LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Some Nebraska corrections employees will get raises under an agreement with Gov. Pete Ricketts’ administration.
The governor’s office announced Thursday that the correctional workers’ union has reached an agreement with the Department of Correctional Services. The raises will go into effect under their current contract, starting Nov. 28.
The raises are part of an effort to address staffing shortages in the corrections department. The increase in the remainder of the current budget cycle will cost roughly $1.9 million.
The agreement includes raises of 5 percent increase for caseworkers, 4.5 percent for corrections officers, 5.4 percent for corporals, 6 percent for sergeants, 3.7 percent for registered nurses and 4.2 percent for food service specialists. Mental health practitioners will get raises of 2.4 percent or 4 percent, depending on their classification.
A new era of building a stronger, healthier community begins January 2017 with the kickoff of the YMCA coming to Gothenburg! Gothenburg will become the 18th Nebraska city to benefit from a YMCA operating out of their community.
“We are thrilled for the opportunity to partner with Gothenburg by adding them to our association which includes Holdrege and Lexington,” said YMCA of the Prairie CEO, Ginger Cowne. “This is a remarkable occasion to multiply the tremendous work done on The Center project.”
The Center is a collaborative community project that has been a focus of multiple entities in Gothenburg since early 2015. The goal is to build a public hub on Gothenburg Health’s campus that fuses health, wellness, nutrition, education, community and recreation. The YMCA is a natural partner for this great endeavor.
The YMCA will utilize shared spaces in Gothenburg including those operated by the city, school and hospital to conduct programming. Upon completion, the YMCA will permanently operate out of the planned Center facility. Due to this great collaboration, The Center project will become the YMCA of Gothenburg.
Groundbreaking for the $4.95 million project is scheduled for February 2017. The YMCA will be connected to Gothenburg Health as part of a joint project featuring a hospital renovation. The YMCA will begin operating out of the existing hospital wellness center. Programming is planned to kick off in spring of 2017.
The YMCA of Gothenburg will have year-round recreation opportunities for all ages and socio-economic backgrounds. When complete, the facility will include a high school regulation size gymnasium with two cross-courts; a four-lane swimming pool with space for kids play and physical therapy; an indoor walking track; a wellness center with weights and cardio machines; a spacious group exercise room; men’s, women’s and family locker rooms; a fun and educational child watch room, and a comfortable social lobby with free Wi-Fi access. In addition to all these planned components, there will be an abundance of educational space which include the potential for mentorship programs, early childhood development, after-school programs and career development opportunities for students; depending on community wants and needs.
The YMCA at Gothenburg Health project has been partially funded by a significant local capital campaign directed by the Gothenburg Health Foundation, raising $2,265,000 through local donations. A remaining $2,685,000 is needed to complete fundraising for the community project. The Sherwood Foundation of Omaha has recently awarded a 2:1 challenge grant for the community wellness facility. For every $2 raised for the facility, the Sherwood Foundation will contribute $1, up to $895,000. The challenge will end on December 31, 2017. All past and future capital campaign funds raised will stay in Gothenburg and will be solely used to build the facility in Gothenburg as originally planned.
The YMCA is a non-profit organization focusing on strengthening the community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. For more information on this great partnership, please contact Becky Jobman at (308) 537-4094.
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Thomas Peterson, age 57 of Kearney, Nebraska, was sentenced by the Honorable Richard G. Kopf, Senior United States District Judge, to nine years in prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release following his conviction on four counts of violating the civil rights of female probationers under his supervision and one count of lying to the FBI when he submitted to an interview about the matter.
Peterson was convicted in July by a federal jury sitting in Lincoln, Nebraska. The sentence imposed was the maximum the court could impose. Peterson was ordered to self-surrender at the facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons no later than January 9, 2017.
Evidence introduced at trial established that Peterson was a state probation officer with the District 9 probation office in Kearney and he supervised a caseload made up of offenders in need of intensive supervision.
The jury heard evidence that from approximately 2010 through January of 2014, Mr. Peterson subjected four female probationers to unsolicited and non-consensual sexual contact. The jury also heard from three other women who had been supervised by Mr. Peterson who reported sexually charged advances or comments from Mr. Peterson which did not progress to the level of sexual contact. The jury found that Peterson had violated the civil rights of the four probationers by intruding into their constitutional rights to bodily integrity.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Nebraska State Patrol is asking for the public’s help in identifying a person of interest in connection with vandalism at the State Capitol.
During the overnight hours on Wednesday, Nov. 9, someone spray-painted graffiti on the wall of the north portico and the south dock area of the State Capitol.
Pictures and information about the vandalism can be found on the Lincoln/Lancaster County Crime Stoppers website at < www.lincolncrimestoppers.com >. You may also report information helpful in solving this crime by calling Crime Stoppers at (402) 475-3600. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
MPCC President Ryan Purdy presents Sandy and Gayland Meyer with the 2016 Alumni of the Year award Monday night during the Nebraska Community College Association’s annual meeting in Kearney. (Courtesy Photo)
A North Platte couple has been recognized as the 2016 Alumni of the Year for Mid-Plains Community College.
Gayland and Sandy Meyer were honored Monday night during the Nebraska Community College Association’s annual meeting at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Kearney.
Members of MPCC’s Cabinet selected the Meyers for the award because of their long history of returning gifts of time, talent and treasure to the community.
“As both credit Mid-Plains Community College for putting them on their paths to success, we are proud to recognize their accomplishments and pleased to name them as Mid-Plains Community College’s 2016 Alumni of the Year,” said MPCC President Ryan Purdy.
