A North Platte man has been awarded the prestigious ‘service above self’ award from rotary international. He’s Dr. Kim Baxter, who is a member of the North Platte noon Rotary Club.

 

The award, one of the most important given by Rotary, is restricted to a very select 150 nominees per year.  The nominee must have demonstrated exemplary humanitarian service, in any form, and at any level, with an emphasis on personal volunteer effort and active involvement in helping others through rotary.

 

For Baxter, this meant a focus on his recent trip to the Central American country of Guatemala, where he participated in a volunteer effort to bring eye examinations and eye care fittings to the local population.  Both North Platte Rotary clubs also participated in the trip with funding that Baxter was able to use in the purchase and installation of pure water systems and clean, dependable cooking stoves for people in the central part of Guatemala.

 

In making the award, District Governor Dian Edwards, acknowledged that the Guatemala trip was just one of several made by Baxter and other Nebraskans through a volunteer group known as volunteer optometry services to humanity.

Officers have been talking through a go-between to a fugitive who’s hiding in some northwest Nebraska woods.

Officers have been searching an area of Dawes County for Justin Pierce, who has been living east of Crawford and also goes by the name of Justin Beck.

Chadron station KCSR reports that Dawes County Sheriff Karl Dailey says officers are using the unidentified go-between in trying to get Pierce to surrender.

The hunt for Pierce began Monday evening when officers tried to serve him with Nevada and Utah arrest warrants. Pierce escaped in a pickup that was found later near some woods.

Dailey says Pierce has some military training that may have prepared him for the cold and the wilderness conditions.

The sheriff also says Pierce is not considered dangerous.

A North Platte man was arrested for 1^st Degree Sexual Assault of a Child on Wednesday morning.

The arrest is the result of an investigation which began after the alleged victim told authorities that the suspect, 41-year-old Edward Maline, touched her inappropriately when she was younger.

The news release from the North Platte Police Department explains,

“The victim alleged that inappropriate touching and acts sexual in nature by Maline began when she was as young as 8 or 9 years of age and progressed over the next decade.  Maline is currently incarcerated at the Lincoln County Detention Center.”

 

The alleged victim disclosed information at the age of 19.

An online search of the suspects name revealed that Maline has performed in local plays with young children .

The news release ended with a reminder to the public,

“As a reminder to the public that under Nebraska state law there is no statute of limitations on child sexual.   Often we rely on our school counselors or staff to have conversations with children about inappropriate touching but in reality parents or guardians should be encouraging their children to speak about this matter.  In this case the crime occurred several years earlier and it was only when the victim matured and grew confident that she was able to disclose to authorities. “

Maline is charged with a class 1B felony which presents a maximum sentence of life in prison.

For the 15^th consecutive year, a handful of brave souls will jump into the South Platte River on the Friday before Groundhog Day. Organizers today announced that the Ground Hoggy Doggy Shadow Splash will return on February 1^st, 2013 for a 3 pm dip in the river.

“Even when we didn’t have the big event, we still jumped in,” says co-organizer Russ Jones. “We decided to bring it back and try to use the event to raise funds and awareness for a great cause.”

This year’s theme, “Drowning Childhood Hunger”, reflects on the charity chosen to benefit from the jumpers. “Adopt-a-Backpack is a partnership between several agencies that provides a backpack full of food to keep hungry children fed during school year weekends when students have no access to school lunch,” says co-organizer Jim Paloucek. “If these kids don’t get this assistance, they come back to school on Monday hungry and not ready to learn. This program fills that need.”

Funding for the program has largely come from Grants, which don’t fully fill the need. Currently 120 packs are furnished every week, but the need is far greater according to the agencies involved. Money generated by jumpers will be given to the North Platte Public Schools Foundation, which will provide those funds to directly benefit those hungry children who need it most.

The Splash has raised nearly $200,000 since its inception in 1999. To date, those funds have all gone to the Lincoln Connection Homeless Shelter. “We will always have a soft spot in our heart for the Shelter, but we wanted to highlight and support some of the other great things going on in the community,” says co-organizer David Fudge.

As always, participants are asked to raise at least $100.00 and bring it with them to the Splash on February 1^st. Costumes are encouraged, and the infamous costume parade will begin at around 2:30. All checks should be made to the North Platte Public Schools Foundation.

Updates on the Splash and participant count can be found on the Splash’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/GroundHoggyDoggyShadowSplash

Today: Sunny, with a high near 53. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 16. South wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 54. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD
WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN NEBRASKA...

NORTH PLATTE RIVER NEAR NORTH PLATTE AFFECTING LINCOLN COUNTY.

THE NORTH PLATTE RIVER AT NORTH PLATTE IS AT FLOOD STAGE

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

SAFETY MESSAGE...DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER
COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR
CAR TO CROSS SAFELY AND THE ROAD BENEATH MAY NOT BE INTACT. VEHICLES
CAUGHT IN RISING WATERS SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.

&&

NEC111-131332-
/O.NEW.KLBF.FL.W.0006.121212T1332Z-121213T1800Z/
/NPTN1.1.ER.121212T0245Z.121212T0400Z.121212T1800Z.NR/
732 AM CST WED DEC 12 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

* FLOOD WARNING FOR
  THE NORTH PLATTE RIVER NEAR NORTH PLATTE.
* UNTIL THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
* AT  6:00 AM WEDNESDAY THE STAGE WAS 6.0 FEET.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 6.0 FEET.
* MINOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST.
* FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL CONTINUE TO FALL TO BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY
  THIS AFTERNOON.

Nebraska will see a cut in federal Medicaid funding in the upcoming state budget, forcing lawmakers to make up the difference with state dollars.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has requested an additional $44 million from lawmakers to replace the loss over the next two-year budget.

North Platte Sen. Tom Hansen, a member of the Appropriations Committee, says the cuts are the most extreme he’s ever seen. Hansen says the amount is large enough now that it’s unclear where lawmakers will find the money.

Omaha Sen. Jeremy Nordquist says the cuts are based on a formula that helps states when they’re struggling, and pulls back when their economies are strong.

Local and state officers are searching a wooded area in far northwest Nebraska for a man wanted on Utah warrants.

Dawes County Sheriff Karl Dailey says the hunt began about 5:30 p.m. Monday for Justin Pierce and continued overnight.

Dailey says deputies were trying to serve arrest warrants on Pierce at his residence near Crawford when Pierce fled in in a pickup. Dailey says Pierce soon left the truck and ran into nearby woods. Officers cordoned off about 4 square miles where he was believed to be hiding.

Dailey says he’s confident Pierce will be caught Tuesday or that Pierce will come in out of the cold and surrender. The overnight low in nearby Chadron was 15.

Dailey says Pierce is not considered dangerous.

A Scottsbluff man is facing drug charges after police arrested him with nearly a half pound of marijuana and several other drugs.

KNEB reports that 37-year-old Glenn Condon was arrested Friday. Besides marijuana, police say the Scottsbluff man had a dozen oxycodone pills and a small amount of cocaine.

Court documents say Condon was arrested after police stopped his pickup truck and smelled the odor of marijuana.

Condon was being held Monday on $130,000 bond.