Someone has been using North Platte homes and vehicles as target practice for their paintball guns.

According to North Platte Police, since March 31, 2019, officers have responded to several dozen reports of residences and vehicles that had been hit with paintballs throughout the city.

Officer Beth Kerr says there have been no witnesses to the acts of vandalism and no suspects have been identified at this time.

Kerr said the damage caused by the incidents has been minimal.

If you have any information on who may be responsible, contact the North Platte Police Department or give your tip anonymously to Crimestoppers at 1-800-933-TIPS.

HAYS, Kan. (AP) – A Kansas woman donated 204 pairs of shoes to Nebraska flood victims after buying all the remaining shoes at a Payless store that was closing.

The Hutch Post reports the shoes were part of a flood relief shipment taken to farmers in Nebraska by Fort Hays State’s agriculture sorority, Sigma Alpha, during the weekend.

Addy Tritt, a Fort Hays State graduate, said she wanted to help others because so many people have helped her in the past.

When the price at a Hays store dropped to $1 per pair, Tritt negotiated with the business to buy the remaining shoes for $100.

They included 162 pairs of baby shoes, two pairs of men’s shoes, and the rest were women’s shoes.

The retail price of the shoes would have been more than $6,000.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska says a state report illustrates the need for police officers to undergo new training to treat minority motorists more fairly.

The ACLU said Monday that the latest Nebraska Crime Commission report shows “racially biased policing is a persistent problem in Nebraska.”

The report echoed numbers in previous reports: The number of black drivers stopped, searched and arrested is far higher than their portion of the state’s overall population. It also says black drivers were twice as likely to be stopped last year as white drivers.

ACLU of Nebraska attorney Rose Godinez says the data confirms “there is a clear need to recalibrate. We can’t continue to do the same things in terms of police training and watch the data about racial disparities in policing continue to rise.”

Woman accused of setting fire to bar she was buying

ARNOLD, Neb. (AP) – A woman has been accused of setting fire to a bar she was buying in the central Nebraska town of Arnold.

Custer County Court records say 54-year-old Jane Chestnutt is charged with three felonies: arson, criminal mischief and burning to defraud an insurer.

Her attorney, P. Stephen Potter, said she plans to plead not guilty and will challenge the charges at a preliminary hearing.

The March 27 blaze last year heavily damaged Jim’s Bar. The bar owner says he was selling it to Chestnutt and her husband and that she had said she was having trouble making the payments.

Court records say she told an investigator that she accidentally knocked over and broke a whiskey bottle and then set a flame to the spilled whiskey to see whether it would burn. She said it ignited and that she fled the bar when she was unable to put out the fire.