OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s March 5 Democratic caucus brings with it a chance for the state’s Democrats to influence who will get the party’s presidential nomination for 2016.

That influence is a welcomed change for Democrats whose votes may often seem to count for little in Nebraska. No Democrats hold statewide office and only one holds a seat among the state’s five-member congressional delegation.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chairman Vince Powers says the caucus — the third since the party’s first in 2008 — offers state Democrats a chance for their pick to be relevant, as opposed to voting in a May primary after the presidential nomination has been decided.

Former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are locked in a tight race for the Democratic nomination.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — A police chase that began in South Dakota ended with a fatal accident in Nebraska.

The crash occurred just before 4 a.m. Tuesday in Dawes County. County Attorney Vance Haug (howg) says a South Dakota sheriff’s deputy began chasing a vehicle that raced east after being parked on U.S. Highway 18 east of Oelrichs (OHL’-rihks), South Dakota. Oglala Sioux officers soon took over and followed south onto state Highway 41, crossing into Nebraska on Slim Buttes Road.

Haug says the vehicle suddenly reversed course and headed north. It struck a tribal police cruiser, injuring the officer, and missed another cruiser. The vehicle went out of control and crashed, catching fire. Two passengers were rescued and taken to hospitals. The driver died at the scene. Their names haven’t been released.

United States Attorney for the District of Nebraska, Deborah R. Gilg, announced today that she will host a press conference, along with several other law enforcement officials, to announce the arrests of several individuals involved in a Methamphetamine conspiracy investigation in Central and Western Nebraska, and Northeastern Colorado.

The joint operation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, included investigators from the Cooperative Operation for Drug Enforcement (CODE) Drug Task Force, Western Nebraska Intelligence & Narcotics Group (WING), and the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force (CNDSSTF), and Colorado law enforcement authorities.

This year-long operation resulted in the federal indictment of sixty-three individuals for Distribution of Controlled Substance, Possession of Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute and Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance.

“This is an incredible effort involving nearly thirty law enforcement agencies”, said U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg, “The coordination and cooperation in this investigation is a tremendous tribute to the selfless dedication we see time and time again with our law enforcement agencies.”  “Two years ago we were gathered in North Platte to honor many of these same law enforcement officers who were being recognized with an award from the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).  That HIDTA award, from a case which began in 2012, ironically spun off into this drug conspiracy involving this operation.”

Nebraska Law Enforcement Agencies involved in the operation/investigation

• Alliance Police Department
• Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office
• Central City Police Department
• Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office
• Cozad Police Department
• Dawson County Sheriff’s Office
• Deuel County Sheriff’s Office
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Gering Police Department
• Grand Island Police Department
• Hall County Sheriff’s Office
• Homeland Security Investigations
• Kearney Police Department
• Lexington Police Department
• Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office
• Nebraska State Patrol
• North Platte Police Department
• Ogallala Police Department
• Perkins County Sheriff’s Office
• Red Willow County Sheriff’s Office
• Scottsbluff Police Department
• Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Office
• Sidney Police Department
• The United States Marshal’s  Service
• Webster County Sheriff’s Office

Colorado Law Enforcement Agencies involved in the operation/investigation

• Federal Bureau of Investigation – (Denver Office)
• Holyoke, Colorado Police Department
• Sedgwick County, Colorado Sheriff’s Office
• United States Attorney’s Office District of Colorado

The US Attorney’s Office will hold a Press Conference in North Platte on Friday.  Check back for more information.

RELATED CONTENT:

http://www.northplattepost.com/2016/02/23/doj-drug-sweep-net-nearly-60-arrests-in-np-other-cities/

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska man accused of raping a drunken teenage girl at a party has been acquitted.

A 16-year-old girl had told Scotts Bluff County authorities that she’d gotten drunk at a party over Memorial Day weekend and that Joseph Moore, of Bayard, had sex with her without her consent. Moore testified at the trial that the sex was consensual.

On Tuesday a jury found the 23-year-old Moore not guilty of the rape allegation but guilty of procuring liquor for a minor.

A second girl told authorities that she was assaulted by a different man at the party. His case is pending trial.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is refusing to comment on the presidential race even after Republican front-runner Donald Trump blasted his family on Twitter.

Ricketts said Tuesday he is waiting for the GOP field to narrow before making remarks about the candidates.

Trump tweeted Monday that the Ricketts family should “be careful, they have a lot to hide” in response to reports that the super PAC founded by billionaire Joe Ricketts has financed attack ads against him. Joe Ricketts is the governor’s father.

Ricketts says he cannot guess what secrets Trump is referring to, and notes that Trump misspelled his family’s name.

Ricketts says he does not know if he will endorse a candidate, but would back someone who embraces Ronald Reagan’s policies.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts says the state must reevaluate its policies and marketing to reach its economic potential.

Ricketts announced the first annual Governor’s Summit on Economic Development in a news conference Tuesday.

Community and business leaders will gather at the summit on July 12 to discuss the obstacles preventing economic growth.

The state hired independent research center SRI International earlier this year to gather input from community and business leaders across the state. Ricketts says SRI identified three key issues: workforce, housing and innovation. The summit will facilitate strategies to address those roadblocks.

The summit will be open to the public at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln, and will include presentations from SRI International and Development Counsellors International.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Critics are assailing a bill that would require would-be motorists in Nebraska to take driver’s exams in English.

The proposal before a legislative committee met strong opposition Tuesday from Latino advocacy groups and organizations that work with immigrants and refugees.

Sen. Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins, a retired truck driver, says he sponsored the bill to ensure that all drivers can read and understand road signs.

Adrian Sanchez, chairman of the Nebraska Latino American Commission, says the measure creates an unnecessary barrier for people who just arrived in the country, and could lead many to drive unlicensed.

Darcy Tromanhauser, an advocate for immigrants with the group Nebraska Appleseed, says some people already speak English may still feel more comfortable taking exams in their native language.

CHAPPELL, Neb. (AP) — A Deuel County sheriff’s deputy who was shot four times while helping serve arrest warrants more than 11 weeks ago has returned home to a warm welcome.

Dozens of people lined streets Monday in Chappell (CHA’-puhl) to greet Deputy Mike Hutchinson, who was released from a hospital in Greeley, Colorado, where he’d been flown for treatment. Authorities say the man Hutchinson had intended to arrest came out of his Big Springs front door shooting as Hutchinson and four other officers pulled up to serve the warrants.

Sheriff Scott DeCoste returned fire, killing 66-year-old Neil Stretesky. The warrants charged Stretesky with violating conditions of his bail for assault and attempted murder in Sedgwick County, Colorado, and a misdemeanor in Nebraska’s Keith County.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska death penalty opponents are launching a statewide campaign with a new name.

The group Retain a Just Nebraska will announce the next phase of its campaign Wednesday at the Capitol. The organization previously operated under the name Nebraskans for Public Safety.

Retain a Just Nebraska will ask voters to reject a proposal that would keep the death penalty legal in Nebraska. Lawmakers abolished capital punishment in May, but death penalty supporters responded with a petition drive that suspended the new law until voters decide the issue in the November general election.

Nebraska currently has 10 men on death row. Gov. Pete Ricketts has said the state will not pursue any executions until voters decide whether to keep the death penalty.