Noreen “Dayle” Thompson, age 68 of Wallace, passed away Friday February 23, 2018 at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lincoln. Services are pending at Adams and Swanson Funeral Home.
Author: Post Staff
First National Bank halts NRA credit card, car rental firm ends discount
By GRANT SCHULTE , Associated Press“Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA,” Langin said.
Langin declined to say when the contract would expire and would not elaborate on what sort of feedback the company had received.
Separately, car rental company Enterprise said its three brands would end a discount program for NRA members.
Both companies released their statements dozens of times on Twitter in response to calls for them to sever ties with the NRA. Some Twitter users who identified themselves as customers pledged to take their business elsewhere.
The announcements came after the progressive news website ThinkProgress listed them as companies that support the NRA. ThinkProgress noted that First National Bank offered two NRA cards, each with a $40 bonus, and touted it as “enough to reimburse your one-year NRA membership!” It also noted Enterprise “offers members an unspecified discount.”
On Thursday, the bank webpage that advertised the NRA card had been disabled. A cached version of the site touted the card as “the official credit card of the NRA” and noted the benefits of membership.
The NRA credit cards are part of a larger business in which the bank issues cards branded with organizations’ logos, such as the sporting-goods store Scheels and the Best Western hotel chain.
Twitter accounts for Enterprise and its two other brands, Alamo and National, tweeted late Thursday: “All three of our brands have ended the discount for NRA members. This change will be effective March 26.”
The NRA has faced intense criticism following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead, the latest in a string of high-profile mass killings in the U.S.
An NRA spokeswoman referred questions Thursday to the group’s licensing department. A phone message left with that office was not immediately returned.
A group that tracks the credit industry said the move could carry significant risks for First National Bank of Omaha.
“Many will applaud the move, but NRA members are famously loyal and the organization has shown itself as being very good at mobilizing its members,” said Matt Schulz, a senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com. “However, banks are in the business of managing risks of all kinds, and First National clearly sees this as one they’re willing to take.”
First National Bank has banks in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas.
Authorities say man drove drunk with 7 kids in SUV
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Grand Island man driving drunk with seven children in a sport utility vehicle is facing 18 felony and misdemeanor counts.
Court records say 35-year-old James Anderson has pleaded not guilty to child abuse, fifth offense driving under the influence, driving during revocation of his license, and related charges. His next hearing is scheduled for April 11.
The records say Anderson failed two sobriety tests Sept. 16 after a Hall County deputy stopped him for speeding near Wood River. Four of the seven children didn’t have seat belts, and the deputy reported seeing open beer cans and an open liquor bottle in the SUV.
Former prison guard sentenced for smuggling cellphone
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A woman accused of smuggling a cellphone to a prisoner while working at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln has been sent to jail.
22-year-old Selena Kelly was sentenced Thursday to a year behind bars. She’d pleaded no contest to unlawful acts by a corrections employee. Authorities say she delivered the phone to inmate between Dec. 18 and Dec. 23, 2016. She’d worked at the prison since March that year. She was fired Dec. 23.
Her attorney, Bill Chapin, said during her sentencing hearing that Kelly was very remorseful.
Omaha officials unveil online snowplow tracker
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — City officials in eastern Nebraska have unveiled a new online map that tracks snowplows and updates residents on which streets have — or have not — been cleared.
The city of Omaha revealed the online map Thursday. The map is color-coded by street and neighborhood, and updates every minute. It also allows residents to compare neighborhoods.
Austin Rowser is in charge of plowing for the city. He says the map shows residents that the city’s effort is evenly distributed.
City Council Vice President Chris Jerram has long pushed for publishing snowplow tracking data. He says he’s pleased to see that such a feature has been implemented.
Seventy-five percent of the city’s 100-plus trucks have the tracking technology installed.
Ricketts encourages NRA to hold convention in Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is encouraging the National Rifle Association to hold its annual convention in his state after one of Dallas’ top elected officials urged the group to find another location.
Ricketts said in a tweet Friday that he and other Nebraska residents “love our constitutional rights” and want the convention in the state.
The Republican governor’s comments came after Dallas’ mayor pro tem said the NRA would face marches and demonstrations if it proceeded with plans to host the three-day meeting set for May 4-6. An NRA spokesman had said it wouldn’t consider moving the convention.
Ricketts’ tweet also followed news Thursday that the Nebraska-based First National Bank of Omaha would stop issuing NRA-branded credit cards in the wake of last week’s deadly mass school shooting in Florida.
