A 30-year-old man is in jail after he allegedly stole a pickup in North Platte.

According to North Platte police, on March 20, at around 11:10 p.m., an officer responded to a residence in the 400 block of South Walnut Street on the report of a stolen vehicle.

The victim told the officer that they had put the keys in the ignition of the pickup and were loading items into it so they could leave.

They stated that when they went inside the residence, they heard the pickup start and leave.

Additional officers responded to the area but were unable to locate the truck.

On March 22, at around 1:00 p.m., a friend of the victim saw the vehicle driving near 4th and Willow Streets.  He contacted police, and an officer was able to locate the vehicle and the suspect, later identified as Daniel Founds, near 10th and Vine Streets.

Investigator John Deal says more officers arrived and Founds was ordered to get out of the pickup but failed to comply.

Deal says officers were eventually able to get the driver’s side door open and remove Founds.  As they did so, Deal says a four-inch fixed blade knife fell from Founds’ waistband.

Additionally, Deal says Founds displayed numerous signs of being under the influence of alcohol, but he refused a breath test.  An open container of alcohol was reportedly found inside the vehicle.

Founds was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony theft, driving under the influence of liquor, driving under suspension, refusal to submit to a chemical/breath test, open container and carrying a concealed weapon, which was enhanced to a felony to a prior conviction.

According to a Facebook post by the victim, the vehicle sustained some minor damage. The post also showed a picture of the vehicle’s steering wheel which had a written apology from Founds on it.

Jail records do not list a bond amount for Founds.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska senator who fought for decades to abolish the death penalty is trying again, arguing that the statewide vote to reinstate capital punishment doesn’t make it right.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha presented his repeal bill Wednesday to a legislative committee. It’s unlikely to pass, but Chambers says a popular vote shouldn’t decide issues such as capital punishment.

Lawmakers abolished the death penalty in 2015, overriding Gov. Pete Ricketts’ veto. Death penalty supporters responded with a ballot petition drive partially financed by Ricketts. Voters overturned the Legislature’s decision and restored the punishment in November.

Nebraska’s corrections department recently changed its lethal injection protocol after years of failed attempts to obtain the necessary drugs. Another bill would let the state hide the identity of its suppliers.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — One person has been seriously injured in a fire at a Scottsbluff apartment building.

Fire officials say the fire was reported just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, with reports of a person trapped inside. Firefighters who arrived on the scene found flames coming from the first floor.

Scottsbluff police went door-to-door to evacuate all of the residents. One resident suffered burns and smoke inhalation and was taken by ambulance to a Scottsbluff hospital, and then flown to a burn center in Greeley, Colorado.

Five other residents were displaced by the fire and are receiving help from Firefighter Ministries and American Red Cross.

An investigation found that a faulty electrical connection started the fire. The building sustained about $20,000 in damage.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state senator says Nebraska can promote transparency by barring local governments from using tax dollars to hire lobbyists and requiring elected officials to wait before joining lobbying firms.

Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell told a legislative committee Wednesday that legislative term limits have led to increased power for lobbyists and a public perception that senators will serve eight years before taking a high-paying lobbying job. One bill he sponsored would require statewide elected officials to wait two years before lobbying and their staffs to wait one year.

Other measures would prohibit political subdivisions from using tax dollars to pay for lobbying and require lobbyists whose clients receive any public money to disclose their full contracts.

Supporters say this will help rural school districts that can’t afford to hire lobbyists.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have moved one step closer to creating a radon task force that would develop minimum standards for new construction projects.

Senators voted 37-0 on Wednesday to advance the bill through a first-round vote.

Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that rises out of soil and fills buildings that aren’t properly ventilated. It’s the nation’s second-leading cause of lung cancer, and Nebraska has the nation’s third-highest radon levels.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha says he introduced it to start addressing radon’s public health risks. The task force would report its recommendations to lawmakers and the governor by April 15, 2018.

Two more votes are required before the bill goes to Gov. Pete Ricketts.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Activists who want to derail the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska are again mobilizing to try to make their case to a small state commission that will decide the project’s fate.

Opponents on Wednesday will ask the Nebraska Public Service Commission to let them intervene in the case, allowing them to file legal briefs, cross-examine witnesses and present formal arguments alongside attorneys for pipeline developer TransCanada.

Nebraska requires residents to show a “substantial legal interest” in a project before they can intervene. Commission Chairman Tim Schram will decide who qualifies.

Linda Anderson of Bold Nebraska says her pipeline opposition group will argue that opponents have an interest as taxpayers and consumers of the state’s water.

TransCanada spokesman Terry Cuhna says the company will keep working with residents.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill that could keep a child care subsidy for low-income families flat even as costs rise.

Senators voted 31-10 on Wednesday to advance a measure that could let the subsidy slip as low as the 50th percentile of what all providers charge. The state now must pay a rate between the 60th and 75th percentile.

Several senators say the bill would place too high a burden on low-income families who rely on the child care subsidy. They say any change in the subsidy could cause parents to leave their jobs because they no longer could afford child care.

Supporters of the measure say legislators have to make tough decisions to address a projected $895 million revenue shortfall in the next two years.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A man shot by a Kearney police officer after a traffic stop has been given a year of probation for two crimes related to the shooting.

Court records say 36-year-old Jose Klich was sentenced last week after pleading no contest to obstructing a police officer and driving under suspension — both misdemeanors. A 30-day jail sentence was suspended.

Kearney Police Officer Derek Payton was charged with felony assault after the June 5 shooting and has pleaded not guilty. Payton is accused of shooting three times at Klich, striking him once in the abdomen. A court document says Payton was not in the path of Klich’s car when he fired as Klich began to drive away from the scene.

Payton’s trial is scheduled to begin April 3.