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Month: May 2019

New river flooding in Nebraska, Iowa forcing some out again

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Some residents are facing evacuations amid new flooding along the Nebraska-Iowa border just weeks after thousands of people in the region were forced from their homes because of flooding.

Rural and riverside residents along the Missouri River in Mills County, Iowa, were preparing this week to evacuate, the Omaha World-Herald reported Wednesday. In Nebraska, along the Platte River, residents around Hanson Lakes just south of Bellevue were sandbagging a levee that was already being overtopped by the river.

The Plattsmouth Emergency Medical Services Department warned that the Platte and Missouri Rivers were rapidly rising around Plattsmouth. The department tweeted: “If you are in an area which previously flooded a few months ago, get out NOW.”

The new flooding comes in the wake of recent heavy rains. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stepped up releases from Gavins Point Dam upstream on the Missouri River.

In Hamburg, Iowa, residents and farmers were again scrambling to shore up a levee and add about 3 feet to its height to hold back water from the Missouri River. It’s a scramble that local residents have repeated over the years to try to protect the town of about 1,000 people near the Missouri state line.

About 30 people who gathered Tuesday to fill and stack sandbags to try to hold back rising water. Among them was Chip Frazier, president of Sanitary Improvement District 101, which oversees the Hanson’s Lakes area.

“We’re doing the best we can to fight off the Platte River,” Frazier said, noting the water overtopping the levee in spots.

“It’s like whack-a-mole,” he said. “As soon as we fill a low spot, we get more low spots, start getting boils in the dike.”

The area also flooded in March, leading to evacuations. Roughly one-third of the community’s residents were still displaced from their homes, Frazier said.

The historic March flooding caused an estimated $3 billion in damage in the Midwest.

Further east near the Des Moines River in Ottumwa, some residents in flood-prone areas near the river’s banks were forced out of their homes by floodwaters. The river crested Wednesday at about 1 inch below major flood stage, at 18.9 feet.

Others toiled to place sandbags around their homes to keep water out. A shelter was opened Wednesday for Ottumwa residents forced from their homes.

(Updated) Storm damage at Kearney airport cancels some flights 

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Update 5/29/19 12:50 p.m.

FAA officials have reported that the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) is up
and running. United Express reports that today’s flight from Denver to Kearney is scheduled
to arrive in Kearney on time at 3:43 p.m. and subsequent flights are back on schedule.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – The south-central Nebraska city of Kearney has announced that some flights have been cancelled in the wake of storm damage at the Kearney Regional Airport.

The Kearney Hub reports that the Federal Aviation Administration’ Automated Weather Observation System at the airport was damaged during Monday night’s hail storm. The system provides weather information to flight crews for aircraft landings and takeoffs.

The damage forced the cancellation of United Express flights to and from Denver until further notice.

MPCC releases Dean’s, President’s lists

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The following students qualified for the President’s List at Mid-Plains Community College during the 2019 spring term. To make the list, each student had to complete 12 or more applicable credit hours in college-level courses and maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.9 or greater on a 4.0 scale.

Nebraska

Anselmo – Luke Christen

Beaver City – Daniel Dringman

Blair – Mark Starks

Brady – Madison Christophersen, Jessica Most, Kyle Mull

Broken Bow – Tristen Beck

Brule – Justin Candy

Culbertson – Courtney Searcey

Curtis – Colleen Mortensen

Eddyville – Zachery Jones

Gothenburg – Dillon Higgins, Dillon Wilkerson

Grant – Beau Wood

Imperial – Diana Benitez Aguilar, Taylin McNair, Kent Silvester

Indianola – Kayela Parker, Rhonda Tryon

Lewellen – Ramona Steward, Shaun Swoboda

Lexington – Katy Esquivel Cruz, Bianca Gomez

McCook – David Brewster, Easton Gillen, Mary Kain, Steven Keenportz, Mackenzie Larson, Brittanie Nolan, Trevor Oberg, James Slaten, Sydney Thompson, Ethan Wilcox

