GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Grand Island area is preparing for the annual migration of about 600,000 cranes through central Nebraska — and thousands of bird-gazing tourists.
Chuck Cooper is president and chief executive officer of Crane Trust, a nonprofit that works to protect crane habitat. He says there are actually two migrations, with people coming from around the world to see the cranes.
Cooper says Crane Trust guests have included people from China. He says workers from Houston, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, are also planning to visit this year.
Anne Winkel with Rowe Sanctuary says the quantity of cranes is what makes viewing them popular in central Nebraska.
Cooper says that at one point last year, there were 430,000 cranes on Crane Trust’s land.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force Reserves will qualify for military honor license plates under a bill passed by the Nebraska Legislature.
Senators voted 46-1 Friday on the bill sponsored by Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse. It would create five new license plate designs.
Watermeier says the bill will honor reservists who have served their country.
Officers of the United States Public Health Service or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also could apply for the plates.
Veterans and active members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and National Guard already qualify for military honor plates. The plates cost the same as standard license plates.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have identified the two inmates killed in a riot at a Nebraska prison where a similar deadly incident occurred two years ago.
The state Department of Corrections said Friday that 39-year-old Damon Fitzgerald and 31-year-old Michael Galindo died in the Thursday revolt at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
No details have been released about how the inmates died or what led to the incident.
Some lawmakers are accusing prison officials of trying to downplay the incident at the prison, where two inmates were killed in a May 2015 revolt that caused millions of dollars in damage and demands for upgrades and better staffing.
Thursday’s riot involved about 40 inmates who refused to return to their cells. Galindo was serving 12 to 21 years on robbery and other charges. Fitzgerald was sentenced to hundreds of years in prison for crimes including sexual assault.
TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — Officials say two inmates died and others were injured in a disturbance at a Nebraska prison.
Corrections officials say in a statement that two inmates died Thursday in the incident at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
Officials didn’t provide details about how the inmates died but noted the disturbance involved about 40 inmates who refused to return to their cells.
No prison staffers were injured.
The Tecumseh prison was the site of a deadly riot in May 2015 that also left two dead and extensive property damage.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
A Nebraska prison was placed on lockdown for roughly three hours Thursday after inmates in a housing unit refused to return to their cells and a fire was started in a yard.
Prison officials said about 40 of unit’s 128 inmates were involved in the disturbance at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, the site of a deadly riot in May 2015. An emergency response team secured the inmates and extinguished a fire in a prison yard, a corrections department spokeswoman said early Thursday evening.
No injuries were reported. All staff members were safe and accounted for, and the incident was isolated to half of the housing unit and a small fenced yard, said Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith. Smith said the public was not at risk. Prison officials announced the lockdown around 2:45 p.m. and said around 5:30 p.m. that the housing unit was “habitable and secure.”
Inmates in gray hooded sweatshirts could be seen waving their arms in the yard Thursday afternoon as prison guards watched them from behind a razor wire fence. Smoke billowed from the open yard and a helicopter circled overhead. County and state officials were at the scene, along with a prison emergency response team.
The 2015 riot at the prison in southeast Nebraska injured several staff members, caused widespread damage and left two inmates dead.
Mike Marvin, who heads the union that represents corrections employees, said he was told that inmates had taken mattresses out into the prison yard and threw them into the fire. Marvin said he didn’t know why the inmates were protesting, but he believes the incident is taking place in the same unit as the 2015 riot.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would require drug screenings for Nebraska welfare recipients is raising objections from civil liberties groups and advocates for low-income residents.
The measure presented to a committee on Thursday would require applicants to complete substance abuse and job skills programs if they test positive for illegal drugs.
Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango says he introduced it not to punish recipients but to help those with substance abuse problems. Hughes says the bill isn’t yet ready to advance, but he’ll work with groups that have raised concerns.
Amy Miller of the American Civil Liberties of Nebraska says the bill violates recipients’ constitutional rights by subjecting them to invasive tests. Miller says there’s no proof that recipient drug abuse is a problem in Nebraska.
A North Platte man who was able to elude deputies in late-February has been arrested.
On February 28, a deputy with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office checked on a suspicious vehicle parked at the Tail Race, where the NPPD canal meets the South Platte River.
The Deputy observed that the vehicle was occupied by a male and female who were acting very suspicious. Also in the vehicle was a “large, aggressive” dog.
The deputy contacted the female passenger, 33-year-old Melissa Stafford, of North Platte, and asked her to step out of the vehicle. As she did, she allegedly dropped a glass pipe commonly used to smoke methamphetamine.
The deputy reported that Stafford became agitated and uncooperative.
As the deputy was dealing with Stafford, the male driver, later identified as 34-year-old Christopher Tagwerker, moved to the passenger side of the vehicle. The deputy also noticed that the glass pipe was gone.
Once the deputy secured Stafford, he attempted to detain Tagwerker, who also became uncooperative and noncompliant and resisted the deputy’s attempts to place him in custody.
According to Chief Deputy Roland Kramer, Tagwerker was able to get back in the vehicle and lock the doors. He then started the vehicle and took off, after backing up and nearly running over the deputy.
Kramer says since Stafford was detained, the deputy was unable to pursue Tagwerker.
Stafford was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center where she was cited for obstructing the police and released.
Deputies and area law enforcement began to search for Tagwerker.
On March 2, at around 12:15 a.m., deputies located Tagwerker at a residence in North Platte and took him into custody. He’s been charged with flight to avoid arrest, resisting arrest and obstructing the police.
DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co is recalling more than 36,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada because their air bags may not inflate properly.
The recall affects the 2016-2017 Ford Edge, 2016-2017 Lincoln MKX and 2017 Lincoln Continental. Most are in the U.S. but around 4,300 are in Canada.
The air bags were made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp., but they don’t have the same deadly problem that has led to a recall of millions of Takata air bags.
In that case, air bags can inflate with too much force and spew shrapnel at occupants.
In Ford’s case, the air bags may not fill completely because of misaligned components.
Ford is not aware of any injuries associated with the defect.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska prison has been placed on lockdown and inmates in a housing unit are refusing to return to their cells.
Officials say approximately 40 of unit’s 128 inmates are involved in the disturbance at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. A prison spokeswoman says a fire is burning in a prison yard, but authorities do not see any signs of fire inside the unit.
No injuries have been reported. Department spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith says all staff members are safe. Smith says the incident is isolated to half of the housing unit and a small fenced yard, and poses no risk to the public.
The prison in southeast Nebraska was the site of a May 2015 riot that injured several staff members, caused widespread damage and left two inmates dead.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment requiring photo IDs to vote.
Sen. John Murante of Gretna told a legislative committee on Thursday that requiring a photo ID would help an election process he says is under threat from people casting votes illegally.
Critics say voter fraud is not a problem. Only two of the more than 860,000 Nebraska residents who voted in the 2016 general election are facing charges of voter fraud.
Opponents contend voter ID laws place undue hardships on young mobile people, elderly people with health issues who don’t drive, people with physical or mental limitations and the poor.
A constitutional amendment requires support from 30 of the 49 state senators and a majority vote of the public.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Grand Island area is preparing for the annual migration of about 600,000 cranes through central Nebraska — and thousands of bird-gazing tourists.
