When someone gets fired from a job, it makes for a pretty bad day. At the same time, making threats against the company and the people who work there makes for a bad reference.

Former Ogallala Police Officer Thomas Cubbage of Paxton, was fired from his job at Greenbrier Rail Facility in Hershey on September 27^th. According to The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Cubbage became angry after receiving notice of his termination, allegedly damaging property while threatening employees and the facility.

Cubbage apparently had to be held down until a rescue unit arrived on scene. As a result of the alleged disturbance, Cubbage needed medical assistance and was eventually transported to Great Plains Regional Medical Center.

Deputies from the LCSO arrived at the hospital where they learned about the incident. The 33-year-old Cubbage was later placed in the Lincoln County  Detention Center after the investigation.

Cubbage faces charges of Terroristic Threats, Disturbing the Peace and Criminal Mischief, on $25,000 bond.

On October 4^th, Cubbage appeared in County Court of Lincoln County where his case was bound to District Court.

According to the Ogallala PD Annual Report of 2009 and 2010, Cubbage was hired as an officer on April16th 2007 and resigned in  December of 2010 to be effective January 3^rd of 2011.

The New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Mass., reportedly distributed to 23 states, 17,676 vials of single dose steroid injections contaminated with a fungus called Aspergillus fumigates, which can cause fungal meningitis.

Clinic Manager of Pain Management at Great Plains Regional Medical Center clarified that the steroid injections purchased by GPRM are all FDA approved. The tainted steroid injections were distributed by a compounding center, which distributes products that are not approved by the FDA.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the states in which the steroid injection received the tainted  injections are: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, and West Virginia.

States with reported cases of meningitis are Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida.

On Thursday, crews from the North Platte Fire Department responded to a punctured gas main under Walnut St, off E. 4^th St. Crews from the NPFD were on scene at around 4pm. According to the NPFD, crews from Northwestern Energy will execute repairs of the four-inch puncture of the gas main on Friday.

The cause of the puncture is undetermined. No injuries or damage has been reported. The area where crews are doing repair work will be closed until repairs are finished.

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A 6,000-gallon tank of lube oil  exploded at Bailey Yard Thursday, at around 12:30.

No injuries resulted from the blast. Crews from the North Platte Fire Department used special foam to help contain the situation and put out the fire, staying on scene until about 4pm.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation

Today: A chance of rain and snow before 1pm, then a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47. Northeast wind 7 to 11 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tonight: Widespread frost after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Saturday: A slight chance of snow before 10am, then a slight chance of rain and snow between 10am and 1pm, then a slight chance of rain after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 45. Light and variable wind becoming north northeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

A grass fire has blackened more than a square mile of land in western Nebraska.

Logan County Fire Chief Frank Kramer says firefighters were first dispatched about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to a spot along U.S. Highway 83 south of Stapleton.

Crews from Stapleton, Tryon, Arnold and North Platte battled the blaze for about five hours on Tuesday and worked on hot spots for a few more hours on Wednesday morning.

Kramer says the flames threatened one home but stopped short. No injuries have been reported.

Kramer says a spark from a chain saw started the fire.

A Chicago-area trucker charged in a deadly crash in western Nebraska is challenging the findings of his preliminary hearing

Josef Slezak is charged in Cheyenne County with four counts of manslaughter and five counts of vehicular homicide.

Authorities say his rig slammed into stalled traffic on Interstate 80 near Potter on Sept. 9. The truck hit a car driven by Christopher Schmidt, of Gaithersburg, Md. The car was pushed into another car that was carrying Schmidt’s pregnant wife and their two children. The family was killed.

Prosecutors believe Slezak traveled virtually straight through from Milwaukee to western Nebraska before the accident.

Defense attorney Kelly Breen argues the case isn’t strong enough to justify sending it to trial.

A hearing is set for Nov. 7.

The contested hearing for 58-year-old Edward Leza ended with his case being dismissed because the witness failed to legally identify Leza during testimony. The contested hearing was scheduled for October 4^th, in Lincoln County Court in-front of Judge Kent Turnbull.

Judge Turnbull explained to Leza that his case was dismissed and that he will immediately be placed under arrest, appearing for an arraignment the next day.

According to the Witness, Investigator McNeil, the female victim, who was 11-years-old at the time of the alleged offence, was spending the night at her mother’s house, where she awoke to her mother’s domestic partner, Edward Leza, was simultaneously fondling her and himself.

McNeil explained that he also spoke with  the victims friend,  alleging that Leza would take pictures of them on his cell phone which freaked her out. The victim allegedly looked through his phone and found pictures of her and her friend as well as pictures of naked adult women.

Leza’s contested hearing was scheduled to determine if there was probable cause to bind the case to District Court.

Arrest Details 

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 57. Breezy, with a north northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. North northeast wind 5 to 9 mph.

Friday: A slight chance of rain and snow before 10am, then a slight chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 44. East northeast wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

The North Platte Skate Park near the Recreation Center at 1300 McDonald Road is about twelve years old and a face-lift wouldn’t hurt. Relentless Productions, a new and unique production which formed in September, is fundraising for a donation of $280,000 to benefit the Skate Park.

Relentless Productions was started by Scott Martin, father of two and resident of North Platte. “It’s a production I’ve started as far as getting more events in North Platte, [and] wanting to help the community,” Said Martin. When asked what inspired him to help the park, he replied “It’s not just the Skate Park. I’ve got kids, my daughter’s eleven and my boys seven,” he said and continued, “ We have a ton of bars, a ton of liquor stores and a ton of banks,” humorously accurate, Martin wants to create more activities for the youth in North Platte, and the skate park is a good place to start.

RP, composed of Martin and Dan Muller, so-far raised $105,000 towards the $280,000 goal while receiving support from sponsors such as Pink Poodle, Staples, Do It Center, Twizted Needle and many more.“It’s not an out of reach goal I don’t think, as long as everybody helps out,” Martin explained.

RP is hosting “Skate And Create” scheduled for October 20^th at the Skate Park from 11:00am to 12:30pm. The fund raising event is a free and fun time featuring BBQ, live music and a raffle where you can win some pretty neat prizes. You can buy raffle tickets at either Twisted Needle or Caravan Skate Shop.

 

Listen To The Interview With Relentless Productions Organizer, Scott Martin