Brittney NewsomeKEARNEY –The following is a statement from the University of Nebraska at Kearney on the death of student Brittney Newsome, a freshman from Cordova. Newsome, 19, died Saturday in a fire at her family home, in which three others also died.
“The UNK family is sad at the news of the loss of Brittney, who was a member of the Pride of the Plains Marching Band. She will be missed. Our hearts go out to her family and friends. We share your grief for Brittney. She will be remembered with fondness and pride for her accomplishments here.”
Newsome was a UNK freshman majoring in business and accounting. She was a 2018 graduate of Friend High School. Cordova is located about 23 miles southeast of York.
Others who died in the fire, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, were: Crystal Vickrey, 39; Kaden Newsome, 12; and Tiara Schwab, 20.
Representatives from UNK Student Health and Counseling are available to individuals who would like to talk with someone. Visit the counseling center in room 144 of the Memorial Student Affairs Building or call 865.8248.
Today, the Judicial Nominating Commission for the County Court, Eleventh Judicial District (consisting of Arthur, Chase, Dawson, Dundy, Furnas, Hayes, Frontier, Gosper, Hitchcock, Hooker, Keith, Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Perkins, Red Willow, and Thomas counties) provided the following three names for the Governor’s consideration: Joel Bradley Jay, Chappell; Amanda Marie Speichert, and Michael L. Nozicka, both of North Platte
The primary place of office for the judicial vacancy is North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska. The vacancy is due to the appointment of Judge Michael E. Piccolo to the district court bench.
ASHWAUBENON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin-based retail chain Shopko Stores plans to close its remaining 120 department stores by mid-June.
Shopko said Monday the company was unable to find a buyer for its business. The company plans to begin winding down its retail operations this week.
WLUK-TV reports those closings will affect an additional 5,000 employees.
Shopko says it will not move forward with an auction that was scheduled Tuesday. The liquidation is expected to take 10-12 weeks.
The retailer, headquartered near Green Bay, filed for bankruptcy protection in January, citing excessive debt and ongoing competitive pressure, and began announcing store closings.
CEO Russ Steinhorst says in a statement “this is not the outcome that we had hoped for when we started our restructuring efforts.”
Photo: WidipediaLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The mayor of Nebraska’s capital has ordered residents to cut their water use in half because the city’s well fields are threatened by record flooding on the Platte River.
Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler says the system lost temporarily lost pressure Sunday evening. It was again producing drinkable water by 9:30 p.m., but the mayor describes the situation as tenuous. The well fields sit near Ashland, about 22 miles northeast of Lincoln.
The opportunity for system workers to check the well fields and lines and restore power depends on water in the river receding. The National Weather Service says the river remained in flood stage near the well fields Monday morning but has dropped 3 feet (1 meter) since cresting Saturday morning.
Officials say water usage Sunday likely drew down the 100 million gallons stored inside city limits. Ten million more gallons are stored in Ashland.
City officials say water contamination is not a concern, because the water is drawn from the aquifer 80 feet below the river surface and the city’s two water treatment facilities are operational.
A North Platte woman has been cited for drunk driving following an early morning crash.
On March 18, at 147 AM, an officer responded on the report of a traffic accident.
It was reported that the crashed vehicle had been driven the wrong way on Rodeo Rd, then it hit a curb and landed in the ditch on the southwest corner of Buffalo Bill and Rodeo Rd.
The driver was determined to be 34 year old Sally Hipwell. The officer suspected that Hipwell was under the influence, and she did fail a preliminary breath test. Further testing was done at the LCSO jail, producing a result of .264.
Hipwell was charged with driving under the influence, however, due to injuries and the need for further medical treatment she was cited and released at the Great Plains Health.
Flooding has reached record levels at 17 locations in Nebraska. Hundreds of homes have been damaged and hundreds are staying in shelters. Nearly 300 people have been rescued from high water across the state. In one county alone, Sarpy County, up to 500 homes have been damaged.
In response to requests, the United Way of Ellis County is providing information for the Nebraska and Iowa Flood Relieve Fund. The United Way of the Midlands (Omaha, Nebraska) has created the Nebraska and Iowa Flood Relief Fund.
