Leonard James “Jim” Meston, age 72 of North Platte and formerly of Broken Bow passed away January 30, 2018 at Linden Court. He was born November 30, 1945 at Broken Bow, NE to Adrian D. “Bud” and Louanna Belle (Thompson) Meston. Jim attended Broken Bow High School and lived most of his life in the Broken Bow area. He worked for the city of Broken Bow, IBP, and most recently for Sapp Brothers. He was united in marriage to Sharron Petersen on July 26, 1994 and they moved to North Platte in 2012. Jim enjoyed auto detailing, and watching the Nebraska and Oklahoma football rivalry.
Survivors include his wife, Sharron, daughter, Stephanie (Dave) Anderson, grandchildren, Ashley (Kyle) Wolfe, Jordan (fiancé Tabatha) Anderson, Jacob Anderson, Jalissa, Brooke, Jimmy Jr., Madison, and Nevaeh Meston, great-grandchildren, Brylee Rose Meston and Ryker Wolfe, step-children, Michael (Mary) Petersen, Robert (Lori) Petersen, Scott (Sarah) Petersen, Calvin Petersen, and Michael Oliver, brother, Jerry (Cheryl) Meston, sister, Linda (Raymond) Baxter, his beloved dog, Max, and other relatives.
He was preceded in death by his parents, son, Jimmy D. Meston, siblings, Betty (Bob) Liles, Laura Belle Ferguson, Edna Mae Brooks, Ada Lou Naylor, and Bud Lee Meston. Memorial services will be 11:00 am Saturday, February 3, 2018 at Harvest Christian Fellowship. Cremation was chosen. Inurnment will be at a later date in Broken Bow. Those wishing to sign the memorial book may do so from 9:00 am to 5pm Thursday and Friday at Carpenter Memorial Chapel which is in care of arrangements. A memorial has been established in his memory. Online condolences may be shared at www.carpentermemorial.com
The North Platte Community Playhouse is pleased to announce that their third production of the 2017/2018 season, Willy Wonka the Musical, will open on February 9, 2018.
The delicious adventures experienced by Charlie Bucket on his visit to Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory light up the stage in this captivating adaptation of Roald Dahl’s fantastical tale. Featuring the enchanting songs from the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder and new songs by Leslie Bricusse (Jekyll & Hyde, Doctor Dolittle) and Anthony Newley, Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka is a scrumdidilyumptious musical guaranteed to delight everyone’s sweet tooth.
Performances are February 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18, with Friday and Saturday performances beginning at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday performances beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.northplattecommunityplayhouse.com, at the Playhouse Box Office, Monday-Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., or at the door prior to any performance. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for children and students. Special group rates are available for groups of ten or more. Ticket sales begin Monday, February 5.
Willy Wonka is directed by Scott Carlson with Music Director Sue McKain.
This production is made possible by the support of Nebraskaland National Bank, The Nebraska Arts Council, The Nebraska Cultural Endowment for the Arts and NPCP Patrons.
For more information visit the Playhouse website and like them on Facebook.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Five Catholic women who were excommunicated from the Diocese of Lincoln in the 1990s due to their membership in a group that pushes for changes in church policies pertaining to women could be allowed to fully participate in services again.
Lincoln Bishop James Conley is offering the five women the opportunity to lift their excommunications on an individual basis.
The women are members of Call to Action, a national organization that calls for the Catholic Church to reform its policies related to women’s ordinations, LGBTQ rights, and other issues.
Then-Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz issued a blanket excommunication of the group in 1996, calling their actions “perilous” to the Catholic faith.
Call to Action members have been working to overturn the excommunication for more than two decades. The group even went to the Vatican in 2006 but wasn’t successful.
Conley, two diocesan officials, and the five women have been discussing lifting the excommunication and making changes within the diocese since September 2016.
“Mostly what’s been happening is sharing our own Catholic journey: why we’re Catholic and how we’re Catholic,” said Patty Hawk, who has practiced in a neighboring diocese since she was excommunicated from Lincoln’s. “We’ve talked a lot about that pain that surrounded the excommunication and just tried to understand each other better.”
