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Nebraska boat ramps unavailable south of Interstate 80

LINCOLN, Neb. – No boat ramps are useable in Nebraska along the Missouri River from Interstate 80 to the Kansas border.

The river is running high and flood warnings remain in effect for portions of the Missouri from Burt County to the southern border.

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission crews recently assessed most of the river boat access. Their findings:

From Fort Randall Dam (South Dakota) to Lewis and Clark Lake, Sunshine Bottoms, Verdel Landing WMA, Running Water, and Santee are useable boat ramps. Only the Nebraska tailwaters ramp is known to be open from Gavins Point Dam to Ponca State Park. Between the park and Interstate 80 in Omaha, all ramps are open except NP Dodge Memorial Park in Omaha. Every ramp south of the interstate is closed to access. In many cases, those boat ramps are under water. Some areas have access roads and parking lots under water.

Boaters should be cautious on high-running rivers and in areas that flooded. Underwater debris and other obstacles can create hazards. Debris also may have built up along and under bridges.

For more on boating in Nebraska, visit outdoornebraska.gov/boating/.

Nebraska utility warns about recent scam calls

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s largest utility is warning about a recent increase in scam calls.

The Nebraska Public Power District says the scammers are posing as representatives of the utility and demanding money. But NPPD doesn’t do that.

The utility won’t call customers and ask for a credit card number, and it won’t ask for payment with a prepaid card.

NPPD’s Tim Arlt says anyone who receives such a call should contact police and the utility to report it.

Omaha travelers can sign up for airport security pre-check

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Travelers will have the chance to sign up in Omaha for the Transportation Security Administration’s pre-check program this week.

Travelers who get approved to join the program are allowed to keep their shoes and belts on when they pass through airport security.

The registration center for the program will be open from Monday through Friday this week. The program costs $85 for a five-year membership.

More information about the program is available online.

State Patrol says 4-month-old child dies in I-80 crash

GRETNA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities are investigating a two-vehicle crash that killed a 4-month-old child in eastern Nebraska.

The Nebraska State Patrol says the crash happened on Interstate 80 near the Nebraska Crossing Outlet stores exit near Gretna on Saturday afternoon. Westbound traffic had to be diverted for about three hours afterward.

A Chrysler minivan crashed into a Chevrolet Cruze. Two people in the van and four people in the Chevrolet were taken to hospitals. The child who died at the hospital was in the Chevrolet.

Man sentenced for 2018 meth bust in Hall County

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a man has been sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for trafficking methamphetamine.

U.S. Attorney Joe Kelly’s office says in a news release that Elmer Alexander Andrade was sentenced Thursday to 175 months in federal prison. He was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The Nebraska State Patrol says Andrade was stopped in Hall County on Jan. 18, 2018, by a trooper on suspicion of a traffic violation. The patrol says a search of his vehicle turned up 55 pounds (24.95 kilograms) of meth. A subsequent search of an apartment in Hastings turned up drug paraphernalia, sale ledgers, an AR-15 rifle and nearly $18,000 in cash.

Omaha police plan increased patrols of pedestrian bridge

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say they’re planning to increase patrols of a downtown pedestrian bridge after a shooting there.

Police say the increased focus on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge comes after shooting around 1:45 a.m. Thursday on the bridge injured a 20-year-old man.

Police say they’ve arrested a juvenile in the shooting.

The bridge spans the Missouri River, connecting Omaha to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The bridge, which is open around the clock, is in the process of having brighter LED lights installed along its path.

Police say its riverfront patrol unit continuously patrols on and around the bridge, but that members of the gang unit will join in on the patrols.

Weather service: Tornadoes hit rural central Nebraska

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service says tornadoes touched down Friday night in rural parts of Nebraska, tearing up trees, powerlines, farm buildings and damaging some homes, but no serious injuries were reported.

Meteorologist Jordan Thies in Hastings says the service received more than a dozen credible reports of tornado sightings from around south-central Nebraska, but says some of those were likely of the same tornado. Thies says the weather service is in the process of trying to determine how many tornadoes touched down, but he said it was likely at least a few.

One tornado near McCook damaged a farmhouse. Station KLKN in Lincoln reports that an elderly couple was in the home at the time, but suffered only some scratches and bruises.

Thies says the area can expect some rain and thunderstorms Saturday, but extreme weather is not expected.

Suspected arrested in shooting death of Lincoln man

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve arrested a suspect in the shooting death of a man found lying on the ground near the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus.

Lincoln police say officers arrested the 22-year-old man around 7:50 p.m. Thursday on suspicion of first-degree murder and use of a weapon. Online court records don’t show that he’s been formally charged.

Police say the victim was pronounced dead at the scene Thursday morning. He’s been identified as 47-year-old Desmond Fowler, who lived in Lincoln.

4th person arrested in killing of Council Bluffs man

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in western Iowa say a fourth person has been charged in the robbery death of a Council Bluffs man.

Council Bluffs police say in a news release that 25-year-old Ryan McDonald, of Glenwood, was arrested around 3:30 a.m. Friday on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder in the January death of 38-year-old Adam Angeroth. Police did not release any information explaining McDonald’s suspected role in the killing.

Prosecutors have also charged three people from Omaha in the killing, including a 16-year-old boy charged as an adult with first-degree murder.

Angeroth’s body was found in his apartment on Jan. 24. Police have still not release details of his death, including how he was killed.

Ricketts signs law that could prompt wind-energy court cases

Photo: Wikipedia
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Groups that want to install wind-energy transmission lines on private property could face new obstacles from Nebraska landowners under a newly signed state law.

Gov. Pete Ricketts approved a measure Friday that gives landowners a better opportunity to challenge such projects in court if a Nebraska public power organization tries to use eminent domain to clear the way for a privately developed renewable energy project.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer, of Gordon, whose district includes Nebraska’s scenic Sandhills. Some residents there are trying to derail a transmission line project designed to relieve congestion in the current electric system and support new wind-energy projects.

The original proposal would have barred Nebraska’s public power organizations from using eminent domain from such projects.

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