Last of 3 defendants in meth seizure also sent to prison
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The last of three people arrested after methamphetamine was found in a vehicle pulled over by a deputy in southeastern Nebraska has been sentenced.
Valeria Navarro-Martinez was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Omaha to 28 months in prison.
In September the judge also sent Jose Lopez-Salazar to prison for 28 months and Jose Manuel Zavala-Barron to eight years and a month.
Prosecutors say a Lancaster County sheriff’s deputy stopped a car carrying Navarro-Martinez and Lopez-Salazar on April 5 last year for following too closely on Interstate 80. Twenty-three packages holding about 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) were found in the car doors after Navarro-Martinez consented to a search.
Zavala-Barron was arrested later in Omaha, where more meth was found.
Police release name of southeast Omaha stabbing victim
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have identified a man who was pronounced dead at a hospital after being found on the steps of a southeast Omaha house.
Police say a woman walking her dog spotted the man and alerted officers around 2:15 a.m. Thursday. Paramedics sent to the scene performed CPR on the man before he was placed in an ambulance. He’d suffered a stab wound. Police say he was pronounced dead at Nebraska Medical Center.
Police identified him as 51-year-old Troy Giles. A homicide investigation has been launched. No arrests have been reported.
Ex-Nebraska state trooper charged in fatal chase
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A special prosecutor has filed charges against a former Nebraska state trooper at the center of a storm that rocked the State Patrol.
Special prosecutor Joe Stecher charged Tim Flick on Wednesday with two misdemeanors, motor-vehicle homicide and making a false statement under oath, as well as careless driving, an infraction.
The charges stem from Flick’s role in the 2016 high-speed chase of an intoxicated motorist in Sheridan County. Dashcam video features Flick saying he used a tactical vehicle intervention, a move that’s meant to bump a fleeing vehicle in order to get it to safely spin out. Antoine LaDeaux was killed in the crash.
Flick will be arraigned in Sheridan County Court on March 8.
Flick was fired from the patrol in December for violating internal policy.
Gina Rae Stinson
Gina Rae Stinson, 44, of Hayes Center passed away February 20, 2018 at Perkins Country Community Hospital in Grant, Nebraska after losing her battle with cancer. She was born in McCook, NE on July 4, 1973 to Dixie (Griffiths) and Robert Stinson and lived on a farm near Hayes Center until she was three. The family moved to Palisade in January 1977 where she lived until she graduated from high school. She attended kindergarten through her junior year of high school at Palisade Public School and her senior year at Hayes Center High School. Gina was very talented in all sports, especially basketball and went with her team to the state basketball playoffs in 1988.
After graduating high school in 1991, Gina earned a scholarship to play basketball for Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte. While living in North Platte, Gina went on to marry Jim Melton of Wallace. To this 19-year union, four children were born: Jaime, Katelyn, Jacob and Kyle. Gina and Jim were divorced in 2011 and she did not remarry. Early in their marriage, she and Jim lived in Norfolk, Virginia while Jim was serving in the US Navy. After his enlistment was completed, Jim, Gina and their girls moved back to Nebraska where they lived briefly in Alliance and Wauneta, finally settling north of Hayes Center. After their divorce, Gina and her children lived in Grainton and Wallace before settling in Hayes Center. At the time of her death, Gina owned the Little Blessings Daycare in Hayes Center.
Gina was a member of the Wallace Community Church and she was baptized on August 7, 2016. She loved going to church, spending time at the lake with friends and family, and going to her children’s high school ballgames. She was a very strong woman of great faith who fought bravely against her breast cancer with a positive attitude. She had a wonderful sense of humor and concern for others. She was a great example for us all.
Gina is survived by her daughters, Jaime Melton (Omaha, NE) and Katelyn (Taran) Melton (Wallace, NE); her sons Jacob Melton and Kyle Melton both of Wallace, NE; her sister Lisa Stinson of Weiden, Bavaria-Germany; her brother Blaine (Tessa) Stinson & daughter Annamarie of Palisade, NE; her father Robert (Paula) Stinson of Palisade, NE, her mother Dixie (Kent) Eckhoff of Hayes Center, NE, her stepsister Renee (Bryan) & son Rylan Grayson.
A celebration of Gina’s life is planned for Saturday, February 24 at the Wallace High School gymnasium starting at 10:00 am CST with Pastor Bob Witt officiating. Internment is at the Dickens Cemetery in Dickens, NE with a reception to follow at the Wallace High School. Online condolences may be shared at www.carpentermemorial.com Gina’s casket will not be open and there will be no visitation.
Carpenter Funeral Home in North Platte is in care of arrangements.