GIBBON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one person has been killed and two injured in a crash on Interstate 80 in south-central Nebraska.
The accident was reported about 1:20 p.m. Thursday near the Gibbon interchange in Buffalo County. The Nebraska State Patrol says the driver lost control of the vehicle and it rolled into the median.
The patrol says one passenger was killed and the driver and another passenger were taken to a Kearney hospital. Their names haven’t been released.
Today
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state senator from Gothenburg has joined the race to become the Nebraska Legislature’s next speaker.
Sen. Matt Williams is looking to replace Sen. Galen Hadley of Kearney, who won’t return to office next year because of term limits.
Williams, a Republican, says he knows the position carries an “awesome responsibility,” but he believes he’s up to the challenge.
Williams was elected in 2014 to represent a district that includes Dawson and Custer County and the northern third of Buffalo County. He serves on the Judiciary Committee; the Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee; and a state prison investigations committee.
Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk has also announced his intention to run for speaker.
Fire officials say an electrical problem caused a fire in a North Platte home on Thursday afternoon.
At around 5:15 p.m., the North Platte Fire Department was dispatched to a house fire at 98 Rose Park Drive.
The fire was reported by neighbors, including two teenagers who opened the door to the home to check if anyone was there. While they did not get a response from any humans, they did report hearing a dog whimper.
Firefighters soon arrived, gained entry to the home and determined that the fire was confined to the kitchen area. The fire was brought under control in about twelve minutes, but it wasn’t until after some of the smoke had cleared that firefighters discovered two dogs in crates. Another dog had been located in the backyard of the residence.
The homeowners say the dogs were safely removed from the home and were treated by a local veterinarian. They are expected to make a full recovery. The residents were not home at the time the blaze broke out.
An investigation by City Fire Marshal George Lewis determined that the fire was electrical in nature and likely started in the range or the exhaust fan above the range.
Damage to the kitchen area was extensive, and the home sustained smoke damage throughout.
No injuries were reported.
Check out live video from the scene here:
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials say roughly a dozen inmates were involved in an attack on nine staff members at a Nebraska prison.
Lincoln Correctional Center spokeswoman Tammy Kluver said Thursday that investigators are trying to determine exactly what happened. The Nebraska State Patrol is reviewing video footage of the incident that took place Wednesday evening in a small courtyard.
Prison officials say the inmates involved had refused to return to their cells.
Kluver says the injured employees were treated at hospitals and released. One female staff member required staples to close a gash in her head. Authorities used pepper spray to subdue the inmates.
Gov. Pete Ricketts plans to meet with prison officials Thursday to discuss the incident.
The Lincoln Correctional Center, a medium-maximum security prison for adult males, remains on lockdown.
THEDFORD, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered a family ranch to let Nebraska Public Power District access its land for survey work.
Court records say the ruling came Monday in the Brush Creek Ranch lawsuit against the district. The lawsuit sought unspecified compensation for damage to land north of Thedford that was done by a survey team checking land boundaries for a power line project.
The district said Nebraska law gave it the authority as a publicly owned utility to survey the ranch and other land. The lawsuit said the utility first should have begun condemnation proceedings and obtained court authority for the survey.
The judge ruled for the district, saying the law indeed gave it authority to enter the land and also required it to pay for any damage caused the incursion.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Prison officials in Nebraska say nine staff members at the Lincoln Correctional Center have been assaulted by inmates who were refusing to return to their cells.
Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday night that all nine were taken to hospitals after the attack and have been treated and released.
The prison has been placed on lockdown. It’s not clear how many inmates were involved in the Wednesday evening attack or whether any were hurt.
The Lincoln Correctional Center is a medium-maximum security prison for adult males.
Today
Today, Governor Pete Ricketts and State Senator Mike Groene announced that they would hold a town hall in North Platte on Thursday, August 25, 2016. The Governor and Senator invite the public to attend the town hall.
“Nebraskans are invited to join Governor Ricketts and Senator Groene at their upcoming town hall in North Platte,” said Taylor Gage, the Governor’s Public Relations Director. “This is a great opportunity to hear an update on how our state is growing, and also to make your voice heard. The Governor and Senator look forward to hearing your thoughts on how we can move our state forward together”
Full details for the town hall to be held on Thursday, August 25, 2016:
8:00 a.m. North Platte Town Hall, Great Plains Health, 601 W. Leota St.
Those attending are asked to enter through the Emergency Room entrance on the west side of the building.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — This year’s Nebraska high school graduates scored slightly lower on the ACT exam than those who graduated in 2015, but the drop is nowhere close to the plunge the state could see in the future.
A report released by the ACT organization Wednesday shows that the statewide average composite score for the Class of 2016 was 21.4, down from 21.5 the previous year.
Nebraska Commissioner of Education Matt Blomstedt attributed the dip to “natural variability.”
The state could see larger drops after the Nebraska Department of Education moves forward on lawmakers’ plan for all high school juniors to take either the SAT or ACT beginning this school year. Blomstedt said he’d recommend which test he prefers to the State Board of Education next week.
In 2015 and 2016, 88 percent of Nebraska high school graduates took the ACT.