North Platte – Emily Bagley, Alyssa Bergeron, Drake Berry, Ty Brouillette, Terry Brown, Haley Burford, Ciera Carlson, Montannia Courtney, Jestynne Crankshaw, Taitiana Ditch, Isabelle Eisenrich, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Danny Fourtner, Colleen Griffin, Callie Haneborg, Allynne Hasenauer, Rachel Hatch, Matthew Haynes, Dawson Heinzen, Ashley Husemoller, Charles Kirk, Haiden Kreber, Zachary Kring, Tatum Lange, Rebecca Lindley, Kathleen McIntyre, Jayden Miles, Brian Mixer, Angel Murphy, Lindsi Orr, Jade Osborn, Kaitlyn Ostrander, Ashlynn Picquet, Dalton Prokop, Tanner Ruda, Tanis Sack, Kelsey Salazar-Allen, Ben Schanou, Tate Simonson, Shawn Simpson, Amanda Smith, Jonathan Spradlin, Savanna States, Patricia Tofilau, Zane Turner, Jade Vak, Daniel Wardyn, Gary White

Oconto – Marshall Still

Ogallala – Justine Gall, Ethan LeGrande, Jamie Rivas, Kama Svoboda

Ord – Ashley Carson

Scottsbluff – Payton Franklin

Stapleton – Kaylie Beierman

Sutherland – Angela Evans, Jocey Nelson

Valentine – Sheyenne Hammond

Wallace – Abbey Rohde

Walton – Austin Jensen

Wauneta – Zachary Thompson

Alaska

Nome – Stephanie Nielson

California

Vacaville – Justin Duchscher

Colorado

Colorado Springs – Makenna Bodette

Delta – KC Carlson

Fleming – Bailey Chintala, Shaylee Johnson

Granby – Kiera Barr

Wheat Ridge – Emily Anderson, Aurora Storrer

Yoder – Kylia Johnson

Florida

Hialeah – Ricardo Jimenez

New Port Richey – Katie Cox

Iowa

Hubbard – Ricks Polk

Oregon

Milton-Freewater – Chance McGirr

Utah

Ogden – Brooklyn Evans

Tremonton – Jerusha Miner

Wyoming

Laramie – Luke James

Australia

Maida Vale, Western Australia – Shae Muggridge

Willetton, Western Australia – Emma McLean

Canada

Brampton, Ontario – Samuel Lebel

Victoria, British Columbia – Emily Charchuk

Summerville, New Brunswick – Shaun Hickey

Spain

Badalona, Barcelona – Laura Mata Garcia

 

The following students qualified for the Dean’s List during the 2019 spring term at Mid-Plains Community College. To be eligible, they had to complete 12 or more applicable credit hours of college-level courses and maintain an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 – 3.89 on a 4.0 scale.

Nebraska

Albion – Branden Roberg

Arcadia – Clay Bauer

Arthur – MacKenna Turner

Bartley – Kaleb Sughroue

Beaver City – Jordan Taylor

Brady – Colton Lovitt, Jerry Mull, Rebecca Stearns

Callaway – Jessie Parshley

Cambridge – Aubri Ross

Cozad – Adriana Buss, Kolton Heins, Triteny Werner

Culbertson – Beth Hoyt, Matthew Johnson, Derrek Mintling, Matthew Searcey, Adelina Wilcox, Grant Wilkinson

Curtis – Rylie Brown

Gering – Kaylee Bohnsack

Gothenburg – Amelia Petska

Grand Island – Chance Boersen

Grant – Logan Cunningham, Whitney Spencer

Hershey – Myesha Dickens, Amanda Reiber

Holdrege – Tatiana Young

Imperial – Clarissa Chaparro, Abigail Frias

Indianola – Jacy Ahlemeyer, Drew Hofman, Alec May, Wyatt McConville, Patrick Sughroue, Bethany Vogel, Genna Vogel, Jack Vogel

