On Wednesday, Keep North Platte Lincoln County Beautiful donated $600 worth of educational material to the 7th and 8th grade Science classes at Adams Middle School.

KNPLCB Board member Judy Pederson and Programs Director Holly Carlini presented the classes with a Renewable Energy Kit and four  Biological K’NEX Investigating Solar  Energy Sets.  They were purchased with Read Great

KNPLCB Board member Judy Pederson and Programs Director Holly Carlini presented the classes with a Renewable Energy Kit and four  Biological K’NEX Investigating Solar  Energy Sets.  They were purchased with Read Great

They were purchased with Read Great Litter-ature grant provided by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.  The funds provide schools, libraries or local organizations with educational material that focuses on the environment.    Adams Middle School Principal Vikki Carlson and

Adams Middle School Principal Vikki Carlson and several science teachers chose these kits because they allow students to focus on green energy technologies, while developing their environmental awareness.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska state task force is recommending several steps the state should take to prepare for its growing population of senior citizens.

The Aging Nebraskans Task Force report released Tuesday says the state should work to improve the availability of transportation for seniors, create incentives for long-term care insurance and protect the rights of people who are receiving home- and community-based services.

The report calls for an expansion of memory care services to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. It says the state should establish a “memory care” endorsement for assisted living homes with a higher reimbursement rate.

It also warns that the state faces a direct care worker shortage.

The 16-member task force was created last year under a law by state Sen. Kate Bolz of Lincoln.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles is now offering text and email notifications to let drivers know when it’s time for them to renew their vehicle registrations.

The department says it has added the new eNotice application to online renewal services that were already in place.

Nebraska DMV Director Rhonda Lahm says the service is designed to be faster and more convenient for drivers.

Participants in the eNotice system can change or delete their email or phone information. They also have the option to return to paper service.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers will consider a proposal next year that would place more agencies on the state’s spending transparency website.

State Treasurer Don Stenberg and state Sen. John McCollister announced Tuesday that they will propose legislation that would require quasi-public agencies to submit their financial records for publication. Financial information would appear on the website, www.statespending.nebraska.gov/ .

Quasi-public agencies are generally independent and controlled by government-appointed boards to perform a public duty. Examples include the Nebraska State Fair Board and the State Anatomical Board.

Stenberg and McCollister say adding the agencies’ information to the website would promote transparency in how money is spent. Stenberg says the measure could affect as many as 24 agencies that are not currently a part of the state’s main accounting system.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska property owners will soon get a statement in the mail telling them how much money the state has spent to reduce their property tax burden.

Gov. Pete Ricketts and Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley announced Tuesday that the state will send more than 700,000 tax relief notices to property owners.

The postcards will highlight the property tax measures approved by Ricketts and the Legislature earlier this year. The package included $408 million over two years for Nebraska’s property tax credit fund, which uses state money to offset what owners pay in local property taxes.

Ricketts says the move is designed to help people understand what the state has done so far to lower property taxes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts has appointed a Norfolk woman to serve as the state’s new economic development director.

Courtney Dentlinger will start in her new position on Jan. 11. Ricketts announced Tuesday that she will fill the opening left by Brenda Hicks-Sorensen.

Dentlinger works as the executive director of the Norfolk Area Economic Development Council. She previously served as executive director for Northeast Community College, where she managed capital campaigns including a partnership with the school’s College of Nursing and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dentlinger earned a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State College and a law degree from George Washington University Law School.

Her salary will be $145,000.

A woman has been charged with a felony after she allegedly assaulted a nurse at Great Plains Health in North Platte.

At around 8:20 pm, on Monday, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to Great Plains Health on the report of a disruptive patient.

It was reported to police that Alyssa Bonnell had yelled at hospital staff and threw her cell phone.

As one of the nurses retrieved the phone, Bonnell allegedly kicked her in the arm, leg and hip several times.  Police say the nurse experienced pain and a possible jammed finger.

As a result, Bonnell was placed under arrest and charged with felony assault on a health care professional.

Police say Bonnell continued to be disruptive and was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

She’s being held on ten percent of $10,000 bond.

A North Platte man who was wanted on warrants for several felonies has turned himself in.

According to North Platte Police, a domestic violence investigation was initiated on September 23 after a female victim alleged that her husband, Jason Sellers, had assaulted her at a residence in the 300 block of North Custer Avenue.

The victim claimed that Sellers had repeatedly struck her in the face with his fists, then struck her in the head with the butt of a handgun.

Police say the assault stopped momentarily, then Sellers became agitated again, grabbed a belt and struck the victim with the buckle several times.  Officers say a toddler entered the room while Sellers was striking the victim with the belt.

But Sellers wasn’t done, according to the allegations.  The victim said Sellers then placed both hands around her neck and choked her until a family member entered the residence and Sellers fled out the back door.

Officers began actively searching for Sellers and, on December 11, an officer observed him driving a vehicle in the 1700 block of West 6th Street.  When the officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop, police say Sellers sped up and fled.  Due to the danger created by the pursuit, the officer decided to terminate.

The vehicle was located, unoccupied, in the 600 block of North Adams Street.  It was towed and a search yielded a handgun and some marijuana.

On December 14, Sellers contacted an NPPD investigator and stated that he wanted to turn himself in.

Sellers was placed under arrest and charged with 2nd-degree domestic assault, strangulation, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, possession of a firearm by a felon, violation of a protection order and child abuse.

Sellers is being held without bond at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal education officials say Iowa and Nebraska have the top high school graduation rates in the country.

Data released Tuesday by the Education Department show Iowa ranked first among all states with a graduation rate of 90.5 percent for the 2013-2014 school year. Nebraska came in second with a graduation rate of 89.7 percent for the same period.

The national high school graduation rate is 82.3 percent, slightly higher than the previous school year. The data also show a narrowing gap between the national graduation rate of white students and those of black and Hispanic students.

The Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics released the information. It says the national rate is the highest level since states adopted a uniform way of calculating their data five years ago.