This information is not criminal history. All individuals included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. The North Platte Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information. Any person who believes information provided is not accurate may submit a complaint to [email protected].
OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) – A 57-year-old Ogallala man has been indicted by a federal grand jury that alleges he lied to the Social Security Administration. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Hap Staman faces two charges: fraud and making false statements to a U.S. agency. A news release from the office says that in 2007, Staman didn’t provide information that would have disqualified him from continuing to receive disability payments. It also says that in December 2010, Staman lied on a Social Security form so he could continue to receive the payments. Staman faces five years on each charge. Staman did not immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.
KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – Nine months after FirsTier Bank paid $7.6 million for the Ramada Inn in Kearney, the bank has sold it to a hotel management company for $4.85 million. The Kearney Hub reports that a subsidiary of Colorado Hospitality Services bought the 206-room hotel earlier this month. The hotel management firm, which owns more than 20 other hotels, has been running the Ramada on an interim basis since last December when the bank foreclosed on the previous owner. The Ramada’s business is focused on conventions and banquets. The hotel management company says a new Italian restaurant should open soon at the hotel.
CHADRON, Neb. (AP) – The grandson of a fur trapper who traveled between Montana and Nebraska in the early 1880s has donated his journal to the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron. KQSK radio says James Flaherty’s journal tells of his work, the land, the people and the wildlife. Historian James Hanson says while the 1877-to-1886 period was vital in shaping northern Nebraska and southwest South Dakota, Flaherty’s journal is only the second contemporary writings from that time known to have survived. Flaherty, who became a dentist, sold over 400 pounds of beaver and other furs and paid his way through dental college in his native Wisconsin.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman says he has urged a Canadian energy company to reroute a proposed oil pipeline that would that would cross the Ogallala Aquifer. Heineman told reporters Wednesday that he has had “very candid and very direct” conversations with TransCanada executives twice in the last 10 days. He says he warned company officials about growing in-state opposition to the proposed route. Heineman has urged federal officials to reject the pipeline unless another route is chosen. Pipeline opponents have urged Heineman to call a special legislative session so lawmakers can regulate where the line runs. Heineman said lawmakers missed their chance this year and don’t have the votes. The Republican governor also took aim Wednesday at the “deafening” silence on the issue from several Democratic state lawmakers.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A California man who had 15.5 pounds of marijuana in gift-wrapped boxes in his trunk when he was arrested last year is going to jail. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Lancaster County District Judge Karen Flowers sentenced 54-year-old Edwin Yearout Tuesday to 360 days in jail. He was given credit for one day he’d already spent in jail. Yearout, of Sacramento, pleaded no contest to possession of more than a pound of marijuana as part of a deal with prosecutors. Yearout was arrested last October after a Nebraska State Patrol trooper pulled him over for speeding on Interstate 80 in Lincoln. The drugs were found after a dog detected an odor coming from the trunk.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska couple has marked the end of the U.S. military’s ban on gay service by tying the knot. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 48-year-old Gregory Smith, a full-time member of the Nebraska Army National Guard, married 39-year-old John Burns on Tuesday in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The wedding occurred just hours after the military ended its so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The couple had originally planned to marry next spring, but Smith told family members he wanted to marry on the first day he could serve openly as a gay man in the military. Burns told the newspaper that if the ban had not been lifted, he and Smith probably would not have married until Smith finished his military service.
This information is not criminal history. All individuals included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. The North Platte Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information. Any person who believes information provided is not accurate may submit a complaint to [email protected].
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A sentence of nearly 22 years has been given to a man who was arrested last year in western Nebraska after more than a kilogram of methamphetamine was found in his vehicle. A news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says Pedro Camacho- Corona was sentenced on Monday to 21 years and 10 months in prison. Camacho-Corona was arrested Nov. 22, 2010, after a traffic stop along Interstate 80 in Keith County. Gilg’s office says Camacho-Corona also is known as Thomas Moreno-Martinez and Mario Ramos-Garcia. Camacho-Corona also was given 30 months for violating terms of his supervised release from a cocaine conviction under the name of Mario Ramos-Garcia in Florida. The sentence will be served at the same time as his meth sentence.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Lincoln police have captured a man suspected in the stabbing of two other men, one fatally. Police say 36-year-old Angelo Pedrosa was arrested at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday at a motel in southwest Lincoln. The arrest warrant listed assault and a weapons charge. The county attorney’s office is reviewing the case to determine whether Pedrosa will face a homicide charge. Online court records don’t list his attorney’s name. Police say the two men were stabbed at a Lincoln home a little before 2 p.m. Monday. They were identified as 29-year-old Peter Hardy, who died later at a Lincoln hospital. The other was identified as 36-year-old Donnie Rodgers, who remains in serious condition.