Conley’s decision won’t lift the group’s blanket excommunication and only applies to the five women. It will allow them to continue being involved with Call to Action while also taking part in communion and other church sacraments.
“Bishop Conley just desires all Catholics to be in union, so he wants to make that possible for as many people as possible,” said Rev. Nicholas Kipper, spokesman for the Diocese of Lincoln.
The overturning of their excommunication is a sign that engaging in difficult conversations with people of different views can lead to a positive result, Hawk said.
“It matters,” Hawk said. “And it doesn’t just matter in this context; it could be a model for how we can talk across political and social divides in the world right now.”
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — BNSF railroad is planning to invest $3.3 billion in its railroad again this year.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad said Wednesday it plans to match last year’s spending on maintenance projects and upgrades to its rail network.
BNSF plans to spend $2.4 billion to maintain and repair its rail network and locomotives. That will include rehabilitating 13,000 miles of track.
The railroad’s plans also include investing about $500 million to expand capacity.
BNSF says it is nearly done with the installation of the automatic braking system federal officials required. So the railroad plans to spend only about $100 million on that system this year.
BNSF is owned by Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. BNSF operates 32,500 miles of track in 28 western states and three Canadian provinces.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered an Omaha man to stand trial in the fatal shootings of his parents and niece in a case that could see him facing the death penalty.
Forty-six-year-old John Dalton Jr. was ordered to stand trial Wednesday following his preliminary hearing. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and four weapon charges in the Dec. 26 deaths of 70-year-old John Dalton Sr., 65-year-old Jean Dalton and 18-year-old Leonna Dalton-Phillip. Police say another niece — a 6-year-old girl — hid under a couch and was able to identify John Dalton Jr. as the shooter.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine says his office still is looking at evidence to decide whether to pursue the death penalty.
Police say they arrested Dalton on Dec. 27 in Jackson, Tennessee.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts pitched a new version of his property and income tax plan to lawmakers on Wednesday but acknowledged that it still needs some work to pass this year.
Ricketts stressed the need for compromise in his remarks to the Legislature’s Revenue Committee, which will consider several competing plans from rural lawmakers who want to focus purely on property taxes.
“We’ve got to all work together,” Ricketts said. “Not everybody’s going to get what they want, but that’s the nature of compromise.”
The latest version of the governor’s plan won a key endorsement from the Nebraska Farm Bureau and other agricultural groups, although some farm advocates remain staunchly opposed. Critics argue the plan favors the wealthy and doesn’t do enough to address property taxes that have soared since 2006.
Ricketts and the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion, both described the bill as a “work in progress” but painted it as an effort to unite business and farm organizations that have been at odds over which taxes to cut.
“I think it’s in everyone’s best interests to try to find a path forward,” said Smith, chairman of the Revenue Committee.
The bill would eliminate Nebraska’s existing property tax credit program, which benefits all property owners regardless of whether they live in the state, and shift the money into a new credit that only helps resident homeowners and agricultural land owners. Corporations would lose their property tax savings but would receive income tax cuts.
A previous version of the measure would also have paid for the property tax credits using leftover money from years when the state collects more revenue than projected. The new plan eliminates those so-called revenue triggers, requiring instead that lawmakers draw about $45 million from the state’s cash reserve this year and adjust for lost revenue in the future.
Under the new plan, resident homeowners would get an income tax credit equal to 12 percent of their property tax bill in 2018, capped at $280. Those numbers would increase gradually until hitting a cap of 30 percent in 2031. The maximum savings at that time would be $780.
Residents who own farm- or ranchland would get a refund equal to 10 percent of their property tax bill as well, with no cap. The percentage would increase at the same rate as the residential tax credit.
The bill would also phase down Nebraska’s top individual income tax bracket, from 6.84 percent to 6.69 percent. Nebraska’s corporate income tax rate would drop from 7.81 percent to 6.69 percent for all taxable income beyond $100,000.
