Lonnie L. Mundt, age 47, of Hershey, died May 12, 2018 at Great Plains Health. Services are pending at Adams & Swanson Funeral Home.
Author: Post Staff
Elizabeth Augusta Macomber Death Notice
Elizabeth Augusta Macomber, age 92, passed away Tuesday May 8, 2018 at the Cozad Community Hospital. Cremation was chosen and a private family inurnment will be held at Westlawn Cemetery in Grand Island, NE at a future date. Adams and Swanson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Lincoln sees homeless population reduced by half since 2012
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Lincoln Homeless Coalition says the city’s homeless population has reduced by half since 2012.
Volunteers identified 451 homeless individuals in the coalition’s most recent point-in-time homelessness count. The number is down by 25 percent from last year.
The coalition also says 16 homeless individuals were veterans, which is a 70 percent decrease from 2017.
Lee Heflebower is the housing director at Region V Systems. She says the coalition is close to ending veteran homelessness as the result of a concerted effort with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Jeff Chambers is director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center on Children, Families, and the Law. He attributes this year’s decrease to Lincoln agencies knowing who is the most vulnerable, coupled with rapid re-housing programs.
NPCC player signs with Friends
North Platte – Sophomore North Platte Community College Lady Knight basketball player Naria Hall from Wichita, Kans., is going back home to continue her basketball career at Friends University in Wichita.
Hall played for the Lady Knights one season after transferring from Colby Community College.
During her season with the Lady Knights, Hall led the Lady Knights in scoring with a 14 points per game average. She also averaged five rebounds per game. Hall was named to the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference team during the 2017-18 season.
Friends University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Kansas Collegiate Athletics Conference.
Hall played her high school basketball at Wichita South High School.
Passenger dies after vehicle crash in northeast Nebraska
STANTON, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 22-year-old passenger died after a vehicle crashed off a road in northeast Nebraska.
The crash occurred around 9:15 p.m. Saturday, about 6 miles east of Stanton. Authorities say 23-year-old Tucker Lanz was driving east when his vehicle crossed into a ditch on the north side of the road, hit a power pole and rolled onto its top.
Lanz and his passenger were ejected. Lanz was taken to a Norfolk hospital before being transferred to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
His passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. He’s been identified as Hunter Hetzler, who lived in Stanton.
Omaha police to use SUVs instead of four-door sedans
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police and other law enforcement agencies have been filling their cruiser fleets with bigger, more comfortable sport utility vehicles instead of purchasing more four-door sedans.
Omaha City Council approved the purchase of 40 Ford Explorer police utility vehicles in February for about $1.1 million, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Another $1.3 million was approved to install lights, lockers, and other equipment.
The vehicles should be on the streets in the fall, said Omaha Police Capt. Edward Reyes. Officials hope to phase out the roughly 150 remaining Chevrolet Caprice patrol vehicles when they become too much to maintain and run.
Officers have a better vantage point in the SUVs and the cars have more room for equipment, said Sgt. Justin Smith.
“Getting in and out of an SUV, it’s a little bit higher up and better on your back than a low-sitting sedan,” Smith said.
Douglas and Sarpy County Sheriff’s Offices have fleets that are primarily utility vehicles.
Sarpy County began purchasing the utility vehicles in 2013, said Chief Deputy Greg London.
“Our deputies love them because they’re just more practical,” London said.
Despite the many advantages of the larger vehicles, departments across the U.S. took Explorers out of service last year after reports of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide building up in passenger compartments. The installation of police equipment may have left holes in the vehicle that weren’t properly sealed and caused the leaks, Ford said.
Ford recalled Explorers to replace exhaust tips and reseal interior panels. While Sarpy’s vehicles have been repaired, the department has installed carbon monoxide detectors in the vehicles as a precaution, said George Funderburk, Sarpy County fleet manager
Douglas County has also installed carbon monoxide monitors in their Explorers, but Omaha police have not.
Omaha’s vehicles are outfitted in a way that means no leakage will occur, Reyes said.
Man accused of raping girl is ruled competent for trial
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ruled competent for trial a man accused of abducting an 8-year-old Lincoln girl from her home and raping her in his garage.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 22-year-old Cody Riddle has undergone more than two years of treatment at a state psychiatric hospital. Judge Darla Ideus ruled Thursday that Riddle now has the capacity to understand his case and help his lawyer defend him.
He’s charged with kidnapping, sexual assault of a child and burglary. Police say he went to the girl’s home early on Aug. 27, 2015, to steal items. Police say he entered through an open garage, found the girl, took her to his home, where he assaulted her and threatened her.
Prosecutors say he let her go and was arrested later that day.
Nebraska GOP targets former ally who switched to Libertarian
By GRANT SCHULTE , Associated Press
The showdown began after state Sen. Laura Ebke switched parties in 2016, citing concerns about the GOP governor’s public demands for more “platform Republicans” in the Legislature.
The race is one of the most closely watched in a Tuesday primary that will eliminate one of the three candidates for the seat and also determine party nominees for governor, U.S. Senate and Nebraska’s three U.S. House seats.
GOP officials have unleashed a wave of negative mail and radio ads against Ebke, of Crete, turning the small-town primary into one of the most hotly contested races in Nebraska. Ricketts, a multimillionaire, has donated $5,000 to one of her opponents, Al Riskowski, a longtime ally.
Ebke said she expected party officials to target her in the election and acknowledged they might succeed. Incumbents have traditionally fared well in Nebraska legislative races, but in 2016, three moderate Republican senators lost their seats after the governor endorsed and contributed to more conservative challengers. Ricketts said the senators were defeated because they didn’t reflect their conservative districts.
