GERING, Neb. (AP) — Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff has settled its lawsuit against two companies that had planned to end their dialysis services agreement with the hospital.

Hospital attorney Rick Jeffries said Monday that the settlement terms were “satisfactory to all parties.”

A judge had temporarily barred Renal Treatment Center and DaVita Healthcare Partners from ending their five-year contract with the hospital. The two had told the hospital that the contract provisions had made it financially untenable. The hospital sued, saying a contract breach would harm patient care. Court records show the case was dismissed Tuesday.

Hospital spokeswoman Joanne Krieg declined to give details of the settlement, saying the terms are confidential, but added “there will be no interruption of inpatient dialysis services” at the hospital.

A 26-year-old North Platte man is facing charges after he allegedly bit a North Platte Police officer.

At around 4:08 p.m., on April 8, officers were dispatched to a residence in the 800 block of South Willow Street to check the welfare of Joshua Foust.  It was reported to police that Foust had contacted people and told them he was going to commit suicide.

According to Investigator John Deal, officers made contact with Foust and determined that probable cause existed to believe that he was a danger to himself.

Officers attempted to convince Foust to go to the hospital for treatment, however, he refused to cooperate and was placed in emergency protective custody.

As officers attempted to place him in handcuffs, Deal said Foust intentionally bit one of the officers on the hand, causing a three to four-inch abrasion.

Foust was transported to Great Plains Health and held for observation.

On April 11, Foust was released from the hospital and placed under arrest.

He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony 3rd-degree assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.  He also had two active warrants for failure to appear.

Bond was set at ten percent of $50,000 on the assault charge.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A 37-year-old Colorado man has been given one to three years in a Nebraska prison for stealing two all-terrain vehicles and a trailer from a sheriff’s department.

Online court records say Richard Keith, of Evans, Colorado, was sentenced Monday in Lincoln County District Court. He was given credit for 235 days already served. Keith had pleaded no contest March 21 to a felony theft charge after Lincoln County prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office says the ATVs and a trailer were taken from a county roads department lot in North Platte late on July 29 or early on July 30 last year. The items were recovered in August in the Greeley, Colorado, area.

TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — The family of an inmate killed in a prison riot in Tecumseh last year is blaming the state of Nebraska for his death and seeking $1.2 million in damages.

46-year-old Shon Collins was one of two sex offenders beaten to death, presumably by other inmates, late on May 10 or early on May 11 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.

His mother, Susan Collins, filed a wrongful death claim against Nebraska earlier this year, alleging that the prison’s administrators and employers were responsible because they failed to contain, control or stop the 11-hour riot.

A Department of Correctional Services spokesman declined to comment on the pending litigation. A Nebraska State Patrol spokeswoman said an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials are on the verge of tapping the state’s rainy day fund to speed up work on roads projects.

The Legislature voted 48-0 on Tuesday to pass a measure that would create a new state fund for highway construction projects.

The bill by Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion would create what’s known as an infrastructure bank to finance the work, drawing $50 million from the state’s cash reserve and using additional revenue from a gas tax increase approved last year.

Smith says the bank will support efforts to finish work on Nebraska’s expressway system and repair county bridges. The fund will expire in 2033.

Gov. Pete Ricketts has identified the measure as one of his top priorities of the session.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — Officials say the governor still will appear at Hastings College next month, despite some dissatisfaction with his selection as a commencement speaker.

A petition signed by more than 360 people so far calls on college President Don Jackson to express the college’s support of gay, bisexual, transsexual, intersex and asexual students “and commit to promoting diversity on campus” in his commencement address. The petition drive began after it was announced last week that Gov. Pete Ricketts would speak at the May 14 ceremonies.

Jackson says some members of the campus community don’t agree with Ricketts’ stands. The governor opposes same-sex marriage and has said he’s against a legislative bill that would have barred discrimination against employees based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

BROKEN BOW, Neb. (AP) — The owner of one of Broken Bow’s two medical clinics has announced that it will close at the end of June.

Jennie Melham Memorial Medical Center Administrator Mike Steckler says the owner of the clinic, Dr. Shawn Lawrence, has confirmed plans to close Broken Bow Clinic on June 30.

Steckler says the hope is that Central Nebraska Medical Clinic will be able to hire most of the Broken Bow Clinic’s 28 employees.

Lawrence says a number of factors contributed to her decision to close the clinic, including the lack of doctors who are also interested in being business owners and the struggle to maintain a balanced life while covering family practice and emergency calls in a rural community.

Two doctors’ recent resignations meant that Lawrence would’ve had to recruit new medical professionals.

A traffic stop on Interstate 80 near Maxwell, in Lincoln County, led to the seizure of nearly 28 lbs. of marijuana and one arrest.

Just before 3:00 p.m., Monday, April 11, a trooper stopped an eastbound 2003 Ford Excursion for failure to signal a lane change. The driver and lone occupant of the SUV produced a small amount of personal use marijuana. A probable cause search of the vehicle led to the seizure of 27.8 lbs. of marijuana. The marijuana was contained in 26 individual packages in two duffel bags in the rear of the vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle, Laurence J. Boeger, 73, of Lincoln, Calif., was lodged in the Lincoln County Detention Center on a charge of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver.