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Marine’s remains buried in Grand Island 72 years after death

marine-corpsGRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The remains of a Marine from Grand Island have been buried in a local cemetery 72 years after his death during World War II.

The remains of Marine Pvt. Dale Robert Geddes were buried in Grand Island City Cemetery on Monday.

Geddes died on Nov. 20, 1943, as Americans fought to capture the Japanese-controlled island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. About 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed, with another 2,000 wounded during the three-day battle.

Geddes was buried in what eventually became known as the “Lost Cemetery.” The U.S. government informed his family at one point that recovering his body wouldn’t be likely.

Members of his family and numerous Grand Island residents, including veterans, attended the memorial ceremony.

Officials: Man dies in crash at Gretna intersection

sarpy-co.-sheriffGRETNA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one person has died in a crash near Gretna.

Sarpy County law enforcement officials say two vehicles were involved in the crash at 216th Street and Cornhusker Road around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday.

Officials say an SUV ran a stop sign at 216th Street and hit a pickup. Investigators say both vehicles ran off the road into an adjacent field.

The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office says the driver of the SUV died at the scene, while the driver of the truck was not injured. Officials say the drivers were the only occupants of the vehicles.

Both drivers were men. Their names have not yet been released.

US Mint designs 3 coins for Boys Town’s 100th anniversary

boys-townBOYS TOWN, Neb. (AP) — Three U.S. coins will be released next year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Boys Town.

The U.S. Mint unveiled the designs of the coins on Tuesday.

One will feature a portrait of Father Edward Flanagan, who founded Boys Town as an orphanage for boys in 1917. The organization has grown into a nonprofit that houses 400 troubled boys and girls on its Omaha campus.

Other coins will feature oak trees and scenes of young children seeking shelter.

A limited number of the $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins and half dollar coins are scheduled to be released next year.

Flanagan was depicted in the Academy Award-winning 1938 movie “Boys Town.”

2 NP schools placed on ‘lockout’ as precaution Tuesday morning

Two North Platte schools were placed on lockout this morning as law enforcement searched for a woman wanted on warrants.

According to Investigator John Deal, Lincoln Elementary School and Madison Middle School were placed on lockout, which is different from a lockdown, at around 11:15 this morning.

The measure was taken because an officer had placed two local children in protective custody, and the mother, who was wanted on warrants, was being sought by police.

The woman had reportedly told police that she was going to get her children from school, and officers felt the two schools should be placed on lockout to ensure the woman could not contact her children.

Deal says there was never a threat to any students and, at 12:00 p.m., school officials were notified they could resume business as usual after the woman was contacted and placed under arrest.  Deal said she did not attempt to approach either of the schools.

School officials contacted parents via email to notify them that the lockout had occurred and ensure them that their students were safe and the learning process was uninterrupted.

LOCKOUT VS. LOCKDOWN

The differentiation between Lockout and Lockdown is a critical element in School Resource Policing.

A Lockout recovers all students from outside the building, secures the building perimeter and locks all outside doors. This would be implemented when there is a threat or hazard outside of the building. Criminal activity, dangerous events in the community, or even a vicious dog on the playground would be examples of a Lockout response. While the Lockout response encourages greater staff situational awareness, it allows for educational practices to continue with little classroom interruption or distraction.

Lockdown is a classroom-based protocol that requires locking the classroom door, turning off the lights and placing students out of sight of any corridor windows. Student action during Lockdown is to remain quiet. It does not mandate locking outside doors. There are several reasons for not locking perimeter doors during a Lockdown. The risk is increased to students or staff in exposed areas attempting to lock outside doors. Locking outside doors inhibits entry of first responders and increases risk as responders attempt to breach doors.

 

E. Dean Niedan

dean

E. Dean Niedan, age 76, of North Platte, NE, left his earthly home on Sunday, August 21, 2016, after a long struggle with Multiple Myeloma.

Dean, as he was commonly known, was born the third of four children to Henry and Irene Niedan on November 8, 1939, at the family farm homestead, located 12 miles Southeast of Midland, SD. He attended rural schools, graduating from Murdo High School in 1957 then attended the University of South Dakota. Here he met the love of his life, Jean Lange, from Yankton, SD. They were married on July 6, 1958, in Yankton and to this union three daughters, Terri, Cindi and Julie, were born.

Dean was baptized and confirmed at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Midland, SD and was a devout Missouri Synod Lutheran with a steadfast faith in God. He was deeply involved as a member of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, and was one of the founders of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, serving on numerous boards and committees of both churches.

First and foremost, Dean’s passion was his family, longtime friends, and farming. He enjoyed being outdoors, and liked taking elk hunting trips to Wyoming and fishing trips to South Dakota and Canada.

Dean began his insurance and finance career with Auto Bankers in Rapid City, SD then as a lending officer at Northwestern National Bank in Luverne, MN. In 1964, he accepted a position with McDonald State Bank in North Platte. Dean and his brother, Ken, were instrumental in the charter of Hershey State Bank in 1968. Later, they acquired the Farmers State Bank in Wallace, NE. They also chartered the American State Savings Company and American Security Bank in North Platte and American State Bank (now AmFirst Bank) in McCook, NE. Consolidating their interests, the American State Bank was sold. Ken retained ownership of the Hershey State Bank and Dean retained ownership of Farmers State Bank. Dean and his wife, Jean, established the American Agency and American Mortgage Company in North Platte (which was recently sold). Over his 50+ years of banking, Dean received various accolades and awards with the most important of these being the respect and commitment of his customers.

