MINDEN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 62-year-old man has died after his car collided with two pickups in south-central Nebraska.
The accident was reported a little after 7 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. Highway 6/34, about three miles southwest of Minden.
The Kearney County Sheriff’s Office says Neil Jurgens was driving west when his car was struck from behind by a pickup. The impact knocked the car into the eastbound lanes, where it was struck by another pickup.
Jurgens was pronounced dead at the scene. He’d lived in Minden. The two pickup drivers were not injured.
A violent collision between a fuel tanker and a pickup has left three people dead.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the North Platte 911 center received a report of a traffic accident at around 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday. The accident was reported to be near mile marker 76 on US Highway 83, near Lake Maloney. Residents in the area reported hearing a large explosion.
Law enforcement arrived and discovered a semi hauling a fuel tanker fully engulfed in flames and sitting in the west ditch. They also located a pickup sitting in the middle of the Highway, which was also on fire and badly damaged.
An investigation revealed that the pickup, driven by 28-year-old Shane O’Conner, of Westminster, Colorado, was traveling northbound, and the semi, driven by 66-year-old Ralph Brandt, of Ovid, Colorado was traveling southbound.
Witnesses told investigators that the pickup attempted to pass a utility vehicle, veered into the southbound lane of traffic, and collided head-on with the semi.
Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says officers located O’Conner inside the pickup, deceased. His passenger, 32-year-old Craig VanMeter, of North Platte, was ejected from the pickup. He was transported to Great Plains Health, where he died from his injuries. Brandt was also pronounced dead at the scene.
Kramer said further investigation revealed that the 2006 Ford pickup had been stolen from Westminster, Colorado. He also said O’Conner had suspected methamphetamine on his person, and other types of drugs, drug paraphernalia, and alcoholic beverages were found in the pickup.
A new 90 guest room, four-story, Tru by Hilton Hotel will be built on Halligan Drive, just south of the Iron Eagle Golf Course.
Tru by Hilton is Hilton’s newest brand, which was just announced January of 2016. The brand already has over 200 hotels in the development pipeline. Hilton says the Tru brand will become its largest brand yet, overtaking Hampton Inn, which operates over 2,000 hotels.
The Tru brand is designed to serve the largest segment of the hotel market, the midscale category, which covers about 40 percent of all hotel stays in North America.
This new brand will feature a technology-forward mentality, featuring segment leading complimentary Wi-Fi, mobile check-in, room selection and a Digital Key through Hilton HHonors. Tru will also partner with DirecTV to offer guests more than 150 channels displayed on 55-inch televisions.
The hotel will create about 25 new jobs, offering their existing employees career advancement opportunities. The Keenan, who will operate the hotel, own and operate the Hampton Inn and Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites, both in North Platte.
Site work on the hotel is expected to begin in late summer, with full construction beginning in the Spring of 2017. It is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2018.
HOLDREGE, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s largest reservoir could be full by Sunday, but officials aren’t yet sure whether that portends downstream flooding as any overflow is released.
As of Wednesday morning, Lake McConaughy (muh-KAHN’-uh-hay) on the North Platte River was 97.9 percent full, with inflows higher than releases. Upstream in Wyoming, reservoir water was pouring over the spillway at Pathfinder Dam. Upstream of that, the Seminoe Reservoir was 87.1 percent full.
Melting of higher-than-normal snowpacks in the North Platte and South Platte basins is just starting. The rivers merge east of North Platte to form the Platte River.
Civil engineer Cory Steinke told the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District board Monday that any flooding downstream from North Platte depends on how the snow melts.
CHAPPELL, Neb. (AP) — A Deuel County sheriff’s deputy who was shot four times while helping serve arrest warrants is fighting to regain his county-provided health insurance.
Hutchinson was injured Dec. 3, while trying to arrest a suspect in Big Springs. Authorities said the suspect came out of his home and shot Hutchinson.
County commissioners took no action Tuesday on a request from Deputy Mike Hutchinson for the county to pay for his health insurance while he continues to recover from his injuries. Hutchinson was dropped from the county’s group plan May 31.
According to the Nebraska Association of County Officials, which provides the county’s group health plan, Hutchinson’s “reduction in hours of employment” triggered the termination of his coverage.
Commissioners are set to consider the issue June 21.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Local governments in Nebraska will have more flexibility to complete road and bridge repairs under new regulations approved by Gov. Pete Ricketts.
Ricketts said Tuesday that the changes are intended to modernize the state’s road and bridge standards and stretch tax dollars by encouraging local governments and the state to work together. The requirements apply to state highways, county roads and municipal streets.
One change will allow communities to replace bridge pilings on some rural roads with pilings of the same design, instead of having to pay for a new bridge built under current construction design standards.
Nebraska Department of Roads Director Kyle Schneweis says his agency is still looking for opportunities to reduce barriers for infrastructure projects.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Investigators are trying to figure out what caused train cars to derail west of Cheyenne.
Officials say 16 out of 166 cars along a Union Pacific line derailed Monday afternoon as they headed to North Platte, Nebraska, from Hinkle, Oregon.
Union Pacific Railroad workers responded along with Wyoming Highway Patrol, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Department, and Laramie County Fire District 1.
The derailed cars did not contain hazardous cargo.
No injuries were reported.
Union Pacific spokeswoman Calli Hite says the company is using different routes to get trains through the area.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Advocates who want to end beer sales in Whiteclay are once again urging Nebraska alcohol regulators to intervene, citing numerous reports of violence in the tiny village that borders South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The group on Tuesday presented the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission with a dispatch log from the Sheridan County sheriff’s office. The list from April alone includes reports of fires, assaults with cars and baseball bats, rocks thrown at a car and a van driving out of Whiteclay at 90 mph.
Former Oklahoma alcohol regulator John Maisch says some of the response times show that laws aren’t effectively enforced.
Whiteclay has a dozen full-time residents but sold the equivalent of 3.5 million cans of beer last year. The reservation officially bans alcohol.
MINDEN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 62-year-old man has died after his car collided with two pickups in south-central Nebraska.
