• Marvin Gale Myers 29, North Platte and Rebecca Ann Johnson, 34, North Platte

• Amy Beth Golden, 36, North Platte and Maureen Lanae Skinner, 32, North Platte

• Xinxi Dong, 33, North Platte and Lingyun Jiang, 20, North Platte

HOLDREGE, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a 36-year-old Lexington man manslaughter and other counts in a south-central Nebraska crash last week that killed a Colorado man.

The crash occurred Oct. 1 on a rural road northeast of Bertrand.

Investigators say Emilton Flores-Chavez was driving a northbound truck when he failed to yield at an intersection, hitting a vehicle driven by Jesus A. Legarreta-Germez of Sterling, Colorado. Legarreta-Germez was flown to a Kearney hospital, where died Tuesday morning.

The Nebraska State Patrol says Flores-Chavez fled the scene. He was found walking along U.S. Highway 183 the next day and arrested.

Besides manslaughter, Flores-Chavez is charged with leaving the scene of an injury accident, failure to yield and not having an operator’s license.

McCOOK, Neb. (AP) — A McCook man convicted of sexually abusing two young girls has been sentenced to less than two years in jail.

66-year-old Benito Garcia was sentenced earlier this week to 300 days in jail for a 2012 assault on a 6-year-old girl in Red Willow County. He was sentenced to another 300 days for assaults on a Frontier County girl under 12 that prosecutors say took place over a six-year period.

Garcia was sentenced after earlier pleading no contest to two misdemeanor counts of nonconsensual sexual contact in a deal with prosecutors. In exchange for his pleas, four felony counts of child sex assault and abuse were dropped.

Garcia must also register as a sex offender upon his release from jail.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts says he’s “determined” to address problems in the village of Whiteclay during his time in office, and is working with a Native American activist to seek solutions.

The governor told a constituent in July that he has consulted with Frank LaMere, a Native American activist from South Sioux City who has fought for years to close Whiteclay’s four beer stores. His comments were made in a letter to a constituent obtained by The Associated Press.

The beer stores sold the equivalent of 3.9 million cans of beer last year on the border of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned but alcoholism is rampant.

LaMere says he’s optimistic for the first time in years that state officials will look seriously at the problem.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Fair and its sustainability program, which focuses on recycling, reusing or repurposing items used during the fair, have been given the Zero Waste Award from nonprofit WasteCap Nebraska.

The award recognizes those who’ve made significant strides to reduce waste, recycle or reuse byproducts, with a landfill diversion rate of at least 90 percent.

WasteCap Nebraska provides education, training and services to help businesses and communities eliminate waste.

State Fair facility director Jaime Parr says the fair was awarded a nearly $9,000 grant from the Nebraska State Recycling Association in July.

That allowed the State Fair to buy 12 four-yard recycling containers, which were used to help concessionaires sort waste between the landfill and recyclable waste containers.

Deputies say they believe alcohol was a factor in a crash early Wednesday morning that sent seven teens to the hospital.

At around 1:25 a.m., on October 7, deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of an injury accident on South Cut Creek Road, about ten miles east of Wellfleet.  It was reported that a vehicle had left the roadway and there were up to seven people injured.

Deputies, along with deputies from the Frontier County Sheriff’s Office, arrived on the scene and found the vehicle in a deep ravine.

The injured teens were identified as 19-year-old Ty Sutphen, of Lakeside, 19-year-old Andrea Burkhardt, of Winnetoon, 18-year-old Wyatt Naughtin, of Bartlett, 19-year-old Peyden Prince, of Drummond, Montana, 19-year-old Madison St. John, of Hastings, 18-year-old Tyler Varney, of Mason and 18-year-old Rachel Dather, of Verdigre.

Authorities say Sutphen was driving a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 southbound on Cut Creek Road at a high rate of speed, and was unable to negotiate a curve, sending the truck careening into the eight to ten foot deep ravine.

The teens reportedly all sustained serious injuries and were transported to Great Plains Health.  Dather was transported by helicopter to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.

Investigators say they believe alcohol did play a factor in the crash and say seatbelts were not in use.

The teens’ conditions at this time are unknown.  The crash remains under investigation.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — A man who died in a small plane crash in western Nebraska has been identified.

Dawes County Attorney Vance Haug said Wednesday that 61-year-old John Prickett of Double Oak, Texas, died in a crash southwest of Chadron shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday.

According to a news release from Haug’s office, Prickett was flying from Chadron to Alliance to meet with family members when his single-engine aircraft, a Beechcraft P35 Bonanza, crashed.

The victim’s family notified aviation officials that Prickett failed to arrive at the Alliance airport as scheduled. Officials say Prickett was the only person on the plane that was eventually located by two spotter planes in a wooded and remote area.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Randy Houpt of North Platte says he and his wife plan to remodel their home after he claimed a $1 million Powerball ticket.

Houpt won the $1 million prize by matching five numbers, but not the Powerball number, from the Sept. 30 drawing. One ticket sold in Michigan won the Sept. 30 jackpot of $310.5 million.

Houpt says he bought his winning ticket at a North Platte convenience store when he stopped in to pick up ice for a friend’s picnic.

Other than remodeling their home, the Houpts say they haven’t made plans for the winnings.