Now that the major threats have diminished Chadron State Park is set to reopen.
Crews with the park are cleaning cabins for use. Cabins should be ready early next week.
The fires burned a lot of vegetation and some trees but didn’t harm any cabins. Visitors may return to the park by Friday, visitors with respiratory problems are urged to take caution as the air quality poses issues with the amount of ash in the air.
The North Platte Bulldogs are looking for their first win of the season as Lincoln East comes to town tonight. The Spartans are 1-1. North Platte has faced Lincoln East once in Bernie Madison’s tenure – a 13-12 loss at Beechner Field back in 2009. For North Platte to get off the schneid they must take better care of the ball – they turned the ball over five more times in their 43-14 loss to Lincoln Pius X last year. ESPN Radio 1410 has the call of this game, with pregame coverage at 6:30 and the kickoff at 7 PM.
The St. Patrick’s Irish defense will give up some points this season eventually – they just haven’t yet. It’s two games, and two whitewashes for the stout Irish D. Tonight they face a new challenge in the wide-open Bayard passing attack. The Tigers are 0-1 after losing their opener 28-7 to Cambridge.
The Panthers dominated the trenches on both sides in their season opening win over Kimball, shutting out the Longhorns and outrushing them 285-3. Tonight the Panthers head back out on the road to take on Southern Valley. The Eagles dropped their season opener to Doniphan-Trumbull last week.
A big win was followed by a big loss for the Wildcats, who fell 52-14 to Arapahoe last week. This week Maxwell tries to get back to basics offensively, re-establishing their identity in the ground game. They’ll also hope their experienced defense can bounce back in a big way as Elm Creek comes to town. Elm Creek held off Ansley-Litchfield in their opener last week.
The Brady program has gotten used to winning the past few seasons, but this year they’ve known nothing but defeat so far, losing their first two games. They are hopeful to get back on track as they host Amherst. Amherst held off Loomis 20-19 in their first game.
Wallace has pounded their first two foes, but tonight’s game won’t be anywhere near as easy. The Paxton Tigers come to town for what might be the marquee matchup in the area this week. Paxton ripped Hayes Center 56-6 in their debut, then took last week off, so they’ll be expecting their toughest challenge of the season to date as well.
The Nebraska State Patrol in conjunction with the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office and the State Health and Human Services Department is conducting an ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual assault of students attending 
Maxwell High School in Maxwell, Neb.
The ongoing investigation began in April 2012 after the Nebraska State Patrol was made aware of allegations of the sexual assault of a student involved in the Maxwell High School wrestling program. The investigation led to several more potential victims of alleged sexual assault.
On Tuesday, Sept. 4, investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol cited and released three members of the Maxwell Public Schools for Failure to Make a Report of Child Abuse or Neglect, a Class III Misdemeanor.
Three Maxwell Public Schools officials on suspicion of failure to make a report of child abuse. Cited were superintendent Danny Twarling, high school principal Aubrey Boucher and wrestling coach Ryan Jones.
An affidavit filed by a State Patrol investigator says the case began with reports of an underage wrestling team member being held down by other team members and sodomized with a soda bottle and, on another occasion, being groped on a school bus. The investigator says the three school officials knew of the accusations, but did not report them to authorities.
“This remains a very active investigation,” said Lt. Lynn Williams, Troop D- North Platte. “There is potential for more victims and additional arrests or citations.”
Anyone with information that might aid in the investigation is asked to contact the Troop D Headquarters at 308-535-8047.
Here’s a report of a mini pursuit!
Just after the wink of midnight on Monday September 3rd officers were called to the 2300 block of East 5thstreet for a prior physical disturbance.
Officers spoke with the 35-year-old female victim. The victim alleged that the suspect and/or her domestic partner 33-year-old Robert “Robbie” Mills had assaulted her then left the residence in a vehicle with their children, while also being intoxicated.