Additionally, the plan would commit $10 million to job training programs.
Some senators on the committee voiced criticism of the plan, noting that the changes made it difficult to know how much it would cost the state.
“My fear is that such steep cuts would leave future legislatures with no option but to raise sales taxes,” said Sen. Burke Harr of Omaha.
Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson said his organization was “generally supportive” of the refundable income tax credits proposed in the measure, but only if they increased to 30 percent of the total tax burden over time.
“While the changes outlined are not perfect, we recognize we are in an ongoing conversation about how best to arrive at property tax relief, and these conversations will continue,” Nelson said.
Nelson and some farm groups have said they’re likely to pursue a property tax ballot measure if lawmakers don’t act this year.
Al Davis, a former state senator now representing the Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska, said the plan doesn’t fix the rising property tax rates that have hurt ranchers throughout the state.
Scott Wagner, a farmer from Hooper, Nebraska, said lawmakers and advocates have spent too much time arguing the issue without major results.
“Instead of bickering about what we should or shouldn’t be doing, let’s figure out the answers,” he said.
Members of the Revenue Committee ended the hearing without taking action on the bill. Smith said they could begin a general discussion of this year’s major tax bills as early as next week.
MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A judge has convicted a Norfolk woman accused of killing her 4-year-old daughter.
Judge James Kube rendered his verdict Wednesday in Madison County District Court after the nonjury trial of 23-year-old Carla Montoya. The charge was intentional child abuse resulting in death. Her sentencing is scheduled for March 15.
Prosecutors say Montoya told police she became angry at her daughter, Caylee, and tossed her into a bed three times on March 12, 2016, and that the girl may have hit her head on the bed frame or a wall. The girl died days later in an Omaha hospital.
SCHUYLER, Neb. (AP) — A Schuyler man has been given four months in jail for the crash death of a passenger in his pickup truck.
Court records say Jesus Vasquez De La Cruz was sentenced last week in Colfax County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest to manslaughter after prosecutors dropped other charges. He also must pay $5,000 in restitution.
Authorities say he was driving the pickup in April 2016 when it went out of control on a rural road north-northwest of Schuyler. His passenger, 24-year-old Moises Aguilar-Aguilar, was fatally injured.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol is investigating the knifing of an inmate at a Lincoln prison.
Prison officials say the attack occurred early Sunday afternoon at the Lincoln Correctional Center. The prisoner was stabbed several times with a homemade knife and hospitalized.
Deidra Loyd says her grandson, Mikael Loyd, nearly died and had undergone surgery.
Mikael Loyd was convicted of second-degree murder for the 2013 strangling of his 19-year-old girlfriend, Melissa Rodriguez. He dumped her body in an open cemetery grave in Omaha. The 23-year-old has been serving a sentence of 30 to 35 years.
Prison officials did not release the name of Loyd’s attacker.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill designed to protect consumers from identity theft has won first-round approval from Nebraska lawmakers.
Senators voted 34-0 on Thursday to advance the measure to the second of three required votes.
The proposal would prevent credit reporting companies from charging a fee to impose or lift a security freeze on a consumer’s personal information. It also requires that companies maintain “reasonable security procedures and practices” to protect such information.
Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln says he introduced the bill in response to last year’s security breach at Equifax, which exposed the personal information of 145.5 million Americans, including 700,000 Nebraska residents.
The information exposed included Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and in some cases driver’s license numbers.
Leonard James “Jim” Meston, age 72 of North Platte and formerly of Broken Bow passed away January 30, 2018 at Linden Court. He was born November 30, 1945 at Broken Bow, NE to Adrian D. “Bud” and Louanna Belle (Thompson) Meston. Jim attended Broken Bow High School and lived most of his life in the Broken Bow area. He worked for the city of Broken Bow, IBP, and most recently for Sapp Brothers. He was united in marriage to Sharron Petersen on July 26, 1994 and they moved to North Platte in 2012. Jim enjoyed auto detailing, and watching the Nebraska and Oklahoma football rivalry.