Throughout Dean’s life, he served on various civic organizations including the North Platte City Council, past President and member of the North Platte Rotary Club, past President and member of the North Platte Chamber of Commerce, and board member of the Nebraska Bankers Mortgage Association board and 50 year member of the Nebraska Bankers Association. He was always very active in promoting North Platte, in particular the business community.

Dean was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Irene Niedan and his sister, Carolyn Berg.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Jean, of 58 years; three daughters, Terri (Gerry) Krolikowski, of Lincoln, Cindi Hill, of North Platte and Julie (Bill) Serritella, of Bristol WI; grandchildren, Tiffany (Scott) Schendt, of Gretna, NE, Melissa Smidt, of Lincoln, Ashley (Justin) Cleveland and Brandon Hill, of North Platte and Shelby and Dean Serritella, of Bristol, WI; great-grandchildren, Alex, Avery and Aiden Schendt, Jacy, Logan, and Landon Cleveland, and Brynley Bottorf; two brothers Ken (Connie) Niedan, of Hershey and Gordon (Judy) Niedan, of Sioux Falls, SD; and brothers-in-law Dick Berg, of Littleton, CO, and Roger (Jackie) Lange, of Longmont, CO. Dean is also a cherished uncle to his nephews, nieces and his many close lifetime friends.

Dean’s Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2016, in North Platte at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church with Pastor Bob Deardoff officiating. A private family burial will be in the North Platte Cemetery.

The casket will be closed. The memorial book may be signed at odeanchapel.com or from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at Odean Colonial Chapel at C & Sycamore, which is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to be given to Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church or the Callahan Cancer Center in North Platte.

The family would like to thank Dr. Vaziri and his staff for the loving care they provided to Dean during this past year.

Appeals court: Lincoln officers should not have stopped man

federal-court-of-appealsOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court says Lincoln police did not have reasonable suspicion to stop and detain a man who says he was injured in the stop.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion Tuesday reverses the ruling of a federal judge, who last year dismissed Leroy Duffie’s lawsuit against the city of Lincoln and several police officers.

Police say the 2011 stop stemmed from a report hours earlier of a young man in a van similar to Duffie’s with what appeared to be a handgun.

But the appeals court says given Nebraska’s law allowing the open-carry of guns, that incident could not be construed as a crime. Therefore, the officers did not have reasonable suspicion that Duffie had or was going to commit a crime when he was stopped.

Thurston County to display ‘In God We Trust’ in courthouse

commons.wikimedia.org
commons.wikimedia.org

PENDER, Neb. (AP) — A divided Thurston County Board of Supervisors has decided to add the motto “In God We Trust” on a prominent place in the county courthouse.

The supervisors voted 4-2 on Monday to put the phrase in letters of a readable size in the boardroom of the courthouse.

Valentine resident Barb Otto spoke to the board Monday before they voted. Otto is traveling the state to encourage county elected officials to add the religious-motivated phrase in public buildings.

Supervisor Darren Wolfe says displaying the motto isn’t good public policy because it violates the separation of church and state.

A conservative legal defense organization called the Pacific Justice Institute is ready to defend any lawsuit that would be filed against the county taking that step.

Authorities ID woman killed in crash near Malcolm

fatal-accidentLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a woman who was fatally injured when her vehicle struck the back of a dump truck near Malcolm.

The woman died Monday afternoon after her sport utility vehicle hit the truck, which had stopped on a gravel road and was waiting to turn into a construction site.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says rescue workers tried to revive the woman and called for a medical helicopter, but she died at the scene.

The Sheriff’s Office identified her as 74-year-old Veda Beckman, who lived in rural Pleasant Dale. The truck driver was identified as 55-year-old Madonna Rairigh, of Crete, who wasn’t injured.

Man faces homicide charge in Nebraska Panhandle crash

Joshua Bolzer
Joshua Bolzer

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A 23-year-old man has been charged with vehicular homicide and drunken driving in the crash of a pickup on the west side of Mitchell in the Nebraska Panhandle.

Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney for Joshua Bolzer, who was formally charged Monday in Scotts Bluff County Court in Gering. Authorities say he was driving the truck early Saturday morning when it went out of control on U.S. Highway 26. The truck struck a utility pole, a tractor, and a liquor store.

A passenger, 19-year-old Dereon Betancur, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other 19-year-old passengers were taken to a Scottsbluff hospital. Authorities say one of them reported that Bolzer had been driving 120 mph or more just before the crash.

4 people in pickup hospitalized after it was hit by bus near Columbus

platte-county-sheriffCOLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say four people in a pickup were treated at a hospital after the truck was struck by a school bus.

The accident occurred around 4 p.m. Monday on a county road about three miles north of Columbus. Platte County Sheriff’s Lt. Kevin Schuller says the westbound bus was full of students from Shell Creek Elementary when their driver didn’t stop in time to avoid hitting the pickup. The truck driver had stopped and was waiting to turn south.

Schuller says none of the students or their driver was injured. Four of the five people in the pickup were sent to a hospital.

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