A Nebraska highway safety official says discussions are afoot for legislation next year that would make it a primary offense to text while driving.
Nebraska Highway Safety Administrator Fred Zwonechek is eyeing at least two proposals designed to improve driver safety.
One proposal would apply to texting while driving. The other would make it a primary offense for drivers and front-seat passengers to not wear seatbelts.
Current Nebraska law considers driving without a seat belt a secondary offense. That means motorists can’t be cited unless they’re already being cited for another violation.
Zwonechek says he’s in favor of introducing the measures just to bring the issue into the spotlight.
The Federal Government is distributing revitalization funds, and North Platte will get a piece of the pie. State officials say that the funds allotted to Nebraska will be split among several cities. Other cities receiving funds are Columbus, Fremont, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and Norfolk.
According to the state Department of Economic Development, roughly $94,000 in funding will be used to evaluate housing and public works activities that are beneficial to low and moderate income families in the communities. The cities began planning in 2009 during a three-year funding period. Each city is required to make a matching contribution equal to twenty five percent of the total project.
North Platte city officials were unavailable for comment.
When computer classes at the North Platte Public Library resume January 15th, attendees will be using new Windows 7 laptop computers in the library’s meeting room. The library received these computers through the Library Broadband Builds Nebraska Communities grant program. The new venue will keep class distractions to a minimum and keep all of the technology learning center’s computers available for use during class time.
Classes will be two hours in length and cost $10 per person. Take-home handouts will be provided. Pre-registration is required to attend. Those interested can call the library at 535-8036 for more information and to register for classes. Class schedule is below:
Computer Fundamentals, 1/15 at 6:30 PM or 1/17 at 9:30 AM: This introductory class will get you familiar with computers, using the mouse and keyboard, basic terminology, shutting down your computer correctly and more.
Working in Windows, 1/22 at 6:30 PM or 1/24 at 9:30 AM: Learning to use the Windows operating system, understanding its basic features, and creating a simple document with WordPad and saving it on the computer are the focus of this class.
Beginning Internet, 1/29 at 6:30 PM or 1/31 at 9:30 AM: Exploring the World Wide Web, basic searching, and learning the features of Internet browsers will be addressed in this class.
Officers from the North Platte Police Department were involved in a high speed pursuit through the city on Wednesday, leading to the arrest of three North Platte residents.
On December 25 at approximately 2:32AM, officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle in the 1800 block of West 3rd. It was reported to the responding officer that the victim’s 2006 Hyundai Tiburon had been warming up outside, when they noticed it leaving their driveway. Minutes later, a patrol officer spotted a vehicle matching this description in the area of North Platte High School. As the officer turned around to verify the identity of the vehicle, the driver began to speed up and drive recklessly on the snow and ice covered roads. Due to the dangerous conditions, the officer made the decision not to pursue the vehicle. An officer was able to follow at a distance, and soon located the vehicle, unoccupied, in the Red Cedars Trailer Court at 2nd and Bare.
Chance Ragle
On Wednesday, at 6:30AM, officers responded to the 900 block of East 3rd on a report of another stolen vehicle, a Lexus GS500. As with the first victim, the complainant reported that their car had been warming up on the street, unlocked, and was stolen. Patrol officers began actively searching for the vehicle, and at 1:37PM, an officer saw the vehicle driving near the 1200 block of Burlington. After a failed attempt to stop the vehicle, a pursuit ensued. The pursuit was terminated near 5th and Poplar due to the driver’s erratic driving, high speeds and dangerous road conditions. A short time later, the vehicle was again spotted by a patrol officer, this time near 4th and Sycamore traveling westbound at approximately 40 mph. Again, patrol units did not actively pursue the vehicle due to the dangerous conditions. An officer witnessed the vehicle lose control at 4th and Garfield, causing damage to a stop sign on the southeast corner of the intersection. Officers last observed the vehicle near 2nd and Custer.
