Investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol Troop D – North Platte conducted alcohol compliance checks in Lincoln County during the evening
hours of Thursday, September 21, 2017.

This project was supported in whole or part by Grant # 93.959 under the SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Region II Human Services and the Nebraska DHHS Division of Behavioral Health.

A total of ten businesses were checked. Three sold alcohol to a minor for a non-compliance rate of 30%. Nine of the businesses checked the minor’s ID. The businesses included convenience stores, golf courses, liquor stores, grocery stores, and hotels.

The three business which sold alcohol to a minor are:

Love’s Travel Stop #390 (North Platte)

Prairie Mart (North Platte)

Sutherland Reservoir Park (Sutherland), which also did not check ID.

This operation was done in conjunction with a special enforcement by Troop D Traffic Services. Citations or warnings were issued for Speeding (3), Lighting Violation (2), Fail to Signal (1), Texting While Driving (1), DOT Markings (1), Driving on the Shoulder (1), No License (1), No Proof of Insurance (1). Troopers also made one arrest on a warrant/failure to appear.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials are set to celebrate the completion of the state Capitol’s courtyard fountains, a piece of the building’s original design that went unfinished for 85 years.

The Nebraska Capitol Commission will host a ceremony Friday at 3 p.m. in the Capitol’s northeast courtyard. Gov. Pete Ricketts, Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer and Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican are all scheduled to speak.

The fountains are the final piece of architect Bertram Goodhue’s vision for the Capitol. They were included in the construction plans in 1932 but weren’t completed because of the Great Depression. Lawmakers approved funding for the project in 2014 so that it would coincide with the 150th anniversary of Nebraska statehood.

A 16-year-old North Platte High School student is facing a felony assault charge after an incident in the bathroom at the school in late-August.

According to Investigator John Deal, on August 31 at around 10:15 a.m., an officer met with a 17-year-old male student who reported that he had been assault in the bathroom.

The victim said the other teen assaulted him, which led to visible injuries including a broken nose and a concussion.

After initial charges of 3rd-degree-assault by mutual consent were filed against the teen, Deal says the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office enhanced the charges to felony 1st-degree assault, due to the serious bodily injury suffered by the victim.

On September 19, officers located the teen suspect in the 300 block of West F Street and placed him under arrest.

He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

The Post is not naming the suspect due to his age.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s secretary of state says he will continue to withhold voting data from President Donald Trump’s election commission until he gets more information about how the data will be used and kept secure.

Secretary of State John Gale raised several concerns Tuesday in a letter to the commission.

Gale is asking for assurances that voter data will not be accessible under federal public records laws once Trump’s term ends. He’s also asking what specific legal authority the commission has to dispose of the records once its work ends.

Additionally, Gale says he wants to know the status of several pending lawsuits to block the commission’s request to states.

Gale says he’s being cautious because of the recent breach at Equifax that exposed the personal information of 143 million American consumers.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Kearney city officials have chosen a new air carrier to replace an air service that declared bankruptcy in August.

The Kearney City Council voted 5-0 to select SkyWest Airlines at a special meeting on Monday. The city will recommend the airline to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a two-year service contract.

Seven carriers submitted 17 proposals to the DOT. The DOT is expected to award the essential air service contract in late September or early October.

City officials had to scramble to find a new airline after Peninsula Airways declared bankruptcy just 10 months after the city approved a two-year lease with the Anchorage, Alaska-based carrier. The air service gave notice at the beginning of August that it intended to discontinue service in Kearney.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A state program created to address a backlog of bridge maintenance projects is beginning to make a difference in some Nebraska counties.

The Nebraska Department of Roads awarded a total of $4 million to nearly 70 county bridge projects in January. Counties across the state have applied to the program since last year in hopes of receiving money for failing bridges.

Colfax County Highway Superintendent Marks Arps has received money for two of the five bridge projects he applied for. Arps says the two bridges were “some of the worst ones.”

The amount of grant funding allotted for both projects is $107,000, which Arps says will cover some of the materials.

The program is scheduled to end in 2023.

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Fifty-four Nebraska employers and 34 communities have won accolades for offering wellness programs to their employees.

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the winners Monday of the Governor’s Wellness Award. Ricketts says the businesses recognized are “putting people first” and creating a healthy workplace environment.

The award has two categories: the Sower Award for workplaces with established quality wellness programs and the Grower Award for businesses and organizations that demonstrate significant improvement in employee behaviors.

Awards will be presented at four separate award ceremonies between Sept. 21 and Nov. 7.

The award program is a partnership of the governor’s office, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Nebraska Safety Council/Workwell.

TRENTON, Neb. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to at least 50 years in prison in connection with the death of another man who had been left in a rural area of southwest Nebraska and died of hypothermia.

The Nebraska attorney general’s office says 25-year-old John R. Leahy was sentenced Monday in Hitchcock County District Court to 24 to 30 years for kidnapping, 18 to 20 years for manslaughter and 8 to 10 years of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.

Leahy was earlier found guilty of charges related to the death of 22-year-old Austin Wright, who was reported missing March 9, 2014. His body was found April 11, 2014, in a small oil well injection site shelter.

He died of hypothermia. An investigation shows Leahy punched Wright, then took him to a remote area and left him.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Nebraska tribe has received a more than $17,000 grant meant to help address elder abuse throughout its 15-county service area in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.

The Ponca Tribe received the Elder Abuse Innovation Grant Award through the National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative Innovation program.

Andrea Rodriguez is the tribe’s domestic violence program coordinator. She says the grant allows the tribe to offer outreach and prevention work on elder abuse.

Rodriguez says the tribe can also develop a section of the Ponca tribal code that’ll better serve indigenous elders.

She hopes the awareness and outreach effort helps the domestic violence program discover undetected or unserved cases because of a lack of resources.

The program’s services cover advocacy, medical care and other resources.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Greg Ibach, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, has been nominated for an administrative role in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The White House announced President Donald Trump’s nomination of Ibach on its website last week. Ibach has been picked to serve as the Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. The programs include Agricultural Marketing Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration.

Ibach has served as director of the Nebraska department for 12 years.

He is a lifelong rancher and farmer and has been active in the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

He must first be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he can take over the USDA post.