(AP) — More than $3 million in cash and land has been donated for wheat research by the University of Nebraska.

The University of Nebraska Foundation will establish the Stumpf Family Research and Development Fund with the $1 million in cash and the 640 acres of land in southwest Nebraska’s Perkins County. The land’s market value has been appraised at more than $2 million.

Marvin Stumpf III, of Grant, made the gift and says it is given in honor of his family and family’s Nebraska heritage.

Ronnie Green is vice chancellor of the university’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and he says the donation will provide researchers, faculty members and students the opportunity to make new discoveries on the Stumpf land.

(AP) — A San Diego-based company says it has acquired and will develop the second phase of a wind energy farm near Broken Bow in central Nebraska.

Sempra U.S. Gas & Power bought the project from Edison Mission Energy, of Santa Ana, Calif. Terms were not disclosed.

Sempra has agreed to buy 43 wind turbines that will provide 75 megawatts of power total. The company says that’s enough electricity to meet the needs of about 40,000 Nebraska homes. The future output has been sold to Nebraska Public Power District.

Construction is expected to begin in December and be finished by late 2014.

Edison Mission has retained ownership and control of the first phase of the project, which includes about 50 turbines generating a total of about 80 megawatts.

(AP) — Organizers of free Honor Flights to Washington, D.C., for Nebraska and western Iowa veterans of the Korean War say they’ve gotten enough cash and pledges to pay for the two flights.

Bill Williams, of Patriotic Productions in Omaha, said Thursday that a $10,000 gift from the Mutual of Omaha Foundation on Wednesday helped him reach the $85,000 needed for an Oct. 29 flight.

On Tuesday the Western Iowa Honor Flight program announced that a $30,000 donation from the Iowa West Foundation would ensure that more than 100 Iowans take their trip on Oct. 30.

On their one-day visits, the veterans will tour the Korean War Memorial and other sites honoring U.S. veterans.

(AP) — The storm system that left Colorado dealing with historic flooding also dropped rain across a large swath of the nation from Wisconsin to Texas helping to alleviate drought conditions in some areas of the country.

The rain has come too late to help most of the corn and soybeans.

The weekly drought monitor released Thursday says 45 percent of the United States is in moderate drought or worse, a decline from 48 percent the week before.

In Iowa, 5 percent of the state is now experiencing no drought an improvement of about two percentage points from the week before.

In Nebraska, the area of the state in extreme drought fell to 11 percent from 21 percent the previous week. It’s the smallest area in extreme drought since July 2012.

(AP) — A man once convicted of killing six members of a western Nebraska family should learn next month whether he can leave the state psychiatric hospital.

Erwin Simants was found guilty of killing the six in 1975 outside Sutherland. The decision was overturned on appeal. Simants later was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to the Lincoln Regional Center, where he’s been held.

A Lincoln County judge is reviewing evidence presented at a recent hearing. He’s expected to rule Oct. 24 on Simants’ bid for freedom.

Robert Lindemeier is Simants’ attorney, and he says four doctors and a treatment team have examined the 67-year-old Simants and have concluded that he’s no longer mentally ill. Lindemeier says that means that, under Nebraska law, Simants is entitled to be released.

Q: Do you think Simants should be released? (Post your answer in the “comments” of this post)

The Nebraska State Patrol Troop C- Grand Island will conduct a night of high visibility patrols in an effort to reduce the potential for serious injury and fatality crashes.

The special enforcement effort designed to remove impaired drivers from Buffalo County roadways will take place throughout the evening and early morning hours of September 26-27. In addition to the high visibility patrols, officers could conduct DUI checkpoints.

The special enforcement effort is paid for thanks in part to a more than $2,000 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS).

(AP) — The thousands of Nebraskans who don’t have health insurance have gotten hints about how much they might pay for federally subsidized plans offered by four insurers under the Affordable Care Act.

James Goddard is director of the health care access program with Nebraska Appleseed, and he says Wednesday’s federal release shows there will be affordable health insurance options when the insurance Marketplace opens Oct. 1.

Wednesday’s federal data release provided just rate averages of low-cost plans for states and smaller areas, depending on age and other circumstances.

In the Lincoln area, for example, the minimum monthly premium for the lowest-cost bronze, silver and gold plans for a 60-year-old will be nearly $419 for bronze, nearly $499 for silver and nearly $581 for gold.

(AP) — A Wyoming man who was twice convicted for unlawfully buying vehicles in Nebraska has been sentenced to prison.

Court records say 53-year-old Thomas Merchant, of Cheyenne, Wyo., on Wednesday was given 12 to 26 years in prison and credited with more than two years already served.

Merchant had been granted a second trial by the Nebraska Supreme Court in March. The court said trial testimony by the director of Nebraska’s Motor Vehicle Industry Licensing Board effectively “instructed the jury on how to make its decision of Merchant’s guilt.”

Merchant originally was convicted last year. Prosecutors say Merchant bought 19 vehicles from the Nebraska Auto Auction in June 2011. The business said the checks Merchant wrote for the vehicles bounced and that Merchant included a fake dealer’s license number on paperwork.

 

Q: 12-26 years, do you think that is an excessive sentence or do you think the time fits the crime? (Let us know your thoughts, post a comment)

Marketing students at North Platte High School will have the opportunity to create a marketing campaign for the launch of a new Mobile App product offered at NebraskaLand National Bank.  The project will turn a classroom lesson into real life marketing and encourage students to apply their knowledge of the marketing mix to a real product.

NebraskaLand National Bank representatives will present the project to Cynthia Elliot’s Marketing Class on Thursday, September 26 at 9:30 a.m.  Students will compete to create the winning launch campaign.  The Bank will select a winner and feature the winning students’ ideas in the promotions for the Mobile App product.

“NebraskaLand National Bank is excited to work with the students on this project.  It can be a challenge to keep students engaged.  This lesson will give them an opportunity to apply what they are learning in a real life industry.  The competition will provide a little extra motivation for them to be creative and practice the marketing principles they’re learning in class,” says Danielle Nichols, Marketing Director at NebraskaLand National Bank.  “This particular product is perfect for this tech savvy generation. We’re really looking forward to see what they create.”

• Today: Sunny, with a high near 82. Southwest wind 5 to 14 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
• Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. South southeast wind 6 to 13 mph becoming east northeast in the evening.
• Friday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Light and variable wind becoming north northeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
• Friday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely before 1am, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. North northwest wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.