Katelynn McWain
Officers then responded to Red Cedars trailer court, since the previously stolen vehicle had been located there. The Lexus was found at this location running and unoccupied. Officers were able to follow footprints in the snow to a trailer, where they made contact with Jesse Belland. The investigation revealed that Belland was driving the Lexus as officers were in pursuit. It was also determined that Belland had a role in the theft of both vehicles. The investigation also led to the arrest of Katelyn McWain and Chance Ragle. McWain was charged with one count of theft by taking for her role in the case involving the Hyundai. Belland was charged with two counts of theft by taking for his involvement in both incidents. Ragle was also charged with two counts of theft by taking for his role. Additionally, Belland was charged with flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, driving under suspension and criminal mischief. All three were arrested and booked into the Lincoln County Detention Center.
Ice jams have hampered the flow of water down the North Platte River in western Nebraska, but no major flooding has been reported.
The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for stretches of the river at North Platte in Lincoln County and farther west, near Lewellen in Garden County.
Lincoln County emergency management director Daniel Guenthner (GUHNTH’-nur) said Wednesday that the water just a fraction of an inch over flood stage and that he’d received no reports of major flooding.
The weather service says the jams likely will remain in place because of the cold weather. Wednesday’s and Thursday’s high temperature is expected to be 17 in North Platte.
Janssen Auto Group of McCook, North Platte and Holdrege have announced their plans to offer, again this year, free rides home to anyone needing a safe ride home on New Year’s Eve. “This is our fourth year of offering this service and we are pleased to be able to offer it again this year,” said Dave Janssen of Janssen Auto Group. “While we don’t want to encourage people to over indulge on New Year’s Eve, we do want to make sure that everyone makes it home safely.”
Janssen Auto Group will be running their shuttle from 8:00PM to 1:30AM on New Years Eve and is willing to offer rides to anyone residing within a five-mile radius of McCook, North Platte or Holdrege.
Anyone wishing to use this service in McCook may call Joe Slaby at 308-520-1774, Rod Waldrip at 308-991-1685 for rides in Holdrege and Jim Rudolph at 308-530-3293 or Scott Berg at 308-289-4100 for rides in North Platte.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Families across the United States will have to rely on other sources of entertainment after Netflix’s video streaming service was hit by a Christmas Eve outage.
The company based in Los Gatos, Calif., apologized in a company tweet for the outage Monday night.
The company says on its Twitter page that the outage was caused by “some of Amazon’s cloud infrastructure.” Netflix says it was working with Amazon engineers to restore the outage, which a company spokesman told the Wall Street Journal stretched “across the Americas.”
Attempts to reach Netflix by The Associated Press were unsuccessful.
At around 05:00 on December 18th Officers from the NPPD responded to the Wal-Mart parking lot on the report of juveniles in a suspicious vehicle.
Responding Officers made contact with two juveniles exiting the store, one of which was wanted as a female runaway from Sioux City, IA. Officers then made contact with three other juveniles and Cody R. Stone, 19, also from Sioux City. (5 total juveniles) Two of which, a male and female, were also reported as runaways from Sioux City.
The two female juvenile runaways had escaped a juvenile holding facility in Sioux City. The Dodge Caravan the group had been traveling in was discovered to have been reported stolen sometime earlier by the Sioux City Police Department.
Two of the male juveniles had accompanied and additional 18 YOM, who was no longer traveling with the group during the theft. The residence from which the van was stolen was damaged during the theft, when the 18 YO driver placed the vehicle in DRIVE instead of REVERSE, striking the home.
Following the investigation it was determined that there was probable cause to arrest Stone for Possession of Stolen Property over $1,500, 28-517 (III Fel) and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, 28-709 (I Mis). The other five juveniles were also cited for Possession of Stolen Property. They were eventually transported to a juvenile holding facility in Gering.
St. Agnes Academy in western Nebraska’s Alliance has closed for the Christmas holiday early due to illness.
Scottsbluff radio station KNEB-AM reports that the school closed Thursday on the recommendation of a local doctor because of the spread of influenza in town.
The radio station says 12 of the elementary school’s 137 students were sick Thursday. KNEB says several of the school’s staff members, including the principal, have been sick.
A Nebraska highway safety official says discussions are afoot for legislation next year that would make it a primary offense to text while driving.