One hundred percent of every donation will be directed to nonprofit programs meeting people’s needs for emergency shelter, food and more in Nebraska. Donors can also direct their gift to another community affected by flooding in Nebraska or Iowa by providing the city name. United Way of the Midlands will then distribute those funds to the local United Way chapter serving that area. United Way of the Midlands is also assisting those affected by flooding through its 2-1-1 Helpline which serves Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
At that link you will find a way to text donations or send donations to Nebraska Flood Relief.
Two South Dakota residents are in the Lincoln County jail after a gas theft in Logan County led to a pursuit that ended in Lincoln County.
On March 17, 2019, at 6:18 p.m., Deputies were advised of a Gas Theft from Kimber’s Gas Station in Stapleton, NE. It was reported an older white van had received fuel and did not pay for it. The vehicle reportedly left southbound from Stapleton on U.S. Highway 83.
A Deputy responded to the area and observed the vehicle south of the Logan / Lincoln County Line. The Deputy attempted to stop the vehicle but it refused and began driving at high speed away from the Deputy. The Deputy pursued the vehicle on the Highway and various county roads. The Deputy at one point had the vehicle stopped in a driveway and the occupants at gunpoint. The vehicle then drove at the Deputy and the pursuit was continued.
The vehicle eventually began the driving northbound on Cattlegrowers Road and went off-road, just south of the Lincoln / Logan County Line. The vehicle became stuck and a male and female occupant ran into a tree grove.
Local ranchers, the Logan County Sheriff and his Deputy responded to assist. The Ranchers provided UTV vehicles so the Deputies could continue to pursue the subjects.
Eventually, the two suspects were caught by Lincoln and Logan County Deputies in a field south of the tree line.
The driver of the vehicle was identified as thirty-two-year-old Derrick Schween of Rapid City, South Dakota. The female passenger was eventually identified as twenty-six-year-old Brittany Santos Delgado of Rapid City, South Dakota. Mr. Schween was charged with Flight to Avoid Arrest, Willful Reckless Driving, Resisting Arrest and multiple other traffic offenses.
Santos Delgado was charged with Obstructing a Police Officer, False Reporting and Resisting Arrest. She also has Felony Warrants from South Dakota for Possession of Methamphetamine.
The investigation is ongoing and it appears Narcotics was a contributing factor.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on flooding in the Midwest (all times local):
4 p.m.
Flooding in Nebraska has badly damaged up to 500 houses in one county alone.
Greg London of the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that one levee broke Thursday along the Platte River, and another broke Saturday. He estimates that up to 400 houses and cabins in the area known as Hanson’s Lake are damaged, including many that are completely submerged. Another 100 or so homes are damaged elsewhere in the county.
The area is near where the Platte and Missouri rivers converge. A Missouri River levee nearby also breached on Thursday.
London says many of the damaged homes are likely ruined. He says that while the area has had flooding before, this year’s disaster is “unprecedented.”
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This update has been corrected to show the name of the county in Nebraska is Sarpy, not Sharpy.
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3:15 p.m.
Flooding has reached record levels at 17 locations across Nebraska.
The state’s emergency management agency says more record crests are expected in various rivers by Tuesday.
Nebraska has had much of the worst of the late-winter flooding that’s been seen across the Midwest. Hundreds of homes are damaged and the state says 660 people are staying in shelters.
The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency says the Missouri River is expected to crest Sunday at 41 feet (12.5 meters) in Plattsmouth — 4 feet (1.22 meters) above the record set in 2011. Serious flooding there is expected to continue through next weekend.
Crest records also were set along the Platte and Elkhorn rivers. The Elkhorn reached 24.6 feet (7.5 meters) Saturday in Waterloo, breaking the 1962 record by 5 1/2 feet (1.68 meters).
Nearly 300 people have been rescued from high water across the state. At least one person has died in floodwaters in the state. A second death from flooding was reported in Iowa.
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3 p.m.
Officials say residents of Green Bay, Wisconsin, who evacuated their homes due to flooding can return.
Heavy rainfall and melting snow have led to dangerously high water in creeks and rivers across several Midwestern states. Even as the water receded in Green Bay, other parts of the Midwest are still under water or are bracing for flooding. In far southwestern Iowa, residents were being evacuated Sunday as floodwaters overtopped levees. And in St. Joseph, Missouri, volunteers are filling sandbags to help secure a levee protecting an industrial area.