Lexington – Cesar Venegas-Villezcas

McCook – Kyle Geisler, Allison Johnson, Lindi Johnson, Julia Lytle, Nicholas Macfee, Alyson Marin, McKenzie Mason, Jaydenn Miller, Mary Osborne, Taylor Patterson, Chantel Sawyer, Danielle Slaby, Elise Stevens, Kaleb Taylor, Kyle Van Pelt, Monique Witt

North Platte – Brittanya Allen, Larry Allen, Trey Bahler, Britni Bandy, Lauren Brott, Kayla Bush, Nicholas Bussard, April Claussen, Jami Davis, Jamon Davis, Evan DeKok, Jed Dizmang, Morgan Fischer, Tyler Floro, Tiffany Gies, Amanda Hanson, Nicole Harris, Micaelia Hernandez, Elizabeth Honeywell, Megan Johnson, Abby Jones, Josie Keck, Maureen Kohn, Jamie Lauderdale, Alex Lawson, Nicholas Lemke, Tacie Lucas, Amber McClanahan, Hallei Morales, Megan Morash, Kendal Naranjo, Natasha Nutt, Stephanie Owino, Tanner Pantenburg, Jonathan Perkins, Breasia Reyes, Makenna Smith, Seth Smith, Nathan Snider, Lyndell St. Clair, Brandon Tolle, Eric Travis, Kade Wroot

Oconto – Seth Pearson

Ogallala – Kyle Podowski

Omaha – Connor McGonigal

Oxford – Jacinda Vollmer

Papillion – Emily Marsden

Paxton – Ashley Lugar, Justin Neilsen, Dalton Perlinger

Scotia – Colton Gydesen

Sidney – Trinity Langley

Stapleton – Aspen Sullivan

Sutherland – Alyssa Weber

Thedford – Ronda Haumann

Valentine – Michelle Witt Moore

Venango – Valerie Perez

California

Pleasant Hill – Liliana Belton

Colorado

Brighton – Makayla Harris

Broomfield – Megan Hernandez-Belew

Centennial – Jesse Bloom

Colorado Springs – Mallory Brown

Haxtun – Christopher Kelley

Lakewood – Angel Mojica

Littleton – Haley Jacobsen, Ashlynn Krueger

Severance – Kassidy Powers

Wray – Kedric Tufton

Florida

St. Petersburg – Emily Joseph

Hawaii

Makawao – Maysen Medeiros

Iowa

Glenwood – Madisen Liddell

Hamburg – Masen Nelson-Maher

Kansas

Effingham – Jade Hollands

Glade – Trenton Solida

Oberlin – Benjamin Glading

Topeka – Onyessah Rocha

South Carolina

Anderson – Yasnier Laureano

South Dakota

Aberdeen – Karley Martin

Utah

Salt Lake City – Mikayla Gibson

Washington – Sydney McArthur

Virginia

Fort Belvoir – Preston Parry

Australia

Boronia, Victoria – Nicola Cross

Italy

Rome – Tommaso Mostarda

Mozambique

Nelo Nducuia

Spain

Reus – Anna Sanjuan

Ukraine

Ilya Tyrtyshnik

Giolito, White Sox post 2nd win of day, beat Royals 4-3

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CHICAGO (AP) — Lucas Giolito was behind schedule, out of sync and in a hole. Rather than unravel, he regrouped in a big way.

Giolito struck out 10 while winning his fifth straight start and the Chicago White Sox posted their second victory of the day, beating the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Hours after Yolmer Sanchez hit an RBI single in the ninth inning to give Chicago a 2-1 win in the resumption of a suspended game, Giolito (7-1) put on quite a performance.

The right-hander gave up a three-run homer to Alex Gordon in the first, then retired 22 of his final 24 batters. Giolito allowed three hits over eight innings, matched a career high for strikeouts and improved to 6-0 in his past eight starts. In his previous outing, he threw his first career shutout, a four-hitter against Houston.

“I didn’t warm up to my normal schedule,” Giolito said. “I wasn’t paying attention to the start time of the second game and so I was a little late. That first inning was like a continuation of my warmup, I guess you could say. Not fully locked in from the get-go.”

