Lincoln County authorities say they have recovered the body of a 19-year-old man from a sand pit near North Platte.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office says members of the Lincoln County Dive team recovered the body of Samson Charles at around 6:01 p.m., on Thursday.

Charles had been missing since Monday when the kayak he was maneuvering down the North Platte River was forced into a Western Engineering sand pit through a breach in a dike separating the pit from the river.  Charles went into the water and did not resurface.

Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer announced yesterday that the search had been suspended and that all efforts had been exhausted for the time being.  Divers and Game and Parks officials encountered a large amount of debris in the pit due to the river flowing through it. The sheriff’s office didn’t say what prompted searchers to return to the site of the accident.

Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says the body was positively identified and the cause of death has been ruled an accidental drowning.  Drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the case, according to Kramer.

The LCSO, in a statement on their Facebook page, thanked Western Engineering, the Lincoln County Dive Team and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for their efforts in the search and recovery.  They also thanked the American Red Cross for their support during the investigation.

Charles was a basketball star from Tanzania and was a member of the North Platte Community College men’s basketball team.

Hundreds of Facebook posts have been made in remembrance of Charles and the amazing impact he had on fellow students, community members and members of his church.

RELATED STORIES:

http://www.northplattepost.com/2016/07/12/victim-in-kayak-accident-identified-as-npcc-basketball-player/

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Governors from other states will hear about Nebraska’s state reemployment program later this week.

Gov. Pete Ricketts says he plans to discuss the program when he attends the National Governors Association’s summer meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. Ricketts plans to visit Friday and Saturday.

Nebraska’s re-employment program requires job seekers who receive unemployment benefits to enroll in a personalized “re-employment plan” through the state Department of Labor, unless the layoff is temporary.

Department employees work one-on-one with unemployed people to identify goals and connect them with other services that could help them land a new job. Job seekers also have to post a resume on the state’s employment services system, which employers can search.

Ricketts says he also expects to hear discussion about the nation’s opioid epidemic.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals panel has vacated a 2014 ruling by a federal judge that could have made it easier for petition-drive organizers to place statewide initiatives on the Nebraska ballot.

In a split decision, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Thursday that Kent Bernbeck did not have standing to challenge a state constitutional requirement that forces petition circulators to travel outside of large urban areas for signatures.

To qualify for the ballot, petition circulators must visit at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties and collect signatures from at least 5 percent of the registered voters in each.

Bernbeck had argued that the requirement effectively makes rural votes more valuable than urban votes. Nearly half of the state’s population lives in five eastern Nebraska counties.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former federal prosecutor in Nebraska has settled her sex discrimination lawsuit against government officials.

Jill Finken will receive $85,000.

Her lawsuit said supervisors harassed her and treated her differently than male colleagues. It also said she was denied opportunities for full-time work in the office despite her legal experience and work as a reservist in the Iowa Army National Guard.

Finken joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in October 2012 as a special assistant U.S. attorney tasked with improving prosecution rates in sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse cases on Nebraska’s Native American reservations. She resigned in September 2014 after asking the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Omaha didn’t immediately a call Thursday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts is telling Nebraska agencies to tighten their belts after the state collected $95 million less than expected in the previous fiscal year.

Ricketts announced Thursday that he has directed department leaders to look carefully at whether new hires are necessary, limit travel when possible and delay hardware and software purchases if they can.

Ricketts says the shortfall isn’t a crisis and can be managed. He says it isn’t necessary to call a special legislative session.

State officials are also reducing the quarterly allotment of money that each agency receives. Budget Director Gerry Oligmueller says agencies will receive 24 percent of their total state funding, instead of the usual 25 percent.

Nebraska State Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton says a slowing agricultural economy contributed to the shortfall.

ALMA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 74-year-old man has been killed in a three-vehicle crash in south-central Nebraska.

The collision occurred around 3 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. Highway 83, about six miles north of Alma. The Nebraska State Patrol says a southbound sport utility vehicle ran into a northbound gravel truck while trying to pass a semitrailer. The patrol says the SUV then struck the semi.

The patrol says the SUV driver died of his injuries. He was identified as John Bonie, of Orleans. The two other drivers were not injured.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will open an entrance to its football stadium Thursday for Pokemon Go players who want to capture animated monsters at the venerated field.

Athletic department spokesman Matt Tomjack says stadium staff had to usher out “a good number” of people who sneaked in to play the smartphone game during band camp.

The trespassers were searching for Pokemon, which appear on people’s smartphones as they play the popular new game in certain locations.

Pokemon Go quickly became the top-grossing iPhone app after it launched in the U.S. on Wednesday. The game has caused trespassing issues all over the world as players pursue the digital creatures.

Memorial Stadium will be open to Pokemon Go players from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.

TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — Another inmate has been accused of a crime during the deadly riot at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution last year.

A news release from the Johnson County attorney’s office Wednesday says 24-year-old Justin Busch has been charged with four felony counts of arson. Each count is punishable by up to 50 years in prison. Busch’s attorney, Lee Timan (TYE’-muhn), declined to comment.

At least five other inmates have been charged for crimes committed during the rioting, which broke out May 10, 2015. No one has yet been charged in the deaths of two sex offenders whose bodies were found once order was restored.

Two guards and four inmates were injured.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Red Cloud woman has died after crashing on Interstate 80 in south-central Nebraska.

The accident occurred Tuesday near the Gibbon interchange. Trooper Jeff Boston says 59-year-old Brenda Reed lost control of her sport utility vehicle after an abortive attempt to pass another vehicle. Her SUV rolled, ejecting her.

The patrol says Reed died later at a Kearney hospital. Her passenger, 40-year-old Stefanie Dedrick, of Hastings, was treated and released.