LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials say they will accept amended income tax returns from same-sex married couples following last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Acting Tax Commissioner Leonard J. Sloup says Tuesday the state Department of Revenue will accept amended income tax returns for all open tax years. In most cases, that means couples can file returns going back as many as three years.

Same-sex couples married in other states are also eligible to refile income tax returns.

Sloup says couples are not required to amend any returns.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June legalized same-sex marriage across the nation.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A 35-year-old Grand Island man has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting a co-worker outside a meatpacking plant in south-central Nebraska last year.

Angelo Bol was sentenced Tuesday morning. Bol had pleaded no contest to first-degree murder in May.

Prosecutors say Bol waited several hours and targeted 34-year-old Karel Perez-Almaguer when he shot him several times on Dec. 15 in the parking lot of Gibbon Packing in Gibbon.

Bol told the judge that he had been taunted and discriminated against at work, and Perez-Almaguer had harassed him.

Bol was fired on the day of the shooting a fight the previous day that involved Perez-Almaguer.

Lincoln County authorities have released more details in the recovery of  a vehicle from the South Platte River.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), employees from Western Engineering brought in heavy equipment on Monday to assist with the recovery of the vehicle that plunged into the river with Lexi Wiezorek and Noah Ramos inside on May 18.

On Tuesday morning, Western employees used a large excavator and two bulldozers to construct a temporary diversion around the area where the car had been located earlier.

Authorities say once the diversion was in place, members of the Lincoln County Dive Team were able to enter the water and properly mark the car for extraction.

The LCSO says the vehicle was completely covered with over 18 inches of sand, but the excavator was able to dig along both sides of the car, allowing divers to rig a harness to the rear of the vehicle.  The operator of the excavator was then able to pull the car up and out of the river, fully intact.

Investigators from the LCSO examined the vehicle and located two bodies, believed to be Lexi Wiezorek and Noah Ramos, inside.

The bodies will be transported to the Central Nebraska Forensic Autopsy Service, in Gibbon, for examination and positive identification.

The vehicle, which was transported to an offsite facility, will be examined by LCSO investigators.

“During this nearly two-month ordeal there have been countless volunteers and several professional companies that have assisted with the extraction of the vehicle and attempted extractions of the vehicle,” the LCSO statement said.

“The people in North Platte area have pulled together to accomplish what seemed to be impossible. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office thanks them all.”

The thoughts and prayers of all of us at The Post are with the families of these two children.

By Kearney Police Department

During the week of July 13-18 visitors from all over Nebraska will come to Kearney to take part in the Cruise Nite experience.

The Kearney Police Department would like to remind everyone that it is now illegal to possess an open container of alcohol while on public property. This includes sidewalks, alleys, streets, and parking lots.

In the past, a person could possess an open container on public property as long as they were not consuming the alcohol. This law has changed. The City of Kearney hopes that citizens voluntarily comply with this new ordinance to make the Cruise Nite experience enjoyable for everyone.

Please remember to BE SAFE – BE SMART during the Cruise Nite celebration.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Public Power District has selected Scottsbluff as the site for a community solar energy pilot project.

A solar energy farm would be built and connected to a distribution line that would feed into the local grid.

NPPD’s Tim Arlt told the City Council Monday evening that the community system would eliminate poor rooftop orientation, taxes, insurance and electrical inspections for businesses and residents who might otherwise install their own solar systems.

Arlt says Scottsbluff was chosen because it’s a hub for the district in western Nebraska and has plenty of land available.

There’s no firm agreement between the city and the power district until a power purchase agreement is signed with a solar farm developer.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer says a car that carried two teenagers into the rushing waters of the South Platte River has been recovered with two bodies inside.

Rescuers pulled the car from the river Tuesday morning after building a temporary road to allow an excavator to approach the car.

Kramer says dental records will be used to identify the bodies found in the car over the next few days.

Officials have said 17-year-old Alexis Wiezorek and 18-year-old Noah Ramos have been missing since May 18 when they drove into the river, which had washed out a road on the south side of North Platte.

The rushing waters of the river made it difficult for authorities to recover the car before this week, when the waters significantly receded.

NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks says it’s hiking prices again starting Tuesday, with the increases ranging from 5 to 20 cents for most affected drinks.

The Seattle-based company also raised prices nationally about a year ago.

A small and large brewed coffee will each go up by 10 cents in most areas of the country, Starbucks says. That would bring the price of a large coffee to $2.45 in most U.S. stores.

Some other coffee sellers are cutting prices. Last week, The J.M. Smucker Co. said it would cut prices for most of its coffee products because of declines in future prices for unroasted coffee beans. In an emailed statement Monday, Starbucks Corp. said coffee costs are only part of its expenses, which also include rent, labor, marketing and equipment.

NORTH PLATTE — The 26th annual Kites and Castles event held at Lake McConaughy has been canceled this year because of high-water levels.

The coordinating committee of Kites and Castles released the news last week. With high-water levels, there will not be enough beach areas to accommodate the competition and provide parking for onlookers that come to view the sand sculptures.

Lake levels are expected to remain at near capacity throughout the summer. Steady rainfalls early this spring and high South Platte River flows reduced the need for downstream irrigation outflows from Lake McConaughy.

This is the first year that the sand-sculpture competition has been cancelled; however the Kites and Castles committee is planning on hosting the annual event again next year. The date for the 27th annual Kites and Castles has been set for July 30, 2016.