Virginia Maxine Bybee, 81, of North Platte, died July 13, 2017. Services will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 21, at Floral Lawns Memorial Gardens. Cremation was chosen. The register book may be signed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 20, at Adams & Swanson Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to Paws-itive Partners. Online condolences may be shared at adamsswanson.com. Adams & Swanson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Month: July 2017
Wife of slaying suspect charged as accessory to arson
BANCROFT, Neb. (AP) — The wife of a man charged with murder, arson and other crimes in northeast Nebraska has been charged as an accessory to the arson.
Court records say investigators think 41-year-old Becky Weitzenkamp was involved in the fire that destroyed the Cuming County home of 64-year-old Ernest Warnock a day after he was killed but before his body was found. The body was found March 11 in the rubble of the home north of Bancroft. Investigators say he’d been stabbed to death before the fire.
Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call Thursday from The Associated Press.
Weitzenkamp’s husband, 48-year-old Jody Olson, and his 27-year-old son, Derek, are charged with second-degree murder, arson and related crimes.
Omaha lake fish kill blamed on bacterial outbreak
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a bacterial infection has been killing fish at Lake Zorinsky in Omaha.
Crappie carcasses have been piling up along the lake’s shore. Experts have determined that the killer is the columnaris bacterium, which doesn’t spread to humans.
Officials say nothing can be done to stop the outbreak, which isn’t affecting other species in the lake.
New Nebraska council to promote international trade
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Business, agricultural and education groups are joining forces to expand Nebraska’s reach into international markets that generate billions of dollars annually.
Gov. Pete Ricketts on Thursday announced the formation of a new international trade council. The council’s membership includes agricultural and business leaders and the University of Nebraska.
Ricketts says council members will use their existing relationships to help other Nebraska groups that want to expand overseas. They often help one another informally, but Ricketts says an official council that meets regularly will ensure good communication.
His announcement came just before the second annual Governor’s Summit on Economic Development in Lincoln.
Dan Nerud, a Dorchester farmer and vice president for the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, says the unified effort will help keep the state competitive.
Nebraska airport seeks to end contract early with airline
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — An airport authority board in western Nebraska is seeking an early end to its contract with airline PenAir, which has been unable to provide reliable service to the airport.
The Western Nebraska Regional Airport Authority board in Scottsbluff has approved a measure requesting permission from the Department of Transportation to seek new airline bids earlier than the length of its contract with PenAir.
PenAir officials had met with the board and the public last month. Board Chairman Don Overman says he listened to problems the airline has with pilot shortages, plane shortages and accidents, among other issues.
Overman cites high cancellation and delay rates as the reason for the proposed contract termination.
PenAir indicates immediate improvements are unlikely.
2 sought in Omaha homicide found in Texas, authorities say
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say two people sought in an Omaha homicide have been found in Texas.
The Omaha Police Department says 29-year-old Adrian Ixta and 26-year-old Milea Ixta were taken into custody Thursday morning. They’re being held in the Harris County Jail in Houston, pending their return to Nebraska.
Online court records say Adrian Ixta is charged with first-degree murder and two weapons counts, accused of shooting to death 40-year-old Billy Walker on Friday. Milea Ixta is charged with being an accessory to a felony. Nebraska court records don’t list an attorney who could comment for them.
Record: Nebraska inmate died from meth, Ecstasy overdose
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska prisoner who died last month overdosed on a combination of methamphetamine and Ecstasy.
A death certificate issued to The Associated Press Thursday confirms that 22-year-old Daelan Lamere died because of the accidental overdose.
Prison officials previously acknowledged that Lamere had both drugs in his system when he was found unresponsive in his cell at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution on May 27. He died at a Lincoln hospital on June 6 after his heart failed.
Lamere was sentenced to 6 to 11 years in prison for four counts of robbery and one count of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony in Douglas County. He was scheduled for release in September 2020.
Omaha mayor pushes reform after Native American man’s death
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The mayor of Omaha is forming a Native American advisory board and Omaha police officers will receive training on indigenous culture after a man died in police custody.
City officials and leaders in the indigenous community met after the June 5 death of unarmed Native American Zachary Bearheels.
Police say Bearheels died after being shocked 12 times with a Taser, punched and dragged by his hair by officers. Police allege they were responding to a disturbance call at a convenience store.
Indian Affairs Commissioner Rudi Mitchell says long hair is considered sacred for Native American men.
Mayor Jean Stothert will create the advisory board by executive order. Police Chief Todd Schmaderer is organizing training on Native American culture sensitivity.
Schmaderer recommends two of the officers involved in Bearheels’ death be fired.
Nebraska shared no data with voter commission before pause
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials say they did not share any voter information with a federal commission before it paused its efforts amid a series of lawsuits.
A spokeswoman for Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale said Thursday that his office has not sent any data to President Donald Trump’s voting commission. Nor has it had any communication beyond the original request the commission sent to Gale’s office.
Gale has said he would comply with the commission’s request for publicly available voter information, but only if he gets assurances about how the data will be used and secured.
Trump’s commission was formed to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2016 elections, but critics say it’s looking for ways to suppress the vote and that the requests are an invasion of privacy.
Lexington man killed in Grant County crash
WHITMAN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a driver was killed when his truck crashed along a western Nebraska highway.
The accident occurred around 2 p.m. Wednesday about 2 miles (3 kilometers) east of Whitman. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office says the rendering truck rolled while coursing down Nebraska Highway 2.
The Sheriff’s Office identified the driver as Steven Brummet, who lived in Lexington.