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Census: Texas has 4 of top 5 fastest growing large US cities

HOUSTON (AP) — Everything is bigger in Texas, including population booms.

Figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that four of the five fastest-growing large cities in the U.S. during the 12 months leading up to last July 1 were in Texas, including some in its sprawling suburban areas.

Conroe, a Houston suburb, was the fastest-growing, increasing by 7.8 percent during that span. That growth rate was more than 11 times higher than the national average.

Next on the list were the Dallas suburbs of Frisco and McKinney, which had growth rates of 6.2 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively. Rounding out the top five were Greenville, South Carolina, which grew by 5.8 percent, and the Austin suburb of Georgetown, which had a 5.5 percent population increase.

Local and state officials attribute the growth to various factors, including the Texas’ robust job market and the cities’ diversified economies, lower costs of living and skilled workforces that earn higher wages.

Authorities find man’s body in downtown Omaha lagoon

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of a man reported missing in a downtown Omaha lagoon.

Fire officials say sonar operated in a rescue boat found the body around 9:45 a.m. Thursday, and long poles were used to bring the body to the surface of the lagoon in Heartland of America Park. The man’s name hasn’t been released.

A 911 caller reported around 10 p.m. Wednesday that a man was crying for help from the lagoon, which is referred to as ConAgra Lake. A subsequent search was called off after about three hours and resumed around 8 a.m. Thursday.

The lagoon water is up to 19 feet deep in some places. It remains unclear why the man was in the water.

Nebraska cemetery visitors remember developmentally disabled

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BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Staff and residents from a Nebraska center for people with developmental disabilities have been visiting a local cemetery around Memorial Day for two decades to ensure former residents are remembered.

A dozen staff members and six residents from Beatrice State Developmental Center visited Evergreen Home Cemetery on Wednesday.

They planted wooden crosses in front of headstones in a section known as Block 47, where more than 200 of the center’s former residents have been buried over the past century.

Dr. Robert Schalock says the facility stopped imprinting patients’ names on their headstones in 1935, and he fears families will forget them.

The center’s active treatment program manager, Tammy Weichel, says decorating graves is a way to make sure nobody is forgotten.

Slaying suspect’s mom pleads not guilty to accessory charge

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The mother of a northeast Nebraska slaying suspect has pleaded not guilty to an accessory charge.

38-year-old Natasha Wolfe entered the plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Omaha. She’s accused of kicking 32-year-old William Redhorn Jr. once during his fatal fight with her son April 23 in Winnebago on the Winnebago Reservation. Authorities say that after the fight Wolfe let her son, 19-year-old Jeremiah Wolfe, and 21-year-old Lawrencia Merrick go to her house and wash their blood-covered clothes.

Court records say Jeremiah Wolfe reported that a fight broke out between him and Redhorn and that he put Redhorn in a headlock until he quit struggling. Jeremiah Wolfe and Merrick have pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder.

Nebraska prison revolt began with spat over alcohol

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a deadly uprising at a Nebraska prison began because inmates were angry that prison staffers had confiscated 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of homemade alcohol from them.

Corrections officials said Thursday that the inmates made the alcohol using bread, fruit and sugar from the prison’s kitchen and stored it in watertight footlockers under their beds.

Officials say inmates also were angry about what they perceived as a correctional officer’s assault on a prisoner at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. Warden Brad Hansen says security footage shows the officer bumped into the inmate unintentionally on a narrow walkway.

Hansen says both incidents contributed to the March 2 uprising that left two inmates dead.

Corrections director Scott Frakes says officials have made improvements in response to an outside consultant’s review.

Nebraska state regulator resigns following criticism

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska telecommunications regulator has resigned following criticism that he worked part-time for a telecommunications consulting firm.

Jeff Pursley will step down as the Nebraska Public Service Commission’s executive director. Pursley has drawn scrutiny for his position with Parrish, Blessing and Associates, but the Nebraska attorney general’s office has said he didn’t violate state law. The commission announced Pursley’s resignation in a statement Thursday.

Pursley has said the commission’s five elected members knew about his part-time work when they hired him two years ago. He says he kept the job because it offered health insurance vital to his family.

