On Monday September 3^rd two Nebraska State Patrol Troopers were honored with the Military Order of the Purple Heart “First Responder Citation” at the Nebraska State fair in Grand Island.

Both troopers Timothy Flick and Jeffery Van Stelton were nominated by a retired NSP sergeant and MOPH member Tom Nutt.

Trooper Van Stelton is a six-year veteran of the Nebraska State Patrol assigned to Troop-D of North Platte. Van Stelton survived a dangerous and fiery crash when he collided with an unlicensed driver on west bound Highway 34 near Stratton in Hitchcock County. Van Stelton was responding to a call for assistance.

A release from the NSP says:

“The actions and courage demonstrated by these officers under stressful situations is something we can all be thankful for,” said Colonel David Sankey, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “It is times like these that highlight the importance of training for all types of situations. We are very proud of those honored and are pleased to see them back on the job.”

 

Van Stelton suffered serious injuries to his pelvis, legs and arm.

There has been no new growth on either fire in the last twenty-four hours; Douthit Fire remains 29,730

acres while West Ash remains 58,450 acres. The collective containment of the Region 23 Complex has risen to 85% contained. Today fire fighters efforts focused on patrol, and mop-up, rehabilitation of dozer and fire lines in affected areas.

Individuals or families displaced or affected and in need of assistance are encouraged to contact the American Red Cross.  They have a toll free number (888-382-3790) for anyone to call and get information regarding local resources and services.

 

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team has begun assessing post fire conditions so they can recommend and implement treatment to protect critical natural and cultural resources.  A variety of techniques may be used such as: mulching, noxious weed control, reseeding of ground cover, signage, possible road and trail closures, road drainage dip clean out, constructing straw bale dams or placing fallen trees to catch sediment on steep slopes.   Matthew Lucas team leader for BAER/Lead Hydrologist stated “The number one priority of BAER is the protection of life and property.” He later went on to state that his team is working with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Nebraska Game and Parks, and United States Forest Services. The team’s number one concern is post fire runoff. Once a large amount of vegetation has been removed from an area and a storm event occurs infiltration of water is hampered and there is a potential for increase runoff from slopes and increased erosion in drainage bottoms. This could lead to damages to roadways, bridges, and structures within the flood plain area. The goal of the team is to look at and implement ways to slow runoff and help protect water quality in streams, springs and critical natural and cultural resources.  The Region 23 Complex BAER team is made up of specialist in paleontology, archeology, hydrology, range, invasive species, soils, engineering, and geographic information systems (GIS).

 

The Hudson-Meng Bison Kill Research and Visitor remain closed. This closure is in part due to the possibility of fire exposing new cultural resources. The area will be closed while specialists preform rapid assessments, which would allow preservation and protection of the resources for everyone. The facilities at Hudson-Meng Bison Bones have faired the fire with no damages.

Chadron State Park also remains closed and is anticipated to be closed for several weeks. This closure is in place for public safety while crews work to remove hazard trees and cleanup efforts. As soon as it is safe to do so Chadron State Park will resume operations.

Inciweb updates will be done as often as needed, please check us out at www.inciweb.org .

 Today: Sunny with a high near 89. North wind 12 to 17 mph decreasing to 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph.

Tonight: Clear, with a low around 52. East wind 5 to 7 mph becoming south southeast after midnight.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 92. South wind 7 to 17 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph.

Authorities say the body of a missing Wyoming man has been found in a Nebraska Panhandle irrigation canal.

The Nebraska State Patrol says a person passing by the Pathfinder Irrigation Canal reported the body around 8 p.m. Monday. The canal is north of Mitchell, in Sioux County.

The body was identified as that of 49-year-old Joseph Salazar, of Torrington, Wyo. His wife reported earlier Monday that he was missing.

An autopsy has been scheduled as part of the investigation.

Torrington is 22 miles northwest of Mitchell.

Suicide is a national health problem that takes an enormous toll on families, friends, co-workers, schools and the entire community. Sadly, every minute of every day, someone attempts to take their own life and every 15 minutes someone dies by suicide.

We need to know more about suicide and ways to prevent it. We also need to educate the public to recognize the symptoms of depression, especially in teenagers as they are a particularly vulnerable group.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is conducting The 2nd Annual Out of the Darkness Community Walks here in North Platte on September 22nd at Centennial Park to raise much needed funds for prevention and education. Portion of the funds raised will support distribution of AFSP’s new educational film More Than Sad: Teen Depression to area high schools to educate both students and teachers about teen depression and how to get help.

To learn more about the Out of the Darkness Community Walks visit www.outofthedarkness.org and for more information about the films visit www.morethansad.org.

