A traffic stop on Interstate 80 in Lincoln County led to the seizure of 70 lbs. of marijuana and one arrest.

Around 1:15 p.m., Sunday, April 19, a Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) trooper stopped an eastbound 2010 Subaru Legacy for expired plates on I-80 west of North Platte in Lincoln County. An NSP Police Service Dog (PSD) alerted to the odor of drugs coming from the rear of the vehicle. A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of 70.2 lbs. of marijuana. The marijuana was contained in 60 packages in three duffel bags in the trunk.

The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, 34-year-old Nicole M. Beard, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was lodged in the Lincoln County Detention Center on a charge of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver.

Two people are facing charges after a North Platte man was struck by a drunk driver early Monday morning.

At around 3:10 a.m., on April 20, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to an injury accident near West 4th Street and Mills Avenue.

Officers made contact with a male victim, who alleged that he had been struck by a white Chevy cargo van as he tried to cross the street.

He said the driver, 43-year-old Victor Vera-Martinez, then tried to convince him not to call the police.  He then left.

Officers soon located Vera-Martinez and the van in the 2600 block of West 6th Street and conducted a DUI investigation.

Following further investigation, officers determined that there was probable cause to arrest Vera-Martinez and charge him with felony leaving the scene of an injury accident, driving under the influence of liquor-2nd offense and refusal to submit to a chemical breath test.

Additionally, police say a passenger in the vehicle, 46-year-old Jacqueline Benitez-Cedillo, attempted to deceive officers and was placed under arrest and charged with being an accessory felony.

Both Vera-Martinez and Benitez-Cedillo were jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

The condition of the victim is unknown.

 

A 20-year-old North Platte man is facing numerous felony charges after he allegedly fired a gun at a group of people and threatened to kill a man with it.

Just after midnight, on April 18, deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a subject shooting a handgun at a group of people on North Highway 83.

Deputies were told that a male subject, later identified as Joshua Collins, came to the residence and was intoxicated.

A male subject reportedly attempted to talk to Collins, who was very agitated.

Authorities say this eventually led to the man and Collins getting into a physical altercation.

At one point, Collins allegedly produced a handgun and held it to the victims neck while they were on the ground.  The victim said Collins then threatened to kill him and fired the weapon into the ground next to his head.

Deputies eventually located Collins near the residence and took him into custody.  He was charged with felony terroristic threats and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Deputies say they were able to locate the firearm hidden in a tree stump.

 

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after they say Sidney police fatally shot a 44-year-old man who was armed with a knife.

Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub says two police officers had responded to a 911 call at a residence Sunday and spotted a woman running away from the home. Police went inside and confronted her husband, Dana Hlavinka, who was holding the knife, and shot him.

The newspaper reports that all officer-involved shootings require the convening of a grand jury under state law. Schaub said he’ll ask the local district judge to appoint a special acting attorney to review the incident and convene a grand jury.

Further details weren’t immediately available. The Nebraska State Patrol is investigating.

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. Northwest wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 30. Northwest wind 11 to 16 mph decreasing to 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Light northwest wind becoming west northwest 8 to 13 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday:  NightMostly clear, with a low around 34. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming east after midnight.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. East wind 7 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37.
Thursday: A slight chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Furious 7” might have slowed from its blockbuster debut, but the high-octane action movie maintained first place for the third weekend in a row with an estimated $29.1 million, according to box office tracker Rentrak.

This brings “Furious 7’s” domestic total to a staggering $294 million, well above the $202.8 million that “Fast & Furious 6” had earned at the same point in the cycle in 2013.

New openers “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” and Universal’s low-budget thriller “Unfriended” took second and third place with $24 million and $16 million, respectively.

While Kevin James’s “Paul Blart” didn’t perform as well as the first film’s $31.8 million opening in 2009, it did surpass Sony’s modest expectations.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Advocates for medical marijuana will try to take their campaign to Nebraska voters next year if lawmakers don’t act, and a new state law could make their job easier.

Supporters say they’re gathering signatures to place the issue on the November 2016 ballot.

A law signed last week allows petition organizers to pay circulators by the signature, instead of by the hour. Critics of the previous rules say many groups don’t have the resources to pay circulators by the hour.

Petition organizer Bryan Boganowski says getting the marijuana measure on the ballot would still be hard, but the new law would help.

A measure scheduled for a vote Monday in the Judiciary Committee would allow medical cannabis in liquid, pill, or liquid vapor form, but it couldn’t be smoked.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Secretary of State has announced that 48 county election offices will receive reimbursements totaling nearly $50,000 to help cover costs associated with the use of voter disability equipment during the 2014 general election.

The money is provided to the Secretary of State’s office through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.

AutoMARK machines allow voters with visual impairments and other disabilities to cast their ballots privately and without assistance as early voters or at the precinct on Election Day.

The total amount for 2014 came to $48,204. Counties were awarded $36,677 in 2012 and $41,000 in 2013.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — An estimated $19 million expansion at Kearney Regional Medical Center could begin as early as this summer.

The proposed expansion includes two single-story patient wing additions, a maintenance building, a helicopter pad and an expanded intensive-care unit with an emergency room and ambulance garage.

All of the additions would be built south of the existing hospital.

Les Mock, an architect at WDM Architects in Wichita, Kansas, says the expansion would be built in phases with an estimated completion in 2016.

The Kearney Planning Commission recommended approval of the development plans Friday. The plans must first be approved by the Kearney City Council.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A small fire at a senior living facility in Kearney sent three people to the hospital.

The Kearney Volunteer Fire Department was called to St. Luke’s Countryside Villa just after 3 p.m. Friday.

Property manager Jonna Wilson says minutes earlier, she smelled smoke, wen to investigate and encountered a hallway full of smoke. She pulled the fire alarm and evacuated the building’s 20 residents.

Wilson says the fire was caused by a tenant cooking hot peppers on a stove. The tenant had put out the fire by tossing the burning peppers in a toilet before firefighters arrived.

The residents were taken to a Kearney hospital — two for chest pains and one for smoke inhalation.