The commission regulates oil pipelines, telecommunications, natural gas utilities, grain dealers, taxies, manufactured homes and recreational vehicles.

Commission chairman Tim Schram says Pursley is a nationally recognized expert in his field.

Dump truck driver sentenced to probation for fatal crash

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a dump truck driver who caused a fatal crash last year to two years’ probation.

59-year-old Ronald Nootz was sentenced Thursday for misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide for the July 22 crash in west Omaha that killed 76-year-old Noel Lammers.

Investigators say Nootz ran a red light, causing the crash.

Nootz was also ordered Thursday to complete 200 hours of community service.

11th annual Mid-Plains area all-Star basketball games set for June 2nd on ESPN 1410

North Platte – North Platte Community College will host the 11th annual Mid-Plains Area Basketball All-Star games on Friday, June 2 at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on the South Campus of North Platte Community College.

The girl’s game will start at 6 pm, followed by the boy’s game at 7:45 pm.

The roster for the two games have also been set.

In the girl’s game, the Gold team will consist of: Madison Rut and Peyton Flack from Arthur CountyHigh School; Jessie Straber and Andie Ortgies from Creek Valley High School; Britni Brannan from Hershey High School; Rylie Brown, Skyler Sandoe , and Korinne Hansen from Medicine Valley High School; Riley Nitsch from North Platte St. Patricks High School; Kyra Miles and Rebecca Higgins from Sandhills/Thedford High School; Haeven Schuster from Sutherland High School.

Also in the girl’s game the Black team will be: Jayden Burnett, Jesica Spanel , and Kenzie McMullen from Anselmo-Merna High School; Hannah Destefano, Karnee Hatch, and Tara Callahan from Brady High School; Aubrey Wagner and Brooke Scott from Hitchcock County High School; Savana Quinn and Tia Norman from Southern Valley High School; and Madisen Messersmith and Maggie May from Wallace High School.

On the boy’s side, the Gold team will consist of: Brett Godfrey from Creek Valley High School; Brayden Baney from Dundy County Stratton High School; Clay Frels from Hershey High School; Matt Rippen and Will Kisker from Hitchcock County High School; Colby Rezac and Dillon Higgins from Ogallala High School; Gabe Vyzourek from North Platte Saint Patrick’s High School; Blake Scott from Sutherland High School; Brody Nordhausen and Greg Gaston from Wauneta-Palisade High School;

Also in the boy’s game the Black team will be: Hayden Rupe from Eustis-Farnam High School; Ty Clement from Gothenburg High School; Colby Crow from McPherson County High School; Brode McIntosh, Daniel Young, and Lance Moore from Mullen High School; Keith Murphy from Overton High School; Emmit Rosentrator from Paxton High School; Bailey Schrotberger and Miles Lagler from Perkins County High School; Yeager Price from Sidney High School;

Tickets for the game will be $5.00 and can be purchased at the door.

The games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1410 and www.northplattepost.com.

Nebraska Dad convicted of drunken driving in crash that injured daughters

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 36-year-old man has been found guilty of drunken driving and other crimes related to an Omaha collision that left his 8-year-old daughter in what prosecutors say is a persistent vegetative state.

Court records say jurors also convicted Benjamin Thompson on Tuesday of three counts of negligent child abuse and one count of failing to stop and render aid after the Oct. 24 collision. He was acquitted of one count of intentional child abuse. The records don’t list a sentencing date.

Prosecutors say it was Thompson’s fifth drunken driving offense. All three girls in the car are his daughters.

Nebraska commission sets O’Neill hearing for pipeline review

O’NEILL, Neb. (AP) — A state commission that will decide whether to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline’s route through Nebraska has scheduled a one-day public hearing in northern Nebraska’s Holt County.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission says the hearing will run from 1 to 8 p.m. June 7 at the O’Neill Community Center in O’Neill. Public comment will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Speakers will have three to five minutes to comment about the TransCanada project.

A hearing was held May 3 in York and a five-day hearing is scheduled to run Aug. 7-11 at a Lincoln hotel.

The $8 billion pipeline would transport oil from Alberta, Canada, across Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska, where it would connect with an existing pipeline that feeds Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

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