Giolito was inadvertently preparing for the usual 7:10 p.m. start, rather than a 6:40 first pitch. That threw him off early on, but he made quite a recovery.

Alex Colome worked the ninth for his 10th save in 10 chances after getting the win earlier in the day. And the White Sox made it back-to-back victories after losing six of eight.

Brad Keller (3-6) gave up four runs and 10 hits in six innings for Kansas City. The Royals have lost nine of 12.

The White Sox tied it in the third on an RBI single by Leury Garcia and back-to-back sacrifice flies by Jose Abreu and Yonder Alonso. Charlie Tilson made it 4-3 with an RBI single in the fourth.

“Credit to (Giolito),” Whit Merrifield said. “He buckled down, made a lot of good pitches, didn’t miss a lot and kept us off balance.”

SANCHEZ’S SHOW

Getting the field into shape was quite a chore after play was stopped Monday in the bottom of the fifth with a runner on second and two outs following two long rain delays totaling about four hours.

With a handful of fans in the stands, Sanchez came through again in the ninth against Kevin McCarthy with the bases loaded.

On Monday, Sanchez hit a tying single in the fifth inning between the breaks.

Sanchez kept the crowd and his teammates entertained during the delays on Monday, doing jumping jacks on the bench. The 26-year-old second baseman also poured a beverage bucket over his head as he stood in the rain, then flapped his arms at third base to make mud angels.

Jake Diekman (0-2) hit Yonder Alonso leading off the ninth. McCarthy relieved and James McCann hit a double over Merrifield’s head in right field before Tilson was intentionally walked to load the bases.

After a forceout at the plate, Sanchez lined a single to center on a 1-0 pitch for his fifth career game-ending hit. He got mobbed by teammates as he sprinted off the field.

Ivan Nova gave up a run and six hits in five innings. Aaron Bummer worked two scoreless innings. Evan Marshall retired all three batters in the eighth.

Colome (2-0) worked a perfect ninth.

Homer Bailey went 4 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and one run.

GROUND CONTROL

Longtime groundskeeper Roger Bossard and his 24-person crew stayed at the ballpark until about 10:15 p.m. on Monday after 1 3/4″ of rain equaling about 112,000 gallons drenched the field. They used 121 bags of quick dry — about three tons’ worth. And Bossard was back at the ballpark at 7:05 a.m.

“I got to tell you, this is my 53rd year here,” Bossard said. “And you know what? I’ve seen a lot of bad weather. Nothing like this year. It’s really been amazing.”

He also said crew chief Bill Miller made the correct decision to try to continue the game Monday based on the information available.

YIKES!

A White Sox employee of the month got to throw out a first pitch . And, to put it mildly, she was just a little bit off target. The right-hander uncorked one of the most wayward first pitches ever when she plunked a team photographer standing close by, between the mound and first base line. The ball went right off Darren Georgia’s lens, nowhere near the plate. Georgia told NBC Sports Chicago he and the camera were fine. The White Sox didn’t identify the woman pitcher.

TRANSACTION

The White Sox returned RHP Carson Fulmer to Triple-A Charlotte. He served as the 26th man for the scheduled game, but did not pitch.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: SS Tim Anderson (sore right wrist) was out of the lineup for the fourth straight game on Tuesday night. He did enter the suspended game to run after Alonso was hit by a pitch. … Garcia (sore right shoulder) came in to run in the eighth inning of the suspended game and remained in center field. He then started the scheduled game after being held out of the lineup the previous two. … The White Sox placed RHP Ryan Burr (strained right elbow capsule) on the 10-day injured list and recalled RHP José Ruiz from Triple-A Charlotte. The team said Burr will be reevaluated in two weeks.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Glenn Sparkman (1-1, 2.92) makes his second start of the season for Kansas City.

White Sox: RHP Reynaldo López (3-5, 6.03 ERA) tries to bounce back after getting tagged for eight runs in 3 2/3 innings in a loss at Minnesota on Friday.

Police: Pregnant woman killed in Norfolk murder-suicide

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NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) – Police in northeastern Nebraska say a man shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend before killing himself inside a Norfolk apartment unit as officers stormed in.

