LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A southeast Nebraska keno operator is accused of concealing $1.28 million in illegal bets and committing more than 260 violations of state regulations.
The state Department of Revenue’s Division of Charitable Gaming wants to fine Zeilinger Keno $263,000 and revoke its lottery operator and worker licenses. Zeilinger Keno provides 30 southeast Nebraska communities with keno.
Todd Zeilinger denies any wrongdoing and says he leaves day-to-day operations to bar operators where the games are played. He told the newspaper he’s going to work with regulators and “make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Regulators say Zeilinger covered for people who placed illegal bets and say he made more than $179,000 in commissions off the wagers.
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A golf coach has been accused of sexually assaulting two members of his girls teams at Scottsbluff High School.
Court records say 61-year-old Michael Klein is charged with 15 felony counts of sexual assault and five misdemeanor counts. The records say assaults on the first girl occurred between November 2007 and November 2010 and between October 2015 and July 2016 for the second girl.
Klein didn’t immediately return a message left Friday on a phone listed for him in Mitchell. Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for Klein.
Klein was placed on paid administrative leave in September after district officials were notified of an investigation. Scottsbluff Schools Superintendent Rick Myles said Thursday that Klein was dismissed by the district in December.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection agency has proposed a rule that would combat pollutants’ emissions coming from Nebraska’s largest power plant.
The agency’s rule proposed Wednesday would require the Nebraska Public Power District to cut back emissions coming from its 1,365-megawatt Gerald Gentleman Station west of North Platte. Within a five-year window the plant would have to be outfitted with “scrubbers,” a system of chambers and sprays that spurt chemical mixtures into exhaust fumes. The mixture creates a chemical reaction with a byproduct of the fumes, reducing the amount of sulfur dioxide released into the environment.
NPPD utility spokesman Mark Becker says the plant has already been working to reduce gas emissions.
The installation of sulfur dioxide scrubbers could cost the NPPD tens of millions of dollars.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate remained steady at 3.4 percent in December, matching the November figure.
The Nebraska Department of Labor said in a news release Friday that the rate was fourth-tenths of a percentage point higher than the December 2015 rate of 3 percent but well below the preliminary December 2016 national rate of 4.7 percent. The national rate rose a tenth of a point from November’s 4.6 percent.
Nebraska Labor Commissioner John Albin says December was the 10th consecutive month in which the state’s nonfarm employment topped 1 million. The report says nonfarm employment grew by nearly 8,200 over the year.
Today
GERING, Neb. (AP) — A trial has been scheduled for an Alliance man accused of stabbing to death his brother in Scottsbluff.
At a pretrial meeting Wednesday, a judge set a starting date of Feb. 21 for the trial of 41-year-old William Reed. He’s accused of killing 42-year-old Christopher Reed on April 22 last year at Christopher’s home. William Reed has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon.
Court documents say William Reed twice told officers he’d stabbed his brother. Investigators say there was evidence of a fight in the several rooms in the home and outside. A knife found at the scene was seized as evidence. Officers think William Reed was under the influence of narcotics or alcohol at the time.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s chief Supreme Court justice is warning that proposed budget cuts to the judicial branch could undermine the state’s effort to relieve prison crowding.
Chief Justice Michael Heavican said in his annual address to lawmakers Thursday that the cuts will prevent the courts from replacing probation officers who keep tabs on former inmates immediately after they’re released.
Heavican says the courts have already saved more than $4.5 million by delaying new hires. Postponing them another six months would save the state an additional $1 million.
Expanding probation services was a key part of Nebraska’s recent effort to reduce the prison population and improve public safety. Heavican says the courts bought into the plan “hook, line and sinker” but is now left “holding the bag.”
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Bankers across Middle America say depressed farm commodity prices are the biggest threat to the economy this year in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states.
The overall economic index in a monthly survey of bankers for the region remained in negative territory at 42.8 in January, down slightly from December’s 42.9. Survey officials say any score below 50 suggests an economic decline.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says livestock commodity prices have tumbled by 7.3 percent and grain commodity prices by 11.7 percent in the last year.
Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
Goss says the rural economy is improving in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota, while all the other states are trending lower.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — National Guardsmen from Nebraska and Iowa have been assigned security and other duties for Friday’s presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.
Members of the Des Moines-based 71st Civil Support Team are looking for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. Most of the Nebraska Guardsmen are operating a field kitchen to feed some of the 7,500 soldiers and airmen from the National Guards of 44 states and three territories who will support inauguration activities.
Airmen from the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City and the 132nd Wing in Des Moines will join Martin’s team representing Iowa. A Kansas Air Guard jet flew the Nebraska troops to the Washington area Tuesday. They’re scheduled to return Sunday on a Hawaiian Air Guard jet.
