Several members of the North Platte Catholic Schools Board of Education attended the annual National Catholic Educational Association convocation in Houston, Texas, where the Board was presented with the NCEA “Outstanding Boards of Catholic Education” Award.
The Award was presented at a luncheon gathering of the NCEA Boards and Councils Department.
The Award is given annual to “recognize the outstanding work of a few boards and to thank all who share in the increasingly complex task of governing Catholic schools and educational programs. The award was presented by Boards and Councils Department leader, Regina Haney.
The North Platte Catholic Schools Board has served the school and Catholic Community for forty-eight years, since its organization in 1965 by Pastor Msgr. Lawrence Portrey and Superintendent Fr. Thomas Mullowney.
Current members of the Board are: Fr. Jim Novakowski, Fr. Jim Golka, Jacque Harms, John McClellen, Pat Keenan, Tim O’Connor, Deb O’Malley, Toni Slattery.
Pictured: Board President Jacque Harms, Holy Spirit Pastor Fr. Jim Novakowski, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, St. Patrick Pastor Fr. Jim Golka, Endowment Director Wendy Dodson, Superintendent Kevin Dodson, retired Superintendent Bill McGahan.
Employees with the North Platte Police Department got their beard on to raise money for a young North Platte girl.
Staff and officers held a beard growing contest to raise money for little Zoie Whyte. Zoie had a near SIDS episode last May which left her with serious complications and mounting medical bills. Her mother, Kellie, is a Dispatcher with the Police Department.
Officer Levi Gibbs won the award for the Fullest Beard, Officer Brandon Myers won the award for the Softest Beard, Department Pastor Gary Smith won the award for the Grayest Beard and Investigator Roger Freeze won the award for the Best Cropped Beard.
The contest brought in $450.00 for Zoie and her family.
A new study says the death rates in small rural hospitals are worse than at most hospitals.
The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association notes that the death rate in remote hospitals got worse between 2002 and 2010.
The death rate at other hospitals improved over that same time period.
Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas and Kansas are the states with the most critical-access hospitals.
Nebraska has 65 of the smaller, rural hospitals that qualify for special treatment from Medicare because they provide critical access to care.
The study’s lead author, Dr. Karen Joynt, says it may be harder for rural hospitals to afford the latest technology and advancements that are helping other hospitals.
One of the first waves of replanting northwest Nebraska after last year’s wildfires will be done by animals.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission plans to feed seeds for native shrubs and trees to wildlife in the area and rely on the animals to distribute the seeds in remote parts of the Pine Ridge when they defecate.
Wildlife biologist Shelly Steffl says eight hundred biodegradable blocks of seeds have been created. The blocks will be spread through the area for the animals to eat.
The blocks are available to landowners for $3 apiece. Anyone interested in obtaining the seed blocks should contact Steffl at 308-432-6190 or visit the Upper Niobrara White Natural Resources District.
It was a scary scene on Interstate 80 Friday after a Utah man rammed his truck full-speed into an overpass.
According to the Nebraska State Patrol, 43-year-old Carl Shane Peck was driving his semi-truck eastbound on I-80 around 6:00 p.m., when he went into the median and slammed head-on into a support of the Hershey overpass.
According to witnesses, the truck hit the support without slowing down at all.
The Patrol said Peck survived the crash, but was badly injured.
Portions of I-80 were closed for nearly four hours while rescue crews from Hershey and Sutherland worked to extricate Peck, and also so a medical helicopter could land on the Interstate.
Authorities say it appears that Peck either blacked out or fell asleep. He was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
Peck was alone, and no one else was injured in the accident.
A western Nebraska judge has dismissed charges brought against a mother nearly five years after the death of her 2-year-old daughter.
Charyse Geurts
An autopsy showed that Juliette Geurts died in 2008 because of trauma, and her death was classified as a homicide. But the case languished without arrests until a public petition drive last year gathered enough signatures to force an investigation by a grand jury, which indicted 25-year-old Charyse Geurts earlier this year.
The grand jury also indicted Geurts’ ex-boyfriend, Dustin Chancey, on manslaughter and other charges in Juliette’s death.
