KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a man who admitted starting a fire at a woman’s Kearney apartment.
Court records say Clifford Sellers pleaded guilty to arson after prosecutors dropped a burglary charge. No one was injured in the Jan. 22 fire.
The judge ordered the mental tests for Sellers at Sellers’ sentencing hearing.
GERING, Neb. (AP) — Scientists have visited a western Nebraska city to recruit volunteers to take photographs of the United States’ first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in 99 years.
Gering was visited Monday by Laura Peticolas, a senior fellow at the University of California-Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, and Chris Cable, a consultant with the laboratory’s education group Multiverse.
The scientists are gathering volunteers to take photographs of the Aug. 21 eclipse for a video project. The 2- to 3-minute video will be pieced together with images from various points along the eclipse path.
The data will help NASA better understand the sun.
The project is seeking 1,500 volunteers with specific equipment, including a DSLR camera, a lens minimum of 300 mm, a tripod and the ability to identify GPS coordinates.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s agriculture secretary is traveling to China to celebrate the arrival of the state’s first beef shipment in 14 years.
Greg Ibach is scheduled to visit Beijing and Shanhai June 29-30. Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the trip Tuesday, saying the state will benefit greatly by capturing a share of China’s beef import market.
Ricketts says Nebraska is home to four of the six eligible suppliers that are currently approved to ship beef to China.
Ibach is expected to participate in a series of promotional events along with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad and various industry leaders.
Ibach is also slated to meet with key Chinese beef importers.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Three Nebraska companies are joining a state program intended to expose the state’s youths to manufacturing and technology careers.
Aulick Industries in Scottsbluff, Becton Dickinson in Broken Bow and Cyclonaire of York were all chosen as recipients of the 2017 Nebraska Developing Youth Talent Initiative Grant Awards. Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the winners Monday in a press conference.
Ricketts proposed the program in 2015 to help forge partnerships between private industries and public schools. The program gives seventh and eighth graders a hands-on learning experience in industries that are important to the state’s economic development.
Ricketts says many of the jobs offer good salaries for people who want to start work straight out of high school rather than attending a four-year university.
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline dropped 7 cents nationally over the past two weeks, to $2.32.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the drop reflects lower costs for crude oil.
She says the national average is 4 cents a gallon below the price a year ago.
Gas in San Francisco was the highest in the contiguous United States at an average of $3.06 a gallon. The lowest was in Charleston, South Carolina, at $1.91 a gallon.
The U.S. average diesel price is $2.53, down 3 cents from two weeks ago.
ASHLAND, Neb. (AP) — Interested in things that slither in the night? Daytime, too?
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln herpetologist will make several presentations about Nebraska’s snakes the weekend of July 22-23 at Mahoney State Park near Ashland in eastern Nebraska.
The free event will run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at Riverview Lodge, with snakes on display and naturalist programs. Herpetologist Dennis Ferraro will give presentations at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. each day.
A park entry permit is required.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln plans to raze a matching pair of high-rise dormitories that have housed thousands of students since 1963.
All 13 stories of Cather Hall and Pound Hall will be imploded and disappear from Lincoln’s skyline as early as the end of this year. Both dorms have been used for overflow in recent years as the demand for student housing exceeded expectations.
Cather Hall was reopened to students in 2013, shortly after it was taken offline. Pound Hall has been home to students in each of the last three school years.
Brooke Hay, assistant director of university’s facilities planning and construction, says the school settled on what officials say will be the quickest, safest and most cost-effective option for the buildings.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid a visit to Nebraska and Iowa and toured Union Pacific’s railyard in central Nebraska.
Zuckerberg also attended part of the Heartland Pride Festival in Omaha on Saturday and stopped in several Iowa towns as part of a tour of the area.
After touring the railyard, Zuckerberg posted pictures on Facebook and commented about how important railroads are to the economy because of everything they haul.
Zuckerberg spent about an hour at the Omaha event Saturday meeting with community leaders.
Previously, Zuckerberg had said he planned to tour the country this year as part of an effort to meet people in every state.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) — Officials at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha say a tornado that tore through the base last week damaged 10 military planes — including two of the Pentagon’s four “doomsday” planes.
The tornado June 16 knocked out two of the E-4B Nightwatch aircraft that serve as aerial command centers for top military officials in case of a catastrophic national emergency.
The twister also damaged eight of the 55th Wing’s fleet of RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, which fly surveillance missions. Drew Nystrom, a 55th Wing spokesman, says seven of those planes sustained only minor damage, and six have been repaired.
Nystrom says the cost of the aircraft repairs hasn’t been determined.
A preliminary estimate says the storm caused up to $10 million in damage to other Offutt facilities.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Nearly 500 bicyclists are in their second day of travel along the more than 200-mile Tour de Nebraska route.
The annual ride began Wednesday and goes through Sunday.
Riders traveled from St. Paul to Loup City on Wednesday and will travel to Broken Bow on Thursday. Cyclists will then spend the night Friday at Ord. They’ll have their choice of various side trips Saturday and will spend the night in Ord again before riding back to St. Paul Sunday.
Riders cycled more than 45 miles Wednesday and will go 65 miles Thursday.
Tour special projects director Charlie Schilling says the route this year showcases the Nebraska’s landscape and beauty.
The event was founded by Rich and Susan Rodenburg and is in its 30th year.