Green Bay Metro Fire Department lifted its emergency evacuation order at 10 a.m. Sunday for an eight- to 10-block area around the East River. The Green Bay Press Gazette reports city inspectors were out placing placards on front doors identifying those not currently inhabitable because they have no heat and those that are safe to re-enter.
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1:55 p.m.
Flooding along the Missouri River is causing long delays for Amtrak passengers.
The passenger rail service said Sunday that its Missouri River Runner service between St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, will have delays up to five hours because of flooding and rail congestion.
Amtrak says all Missouri River Runner trains will be canceled Monday. The service typically travels twice daily between Missouri’s two metropolitan areas.
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12:40 p.m.
The flooding Missouri River has damaged dozens of buildings at an Air Force base in Nebraska.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that about one-third of the Offutt Air Force Base is under water. A spokeswoman for the base says 60 buildings, mostly on the south end of the base, have been damaged, including about 30 completely inundated with as much as 8 feet (2.4 meters) of water.
Among the buildings badly damaged are the headquarters building and a hangar.
Offutt’s lone runway is expected to remain closed until Tuesday afternoon.
Airmen had been filling thousands of sandbags, but the newspaper reports that the sandbagging effort has been halted.
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11:40 a.m.
Residents in parts of southwestern Iowa are being urged to leave their homes as a torrent of Missouri River water flows over and through levees.
Heavy rainfall and snowmelt forced river levels across four Midwestern states to dangerous levels. Two deaths were blamed on the high and forceful water, and two other men have been missing for days.
While river levels on Sunday were starting to level off in Nebraska, residents in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri were bracing for the worst still yet to come. Flooding has also been reported in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The Missouri River reached a record 30.2 feet (9.2 meters) Sunday in Fremont County, Iowa, in the state’s far southwestern corner. People in parts of Bartlett and Thurman were being evacuated as water broke through or overtopped levees.
County Emergency Management Director Mike Crecelius says it isn’t just the amount of water, it’s the swiftness of the current that creates a danger.
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11:20 a.m.
Flooding caused by heavy rain and snowmelt is blamed for two deaths in the Midwest, and two others are missing.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in Nebraska and Iowa as levees succumbed to the rush of water. Flooding has also been reported in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Authorities say 52-year-old Aleido Rojas Galan of Norfolk, Nebraska, died Friday night in southwestern Iowa. Officials say Galan and two others were in a vehicle that drove around a barricade and was swept away. The other two men survived.
On Thursday, 50-year-old James Wilke of Columbus, Nebraska, died when a bridge collapsed as he used a tractor to try and reach stranded motorists.
A Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away. Water also swept away a man after a dam collapse. Both men are still missing.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Flooding caused by heavy rain and snowmelt is blamed for three deaths in the Midwest, and two others are missing.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in Nebraska and Iowa as levees succumbed to the rush of water. Flooding has also been reported in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Authorities say 52-year-old Aleido Rojas Galan of Norfolk, Nebraska, died Friday night in southwestern Iowa. Officials say Galan and two others were in a vehicle that drove around a barricade and was swept away. The other two men survived.
On Thursday, 50-year-old James Wilke of Columbus, Nebraska, died when a bridge collapsed as he used a tractor to try and reach stranded motorists.
A Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away. Water also swept away a man after a dam collapse. Both men are still missing.
A man has been arrested after authorities say he shot another man several times.
On March 16, 2019, at 10:05 p.m., the North Platte 911 Center received a call from a male subject who said he had been shot multiple times on North Front Road. The victim advised he was in his vehicle on Front Road.
Deputies arrived and provided emergency care for the male subject. North Platte Fire and Rescue transported the subject to Great Plains Health. It appeared the subject had been shot two times in the lower leg. The victim advised he was shot by twenty-two-year-old Jared Falkena who lived in a house just east of his vehicle.
Deputies attempted to make contact with Falkena, but he refused.
The Nebraska State Patrol SWAT Team was called out to assist Deputies, and at 3:00 a.m. on March 17, 2019, Falkena came out of the house and was placed in custody.
Falkena was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with Second Degree Assault and Use of a Weapon to Commit a Felony. The investigation is ongoing and further charges are possible.
Alcohol appears to be a contributing factor in the incident.