Gayland and Sandy met at what was initially the North Platte Junior College in 1965 – the year that it opened.
A North Platte native, Sandy enrolled at the college with the intentions of eventually becoming a secretary – a popular profession for women at the time.
Gayland, who was from Wellfleet, planned to pursue a career in engineering or construction. He was influenced by his brother, who had worked in the construction industry, and the fact that he already had a part-time job doing construction for the James E. Simon Company.
A year later, Sandy found herself employed as a secretary with the Nebraska Department of Roads. She transferred to the roads office in Lincoln in 1967 after she and Gayland married.
There, she worked her way up from the information office to the main office where she was the private secretary to the state director.
Her job allowed Gayland to continue his education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering, which he graduated magna cum laude from in January of 1970 with a degree in construction management.
The couple then moved back to North Platte where Sandy became a stay-at-home mom to the couple’s two children, Greg and Tracy.
She kept busy as Parent Teacher Association president for both Eisenhower and McDonald elementary schools, where she also served as a room mother and led art projects.
Gayland returned to work at the James E. Simon Company, taking over the commercial building division.
At that point, the company’s operations were primarily based in western Nebraska. Over the years, they were expanded throughout the state as well as into Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota, Oregon and California.
Gayland climbed the career ladder to vice president and then manager of the Nebraska operations. Great Plains Regional Medical Center, now known as Great Plains Health, Adams Junior High School and Eisenhower Elementary were just a few of the many projects he worked on over the years.
Despite a schedule that kept him at the office about six days a week, Gayland found time to give back to the community.
He served on the Golden Spike Tower construction committee as well as boards for the Golden Spike Tower, the Mid-Nebraska Community Foundation, the Nebraskaland Foundation, the North Platte Development Corporation, the North Platte Community Playhouse, the North Platte Optimists and NEBRASKAland Days.
Together, he and Sandy were honored with the Dale Studley Award, which is the highest award NEBRASKAland Days bestows. It’s presented to individuals who selflessly give of their time, talent and money to the official state celebration.
Sandy has also received many awards on her own over the years – most of them related to painting and a Fun With Color Watercolor Class she started for cancer survivors after surviving her own bout with the disease.
In 2001, Sandy was honored by the Association of Nebraska Art Clubs (ANAC) for making outstanding contributions to art in Nebraska. She subsequently won Best of Show at the ANAC state conference in 2002 and again in 2015. Winning the title twice is rare.
Sandy also won Best of Show at a Nebraska Mothers Association art competition in Lincoln then second at nationals in New York.
Some of her other accomplishments include:
2001 – Woman of Achievement in Cultural Arts Award
2005 – First Lady of the Year by Beta Sigma Phi International for recognition and appreciation of distinguished service to her community
2011- The First Lady’s Outstanding Community Service Award for Lifetime Achievement in Volunteer Service
2011- The Cody Scout Award for Community Service
2011 – Nominee for the Governor’s Art Awards
Sandy has been featured in “Woman’s World,” “Nebraska Life” and “Nebraska Cattlemen” magazines.
For the past 26 years, Sandy has spent time teaching art workshops and selling paintings in various galleries in St. John and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
She has also taught at the International Arts Festival in Anguilla, British West Indies, and one of her paintings hangs in the hallway of the USS Nebraska, a ballistic missile submarine.
Both she and Gayland credit MPCC for putting them on their paths to success. Not just because the college provided a smooth transition into a larger world outside of rural Nebraska, but because it led them to each other.
Since Gayland’s retirement in 2000, the two have spent much of their time traveling to art workshops around the world. Egypt, France, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, Turkey, England, Greece, Monaco, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia are just some of the many interesting places they’ve seen and experienced.
BRIDGEPORT, Neb. (AP) — Another trial starting date has been set for a Nebraskan accused of killing a Colorado man and stuffing his body into a barrel.
The trial of Zachary Mueller is scheduled to begin the first week of January. The 25-year-old has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and related weapons charges. He’s accused of killing 33-year-old Pedro Dominguez, of Greeley, Colorado.
A farmer found the barrel near Bayard, Nebraska, on Dec. 4 last year. Authorities say Dominguez had been shot in the back of the head.
It’s the second trial delay approved for Mueller. His first trial starting date was Sept. 6, then Nov. 14.
THEDFORD, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities say a pickup driver has been killed in a Cherry County collision with a semitrailer.
The accident occurred a little before 7 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. Highway 83, 17 miles north of Thedford. Nebraska State Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins says the northbound pickup crossed into oncoming traffic and rammed into the semi.
The pickup driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Collins says the semitrailer driver was not injured.
The names of those involved have not been released.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Now that Nebraska voters have restored the death penalty, Gov. Pete Ricketts says he plans to meet with the attorney general to discuss how to resume executions.
Ricketts said Wednesday it’s too early to know exactly how the state will acquire the lethal injection drugs it currently lacks or whether Nebraska will change its protocol. Nebraska has struggled to obtain all of the necessary drugs, and Ricketts previously said the state would halt its efforts until after Tuesday’s statewide vote.
Voters overturned the Legislature’s decision last year to abolish capital punishment. A coalition partially financed by Ricketts launched a ballot drive that placed the issue on the ballot after lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto in May 2015.
Ricketts says the vote demonstrates clear public support for capital punishment in Nebraska.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Some Nebraska corrections employees will get raises under an agreement with Gov. Pete Ricketts’ administration.
