Post Staff – Page 705 – North Platte Post Archive

Project aimed at easing Scotts Bluff County Jail crowding

Posted on January 14, 2017

GERING, Neb. (AP) — Scotts Bluff County commissioners tentatively have approved a more than $4 million project to help alleviate overcrowding at the county jail in Gering.

The plans discussed Thursday include a 10-bed medical unit and a relocation of the administrator offices that will provide room for eight inmate beds.

The project will be paid for with $1.1 million from the county capital improvement fund and a $3 million bond issue. The board had been considering an $11 million expansion project.

Omaha group plans $125M downtown development

Posted on January 14, 2017

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A group of Omaha’s civic leaders has drawn up plans for an estimated $125 million mixed-use development in the heart of north downtown.

The development will be on an 8-acre lot across from the CenturyLink Center. A committee has spent nearly a year studying the site, which will be transformed into restaurants, stores, apartments, open space and possibly a hotel.

A final report on the project was sent this week to the city and the group.

Leaders seem to have resolved the issue of parking which has been an obstacle to the long-imagined project. Plans call for a new garage and other replacement parking for the 850 stalls that currently exist on the site.

What are the odds? Mom, dad, son all share a birthday

Posted on January 14, 2017

Luke and Hillary Gardner never have a problem remembering each other’s birthday. They were born the same day. So was their infant son, 27 years later this past December.

Experts say the odds of that are about one in 133,000.

Luke Gardner, an assistant pastor at a Baptist church in northeast Mississippi, says he and his wife weren’t even aiming for a December birthday for son Cade Lee Gardner. It just happened.

Gardner joked that if he and Hillary Gardner decide to have more children, they may have to try for December.

Police arrest man suspected in Omaha parking lot shooting

Posted on January 14, 2017

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police have arrested a 19-year-old man suspected of shooting an employee in a parking lot of the Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Police said late Thursday that the man was jailed on suspicion of assault, robbery and other crimes. Online court records don’t show that he’s been formally charged.

Police say the man used a shotgun to shoot 37-year-old Jared Clawson early Wednesday and fire at two of Clawson’s co-workers. One of the co-workers says he dodged gunfire in the parking lot when someone drove through, firing more than a dozen shots.

Kansas making new guidelines for handling wildlife pets

Posted on January 14, 2017

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is working on new guidelines for how to handle situations where a wild animal is being kept as a pet after game wardens were criticized for shooting a family’s pet deer.

It is illegal in Kansas to keep a wild animal as a pet. Wildlife officials said they shot the Mark and Kim Mcgaughey family’s deer out of concern it could hurt people or spread disease.

Robin Jennison, secretary of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, says the situation could have been handled better. He wants new policies for similar situations in place quickly.

NPCC Basketball Teams to Host Southeast

Posted on January 13, 2017

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights and Lady Knights basketball teams will host the Southeast Community College Storm on Saturday, January 14, at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on the South Campus of NPCC.

Both games will be Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference games.

The women’s game will be the first contest for both teams in Region IX Division II.

The Lady Storm is 1-12 overall and 0-1 in the NCCAC. Their only win was against Hesston College. The Lady Storm averages 59.6 points per game, while allowing 80.4 ppg for their opponents. Jay’la Brown leads the Lady Storm in scoring at 8.6 ppg and in rebounding at 6.6 rebounds per game.

The Lady Knights are 5-9 on the season. They average 63.9 ppg and allow 64.4 ppg. Thomesha Wilson leads the Lady Knights in scoring at 14.0 ppg and rebounding at 8.0 rpg.

The men’s game does not count in the Region IX standings.

The Storm are 8-8 overall and 0-1 in the NCCAC. The Storm score 82.9 ppg and defensively give up 77.6 ppg.

Bobby Parker leads the Storm in scoring at 15.1 ppg. Two other Storm players are averaging in double figures. Taylor Britt is averaging 11.5 ppg and Wesley Nosakhare is averaging 10.4 ppg. Parker and Jalen Wilkins-McCoy lead the Storm in rebounding at 5.5 rpg.