Norfolk police say the officers were called to the apartment Tuesday morning, where a woman identified as 23-year-old Oriana Arcos was being held against her will. Police say when they arrived at the apartment, her boyfriend, 23-year-old Marquise Edwards, refused to open the door. When police entered the apartment using a key, officers heard two gunshots from behind a locked bedroom door.

Police found both Arcos and Edwards with gunshot wounds. Arcos, who was pregnant, was declared dead at the scene. Edwards was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

Norfolk shooting leaves 1 dead, 1 in hospital

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NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — One person has died and another has been injured in a shooting at an apartment in Norfolk.

Norfolk Police Chief Donald Miller says officers were called Tuesday morning to an apartment, where a woman was being held against her will.

Miller says that as officers entered the apartment, they heard two gunshots in a bedroom.

After officers forced their way into the bedroom, they found two people with gunshot wounds. One person died and the other was taken to a hospital.

After several quiet years, tornadoes erupt in United States

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By RICK CALLAHAN and GRANT SCHULTE Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — After several quiet years, tornadoes have erupted in the United States over the last two weeks as a volatile mix of warm, moist air from the Southeast and persistent cold from the Rockies clashed and stalled over the Midwest.

On Tuesday, the U.S. set a new record of 12 consecutive days with at least eight tornadoes, based on preliminary data from the National Weather Service. The previous record for consecutive days with that many tornadoes was an 11-day stretch that ended on June 7, 1980.

“We’re getting big counts on a lot of these days and that is certainly unusual,” said Patrick Marsh, warning coordination meteorologist for the federal Storm Prediction Center.

The National Weather Service received at least 27 more reports of tornadoes Tuesday, suggesting that the record for consecutive days would be broken once the official totals are counted.

The weather service has received 934 tornado reports so far this year, up from the yearly average of 743 observed tornadoes. More than 500 of those reports came in the last 30 days. The actual number is likely lower, however, because some of the reports probably come from different witnesses who spot the same twister.

The U.S. has experienced a lull in the number of tornadoes since 2012, with tornado counts tracking at or below average each year and meteorologists still working to figure out why. Marsh said this month’s uptick is rare, but the country saw similar increases in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2011 that were highly unusual at the time.

He said his agency is trying to determine why the country is seeing another surge in tornadoes after the quiet spell but doesn’t have enough data to confirm whether climate change or other forces played a role. Scientists say climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme weather such as storms, droughts, floods and fires, but without extensive study they cannot directly link a single weather event to the changing climate.

“From our point of view, there’s nothing we can definitively say as to why we’re in this current pattern,” Marsh said. “I know people want to make the jump to climate change, but tornadoes are rare in the grand scheme of things, and you need a really, really long data set (to draw any conclusions).”

The recent surge in tornado activity over the past two weeks was driven by high pressure over the Southeast and an unusually cold trough over the Rockies that forced warm, moist air into the central U.S., sparking repeated severe thunderstorms and periodic tornadoes.

“Neither one of these large systems —the high over the Southeast or the trough over the Rockies— are showing signs of moving,” Marsh said. “It’s a little unusual for them to be so entrenched this late in the season.”

Those conditions are ripe for the kind of tornadoes that have swept across the Midwest in the last two weeks, said Cathy Zapotocny, a meteorologist for the weather service in Valley, Nebraska. Zapotocny said the unstable atmosphere helped fuel many of the severe winter storms and subsequent flooding that ravaged Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri earlier this year.

“We’ve been stuck in this pattern since February,” she said.

Zapotocny said the number of tornadoes this year was “basically normal” until the surge this week. May is typically the month with the highest incidence of tornadoes, usually in the Plains and Midwestern states collectively known as Tornado Alley, where most of this year’s twisters have hit.

Most of the confirmed tornadoes were rated as less-intense EF0, EF1 and EF2s on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. But 23 were classified as EF3 tornadoes, with wind speeds of 136-165 mph. The strongest confirmed tornado this year was the EF4 tornado that killed 23 people in Alabama in March.

