Carroll Jerome McNeel, 95, of Texas, formerly of North Platte, passed away February 8, 2018. Services are pending at Carpenter Memorial Chapel.
Month: February 2018
Gary L. Murphy
Gary L. Murphy, age 82 of North Platte, passed away February 5, 2018 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He was born June 3, 1935 in Oberlin, KS to Harry and Enid (Foley) Murphy. He attended grade schools in Hot Springs, Sioux Falls, SD and North Platte. Then graduated from North Platte High School in 1953. Gary was united in marriage to Donna George December 11, 1953. After high school he attended Barnes Business School in Denver. Gary, along with his parents, established Murphy’s Modern Music and operated the business for many years until his retirement. Following that, they spent the winters enjoying the Florida weather. He instilled his children and grandchildren about the appreciation of the outdoors where he was an avid hunter and fisherman. Gary was a 50 year member of the First Lutheran Church, Platte Valley Lodge #32 AF and AM, Nebraska York Rites Chapter #15, and Tehama Temple of the Shrine of Hastings.
Survivors include his wife of 64 years, Donna, of North Platte, children, Deb Beerman of Kearney, Kerri Murphy of Denver, and Mark (Shawn) Murphy of Ashland, NE, grandchildren, Jenni (Matt) Nielsen, Dustin (Laura) Beerman, Connor (Aubrey) Rhoden, Kelsea(Bryan) Vernon, Rylee and Chloe Murphy, great-grandchildren, Drew and Hayes Nielsen, Colten and Hannah Beerman, step great-grandchildren, Dylan and Casey Schneider, sister, Joan Horne, and nephew, Troye Horne.
He was preceded in death by his parents, niece, Tanje (Horne) Bellhouse, and two cousins Lowell and Lee Foley. Services will be 10:30 am Monday, February 12, 2018 at Carpenter Memorial Chapel. Private family interment will be at Floral Lawns Memorial Gardens. A memorial has been established in his memory. Gary’s family will be receiving friends at the visitation from 1 to 3 pm Sunday at Carpenter Memorial Chapel which is charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be shared at www.carpentermemorial.com.
3 people hospitalized after northeast Nebraska fire
HOSKINS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say three people were hospitalized after a fire destroyed a northeast Nebraska home.
The fire was reported just before 11 p.m. Sunday at a house in rural Hoskins. Firefighters from at least three departments fought the flames, which engulfed the structure.
Authorities have not released the injured people’s names. Two of them were sent to a Norfolk hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. The third person suffered burns.
The fire cause is being investigated.
Lincoln police to encrypt primary police dispatch channels
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Most of the public will soon lose live access to Lincoln’s primary police dispatch channels.
The Lincoln Police Department instead will provide an online feed that is delayed by 10 minutes — the expected response window for officers’ highest-priority calls.
News outlets will be allowed to maintain real-time access to the primary channels to ensure accountability and allow community notification when situations broadly affect public safety.
The city’s switch to a digital radio system this year offered the department an opportunity to encrypt its radio channels.
Public Safety Director Tom Casady (KASS’-uh-dee) and Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister (BLEYE’-meye-stur) say they weighed concerns over privacy, officer safety and criminal apprehension against the merits of police department transparency.
Woman accused of sex assault on teen boy gets 3 years
SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — A Sidney woman accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy has been given three years in prison.
Court records show 30-year-old Jennifer McKinsey was sentenced Wednesday in Cheyenne County District Court and credited for 77 days already served.
She’d pleaded no contest to intentional child abuse after prosecutors lowered the charge from sexual assault of a minor.
McKinsey was arrested after officers responded to an argument between her and the 14-year-old boy’s mother.
Nebraska lawmaker pitches medical cannabis ballot measure
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska residents could gain a constitutional right to use medical marijuana under a proposed ballot measure presented Thursday to lawmakers.
Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln pitched a new version of a legalization measure to the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, backed by a coalition of residents who suffer from chronic conditions and parents who see it as a way to treat their children’s epileptic seizures.
“Nebraskans deserve a chance to vote on this issue,” Wishart said.
Wishart introduced the amendment after several previous legalization bills stalled in the Legislature. Unlike past measures, the amendment would appear on the November general election ballot if lawmakers approve it. Wishart said she believes voters would approve it, based on a poll commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group.
The proposal appears likely to advance out of the Judiciary Committee, but its prospects before the full Legislature are unclear. Gov. Pete Ricketts opposes legalization, but placing it on the ballot would bypass the Republican governor.
