Post Staff – Page 731 – North Platte Post Archive

North Platte Weather-December 20

Posted on December 20, 2016

Today

Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south southwest in the afternoon.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. South southwest wind 6 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Breezy, with a northwest wind 11 to 16 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 13. Northwest wind 12 to 17 mph decreasing to 6 to 11 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph.

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 44. West wind 6 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.

Thursday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 18.

Friday

Sunny, with a high near 45.

Friday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 18.

Saturday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 41.

Saturday Night

A slight chance of rain and snow before 7pm, then a chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29.

Christmas Day

A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. Breezy.

Sunday Night

A slight chance of snow. Partly cloudy, with a low around 9. Blustery.

Monday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 28.

Nebraska’s 5 presidential electors cast ballots for Trump

Posted on December 19, 2016

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Michael Vadon)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s presidential electors have stuck to their commitment to support Republican Donald Trump.

All five electors cast their votes for the president-elect on Monday in a Capitol ceremony with Gov. Pete Ricketts and Secretary of State John Gale.

A 2014 law requires Nebraska’s at-large electors to support the statewide winner and district electors to vote for their district’s winner. Those who refuse are instantly removed from the position, and Gale is barred from accepting their ballot.

Trump won the popular vote statewide and claimed a majority in all three of Nebraska’s congressional districts. Democrat Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote but lost in the electoral college.

About 40 people convened beneath the Capitol rotunda Monday morning to show opposition to Trump and urge the electors to pick someone else.

Nebraska man killed when tractor he was working on exploded

Posted on December 19, 2016

LINDSAY, Neb. (AP) — A 30-year-old Nebraska man died when the tractor he was working on exploded inside a machine shed on his family’s farm.

The Platte County Sheriff’s office says the incident happened around 9:30 a.m. Monday on a farm outside Lindsay, Nebraska.

The sheriff’s office says the man was working on a tractor when it experienced mechanical issues that caused an explosion.

The man was severely injured and could not be revived. His name wasn’t immediately released Monday.

The accident remains under investigation by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office.

Anyone with additional information regarding this accident is asked to contact the Platte County Sheriff’s Office at 402-564-3229 or Platte County Area Crime Stoppers at 402-563-4000.

Ricketts unveils service improvements for Nebraska benefits

Posted on December 19, 2016

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska residents shouldn’t face as many obstacles when applying for certain public benefits under new reforms unveiled by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

State officials announced Monday that they have made a series of user-friendly changes to the Women, Infants, and Children food benefit program. They also have slashed the wait times to determine whether residents qualify for developmental disability services, from 69 days to an average of 14.

Some of the program changes to the Women, Infants and Children program including paperless processing, extended office hours and a greater focus on face-time with clients.

Ricketts says the changes will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to concentrate more on its core mission of helping residents.

US FDA clears ovarian cancer drug for hard-to-treat disease

Posted on December 19, 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials have approved a new option for some women battling ovarian cancer: a drug that targets a genetic mutation seen in some highly aggressive tumors.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared the drug, Rubraca, from Clovis Oncology Inc. for women in advanced stages of the disease who have already tried at least two chemotherapy drugs. The Clovis drug targets a genetic mutation found in 15 to 20 percent of ovarian cancer patients. The FDA also approved a companion test that screens for the mutation.

About 1 percent of women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in their lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute. This year an estimated 14,240 women will die from the disease in the U.S.

Currently, the disease is treated with surgery or chemotherapy.

Man gets 8-10 years for Madison County crash death

Posted on December 19, 2016

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — A Tilden man has been imprisoned for the crash death of another driver in northeast Nebraska.

Court records say 30-year-old Ryan Tripp was sentenced Friday in Madison County District Court to eight to 10 years. He’d pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide.

Authorities say Tripp had been drinking the night of Nov. 20, 2015, when his eastbound pickup crossed into oncoming traffic on U.S. Highway 275 near Battle Creek and rammed into a westbound pickup. Authorities say 19-year-old Wyatt Andersen, of Ashland, died in the collision. Tripp was treated at a Norfolk hospital.

US women increasingly use pot during pregnancy, study finds

Posted on December 19, 2016

CHICAGO (AP) — U.S. women are increasingly using pot during pregnancy, sometimes for morning sickness. That’s according to an analysis of annual U.S. government drug surveys.

Though the actual numbers are small, researchers and others say the trend raises concerns because of evidence linking the drug with low birth weights and other problems.

In 2014, almost 4 percent of pregnant women said they’d recently used marijuana. That’s up from 2.4 percent in 2002.

The study was published online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A separate study in the same journal found that almost 10 percent of adult marijuana users in the United States have used it at least partly for medical reasons; 20 percent of these users live in states where medical marijuana isn’t legal.

Omaha’s bike-sharing system to double in size by 2019

Posted on December 19, 2016

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s public bicycle-sharing system is set to nearly double in size by 2019.

Heartland B-cycle has partnered with Omaha to increase the system’s size. B-cycle will add 36 stations and 150 bikes. Executive director says they hope to have the first round of new equipment, including 20 bikes, installed next year.

New stations will be placed near existing bus stops and well-populated areas.

City transportation planner Derek Miller says the bike-sharing program will help meet many goals related to Omaha’s plan to provide multiple modes of transportation.

Federal and state grants have provided $1.2 million for the program.

Driver killed in Interstate 80 crash, Nebraska patrol says

Posted on December 19, 2016

OVERTON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a driver has died in the crash of a vehicle on Interstate 80 in south-central Nebraska.

The crash occurred around 5:15 p.m. Friday near the Overton interchange in Dawson County. The Nebraska State Patrol says the eastbound vehicle went out of control, ran into the median and rolled, ending up in the westbound lanes.

The driver was identified as 65-year-old Jesse Gomez Jr., of Lyman. His passenger, 32-year-old Victor Rodriguez-Lira, was treated for minor injuries.

Columbus man died in highway crash, authorities say

Posted on December 19, 2016

MONROE, Neb. (AP) — A Columbus man has died in a highway traffic accident in Platte County.

Authorities say the accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. Friday about four miles east of Monroe along Nebraska Highway 22. The Platte County Sheriff’s Office says an eastbound pickup went out of control while passing another vehicle. The pickup rolled several times and came to rest in a field.

A passenger in the pickup died at the scene. The Sheriff’s Office identified him as 27-year-old Eric Guzman. The pickup driver was taken to a Columbus hospital. He was identified as 28-year-old Ever Gudiel-Hernandez, also of Columbus.