A rock song says music can soothe the soul but hospitals are finding it can help premature infants and other sick babies, too.
Music therapy played live is increasingly being used in newborn intensive care units around the country.
Research suggests it may slow stressed infants’ heartbeats, calm their breathing, and improve sucking and sleeping. Some studies suggest it might even help them go home sooner. It can also help them bond with parents even before the tiny babies are able to be held.
Elizabeth Klinger is a music therapist at Chicago’s Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital. She softly sings and plays guitar, and says that the live performance does much more than entertain babies.
A couple made the job easy for an undercover North Platte Police Officer, when they offered him weed.
The officer was driving through the Patriot Mobile Park at 2300 E. Philip on Wednesday when he was approached by a male subject who asked the officer if he wanted to buy some marijuana.
Public Information Officer Rodney Brown said in a news release that the officer then drove the male to an unspecified house on West 9th Street. The officer was then told to wait near the 500 block of Rodeo Road.
A short time later, the male returned to the vehicle with Elizabeth A. Flores, 34, of Grand Island, and a bag of marijuana.
As the officer attempted to take both subjects into custody, they fled on foot. Police were able to apprehend Flores, who was jailed and charged with being an Accessory to a Felony and Obstruction a Police Officer.
Police say the investigation into the male subject is ongoing, but did not provide any additional information on his identity.
A Missouri man convicted in February of killing a Nebraska woman more than 20 years ago has lost his bid for a new trial.
Judge Karin Noakes ruled against the appeal filed by John Oldson. His filing said there was new evidence to consider.
A Howard County jury had found the 46-year-old Oldson, of Randolph, Mo., guilty of second-degree murder. He was charged with killing 31-year-old Catherine Beard, a waitress from Ord. She disappeared in 1989. Her remains were found outside Ord in 1992.
Oldson, who used to live in Ord, was interviewed in 1989 but not arrested. He was arrested a year ago in Missouri. Authorities say new evidence and witnesses led to his arrest.
A proposal to repeal Nebraska’s motorcycle helmet law will wait until next year.
Sen. Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins said Thursday that he has asked the speaker to keep his bill off of this year’s legislative agenda.
Bloomfield had designated the measure as his priority bill, increasing the chances that it would see debate. But he says lawmakers still have a lot of heavy lifting to do this year, with only 11 working days left in the session.
Lawmakers have debated similar bills numerous times over the last two decades. Bloomfield says he will press ahead with his measure next year, and may designate it as his priority again to ensure that it’s debated.
Lawmakers have given final approval to a funding bill that divides state aid among Nebraska’s large and small public schools.
The 47-0 vote on Wednesday followed a series of contentious debates in the Legislature. The funding is intended to fill the gap between school-district needs and their local resources.
The formula includes funding allowances for districts that offer longer school years and more highly educated teachers. Smaller, rural districts will receive that funding even if property values and their tax levies prevent them from qualifying for other state aid.
A bill designed to help fight wildfires in rural Nebraska has advanced to a final legislative vote.
Lawmakers approved several changes to the measure on Wednesday before giving it second-round approval.
The new legislation would reduce the number of single-engine aerial tanker planes stationed in Nebraska from two to one. It also would increase the number of bases that are equipped to service the firefighting plane.
The bill would also require the Nebraska Forest Service to thin forests, and develop markets for the wood shavings. Sen. Al Davis of Hyannis says the shavings could be used for pets, landscaping mulch, fence posts and fuel for heating and cooling.
A hit and run at a North Platte convenience store resulted in multiple charges for a Missouri man and a North Platte woman.
Officers from the North Platte Police Department were dispatched to a reported hit and run at the Casey’s store located at 520 Rodeo Road at around 6:10 p.m. on Tuesday.
The suspect vehicle’s registered owner was located, and told police that he had sold the vehicle to Edward Roney, 32, of Missouri. However, police say the vehicle was reported stolen because Roney did not formally purchase the vehicle and did not return it to the owner
An officer located the vehicle and Roney in the 1100 block of East 12th at around 7:45 p.m.
Officers conducted a search on Rony’s person and found that he was carrying a knife.
After further investigation, prescription drugs and stolen property were discovered in Roney’s vehicle.
Additionally, a passenger in the vehicle, Cortney Lopez, 24, was found to be in possession of drugs.
Both subjects were arrested and taken to the Lincoln County Detention Center.
Roney was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of a concealed weapon, Possession of Stolen Property, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Leaving the Scene of a Non-Injury Accident and Failure to Sign a Citation.
Lopez was charged with with Possession of a controlled Substance. Lincoln County Sheriff’s records indicate that Lopez has been jailed more than half a dozen times in the last year.
(AP) — A 47-year-old North Platte man whose dog was infested with maggots has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor animal abuse.
Phillip Moreno made a plea agreement with prosecutors, who lowered the felony charge of abandoning or cruelly neglecting the animal.
Moreno made his plea in Lincoln County District Court on Tuesday and was fined $500.
Two women had told authorities the dog had masking tape around its midsection and was filthy when the women found it last summer. The women say they took the dog to a veterinarian, who discovered a maggot-infested wound beneath the tape.
Officials say the maggots had spread to the dog’s internal organs, so it was euthanized.
Authorities say a 30-year-old central Nebraskan has been fatally injured in a collision between his motorcycle and a farm vehicle.
Rescue workers were dispatched around 9:45 p.m. Monday to a spot on Nebraska Highway 70 east of Broken Bow.
The Nebraska State Patrol says Lucas Heusman, of Broken Bow, was driving east on the highway when his motorcycle hit the vehicle driven by 67-year-old Jack Longfellow.
The patrol says Heusman was taken Melham Medical Center, where he died. No injuries to Longfellow have been reported.
A rock song says music can soothe the soul but hospitals are finding it can help premature infants and other sick babies, too.
