Post Staff – Page 667 – North Platte Post Archive

Ex-teacher accused in student touching case takes plea deal

Posted on February 11, 2017

FRANKLIN, Neb. (AP) — A former Franklin Public Schools teacher accused of sex abuse has taken a plea deal and been convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a child.

Online court records say 29-year-old Eric Rybacki is scheduled to be sentenced March 27. He pleaded no contest to the two counts. In January of last year, he’d been charged with seven counts of sex assault, five of intentional child abuse and nine counts of misdemeanor assault. Those charges later were changed to two charges of child abuse, which were changed later to the counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child.

A court document says several girls reported that between Aug. 13 and Dec. 18, 2015, Rybacki would pick them up or touch them inappropriately. He quit on Jan. 27, 2016.

Aksarben Stock Show leaving Omaha for Grand Island this year

Posted on February 11, 2017

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The nation’s largest 4-H livestock show is relocating from Omaha to Fonner Park in Grand Island, where the Nebraska State Fair runs.

The Aksarben Foundation sponsors the Aksarben Stock Show, which began its Omaha run in 1928.

The foundation’s Kevin Kock says moving to Grand Island will help the event expand. Last year it drew nearly 1,100 4-H participants from surrounding states. Kock says the Fonner Park facilities offer more room than Omaha’s CenturyLink Center, which has hosted the show since opening in 2003.

This year’s stock show will be held from Sept. 28 through Oct. 1.

A professional rodeo has run with the show since 1947, but Kock says a contract for the 2017 rodeo hasn’t been signed yet.

Bald eagle sightings soar in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa

Posted on February 11, 2017

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Once near extinction, the bald eagle population is seeing a spike in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

Warm temperatures ahead mean the birds are following their waterfowl prey as they head north. Joel Jorgensen, Nebraska Game and Parks’ nongame bird program manager, says the migration makes it prime time for eagle-viewing.

The Game and Parks department documented a record 162 active bald eagle nests in 2016, a huge jump from when the state recorded its first active nest in about a century in 1991.

Jorgensen says the eagle population will flourish as long as illegal shooting of the birds is minimized and the pesticide DDT stays banned. Bald eagles are protected by federal law.

School board OKs terms on $5M gift for stadium renovation

Posted on February 11, 2017

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Grand Island school board has approved terms for a proposed $5 million donation earmarked for renovation of the district’s Memorial Stadium.

The agreement with Lanny Martin and the Martin family was accepted by the board Thursday. The field will be renamed Jack Martin Field for the father of Lanny and his siblings. Jack Martin taught at the senior high and for years was timekeeper for the school’s football and basketball games.

The stadium was completed in 1947 and served as a memorial to Hall County veterans who were killed during World War II. The stadium will retain its name.

The Grand Island Public Schools Foundation and the school district each will contribute about $2 million, providing around $9 million for the project.

Omaha, Lincoln officials oppose Nebraska gun-rights bill

Posted on February 11, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials in Omaha and Lincoln are raising concerns about a Nebraska bill that would overturn various local gun regulations in favor of statewide policies.

Elected city leaders and Omaha’s police union voiced opposition Friday to the proposal, which supporters say would eliminate a patchwork of local rules.

Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln says he sponsored the bill to keep lawful gun owners from unintentionally violating a city ordinance, such possession in Omaha without registering with their weapon.

Omaha Police Sgt. Aaron Hanson says the registry plays a crucial role in his department’s law enforcement efforts, as do local rules designed to clamp down on gun violence.

Senators tried to pass a similar measure last year but fell one vote short of the support needed to overcome a legislative filibuster.

Nebraska lawmaker pushes hospice for lethal fetal anomalies

Posted on February 11, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska senator is pushing for doctors to provide information about support and hospice care to expecting parents who learn their unborn child is likely to die within three months of birth.

Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston says her measure makes a difficult situation easier for parents. Several self-described “warrior moms” whose infants had died before or shortly after birth spoke in favor of the bill at a legislative committee hearing Friday.

