Former North Platte Bulldog softball standout, Kenzi Wiseman added two more homeruns to help Doane University to a 3-1 record over the weekend.
Wiseman hit her second homerun of the year in a double-header split with Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri on Friday. She then added her team leading third homerun, a 2-run blast, in a sweep of Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas on Sunday.
Wiseman is hitting .450 with 3 homeruns and 9 RBI thru six games. Doane improves to 6-4 on the season.
North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team were defeated by the Western Nebraska Community College Cougars in the regular season finale, 86-58, Saturday afternoon at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium.
It was the last home game for sophomores Godfrey Rolle, Goy Lew, and Buom Duboul.
The Cougars controlled the game from the opening tip and never trailed in the game. In the first half the Cougars led by as much as 14 points at 24-10. The Knights were able to pull within four at 31-27 and trailed at halftime 42-31.
In the first half, the Knights shot 9 for 28 from the field for 32 percent.
In the second half, the Cougars maintained a double digit lead.
The Knights continued their cold shooting at 34 percent in second half and 33 percent for the game.
The Cougars shot 48.3 percent from the field, including 15 three-pointers in the game.
The Knights, 15-12 on the season and 8-8 in Region IX South Sub-Region play were led in scoring by Rolle, who scored 20 points. Lew was the only other Knight to score in double figures with 16 points. Lew and Jakub Karwowski each had five rebounds to lead the Knights.
The Cougars had five players in double figures led by Vinnie Shahid with 21 points. Martin Roub was next with 18 points. Jervay Green added 13 points, Marlon Sierra had 12 points and Trent Harris finished with 10 points. Sierra had 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars.
The Knights, as the sixth seed, will travel to the third seed Trinidad State for the opening round of the Region IX Tournament on March 3rd.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) — The $1.3 billion construction of a new headquarters for the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base is being audited by the Defense Department.
Congress ordered the investigation because the cost of the project has grown nearly 10 percent and the project has fallen at least 20 months behind schedule because of design flaws and mold problems.
Auditors have already visited the site twice.
Col. John Hudson with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District says it’s not unusual for projects this big to be reviewed. The Corps is managing the project.
The building was originally scheduled to be done in September 2016. Now the Corps hopes to finish its work by this August.
By GRANT SCHULTE , Associated PressThe bill would allow human trafficking survivors to ask a judge to set aside their conviction and seal their criminal record for offenses they committed while under a trafficker’s influence.
The measure is part of a push to focus less on punishing trafficking survivors and more on targeting traffickers and sex purchasers, said Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, who sponsored the legislation.
Lawmakers have taken a more aggressive approach to human trafficking in the last five years, passing laws to increase penalties for traffickers and buyers, allow former victims to sue their traffickers and provide legal immunity to trafficking victims who are caught working as prostitutes.
Pansing Brooks said traffickers exert tremendous control over their victims, often taking their money and identification.
The victims, usually women and girls, are frequently kept in prostitution through threats, violence and drug addiction. They’re often forced to commit other crimes as well, such as burglary or selling drugs, Pansing Brooks said.
“It’s two people with power — the trafficker and the purchaser — exerting influence over some very vulnerable people,” she said. Victims “are under total control of someone who forces them to commit these bad acts.”
Under the bill, survivors would have to prove they were trafficked using phone records, online ads, sworn testimony or other evidence to prevent people from abusing the system.
Trafficking survivors with a criminal conviction tend to struggle to find housing and a job that gives them economic security, said Meghan Malik, who works on human trafficking issues through the nonprofit Women’s Fund of Omaha. Without that support, she said, trafficking victims frequently fall back into prostitution.
“Often times, they feel the deck is stacked against them,” she said. “It becomes a cyclical pattern. These kinds of convictions can prevent a trafficking victim from creating a new life.”
Malik said 34 other states already have laws to clear a trafficking victim’s record.
Traffickers generally operate along Interstate 80 and in larger cities, although Malik said their reach extends statewide. In a report last year, the Women’s Fund identified major hotspots in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, North Platte, Scottsbluff, and surrounding communities.
Much of the activity in Grand Island takes place around its numerous truck stops, said Sen. Dan Quick, whose district includes the city. Quick designated the record-clearing legislation as his “priority bill” for the year, increasing the odds that lawmakers debate it before their session ends.
“We need to help them as much as we can, help them turn their lives around,” he said. “I don’t want that to happen to anyone’s children.”
Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning said the Legislature’s recent focus on trafficking victims could encourage some to work with law enforcement and seek treatment by easing their fears of prosecution. The vast majority suffer from drug and alcohol problems, he said.
Dunning said his agency and others have been working with motels to spot signs of human trafficking, and conduct regular sting operations to catch buyers.
Karen Bowling, executive director of the Nebraska Family Alliance, said her group started advocating for such laws after she met a woman 10 years ago who had been cited on prostitution and drug charges. Bowling said the woman had been under the influence of a trafficker and was addicted to drugs, and resorted to prostitution later in life to survive.
“There’s absolutely the potential that this could have helped,” Bowling said. “You’re talking about a woman who got pulled into it out of desperation. Once she got ticketed, it really did follow her.”
PONCA, Neb. (AP) — People are invited to enjoy the wonders of the spring bird migration at Ponca State Park during Marsh Madness.
