BOYS TOWN, Neb. (AP) — Boys Town has a new statue that shows hardship isn’t exclusive to one race or gender.
The Omaha home for troubled boys and girls unveiled the 7-foot-tall statue Tuesday. The work by sculptor Matthew Placzek depicts an older boy carrying a smaller girl on his back. She is white, he is black. Its title: “The Work Continues.”
Boys Town was founded by Father Edward Flanagan in 1917 as a boys orphanage. It has grown into a nonprofit organization with about a dozen facilities around the U.S.
The iconic “Two Brothers” statue is displayed elsewhere at Boys Town. The Rev. Steven Boes (bayz) is Boys Town’s executive director, and he says the new statue “beautifully illustrates the diversity of the children and families that Boys Town serves.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials have chosen a series of new public health priorities that they hope to address between now and 2021.
The list announced Tuesday includes obesity, depression and suicide. State officials also hope to address health care disparities among people of different races, incomes, genders and geographies.
The priorities are part of the Nebraska State Health Improvement Plan. They were selected with help from hundreds of Nebraska stakeholders and data from a state health assessment.
Officials say obesity continues to increase at an alarming pace. In 2014, 30 percent of the adult population was considered obese. The suicide rate increased between 2010 and 2014, to a rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 people. That’s the highest rate for any year in the past decade.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) â A new state law in Nebraska requires all school districts to adopt policies outlining how they’ll address a number of challenges faced by pregnant or parenting students.
The bill was approved last month despite objections from some rural senators who said that smaller school districts don’t need another mandate regarding teen parents.
But Sen. Tony Vargas says he sponsored the bill because schools aren’t consistently supporting those students.
The first part of the law requires public, private and parochial schools to accommodate teen moms who breast-feed and provide a private space where they can pump and store milk.
The second part requires public school boards to create policies addressing student absences, providing alternate coursework and identifying quality child care options.
Rowdy Moon, a bareback rider for Mid-Plains Community College, competes at the Will Lantis Yellow Jacket Stampede hosted by Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D. in April. Moon will head to his second College National Finals Rodeo next week. (Photo courtesy of Knippling Kustoms)
Sargent cowboy Rowdy Moon will have an advantage when he climbs behind the chutes in Casper, Wyo. next week. He has been there before.
Moon qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo last year as a freshman at Mid-Plains Community College. He returns June 11-17 as a seasoned sophomore and the number one bareback rider in the Great Plains Region.
“Since I’ve been around that arena, I don’t think I’ll have quite the jitters,” said Moon. “I was pretty nervous last time. It’s a big stage.”
Moon was second in the region heading into nationals in 2016. He finished the CNFR in 19th place after riding broncs to scores of 65 and 68.
His competition included Wyatt Denny and Denny’s traveling partner Clayton Biglow. Denny won the bareback riding at the CNFR last year and Biglow came in second. The two competed at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo later in the year, where Biglow finished seventh in the world and Denny ended up 10th.
Being up against that kind of competition pushed Moon to work harder and adjust his technique.
“I think I’ve gotten better,” said Moon. “I have faster feet and don’t lean into my free arm as much as I used to.”
The last time he rode a bronc was early May in Dickinson, N.D. Moon took some time off competing to recover from a groin injury, but hasn’t stopped practicing.
“I’ve been on the spur board and ride horses every other day so I can work on holding my feet in the right position,” said Moon. “I’d like to at least make the short round in Casper.”
His long-term goal is to one day travel the professional rodeo circuit, but until then, Moon plans to focus on college.
He graduated from MPCC with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Business and a Business Administration emphasis in May. He will transfer to Chadron State College in the fall.
BROKEN BOW, Neb. (AP) — A judge in Custer County has dismissed a pornography case filed against an Aurora man.
Ross Carstensen had been charged with five counts of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct. Monday’s dismissal was requested by prosecutors. After Carstensen was charged last month, his attorney, Clarence Mock III, said Carstensen would plead not guilty because he was engaged in “legal, consensual adult activity.”
Earlier last month a Hamilton County sexual assault charge against Carstensen was dismissed. The records said information from that case led investigators to the 17-year-old girl involved in the porn case.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two Nebraska residents were injured by an explosion aboard a boat on Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs.
Firefighters and Iowa Department of Natural Resources officers responded to the blast around 6:50 p.m. Sunday on the northeast part of the lake.
The department says two of the four aboard were taken to a hospital in nearby Omaha, Nebraska, for treatment of their burns: 33-year-old Joshua Juranek and 33-year-old Kimberly Red. Both live in Bellevue. It’s unclear whether the others on the board were injured.
The explosion is being investigated.
Department officials also say a 9-year-old girl was hospitalized earlier Sunday after she was injured while tubing in Lake Manawa. She’s expected to make a full recovery. Her name hasn’t been released.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say four prison workers were briefly hospitalized after inmate attacks at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln.
Nebraska Correctional Services Department spokeswoman Cara Wilwerding said Monday the first attack occurred Saturday around 7:20 p.m. when a prisoner refused to return to his cell and hit a staffer. Another staffer was soon struck.
Later Saturday two more staffers were attacked when they responded to an inmate who needed medical attention.
Wilwerding says all four staffers were released soon after treatment at a Lincoln hospital.
Saturday’s disturbance was at least the sixth reported serious assault of Nebraska prison staffers this year. Authorities also say three inmates have died this year at the hands of other prisoners, including two during the March 2 uprising at the Tecumseh prison.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday for the trial of a Nebraska man accused of killing his estranged wife in northwestern Iowa.
Court records say 29-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he killed 21-year-old Margarita Morales on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence. The case has been delayed several times as defense attorneys have repeatedly withdrawn from representing Morales.
Court documents say Morales told investigators a fight broke out when his wife told him she no longer wanted to be in a relationship and that she was seeing another man.
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Officials say work is expected to begin soon on reopening Saddle Rock Trail at Scotts Bluff National Monument.
A landslide on the lower trail portion in December 2015 blocked access to the southwest-facing side of the monument.
Experts had advised letting the trail repairs wait at least a year so the soil could stabilize. Monument Superintendent Dan Morford says there’s no sign of weather-induced weakness on the ledge above the trail, where the landslide occurred.
Morford says the goal is have the landslide debris removed and the trail repaired for reopening by July 4.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Lt. Gov. Mike Foley have formally announced their bids for re-election.
The Republican duo launched their campaign Sunday at events in Omaha and Lincoln. Ricketts and Foley were elected in 2014 and are seeking a second four-year term in office.
Ricketts has previously said he planned to run for re-election. He has promised to advocate for lower taxes every year he’s in office.
Republican state Sen. Bob Krist has said he may also run for governor.
Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb says Ricketts has failed to protect working class families on issues that affect their finances.
Ricketts defeated Democrat Chuck Hassebrook in the 2014 general election. The gubernatorial primary is set for May 15, 2018. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 6, 2018.
BOYS TOWN, Neb. (AP) — Boys Town has a new statue that shows hardship isn’t exclusive to one race or gender.