The Nebraska Medical Association and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland initially opposed the measure because of language implying doctors would be required to share this information. Albrecht says that language was unintentional and she plans to introduce an amendment clarifying there is no mandate.

Omaha man accused of running down clerk to stand trial

Posted on February 10, 2017

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors say a man charged with second-degree murder told friends that he used his pickup to fatally run down an Omaha convenience store clerk last month.

Police testified Friday in 45-year-old Dirk Blume’s preliminary hearing Friday that two friends of Blume’s say he confessed to them in the days after the Jan. 7 incident that he had run over 40-year-old Seth Hansen.

A detective testified Friday that one friend said Blume had stopped by the convenience store where Hansen worked seeking a can of chewing tobacco. Police say when Hansen told Blume the store was closed and refused to reopen it, an argument ensued.

Police say Blume’s pickup was seen on surveillance video taken outside the store where Hansen was killed.

Blume was ordered Friday to stand trial.

Dad gets jail for attacking son’s victor at wrestling meet

Posted on February 10, 2017

BEAVER CITY, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska dad accused of attacking a 17-year-old wrestler who defeated his son has been sentenced to four days in jail.

Stacey Micheel, of Ainsworth, also was given 12 months of probation at his sentencing Thursday in Beaver City. Micheel had pleaded no contest as part of a deal with prosecutors. He’d originally been charged with felony child abuse.

Prosecutors say Micheel grabbed an Amherst High School wrestler by the neck and slammed him to the ground on Feb. 13 last year at a tournament in Cambridge. Micheel told investigators that the teen made a disparaging remark about pinning his son.

Dr. Morris F. “Fritz” Skinner Jr.

Posted on February 10, 2017

Dr. Morris F. “Fritz” Skinner Jr., 83, of Gothenburg, died unexpectedly Feb. 4, 2017, in Callaway.

Fritz was born on May 6, 1933, in Ainsworth to Morris and Marie Skinner. As Morris Sr. was employed as a paleontologist for Child’s Frick of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Fritz’ upbringing was unique. The family spent many weekends and long summer hours at dig sites across the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming and other states. Fritz and his sister, Barbara, attended school in Ainsworth each year until late fall, when the whole family would move to New York City. Morris and Marie completed their cataloguing and research at the American Museum of Natural History while Barb and Fritz attended New York public school in Manhattan. In the spring, the family would move back to Nebraska, where Morris and Marie would resume their work in the field and the children would return to the Ainsworth school system.

Fritz graduated from Ainsworth High School in 1951, University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1954 and University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1958, when polio was still a major concern and the iron lung was still in common use. His internship and general practice residency were completed in San Bernardino, California.

He entered the U.S. Navy in 1961 and completed his orthopedic residency at the Naval Hospitals in Bethesda, Maryland, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. His military career included service on the USS Oklahoma City in Vietnam (1968-69) and at the Naval Hospitals at Camp Pendleton and Oakland, California, achieving the rank of commander.

Following discharge, the majority of his orthopedic career was spent in private practice in San Clemente, Mission Viejo and San Diego, California.

Among other achievements, he was one of the first surgeons to successfully complete the reimplantation of a traumatically severed forearm. He retired and moved back to Nebraska in 1998, where he continued a conservative non-operative orthopedic practice in Ainsworth and performed Disability Determination Examinations through the Bainbridge Orthopedic Clinic in Grand Island.

He married Carol Friedman in 1966, and they had one son, Robert.

After Fritz moved to Nebraska, he met and married Dr. Carol Shackleton in 2004 and resided in Gothenburg.

Over the years, he had been very active in various orthopedic associations, Lions Club, Rotary and the American Medical Association. He adored camping and spent many memorable trips with his son to the Mexican Baja and with Dr. Carol in their fifth wheel, traveling from Mississippi to Montana, Minnesota to Texas, Kentucky to California. In addition, they took trips to Costa Rica, Alaska, Hawaii and Europe and made numerous trips to the lake cabin in Minnesota.