So far this year, 38 people have died in 10 tornadoes in the United States, including a combined seven within the last week in Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma and Ohio.

The relative quiet in recent years followed the massive tornado that killed 161 people and injured more than 1,100 in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011. The EF5 storm packed winds in excess of 200 mph and was on the ground for more than 22 miles.

Monday’s outbreak was unusual because it occurred over a particularly wide geographic area. Eight states were affected by two regional outbreaks, in the high Plains and the Ohio River Valley.

Tornadoes strafed the Kansas City metropolitan area straddling Kansas and Missouri Tuesday night, barely a week after a massive tornado ripped through the Missouri state capital of Jefferson City.

Eloise Ruth Shuck (1951-2019)

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Eloise Ruth Shuck, 68, of North Platte passed away in the morning of Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at the North Platte Care Center with her husband by her side.

She was born on May 17, 1951 in Stapleton, Nebraska to Cecil and Marjean (Long) Main.

A talented bowler, Eloise enjoyed various arts and crafts, including cross stitch. She also liked to play cards and could beat anyone at a game of Scrabble.

Eloise’s dying wish was to see her son, Josh, get married. While the wedding was scheduled all along for September 2019, Eloise was granted this wish on May 18 at the care facility she was in. Having had her wish come true, Eloise passed peacefully.

She is survived by her husband, Dan Shuck; sons, Everett and Josh Jones, as well as Josh’s spouse, Stephanie Savage, of Denver, CO.; several siblings and their spouses, James (Karen) Main, Wanda (Brad) Osnes, Janice (Jerry) Kirby, and Brenda (David) Carter; and several nieces, nephews and their young children.

Eloise was preceded in death by her parents.

Memorials may be made in her name and online condolences may be shared at www.adamsswanson.com.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, May 30, 2019 at Adams & Swanson Funeral Home with Chaplain Gary Smith officiating.  Burial will follow at the Loup Valley Cemetery near Stapleton.  Visitation will be 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. today at Adams & Swanson Funeral Home which is in charge of arrangements.

 

Karon A. Richards (1947-2019)

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Karon A. Richards, 71, of North Platte, passed away May 25, 2019 at North Platte Care Center.  She was born June 15, 1947 to Nick and Margaret (Sloan) Merksick at Cheyenne, WY.

Karon attended North Platte Public Schools.  In January of 1964, she was united in marriage to Larry J. Kirsch and to this union a son was born, Randy.

In 1978, Karon was married to Scotty Richards.  She was employed as a cashier for Woolworths, Ben Franklin, Gibson’s and most recently SunMart. She enjoyed bowling, where she won many awards.  She was a member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Women’s 600 Club and loved all kids and shopping for knick knacks.

She is survived by her son, Randy Kirsch of North Platte; three brothers, Nick (Marilyn) Merksick, John (Carol) Merksick and Richard (Roxanne) Merksick; nephews, Erik and Bradley Merksick; nieces, Nicki Bagby, Jackie Merksick and Angela (Bryan) Eagle; and many family members and friends.  She was preceded in death by her parents.

Online condolences may be shared at www.carpentermemorial.com.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00 a.m. Friday, May 31, 2019 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church with the Rev. Matthew Nash as celebrant.  Burial will be at the North Platte Cemetery. Casual wear is recommended at the services. Visitation will be Thursday, May 30, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Carpenter Memorial Chapel, which is in care of arrangements.

Ex-Nebraska City clerk reaches $325K settlement with city

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NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A former Nebraska City clerk who sued after he was essentially fired by the City Council in 2015 has agreed to a $325,000 settlement offered by the city.The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Arnold Ehlers’ lawsuit said the Nebraska City council had retaliated against him for reporting his concerns about the city utilities department’s handling of an account.

Ehlers also said the City Council had acted illegally when it voted not to reappoint him to his position. A judge agreed earlier this year, saying the city acted outside its authority when it put the clerk’s post — which was held by Ehlers and not vacant — up for a vote.

The lawsuit had been set to go to trial June 3.

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