy County to seek first full-time jail director

jail-cellPAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — Sarpy County is seeking its first full-time director to manage the county jail.

The County Board on Tuesday approved a job description for the position to oversee the 148-bed facility in Papillion.

Officials hope to advertise the position in May, interviewing candidates in June and making a decision in July.

Candidates must have at least a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or a related field and eight years of corrections experience, with at least five years in a leadership or senior management position.

County officials are also weighing whether to expand the current jail or build a new one at another location. The jail is consistently at capacity, forcing the county to pay to transport and house inmates in other facilities.

Pat Gerken

pat-gerkin

Pat Gerken, 76, passed away April 21, 2017, in Brush, Colorado, at the Sunset Manor.

Patricia Ann Gerken was born on Feb. 17, 1941, on the family ranch near Welfleet to Warren and Beula (Dike) Gerken. She attended Echo Country School with her brother and two sisters. Pat graduated from North Platte High School in 1959.

Growing up, she was involved in 4-H, which complemented her love of animals. Pat had fond memories of growing up on the family ranch, playing with her cousins and attending the dances that were in the large ranch house to music played by her father and uncles.

She had many talents including sewing, crocheting and gardening. She would often make her daughters’ dresses and gifts for her friends and family. Pat was a homemaker for many years when they lived in the Sterling and Merino communities.

She later returned to North Platte and worked in retail until she retired. She enjoyed visiting her children and grandchildren.

Pat was preceded in death by her father, Warren Gerken; step-father, Merle Rose; brother, Larry Gerken; and son-in-law, Brian Sessions.

She is survived by her mother, Beula Gerken-Rose; sisters, Judy Neal and Karen Pedigo; children, Ann Sessions, Sharon Ladd, Cindy (Ken) Pierce and Rick (Jessica) Berg; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Memorials are suggested to the Logan County Humane Society in care of Chaney-Reager Funeral Home, PO Box 1046, Sterling, CO.

Services will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 28, at Chaney-Reager Funeral Home. Inurnment will follow at Riverside Cemetery. Chaney-Reager Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

McDonald’s new dark gray uniforms prompt sci-fi comparisons

Facebook Photo
Facebook Photo

NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald’s new uniforms are prompting some teasing online, with comments saying the gray-toned shirts and aprons make employees look like they’re part of totalitarian regimes.

Among the comparisons being made on social media to an image of the new uniforms : characters from Star Wars and The Hunger Games, and even the North Korean government. The jokes came after McDonald’s Corp. had said earlier that the uniforms would start appearing in April. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based company had said they were developed based on feedback from employees and customers, and that more than 70 percent of employees said they would be proud to wear the new uniforms.

The uniforms may be worn by about 850,000 employees in the chain’s more than 14,000 U.S. locations.

Man accused of scalding infant gets 10-14 years in prison

jail-cellHARTINGTON, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of scalding a year-old infant has been given 10 to 14 years in a Nebraska prison.

Court records say 22-year-old River Malatare was sentenced Monday in Cedar County District Court in Hartington. He’d pleaded no contest to attempted intentional child abuse and guilty to an unrelated charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

The records say Malatare lived in Yankton, South Dakota, and had been staying with the child’s mother. He was baby-sitting the girl in March 2015 when she was scalded. He told a nurse at a Yankton hospital that he didn’t know the bath water he’d drawn was so hot.

South Dakota records say Malatare was convicted in 2014 of statutory rape of a teenager.

Douglas County inmate dies after struggle with jailers

douglas-county-sheriffOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 61-year-old Douglas County Jail inmate has died at a hospital after a struggle with jail staffers.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says Steven Claycamp was combative when confronted around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday as he tried to leave a cell at the Omaha facility. Staffers eventually placed him in restraint chair and gave him a sedative.

The Sheriff’s Office says Claycamp was treated by medical staff when he became ill. Then he was taken to Creighton University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m.

Sheriff Tim Dunning says Claycamp had a history of medical problems.

State law requires a grand jury investigation any time a person is dies in custody or while being arrested.

College in Omaha uses bee hive for insect education

beesOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An assistant professor of biology at a college in central Omaha has embarked on an experiment to add a honeybee hive to the campus in order to promote education and appreciation for bees.

Amanda Roe brought the hive and a box containing about 5,000 bees and a queen to the College of St. Mary this month to not only demonstrate bee behavior, but to assist in lessons about plants, flowers and pollination.

Scientists have paid attention for over a decade to the declining bee population evidently caused by pesticides and other factors. Roe says she’s more concerned about the declining wild bee population than the honeybee population because humans can raise honeybees to bolster their numbers.

Roe hopes the hive will show that insects aren’t “gross and icky” creatures.

Beaten Minden woman died at Kearney hospital, police say

Chad Carlson
Chad Carlson

MINDEN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 35-year-old woman found unresponsive in Minden has died at a hospital.

Minden police say Ruth Ehrke died Monday night at Good Samaritan hospital in Kearney. She’d been taken there after officers found her and another woman badly beaten Sunday at the Minden residence.

Police are looking for a 39-year-old suspect, Chad Carlson, who’s been charged in an arrest warrant with assault and criminal trespass. Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

Nebraska lawmakers begin debate on bills to balance budget

NE LegislatureLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have kicked off a contentious debate over a proposed $8.9 billion, two-year budget package in the midst of a projected revenue shortfall.

The measure debated Tuesday would balance the budget using a combination of tactics. The list includes drawing money from state cash funds, cutting money to agencies including the University of Nebraska, and relying on an increase in federal Medicaid dollars.

The package would increase funding for K-12 public schools and ongoing efforts to reduce prison crowding.

The budget could see more cuts depending on the outcome of a new state revenue forecast slated for Wednesday.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He says the budget-crafting effort was one of the most difficult ones that longtime legislative staff members have seen.

Officials: 5 injured in Omaha crash involving school bus

school-busOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say five people — including a student — have been injured in a north Omaha crash involving a school bus.

Officials say five people were taken to a hospital Tuesday after the 4:20 p.m. crash that involved the bus and two other vehicles near 63rd and Ames streets.

Authorities say there were students on the bus at the time of the crash, and one was among the five taken to a hospital.

Witnesses told officers the bus was turning left when it collided with a car. The driver and passengers in the car were taken to the hospital. Police say one of those victims is in critical condition.

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