“I am fully aware that I’m in a precarious position here, especially when you have the financial power of the governor,” Ebke said.
Another Republican hopeful, Tom Brandt, said he jumped into the race in March out of frustration that lawmakers haven’t done more to address rising agricultural property taxes or provided additional state funding for rural schools. He said he’s relying on name recognition from his involvement with local farm, church and sports groups and his county GOP.
Brandt, a farmer from Plymouth, said he was surprised the race has turned so nasty and drawn so much attention from outside the district.
“It just seems the last two weeks have been about attack ads and money,” Brandt said. “I’m not naive, but I didn’t expect it to be this intense.”
The two top vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary will advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation.
Riskowski said he differs from Ebke on key issues, such as a bill she supported that would have eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for low-level felonies, including drug-manufacturing and gun crimes. Supporters argued the bill would give judges more discretion and help ease Nebraska’s persistent prison overcrowding.
Riskowski, a former executive director of the socially conservative Nebraska Family Alliance, presented himself as a “strong moral and fiscal conservative.” He said his experience and relationships in the Legislature would help him sell a platform of property tax cuts and rural economic development.
Riskowski, of rural Martell, defended the contribution from Ricketts, saying he already agreed with the governor on most issues and has known him for nearly 20 years.
“I see the governor wanting to support candidates who are of a like mind, not trying to control them,” he said.
Most of Brandt’s donations have come from district residents and relatives, while Ebke has relied heavily on out-of-state contributors.
Since Jan. 1, Ebke hasn’t received a single individual donation from her district. Nine of the 11 such donors don’t live in Nebraska and the other two reside outside her district, according to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. Ebke received a $25,000 contribution from Michael Chastain, a major Libertarian Party donor from Austin, Texas, and $15,000 from Chris Rufer, a California tomato tycoon.
Ebke said she was forced to rely on out-of-state contributions because Nebraska GOP officials threatened to remove local party leaders from their positions if they donate to her campaign. The Nebraska Republican Party denied the allegation.
Ebke’s party switch made her the first Libertarian state lawmaker in Nebraska history, and she’s one of four now serving nationwide. The other three are in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
Ebke, an adjunct political science professor, said breaking ties with the GOP has allowed her to work with senators from both parties at a time when the Legislature is often gridlocked. The former Republican activist comes from a family with deep ties to the local GOP, but she said she felt increasingly alienated with the rise of then-candidate Donald Trump.
Then came the Nebraska Republican Party’s state convention in 2016, when Ricketts singled out Ebke and other state lawmakers by name and called for more “platform Republicans” that adhere to conservative ideals.
“I used to belong to a Republican Party that was a big tent,” Ebke said. “It just seemed to me like the party had lost that. I still wanted to be able to reach out across party lines and look at issues individually.”
As a Republican in 2015, Ebke voted to override Ricketts’ vetoes of legislation to repeal the death penalty and allow driver’s licenses for youths who were brought into the country illegally as children but allowed to remain under an Obama administration directive. But she also voted to sustain his veto of a gas tax increase, and this year she introduced a bill on his behalf to promote accountability within the Nebraska State Patrol.
Nebraska Republican Party Executive Director Kenny Zoeller said the party targeted Ebke because she ran as a Republican “and immediately abandoned our party and its principals” after winning in 2014.
“The residents of District 32 deserve a Republican legislator who will reflect their values, and Laura Ebke certainly does not,” Zoeller said.
Nebraska State Treasurer seeks financial literacy classes
LA VISTA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s state treasurer is calling on state lawmakers and educators to make financial literacy a required course for high school graduation in Nebraska.
State Treasurer Don Stenberg says dealing with personal finances “is something every high school graduate needs and will use throughout his or her lifetime.”
Stenberg made the remarks at a recent conference hosted by the Nebraska Bankers Association in LaVista.
Stenberg says that since 2013, more than 36,000 students in high schools and middle schools across Nebraska have participated in the Nebraska NEST Financial Scholars program. The program offers online courses for high school students and middle school students at no charge to the students, the schools, or the taxpayers.
Nebraska high school launches student-run coffee shop
FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — An eastern Nebraska high school will soon welcome a new coffee shop on campus, created and run by students.
An entrepreneurship class will be bringing Deja Brew to Fremont High School this fall, the Fremont Tribune reported. The class is offered by the high school and Metropolitan Community College, but it’s the first time the business incubator has created a student-run and student-managed business.
“We came to these students with the idea, or the premise, and we let them take it and run with it,” said Matt Burg, a business teacher at Fremont High School. “They’ve done a great job with coming up with all of the ideas. They named it, created the logo, marketing concept, business prospectus; every element has been done by the students.”
The class conducted a market survey of about 400 classmates for their business plan.
“We asked if they drink coffee, their favorite kind, how often they would get coffee if it was available and a bunch of other stuff,” said student Avery Gossett.
Deja Brew will serve students and faculty before classes and during a study-hall period every day.
LaRue Coffee will provide the equipment and coffee to the student-run shop.
The high school is using an annual Career and Technical Education grant to help make Deja Brew a reality.
“We set aside $9,000 to $10,000 and we are only going to use around half of that,” Burg said. “That was the great deal with LaRue, because if we buy and sell their product they let us use some of their machines for free.”
The coffee shop will give students hands-on experience in entrepreneurship, said Dan Smith, a Metropolitan Community College instructor.
“This class is about students who are interested in running their own business, and learning about what all that entails, and what that process is like,” he said. “So to have them actually create their own business is huge.”