Mills didn’t get far before officers found him at a Kwik-Stop on East 4th. An officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop near the 300 block of N. Walnut.
Mills stopped…then put the pedal to the metal and took off.
After a very brief pursuit Mills called it quits and pulled over in an alley near the 500 block of East 6th. Mills got out of the car and ran away leading the officers on a foot pursuit.
The officers apprehended Mills near 5th and Cottonwood.
Officers found out the children Mills had in the car (ages 3 &4) we not buckled up during the -pursuit; also Mills had marijuana in his possession.
A release from Officer Rodney brown says
“The children were safely released to their mother after the investigation revealed no probable cause in regards to the initial domestic assault allegation.”
Officers found probable cause to arrest Mills for two counts of Child Abuse, (IIIA Fel), Possession of Marijuana (> than 1 oz.)(III Mis), Resisting Arrest (I Mis), Motor Vehicle Flight to Avoid Arrest,(IV Fel) and Child Restraint Violation,(INF).
He was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and jailed.
On Wednesday August 29th Officers from the North Platte Police Department went to the 400 block of South Sycamore after a report of burglary was made.
The victim said he was missing four fire arms, a knife as well as $1000 cash.
On Tuesday September 4th officers received some information pointing to where the firearms may be. Investigation led officers to believe the stolen rifle is in the possession of convicted felon Troy Culpepper.
Alas a warrant was obtained so officers could search a vehicle found on the 400 block of N Ash that was believed to be involved in the crime. Inside the vehicle officers found a Steyr AUG .223 Caliber assault rifle and a knife that was similar to the one reported missing.
Culpepper was found shortly after in a residence near the vehicle. There was probable cause to arrest Culpepper for Possession of a Stolen Firearm (Class III Felony), Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, (Class 1D Felony) and Possession of Stolen Property,(Class II Mis.)
Culpepper was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center. Following further investigative efforts it was determined that there was probable cause to also charge Culpepper for Burglary, (III Fel).
A man from Bartley Nebraska will be spending life in prison after he was convicted of killing a 14-year-old girl from McCook.
The 20-year-old Stathis Kirkpatrick was originally deemed mentally unfit to stand trial, but a judge found him competent to stand.
Kirkpatrick pleaded no contest to a first degree murder, earlier he pleaded not guilty to the murder and other charges of the young Kailee Clapp.
Clapp was found on the night of January 21st in 2011 at the Bartley Cemetery. That morning Clapp was reported missing from her home in McCook.
Today: Sunny, with a high near 96. South wind 14 to 17 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. Breezy, with a north wind 11 to 16 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Breezy, with a north wind 18 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
Fire officials say three massive fires in northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota have not grown and are nearly contained.
The fires in western Nebraska were 95% contained by Wednesday, and now freighters are patrolling the areas putting out hot spots to prevent more flames, while the fire in Nebraska and South Dakota was contained late Wednesday.
The blaze was sparked by lighting on August 28th, spreading quickly over the dry drought struck land. The flames were a threat to communities and required evacuation of hundreds of homes and farm buildings.
A man from Ainsworth Nebraska has been sent to prison for his part in a deadly roll-over crash.
The driver Cody Nilson 21, lost control of his vehicle while driving under the influence, the 18-year-old passenger Rebecca Fischer was ejected and died the next day.
Nilson was sentenced to three to six years in prison for felony manslaughter, he was given 60 days in jail for a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence to be served at the same time as the prison sentence.
Nilson pleaded no contest in July. He was sentenced on Tuesday in Buffalo County District Court.
Both Nilson and Fischer were students at UNK at the time of the accident.
Ogallala Public Schools say they need upgrades, and are asking voters for the fourth time in five years the district is 
seeking approval for a bond, achiving voter approval may be difficult.
Ogallala public schools are asking for $15 million to consolidate several schools into one. Superintendent of OPS says the bond would fix up Prairie View School which only has third through fifth grade classes. The bond would help fill gaps between pre-K up to eighth grades.
