A 25-year-old man is in jail after he allegedly made threats with a knife at a North Platte hotel.

According to North Platte Police Department Public Information Officer Rodney Brown, Officers responded to a disturbance at the Country Inn at around 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday.

Upon arrival, two 27-year-old males told police that Michael Haworth had threatened them with a kitchen knife earlier that morning.  The victims stated that Haworth was intoxicated and attempted to harm them and told them he was going “kill them.”

Following an investigation, Officers found probable cause to arrest Haworth and charge him with Use of a Weapon to Commit a Felony and Terroristic Threats, both felonies.

Haworth was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

(AP) — Nebraska’s two senators joined with 79 others in voting in favor of a measure that reopened the federal government and avoided a financial default.

Sens. Mike Johanns and Deb Fischer, both Republicans, voted in favor Wednesday of the measure worked out by Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The measure was approved 81 to 18. All those voting no are Republicans.

The House now takes up the measure.

(AP) — Officials say 20 people want to become Nebraska’s next commissioner of education.

The applications were officially submitted by Tuesday. An Illinois firm leading the national search has been reaching out to possible candidates ahead of the deadline. They will now continue to interview and vet candidates before presenting the most qualified to the State Board of Education Search Committee.

The committee will dwindle down the list to at least four finalists by early December. Public interviews are tentatively scheduled for a two-day period beginning Dec. 11.

Nebraska’s last Education Commissioner Roger Breed retired this summer.

UPDATE:

North Platte Police arrested Jeremy Zona Wednesday afternoon.  He is being held at the Lincoln County Detention Center on charges of Felony Child Abuse and Possession of Methamphetamine.

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A North Platte woman is facing felony charges after police say she and another individual smoked methamphetamine around two young children.

On October 2nd, North Platte Police responded to a complaint of two individuals smoking meth in the presence of two young children at the Lazy J Motel, 3605 Rodeo Road.

Upon arrival, officers made contact with 33-year-old Jeremy Zona and 23-year-old Dusty Swanson.  Officers discovered evidence of drug use in the room, and subsequently, a hair follicle test was conducted on the children, ages one and two.  The results of the tests were positive for methamphetamine.

On the morning of October 12th, an Officer located Swanson and placed her under arrest on charges of Felony Child Abuse, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Public Information Officer Rodney Brown says the case remains open pending the arrest of Zona.

Swanson was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

(AP) — Remains found near the central Nebraska town of Arnold could be those of an American Indian who may have died more than 250 years ago.

The Custer County Sheriff’s Office was notified Oct. 12 that human remains were eroding from a trench wall on a farm.

The Sheriff’s Office called in the Nebraska State Historical Society, and society associate director Rob Bozell helped remove the remains from the dirt.

Bozell says the remains appear to be those of an American Indian male who died sometime between 1750 and 1850.

The remains and associated artifacts are being held by the society. Experts will try to determine which tribe the man may have belonged to, so the remains can be turned over to the tribe.

(AP) — An Omaha state senator is preparing legislation that would bar students from entering fourth grade if they fail reading proficiency tests in the third grade.

Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh says that if students don’t have a strong foundation in reading, “They cannot succeed in all of their other areas of learning.”

Lautenbaugh’s targeting of social promotion is one of several education proposals he says he plans to introduce in the 2014 legislative session.

Some educators think the idea of holding back a third-grader only because he or she didn’t pass a reading test is misguided and simplistic.

But Lautenbaugh says he thinks “the cost is greater over the long run of letting kids that are set up to fail proceed onward and fail.”

(AP) — Apple is holding an event in San Francisco next week to announce new products — likely updated iPads.

The company announced its most recent iPads around this time last year. The announcement included a smaller version, called the Mini, for the first time.

New iPads would get Apple’s latest operating system for mobile devices, iOS 7. The invitation sent Tuesday includes a graphic that mimics the color scheme in iOS 7.

Next Tuesday’s event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, a venue Apple has often used in the past.

It follows last month’s release of new iPhones with iOS 7 — the 5S model with a fingerprint sensor and a cheaper, 5C model with a variety of color options.

A weekend morning traffic stop on Highway 6 about seven miles west of Palisade led to the arrest of a Chase County woman for 5^th offense Felony Driving Under the Influence (DUI).

Just before 11:00 a.m., Saturday, October 12, NSP dispatch received a call from a concerned motorist reporting a white Jeep SUV all over the roadway. A short time later a trooper observed a vehicle matching the description driving erratically eastbound on Highway 6 near mm 48.  The trooper initiated a traffic stop. Upon approaching the vehicle the trooper smelled the strong odor of alcoholic beverage.

The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, Marci A. Burgess, 46, Wauneta, failed a field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test. Burgess was lodged in the Chase County Jail on a charge of 5^thoffense Felony DUI.

An accident south of North Platte early Tuesday morning has injured two South-Central Nebraska men.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the report of an injury accident on South Cut Creek Road, about one mile north of the Frontier County Line, at around 2:00 a.m.

Upon arrival, Deputies learned that a red 1995 Chevrolet 2500 pickup was southbound on South Cut Creek Road when it went out of control and struck a large cottonwood tree.

Deputies discovered there were to occupants in the vehicle, 20-year-old Jack Perdue of Cambridge and 19-year-old Tayler Jensen of Parks.

Authorities say both men suffered facial lacerations and a multitude of other injuries.

Investigators also found alcohol in the vehicle and believe both occupants had been drinking prior to the crash.

Jensen told Deputies Perdue was driving and was very intoxicated when he lost control and struck the tree.  Perdue denies this allegation.

Officials say the accident will be reviewed by a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Accident Reconstructionist  to determine who was driving.

No citations have been issued at this point.  Neither man was wearing a seatbelt.