(AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have passed a bill to require heart screenings for newborns to catch potential health problems.
The bill won final approval on Wednesday with a 47-0 vote.
The measure by Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion targets critical congenital heart disease, a relatively common birth defect in newborns that can lead to death.
The legislation would require hospitals and other birthing facilities to develop policies that ensure each newborn receives a screening. For home births, the responsibility would fall to the person who registers the birth.
(AP) — The Grand Island City Council has approved a commitment of $3 million to help ensure a state veterans home remains in the south-central Nebraska city.
The council granted the request by Mayor Jay Vavricek (vav-RAH’-chehk) at the council meeting Tuesday night. The Grand Island Veterans Home has been in the town since the Soldiers and Sailors Home opened in 1888 on 640 acres that the city donated to the state.
At stake is the new, $120 million replacement for the aging Grand Island facility. The state will be considering proposals from four cities that wish to host the replacement home, a 225-bed facility that will be called the Central Nebraska Veterans Home.
The cities in the running are Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and North Platte.
(AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 96 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop and 63 percent of the soybean crop have been planted.
Although the percentage of corn planted by the end of last week is near the average for this time of year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Tuesday that only 61 percent of corn plants had emerged. That’s behind the 75 percent average and last year’s 94 percent.
Only 17 percent of soybeans had emerged, which is well behind the 39 percent average and last year’s 69 percent.
Only 39 percent of sorghum has been planted and 5 percent had emerged. Both were behind averages.
The survey found 22 percent of wheat was very poor, 28 percent poor, 39 percent fair and 11 percent good.
(AP) — Officials have confirmed that tornadoes were responsible for damaging homes and other buildings and injuring two people in southeast and south-central Nebraska.
The National Weather Service says a twister rated at EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale ripped into Edgar on Monday night, damaging a dozen or more homes and several grain bins.
The scale reading means it generated winds between 111 mph and 135 mph.
A weather service survey team says there were two tornadoes in Jefferson County and one in Gage County on Monday. The storms included an EF2 twister that coursed over six miles between Diller and Harbine.
The search for smoke-free housing just became simpler with the release of the “Breathe Easier, Smoke-Free Housing in Lincoln County” resource. The list was released to coincide with Clean Air Month in May and World No Tobacco Day on May 31.
Hard copies can be picked up at the North Platte Area Chamber of Commerce on E and Dewey Street.
“People are becoming more aware of the health hazards associated with secondhand smoke exposure,” said George Haws, coordinator of Tobacco Free Lincoln County. “Additionally, smoke-free housing prevents exposure to thirdhand smoke,” added Haws. “Thirdhand smoke is the name for smoking residue that settles in carpeting, furniture and fixtures.”
Property Manager Kim Hipp, with Coldwell Banker Preferred Group, P.C., said a smoke-free policy is good for owners and tenants alike. “It protects the owner from extra maintenance due to removal of smoke residue; and we want the incoming tenants to have a home that is a much healthier environment for them to live in.”
Wallace Hotel LLC, which rents for short and long-term stays, went completely smoke-free about six years ago, when Charlie and Debbie Andrews became the owners. Debbie Andrews said that when the policy is explained, most people – even smokers – say ‘thank you.’
“Breathe Easier, Smoke-Free Housing in Lincoln County,” is continually being updated, said Haws. Additions can be made by calling 308-696-3356 or emailing tflc@communityconnectionslc.org.
Tobacco Free Lincoln County is a collaborative effort that focuses on keeping youth from starting to use tobacco, reducing access to tobacco products, and increasing awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke. It’s funded by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services/Tobacco Free Nebraska Program as a result of the tobacco master settlement agreement.
A lovers quarrel ended with a North Platte couple facing drug charges.
At around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to the report of a disturbance in the 1200 Block of East 4th Street.
Upon arrival, Officers determined that the couple residing there, Troy Deidel, 45 and Leann Grabbingbear, 46, had been involved in an earlier argument. Both subjects called the police following the disagreement.
During the investigation, both were found to be in possession of controlled substances.