The Knights are 10-3 on the season and have not played an NCCAC game. The Knights are averaging 92.4 ppg and allow 69.8 ppg.

Diontae Champion leads the Knights in scoring at 18.5 ppg. Mike Amius is next on the team at 13.5 ppg. Amius also leads the Knights in rebounding at 6.2 rpg. Three other Knights are averaging in double figure scoring, Samuel Kearns at 11.5 ppg, Godfrey Rolle at 11.2 ppg, and Victor Lewis at 10.4 ppg.

The games will be broadcast on ESPN 1410 radio and on the Internet at www.northplattepost.com. They will also be livestreamed at www.npccknights.com.

Tip-off for the women’s game is at 2 pm CST, with the men’s game to follow at 4 pm CST.

Man accused of embezzling from vehicle dealership

Posted on January 13, 2017

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A former car dealership employee in Scottsbluff has been accused of embezzling more than $113,000 while working there.

Court documents say 58-year-old Terry Weddle was arrested last week on a charge of felony theft. A phone listed for him is no longer in service. It’s unclear whether Weddle has an attorney who could comment for him.

The documents say the owner of Fremont Motor told police that Weddle had written and signed unauthorized checks from July 2014 through last month.

North Platte man accused of intentional child abuse again

Posted on January 13, 2017

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A North Platte man who was accused of child abuse in 2009 has been charged in a new case.

Online court records say 31-year-old James Coleman Jr. is charged with four counts of felony intentional child abuse. A phone listed for him is no longer in service. The court records don’t list the name an attorney who could comment for him. Coleman’s arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 8.

The new case began June 4, when hospital doctors told police about several fractured ribs and a skull fracture they found on Coleman’s 2-month-old baby, who’d been taken to the hospital.

Court records say Coleman was charged with intentional child abuse causing injury in 2009. He pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of misdemeanor assault and was given 12 months’ probation.

Getaway driver sentenced for Kearney credit union robbery

Posted on January 13, 2017

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The man who drove two others back to Chicago after they robbed a Kearney credit union has been sent to prison.

Clifton Hudson was sentenced Thursday to 16½ years and ordered to pay nearly $123,000 in restitution jointly with co-defendants Patrick Wigley and Thomas Dunlap. Hudson had pleaded guilty.

Wigley was sentenced to 17½ years and Dunlap was given 11 years for their roles in the Oct. 17, 2014, robbery of the Kearney Federal Credit Union.

Authorities say Hudson was living in Kearney when Dunlap and Wigley traveled there the day before the robbery. Hudson drove the two to the credit union office, drove them away afterward and soon took them back to Chicago, where they divided their haul.

Carl J. Waak

Posted on January 13, 2017

Carl J. Waak, 92, of North Platte, passed away January 11, 2017, at Great Plains Health. Carl was born on April 22, 1924, in Polk, Nebraska to Carl F. and Freida (Stach) Waak. He graduated from Polk High School in 1942. He was united in marriage to Marlys Crewdson on April 29, 1945. He was a salesman for Briggs Pump Company for over 30 years. He was a faithful member of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church and was an avid golfer, especially at Lake Maloney Golf Course.

Carl was preceded in death by his wife, Marlys; and parents. He is survived by a son, Terry (Ellen) Waak of Lincoln; a daughter, Lynn (Don) Feldman of Charleston, South Carolina; a brother, LeMoyne (Vera) Waak of Michigan; four grandchildren, Keri (Danny) Chambers, Joel Waak, Greg (Heather) Feldman and Jessica (Josh) Blackstone; four great grandchildren, Haley and Grace Chambers, Dylan and Julia Feldman.

Memorials are suggested to the Our Redeemer Building Fund or Our Redeemer School. Online condolences may be shared at carpentermemorial.com. Services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, January 16, 2017 at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church with the Reverend Robert Wiest officiating. Burial will be at Floral Lawns Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be one hour prior to the services at the church. Carpenter Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.