Scotts Bluff County District Judge Leo Dobrovolny dismissed accessory and false reporting charges against Geurts on Thursday. The judge agreed with Geurts’ attorney that the three-year statute of limitations had run out.
Here is a link to the original story on this case which appeared on the Post in January:
(AP) — A man wanted for a 2004 sexual assault is in custody in Buffalo County after being arrested on a Nebraska warrant.
42-year-old Steven Rita was originally charged in March 2005 with felony first-degree sexual assault of a woman in November 2004 in Kearney.
Rita was arrested last week on the warrant after being released from a Kansas prison, where he had been since December 2011. Authorities do not know where Rita was between 2004 and 2010.
There is no statute of limitations on felony first-degree sexual assault.
Rita is being held at the Buffalo County Jail on $25,000 bond.
He is scheduled to appear in court later this month.
A North Platte man has been charged with slew of charges after a wild ride through the city yesterday evening.
Just before 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening, officers with the North Platte Police Department were walking out of the police station when they observed a white four-door sedan drive southbound on Jeffers at an extremely high rate of speed.
Officers attempted to catch up to the vehicle, but due to the vehicle’s speed and the head start it had on officers, they were unable to locate it.
A few minutes later, officers were dispatched to the Emergency Room (ER) at Great Plains Regional Medical Center after receiving a report of a male subject driving a white car through the construction zone at the hospital. Witnesses then observed a male subject get out of the car, remove his pants and shirt and run into the ER.
Officers made contact with the subject, Tracy McCants, inside of the ER.
According to police, McCants was acting paranoid and jittery. He told officers that a bug that had jumped into his body was now trying to escape. He advised that he had captured the bug in his hand, but when he showed officers, there was nothing there. Police say it was clear that McCants was hallucinating.
Officers suspected that McCants was under the influence of methamphetamine and his statements corroborated their suspicions. A small baggie containing methamphetamine was located in McCants’ belongings.
Another officer met with a female passenger that was inside the vehicle McCants had been driving. The officer recognized the sedan as the same vehicle that had driven by them at the police station. The female advised officers that she was the owner of the car and was involved in a relationship with McCants.
She advised that McCants had been acting paranoid and told her that a bug had gotten inside him. He wanted to take her car and she had told him no several times. McCants ended up getting into the driver’s seat of the car, so the female got into the passenger seat.
The female confirmed to officers that McCants had indeed driven by the police department at a high rate of speed, then drove through the construction zone at the hospital construction zone, ramped a concrete island then jumped out of the car before removing his clothing and running into the ER.
The vehicle sustained extensive damage.
Other witnesses confirmed the females story.
McCants was treated in the ER, then arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence-First Offense, Driving Under Suspension, Willful Reckless Driving, Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, Possession of Methamphetamine, Criminal Mischief Over $1,500, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Police say the female subject also told them McCants had been drinking alcohol, but the results of a blood test have not yet been received.
A North Platte Man is facing theft and felony assault charges for grabbing his ex by the neck and stealing her wallet.
At around 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, an officer with the North Platte Police Department met with a female who reported that her ex-boyfriend had assaulted her.
Nathan Padgett
The victim told the officer that she had given her ex, Nathan Padgett, a ride to the 200 block of East 11th Street. Once she parked, she says Padgett got upset and grabbed the victim’s neck causing her pain.
Padgett also reportedly ripped the victim’s car stereo system out its housing and damaged it.
He then got out of the victim’s vehicle and she left the scene to contact the police to report the assault.
The victim also noticed that her wallet was missing from her vehicle. A short time later, she received a message from Padgett via Facebook, telling her he would disclose the location of the wallet if she came to talk to him. He stated that his location was near the 1100 block of South Tabor.
Officer’s obtained an unmarked vehicle and went to the location, where they saw Padgett waiting.
Padgett was placed under arrest, and a subsequent search led to the discovery of the victim’s wallet in his pocket.
Padgett was charged with Theft by Unlawful Taking for stealing the wallet, Criminal Mischief for damaging the victim’s car stereo and Domestic Assault. Since Padgett has a prior conviction for Domestic Assault, the most recent charge is a felony.
He was booked into the Lincoln County Detention Center.