The park’s location adjacent to the Missouri River presents a significant flyway that serves as the feeding, breeding and staging ground for migratory birds. The park is listed as an “Important Bird Area” by the National Audubon Society, with nearly 300 species sighted and more than 70 of those breeding in the area.
Guided sunrise and sunset waterfowl blind viewings are scheduled on Saturday, March 10 and March 17, but space is limited. Call the park at 402-755-2284 for reservations. Go to www.Calendar.outdoornebraska.gov for more details.
A park vehicle entry permit is required. The park sits about a mile north of Ponca in northeast Nebraska’s Dixon County.
ASHLAND, Neb. (AP) — People will be able to sample the state’s wines, craft beers and spirits at the fifth annual Sip Nebraska festival.
The event is scheduled for May 11-12 at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park near Ashland.
There will be live music, food, and artisan and craft vendors as well as yoga classes, trolley tours of the park and salsa, hip-hop and line dancing lessons.
Ticket prices include park entry permits. A limited number of cabins, lodge rooms and campsites are being held for guests. Make reservations at 402-882-2448.
Go online at Sipnebraska.com for more information and to buy tickets.
PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered mental evaluations and electronic monitoring for two teens accused of making threats against Plattsmouth High School.
The 14- and 15-year-old boys appeared in court Friday when a judge ordered the evaluations. Both teens have been charged with making terroristic threats.
At the hearing, prosecutors said the threats stemmed from a break-up by one of the boys with his girlfriend. Prosecutors say the boys discussed plans at a party to “shoot up the school,” as well as pull off the braces of the ex-girlfriend with pliers before shooting her, too.
The teens remain in the custody of their parents and have been banned from school grounds. They are set to be arraigned next month.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that Nebraska’s largest public power utility must open its books and disclose the expense of generating electricity from its individual power plants.
The decision Friday came in the case of an open records lawsuit against Nebraska Public Power District brought by Lincoln-based energy firm Aksamit Resource Management. Aksamit is a private company that seeks to compete with NPPD.
NPPD had refused Aksamit’s repeated requests for the information, arguing that doing so amounted to revealing trade secrets. A district court agreed with the larger utility, and Aksamit appealed.
But the Nebraska Supreme Court overruled the lower court’s finding, saying a public entity must show that there is no public purpose served by releasing records it wants to keep from public view. The high court says NPPD failed to show that.
North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team overcame a slow start and defeated the Eastern Wyoming College Lancers 81-76 on Friday night at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium .
The Lancers jumped out to a 15-10 lead behind a pair of Alek Cosic three-pointers.
The Knights went on their own run of 16 straight points to grab 26-15 lead. The Knights led throughout the first half by double digits leading by as much as 16 at 35-19.
The Knights held a 40-30 lead at half time.
The Lancers began to chip away at the Knights lead in the second half. They pulled within four at 67-63. The Lancers could not get any closer and had to foul down the stretch. The Knights went to the free throw line 16 times in the last six minutes and connected on 14 of them to finish off the win.
The Knights, now 15-11 overall and 8-7 in the South Sub-Region of Region IX. Goy Lew led the Knights in scoring with a career high 23 points. Godfrey Rolle was a point behind at 22 points. Jakub Karwowski added 15 to the Knights scoring total. Lew also led the Knights in rebounding with 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
The Lancers are 2-24 on the season and 0-15 in South Sub-Region play.
The Lancers had four players in double figures led by Brandon Meadows with 21 points. Cosic was next in scoring with 16 points. Jordan Mirich added 14 points and Daniel Wright finished with 11 points. Chad Hencricks had seven rebounds to lead the Lancers.
The Knights will conclude their regular season on Saturday when they host Western Nebraska Community College Saturday afternoon at 3 PM. The game will be broadcast on ESPN 1410 and on the Internet at www.northplattepost.com. It will also be live-streamed at www.npccknights.com.
North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team ended their regular season with a 78-64 loss to the Eastern Wyoming College Lady Lancers Friday evening at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium.
The game was the final home game for five sophomores including Peighton Porter, Allison Tichy, Naria Hall, Lexa Lealiiee and Loren Lealiiee.
The Lady Knights stayed with the Lady Lancers in the first half trailing 20-18 at the end of the first quarter and 32-31 at the end of the half.
The Lady Lancers held a 30-20 lead midway through the 2nd quarter but the Lady Knights went on a 11-2 run to end the half.
In the third quarter, the Lady Knights continued to stay with the Lady Lancers, but with the score tied at 47, the Lady Lancers went on a 13-4 run to end the third quarter and held a 60-51 lead.
The Lady Lancers outscored the Lady Knights in the fourth quarter 18-13 to secure the win.
The Lady Knights dropped to 4-21 on the season. They were led in scoring by Hall, who finished with 19 points. Tichy added 11 points to move into 18th place on the Lady Knights all-time career scoring list with 581 points. Hall and Porter each had eight rebounds to lead the Lady Knights.
The Lady Lancers improve to 19-10 on the season. Pamela Bethel led the Lady Lancers with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Lauren O’Connell added 11 points.
The Lady Knights will have to wait and see who their opponent will be in the Region IX Division II tournament. The Lady Knights are the third seed and will travel to face the second seed, with the winner of that game to travel to the number one seed for the championship game.
Southeast Community College, 3-0 in Region IX Division II hosts Central Community College on Saturday to determine the top two seeds in the Region IX Division II tournament.