Deidel was charged with possession of Alprazolam, a drug used to treat panic and anxiety disorder. Grabbingbear was charged with possession of Alprazolam and Methamphetamine.
Both were jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.
(AP) — Officials began a damage and site survey on Tuesday to confirm whether tornadoes or straight-line winds battered houses and farm buildings and ripped up trees and road signs in south-central and southeast Nebraska.
Clay County emergency manager Loren Uden says two minor injuries were reported after a storm that struck Edgar a little after 7:30 p.m. Monday, including a driver whose car was lifted off a road.
Uden says 10 to 15 Edgar houses were damaged, some by the wind and some by blown-down trees or tree limbs. He says five grain bins were heavily damaged at the Edgar Co-op.
National Weather Service meteorologist Van DeWald (deh-WAWLD’) says a storm caused some minor damage a little after 9 p.m. Monday near Diller in Jefferson County.
On Sunday, June 2, Great Plains Callahan Cancer Center will be hosting a cancer survivor’s event to celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day (NCSD).
“NCSD provides an opportunity for cancer survivors to connect with other survivors, celebrate milestones, and recognize the healthcare providers, family, and friends who have supported them along the way,” said Nan Hynes, case management supervisor at Great Plains Regional Medical Center.
According to ncsd.org, NCSD started in the United States in 1987 and is now celebrated worldwide in countries including Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Malaysia. The purpose of the day is to honor everyone who is living with a history of cancer, including America’s nearly 14 million cancer survivors.
“From family members to close friends, everyone knows someone whose life has been touched by cancer,” Hynes said, “We see this event as a way for us to give back to our patients and their families.”
The Callahan Cancer Center event will be held from 1 to 3 p.m., in the Callahan Cancer Center lobby at 601 West Leota, North Platte, NE 69101. The ice cream social will begin at 1 p.m., with the cancer survivor ceremony beginning at 1:30 p.m.
For more information about the NCSD Callahan Cancer Center event, please contact Nan Hynes at 308.696.7544.
The Petty Officer Third Class sailor grew up in Scottsbluff, Neb., and was stationed on the USS Nebraska submarine when the call came through that eight sailors from the sub were invited to North Platte for the annual Nebraskaland Days celebration.
He’s one of very few men, if any, who have been from Nebraska, were stationed on the submarine named after the Cornhusker State, and who have been invited to the North Platte celebration.
Last year’s trip to Nebraskaland Days wasn’t his first time at the event. He had been to it as a kid, but it was a whole new experience as a sailor, he said. “The hospitality was completely different. Everybody there treated everybody so nice.” People were especially respectful of the sailors, he said.
The sailors are invited to the NLD celebration each year, and are chosen depending on performance. Moss, whose performance was superior, also had another “in”: he was from Nebraska.
He had a little “sales” work to do, in convincing fellow sailors that they would enjoy NLD. “There are a lot of people who say there’s nothing fun to do (in Nebraska.) I say, you need to go. There are a lot of fun things to do.” The seven men who came with him were duly impressed, he said. “They changed their minds that Nebraska isn’t boring. They all liked it, and thought the hospitality was outstanding.”
Each year, sailors from the USS Nebraska, which is stationed in Bangor, Washington, are invited to attend the NLD celebration. They stay with local families and are treated like dignitaries, attending as many NLD activities as possible.
The USS Nebraska has two crews, who each spend six months at sea. If it had been a few months earlier, Moss wouldn’t have been able to come to North Platte; he’d have been on the submarine. The submarine carries nuclear deterrents, and the submarine and its job is to “make people think twice, with us lurking somewhere out there in the ocean. We have the capability and means to destroy things,” Moss said.
Moss, who graduated from high school in 2009 and joined the Navy in 2010, competed in high school rodeo, football, and basketball. His favorite parts of NLD were the rodeo and the classic car show. His parents are Robert Moss of Wright, Wyo., and Marian Moss of Mitchell, Neb.
(AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have passed a bill to require heart screenings for newborns to catch potential health problems.