His other passion was horses, riding for pleasure in California and participating in team penning rodeo activities in Ainsworth. He freely shared his love of paleontology, geology and orthopedics with friends old and new.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Morris and Marie, and one niece, Theresa Lamb.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Carol; son, Robert (Meghan) Skinner; three grandchildren, Natalie, Amanda and Koby Skinner; sister, Barbara Lamb; niece, Marcia (Ed) Dawson; nephew, Tom Lamb; and a multitude of grateful patients.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Presbyterian Church of Gothenburg or Gothenburg Health Foundation.

Services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the First Presbyterian Church of Gothenburg, with a luncheon to follow. Book signing will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, at Blase-Strauser Memorial Chapel, Gothenburg, which is in charge of arrangements.

Patricia Ann (McConnell) Jones

Posted on February 10, 2017

Patricia Ann (McConnell) Jones, 84, passed away Feb. 8, 2017.

Pat, or Patty to many, was born on Sept. 5, 1932, in her grandparent’s home, northwest of Hershey. She attended O’Fallons School and graduated on May 17, 1950. Following graduation, she worked at the Municipal Light and Power in North Platte.

Jim and Pat first met at the Lincoln County Fair. After a few other run-ins, they decided to write one another, as Jim was soon to be deployed. Their love grew as the letters were exchanged. They were married on May 23, 1953. Following the war, they settled down in Maxwell.

In January 1957, while attending the First Baptist church in Maxwell, Pat made a decision that would change the course of her life and impact generations to come. She realized her need of salvation and accepted the Lord as her Savior. As a result, church attendance and reading God’s word were important priorities she passed on to her family. Punctuality was also valued, so she always made sure her family was early to church and never, never late.

When the Interstate Highway system decided to put a highway right through the middle of their small farm, it was time to move. Jim, Pat and their three young sons, Gordon, Steven and Vernon, moved to Custer County in 1963. Three years later, Gregg rounded out the family. For the next 54 years until the day of her passing, Pat would make Ash Creek Ranch on the South Loup River her home.

Pat was known for a generous spirit in her home, community and church. It was a joy for her to be her husband’s help-mate. She had the gift of hospitality and cooked many meals not only for her family, but also visitors and missionaries from far and near.

Lincoln became a second home for 12 years, when she accompanied Jim as he served as state senator. While there, she was a member of the Ladies League, a charitable organization of senator’s wives. She served as the president and secretary for a time.

Pat loved her family very much and, as III John 1:4 states, she had “no greater joy than to hear that her (my) children walk in truth.”

She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Jim, of Broken Bow; her four sons and their wives, Gordon (Jan), of Ellsworth, Steven (Penny), of Mason City, Vernon (Michelle), of Concord, New Hampshire, and Gregg (Stephanie), of Broken Bow; 14 grandchildren, Erin (Jeff) Miller, Melanie (Randy) Rice, Beau and Holly Jones, Sarah (Kevin) Baitey, Ken (Esther) Jones, Mike (Jessica) Jones, Lea, Nathan and Jacob Jones, Chelsey (Jacob) Hueftle, Jonathan (Tess) Jones, Zac (Hannah) Jones and Carrie Jones; nine great-grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Austin and Trenton Miller, Bridger and Gunner Rice, Dakota Jones, Karson Jones, Aiden Hueftle, Kindrea Jones and a baby girl and baby boy who are expected in March and June; her two sisters, Betty Runner and Jane Runner, and her brother, Bruce McConnell, and their spouses; and a host of nieces and nephews.

Services will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Broken Bow Berean Church. Burial will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 13, at Fort McPherson National Cemetery near Maxwell. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the family present, from 5-7 p.m. today, Feb. 10, at Govier Brothers Mortuary, Broken Bow, which is in charge of arrangements.