(AP) — A vote on whether to end prohibition and allow alcohol on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is too close to call because of a high number of challenged ballots.

Tribal spokeswoman Tony Red Cloud says the measure got a majority of yes votes in the unofficial count — 1,645 to 1,494. But tribal president Bryan Brewer says because 438 votes were challenged — more than the difference — the outcome of the election won’t be known until those are checked.

He says in the next couple of days, election workers will verify that the people who cast those challenged ballots were enrolled members living on the reservation.

Brewer says vote challenges rarely change an election’s outcome.

A Chadron woman will stand trial during the December jury term of Dawes County District Court for allegedly slashing 3 of her family members with a box cutter during last month’s Fur Trade Days celebration.

The case of 47-year old Sherlynn Lame had been bound over on 3 counts of 2nd degree assault and 3 counts of the use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony following a preliminary hearing last month in County Court and formally entered pleas of not guilty in District Court on Tuesday.

Lame was arrested early on the morning of July 13th and remains in the Dawes County jail on $50,000 bond. Her pre-trial conference is scheduled for November 11th.

Court documents show Lame and her extended family were together when a disagreement escalated and she allegedly slashed 3 male family members with a box cutter. Two were taken by ambulance to the hospital, where they were treated and released.

Federal regulators say a central Nebraska feedlot underpaid dozens of employees and violated a program that hires workers from outside the United States.

The Labor Department announced Wednesday that Adams Land & Cattle Co. will pay more than $127,000 in back wages to nearly 70 employees. It will also pay more than $100,000 in penalties for violations under the H-2A program.

The voluntary H-2A program allows employers to hire and bring foreign workers to the U.S. for temporary or seasonal work when there is a shortage of domestic employees.

The department says the Broken Bow company failed to pay the required wage rate to employees. They’re also accused of rejecting U.S. applicants and paying U.S. employees less than H-2A workers.

The company did not immediately return a message Wednesday.

• Today: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. South southwest wind 7 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
• Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph.
• Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon.
• Thursday Night:A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. East southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.

The Hall County Board of Supervisors has approved $10,000 to help cover the potential legal costs of keeping a veterans home in Grand Island.

The board voted Tuesday to put the money into what officials call a “war chest.”

Other groups are contributing to the effort for a total of $30,000. The Grand Island City Council will vote Wednesday to add $10,000. The Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation will each give $5,000.

Gov. Dave Heineman announced in July that the city of Kearney was selected to house the new Central Nebraska Veterans Home. Local leaders, including Mayor Jay Vavricek, say the move will uproot veterans at the Grand Island facility, which has about 375 employees.

North Platte and Hastings were also being considered as potential sites for the new home.

(AP) — An employee for the city of Minden in southern Nebraska has died following exposure to toxic gases from a sewer line.

Authorities say 55-year-old Robert Honomichl died Tuesday morning at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.

Honomichl and another employee, 51-year-old Mike Kleen, were clearing a blockage on Sunday when they were overcome by toxic gases in the manhole. The city is investigating the incident.

Kleen was released from a local hospital and is recovering at home.

A North Platte man is facing a felony weapons charge following a theft investigation by Police.

At around 3:30 pm on July 30, 2013, an officer with the North Platte Police Department (NPPD) responded to a reported theft in the 700 block of West B Street.  The residents told the responding Officer that they believed 29-year-old Christopher Rosenberg and a house guest had stolen property from them.

They told Police that jewelry and other personal items had been taken.  Additionally, they stated that a Hungary 9×18 handgun was also missing.

Through their investigation, Officers learned that the handgun had been seized during the service of a search warrant in the 900 block of  North Bailey in mid-July, and was being held in evidence at the Police Department.

Eventually, Investigators determined there was probable cause to arrest Rosenberg and charge him with being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm, a Class 1D Felony.

Rosenberg was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

 

(AP) — Nebraska students who took math, science and reading exams received higher average scores this year than in 2012, according to new state data.

The Nebraska Department of Education released the aggregate scores on Tuesday.

The results show that 77 percent of students met or exceeded state proficiency standards in reading this year, up from 74 percent in 2012. Department officials say 69 percent met or exceeded the standards for math, compared with 68 percent the prior year. Student scores also improved in science, with 70 percent showing proficiency this year as opposed to 67 percent in 2012.

Department administrators reported that 68 percent of students met or exceeded standards in writing.

The department will release a more comprehensive report next month that measures achievement among different racial and income groups.

 

(AP) — A newly released study raises questions about the effectiveness of Nebraska’s broader public listings of sex offenders.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha study was commissioned by the Legislature, which in 2009 had required adding to the registry the names and addresses of all sex offenders. Previously, only the names of those considered most likely to reoffend were made available to the public.

The study report released Monday says the increase in listings has made it more difficult for people to determine “which offenders on the list are the most dangerous.”

(AP) — An October trial has been scheduled in the employee lawsuit against Dempster Industries in Beatrice.

A dozen former employees sued Dempster and its president and CEO, Wallace Davis, for lost wages and other earnings that total more than $160,000.

Allegations in court documents say Davis and Dempster also didn’t pay parts suppliers, defaulted on loans from banks and economic development firms and didn’t deliver products to customers that paid up front. The pump and fertilizer equipment manufacturing plant closed down last year.

Attorney Dustin Garrison represents the former employees, and he says he’s getting close to a settlement.

The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 21. Davis’ attorney didn’t immediately return a call Tuesday from The Associated Press.