Supporters of legalization said cannabis is a safer alternative to addictive prescription painkillers that have led to fatal overdoses around the country. The Nebraska attorney general’s office and the state’s chief medical officer opposed the measure, noting that federal law still prohibits marijuana.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia allow marijuana for medical purposes. Federal authorities haven’t enforced the federal prohibition against states.
“Any regulatory scheme by the state of Nebraska to facilitate, promote or license marijuana products, even for medicinal purposes, would be pre-empted and illegal under federal law,” said Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Ryan Post. “The Legislature should not expose the state in this way.”
Dr. Thomas Williams, the state’s chief medical officer, said studies have shown “at best, inconsistent findings” that medical marijuana is beneficial to patients. Williams said more research is needed.
Placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot requires support from 30 of the Legislature’s 49 senators. The measure is also likely to face a filibuster, which supporters would need 33 votes to overcome. Last year, a filibuster halted a bill that would have allowed medical cannabis.
Shelley Gillen of Bellevue said legalizing cannabis would help her 15-year-old son, Will, gain access to a marijuana extract called cannabidiol, delivered in drops of oil. Will has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy that causes hundreds of seizures a day.
Gillen said her family has tried multiple federally approved drugs, special diets, surgical implants and chiropractic treatments, and nothing so far has worked. Their only remaining option is an invasive brain surgery that isn’t guaranteed to work.
“Our family has been begging and pleading with all 49 senators in our Legislature for five years now to help our child,” Gillen said.
Legalization supporters have tried in the past to place the issue of medical marijuana on the ballot through a petition drive, but failed to garner enough signatures.
State board suspends liquor license of county fairgrounds
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state liquor board has temporarily suspended the liquor license of the Thayer County Fairgrounds following last year’s utility vehicle crash that killed a country singer.
Abby Uecker, who performed under the name Abby Nicole, died in the crash last July on the fairgrounds after performing at the Thayer County Fair. Investigators say the driver told them he had consumed several beers that night, but no charges were filed.
On Wednesday, the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission suspended the fairgrounds’ license for 10 days for allowing open containers of alcohol after hours. In lieu of the suspension, the Thayer County Ag Society has the option of paying a $500 fine.
Nebraska high court upholds murder, manslaughter convictions
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld an Omaha man’s first-degree murder and manslaughter convictions.
Michael Nolt was sentenced last year to life in prison for the October 2015 shooting deaths in Omaha of Malquan King and Arelius Hassell.
Prosecutors say the shootings were part of a botched robbery. They say Nolt shot Hassell in the face after a brief argument, and then shot two other people hiding in a closet, killing King.
In his appeal, Nolt argued that some evidence should not have been allowed at his trial and that his attorney was woefully ineffective. On Friday, the state’s high court ruled that there was no merit to Nolt’s arguments.
The opinion was one of six Friday written by Justice Max Kelch, who abruptly announced his retirement last month fewer than two years after being appointed to the high court.
Tow-truck driver involved in double fatality crash ticketed
PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — Police have cited a tow-truck driver who crashed into to other vehicles near Bellevue last month, killing two people and injuring two others.
57-year-old James Helbert was ticketed Thursday for misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide and careless driving.
Investigators say Helbert was driving a tow-truck erratically Jan. 5 when he crashed into the parked vehicles in the turning lane to exit Highway 75. Killed were 19-year-old Khalil Jones, of Daytona Beach, Florida, and 47-year-old Shamus Dean, of Papillion.
Police say Jones was an airman stationed at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha, and his car had stalled along the freeway. Dean had pulled over to help.
Two people in Jones’ car were seriously injured in the crash. Helbert was not hurt.
Investigation clears Council Bluffs officer in shooting
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The Pottawattamie County attorney says an investigation has found a Council Bluffs police officer was justified in shooting a suspect.
County Attorney Matt Wilber joined with other law enforcement officials Friday to announce officer Trevor Benson’s actions in the Feb. 1 shooting were justified.
Benson shot 21-year-old Daton Petrey, of Omaha, during an early morning altercation.
Police say Petrey refused to tell Benson his name or get out of his car. When Benson opened Petrey’s door to try to remove him, Petrey put the car in reverse, dragging the officer about 40 feet.
Benson fired two shot, hitting Petrey in the chest. He’s expected to be released soon from an Omaha hospital.
Benson wasn’t hurt.
Authorities say Petrey will face parole violation charges in Nebraska and then will be tried on Iowa charges.