My goal is to open a support group and bring Suicide prevention to North Platte and surrounding communities and to bring much needed education to the schools. I would like to have your help to complete these goals. The help needed is getting the word out about the walk and get walkers or team to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The Walk takes place September 22nd @ 10:30 am. Registration is from 9:00am to 10:00 am or you can preregister at outofthedarkness.org

[poll id=”45″]

A fatal accident left one man dead over Labor Day weekend at Lake McConaughy. On Sunday September 2^nd at around 2:40 PM a 36-year-old man on a jet-ski crashed into a boat killing the driver. The boat was driven by a 64 year old Brighton Colorado man who died from the crash. The man’s son-in-law, daughter and two granddaughters were also riding with him and injured.

The Boat was in the Martin Bay area at the time of the accident. The jet-ski driver is charged with manslaughter and negligent operation of a personal watercraft. No names have been released, investigation continues.

Parts of North Platte went dark last night as the city had experienced a power outage or in this case, a power failure.

There were two outages, one starting at 6PM Labor Day September 3^rd. The first outage was cause by a lightening arrestor that got burnt up. The second power outage occurred right after the first outage was dealt with. A switch gear at another substation malfunctioned and caused another power outage that business and homes felt.

Power was back on sometime around 10PM on Monday night.

News Release From the NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE:

Officials from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the State of South Dakota, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, Sheridan County and an interagency Incident Management Team met Sunday morning to negotiate a Delegation of Authority agreement designed to facilitate cooperation and effective use of resources among the several jurisdictions.

The fire has now involved approximately 96,000 acres of the scenic Pine Ridge and Beaver Wall area in Nebraska and has crossed the South Dakota border onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The South Dakota portion of the fire has burned as far north as Oglala covering some 27,000 acres.

Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team A Incident Commander Todd Richardson observed that the level of respect and cooperation among the gathered officials was very encouraging. He complimented the hard work and effort put forth by the volunteer firefighters prior to the teams arrival.

Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Kearns of Rushville had a bit of good news on Sunday morning.

“From midnight on, the fire just laid down” said Kearns. “The wind dropped, the humidity rose and the fuel load somewhat diminished. We got a real break.”

When asked for his assessment of Saturday night, Rushville Mayor Chris Heiser replied “encouraging.” We held the lines – there was no major advancement.”

Kearns spoke at some length about the agonizing decisions commanders have to make to deploy limited resources to save one valuable building or asset and know that another will have to be lost because of that decision. He said it is especially difficult to see a rancher’s hay go up in flames because there are not enough resources to save it.

Saturday saw the departure of units from 18 volunteer fire departments from other Nebraska communities. These volunteers were called home to fight fires near their own communities.

Sheriff Terry Robbins reported seeing no houses destroyed by the fire and expressed his admiration for the firefighters who were able to save all those homes in the face of truly terrible fire conditions. Sheriff department personnel called every household in the Wellnitz fire area to urge evacuation then visited every home in person said Deputy Everette Langford.

Richardson said a DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) is stationed at Rapid City, however he thought it was unlikely it would be deployed on the Wellnitz fire. The VLAT is an effective tool for fire suppression but the fire in Sheridan County has not escalated to the point where using the VLAT would be an efficient, effective and strategically safe use of resources.

For up-to-date road closures call www.511.nebraska.gov or call 511
All state highways are open in the northern panhandle. Watch for fire fighters, smoke and wild fire.
Smoke can rapidly reduce visibility.
There may be intermittent road closures because of the response.
Safety Message Fire officials request that members of the public stay off county roads to keep them clear for firefighting efforts.

Curtis, Neb., August 31, 2012 – The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) has a new mural added to its collection at its new Nebraska Agriculture Industry Education Center.  The USDA mural depicts the various projects that can be accomplished through the programs and funding offered through the USDA Mission Areas.  

 

Rural Development State Director Maxine Moul was in Curtis today with the Dean of NCTA, Dr. Weldon Sleight, who gave her a tour of the mural and the Education Center.  Moul serves as the chair of the Nebraska Food and Agriculture Council, whose membership includes the USDA agencies located in Nebraska.  Coordinating the creation and installation of the mural were the USDA Agencies of Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Rural Development.

 

“USDA would like to thank NCTA for the opportunity to tell our story by providing an overall look at how USDA contributes to local communities through our mission areas.  USDA offers a wide range of services.  The mural helps to get the word out to NCTA students and visitors to the campus,” said Moul.

The Education Center and three other major projects completed on the campus of NCTA over the last two years were dedicated last November. These include the Walter Long Veterinary Technology Teaching Clinic, George & Carol Garlick Aggie West Residence Hall, Aggie Central Residence Hall and the Bio Mass Project.

According to Dr. Sleight, these projects were possible as a result of the efforts of government officials, agriculture industry organizations and, in particular, the generosity of 200 donors who represent friends and alumni of the college.

USDA Mission Areas include those for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services; Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services; Food Safety; Marketing and Regulatory Programs; Natural Resources and Environment; Research, Education and Economics; and Rural Development.

 

Visit http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=USDA_MISSION_AREAS.