A 19-year-old North Platte man is facing a marijuana distribution charge after deputies attempted to find a wanted subject at a North Platte residence and located pot instead.
On August 22, deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to an unknown address, in North Platte, in an attempt to locate a wanted subject.
Deputies were given permission to search the resident by the tenant, Timothy Dike.
According to deputies, they were unable to located the subject they were looking for but did notice drugs and drug paraphernalia in plain view.
As a result, deputies conducted an extensive search of the home and located numerous items that “indicated Mr. Dike was selling drugs.”
Dike was placed under arrest and jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.
He’s been charged with felony possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.
A 36-year-old North Platte man is behind bars after he allegedly had sexual intercourse with a juvenile.
On August 20, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a report that a juvenile had been sexually assaulted by an adult male.
Investigators conducted an interview with the juvenile at the Bridge of Hope Child Advocacy Center, where the juvenile stated that they had sexual intercourse with Robert Mills on at least four different occasions.
Following an extensive investigation, investigators secured an arrest warrant for Mills, charging him with 1st-degree sexual assault of a child and being a habitual criminal. On August 23, Mills was arrested and transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center where he’s being held on ten percent of $500,000 bond
The LCSO did not indicate the victim’s age or sex. Nebraska law prohibits anyone over the age of 19 from having sexual intercourse with anyone younger than 16.
The investigation is ongoing.
Mills has an extensive criminal record dating back to when he was a juvenile.
A 24-year-old North Platte man will spend the next five to ten years behind bars for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl.
Erick McClain appeared in Lincoln County District Court on Monday for sentencing.
Last September, the North Platte Police Department opened a sexual assault investigation, after receiving a complaint from the mother of a female juvenile.
The mother alleged that her daughter and McClain, who was 23-years-old at the time, were involved in a consensual sexual relationship.
In January 2015, the girl was interviewed at the Bridge of Hope, regarding her relationship with McClain.
According to Officer Rodney Brown, the girl reported that she and McClain had sexual intercourse on multiple occasions at different locations. The girl said she and McClain had met while she was in 8th grade.
An investigator met with McClain on January 21 and, following further investigation, determined that there was probable cause to charge McClain with felony 1st-degree sexual assault of a child.
Prior to sentencing, McClain’s attorney, Amanda Speichert, argued that McClain understood the seriousness of the charges against him and had shown remorse for his actions.
She also pointed out that a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) conducted by the District 11 Probation Office showed that McClain was a low-risk to reoffend and had no criminal record, except for a speeding ticket.
McClain then addressed the court and apologized to the court, the community, and the victim in the case.
District Court Judge Richard Birch, prior to sentencing, told McClain that he had reviewed the PSI and noted that it did indeed show that McClain was a low-risk to reoffend but stated that anything other than a sentence to the Nebraska State Penitentiary would depreciate the severity of the charges against him.
He then sentenced McClain to not less than five years nor more than ten years in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.
He must also register as a sex offender.
Nebraska law prohibits anyone over the age of 19 from having sexual intercourse with anyone younger than 16.
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of gasoline has remained steady over the past two weeks, holding at $2.71 a gallon.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that while the average remains unchanged, many Midwest cities saw prices jump due to a partial shutdown of an Indiana refinery. Many West Coast cities experienced price drops.
The cheapest price recorded in the continental United States was Charleston, South Carolina, at $2.10.
The highest was $3.67 a gallon in Los Angeles.
The national average price of diesel was down 6 cents over the same period to $2.72 a gallon.
The average price for a gallon of regular in Nebraska is $2.70.
LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a 52-year-old man found unresponsive in the Dawson County Jail.
Michael Holloway was found Saturday afternoon.
Lexington Police Chief Tracy Wolf says Holloway was later pronounced dead at the Lexington hospital.
The Lexington Police Department has been assigned to investigate the death, which will be reviewed by a grand jury.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Holloway was in jail. He was facing a methamphetamine possession charge, but he had been released on his own recognizance in that case.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Renewable energy advocates in Nebraska will push again next year for a state tax credit to encourage wind farms and solar projects.
Supporters have spent the summer meeting with senators in hopes of passing the production tax credit, which was narrowly defeated this year but likely has a better chance in 2016.
Backers of the bill say Nebraska should tap its abundant wind supply and prepare for new federal emissions rules that could force the state to rely less on coal.
Sen. Ken Schilz of Ogallala will usher the bill through the Legislature in place of state Sen. Jeremy Nordquist, who resigned in June to take a job in Washington. Schilz says the bill is another step Nebraska can take to promote renewable energy and rural economic growth.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The official University of Nebraska hot dogs that will be served at football games this fall are now being made in Illinois.
The company that makes the distinctive dyed-red, Fairbury-brand hot dogs moved production from West Point, Nebraska, to its Lansing, Illinois, plant this spring.
Land O’Frost bought the Fairbury brand from Wimmer’s Meat Products in 2012.
CEO David Van Eekeren promises the Fairbury hot dog recipe hasn’t changed even though they are now made elsewhere. The dogs have been served in Memorial Stadium since the 1960s.
The only exception was 1994 when the university’s athletic department switched hot dog brands after Fairbury’s owner refused to pay an additional $30,000. Fans objected and Fairbury hot dogs returned the following year.
AXTELL, Neb. (AP) — Water safety officials say residents of the south-central Nebraska town of Axtell no longer need to boil their drinking water.
Water tests Monday and Tuesday were clear of E. coli and coliform bacteria. Axtell Village Clerk Vicki Nelson says five tests were done each day at locations throughout the village.
A boil-water notice was issued for residents on Aug. 13 after tests earlier in the month found traces of E. coli bacteria in the system. Nelson says village employees went door-to-door Thursday to tell residents that it was safe to use drinking water again.
The village plans to chlorinate the water supply until the end of the month.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Several Nebraska government email addresses are among the list of millions of subscribers leaked following the breach of the cheating website Ashley Madison.
At least seven city of Lincoln, county and state government email addresses appear on the leaked lists.
The newspaper did not list the accounts because the users’ identities could not be confirmed.
Hackers this week released detailed records on millions of people registered with the website. Thousands of subscribers nationwide signed up using municipal, state and federal government networks.
Nebraska law doesn’t ban state employees from using their work emails for personal business, but state policy does seek to limit personal use of government email accounts.
