The North Platte High School Music Department will present “Shrek, The Musical” on March 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. and March 8 at 2:00 p.m. in the NPHS Performing Arts Center.

Based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks Animation film, “Shrek the Musical” is a TONY Award-winning fairy tale adventure featuring all new songs from Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Caroline or Change) and a sidesplitting book by David Lindsay-Abaire. “Shrek” brings all the beloved characters you know from the film to life on stage, and proves there’s more to the story than meets the ears.

“Once upon a time, there was a little ogre named Shrek…” And thus begins the tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty princess who resists her rescue. Throw in a short tempered bad guy, a cookie with an attitude, and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you’ve got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there’s one on hand…and his name is Shrek.

NPHS has assembled a large cast for this show, including veterans Allison Stoppkotte as Fiona and Seth Mavigliano as Lord Farquaad, as well as newcomer to the musical stage, Maximus Wohler as Shrek.  They are joined by a cast of approximately 50 other students who have been busily preparing for opening night.  The musical is directed by Leah Purdy.

Tickets will be available beginning February 23 at the NPHS Activities Office, Westfield Pharmacy, NebraskaLand Bank and Kittles Music.  Adult tickets are $8 and student tickets are $6.  If any tickets remain on the performance dates, they will be available at the door.

 

 

• Today: A 20 percent chance of light snow before 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. Breezy, with a south wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph.
• Tonight: A slight chance of drizzle before midnight, then a slight chance of freezing rain between midnight and 1am, then a slight chance of snow after 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 25. South southeast wind 9 to 17 mph becoming north northeast after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Tuesday: A slight chance of snow before noon, then a chance for flurries. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 27 by 8am, then falling to around 19 during the remainder of the day. Blustery, with a north wind 21 to 29 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 4. Wind chill values as low as -10. Blustery, with a north northwest wind 11 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
• Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 22. Blustery, with a northwest wind 11 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
• Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 6.
• Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 45.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Will Smith’s caper “Focus” dethroned “Fifty Shades of Grey” at the box office, but the film’s modest $19.1 million opening still left questions about the drawing power of the once unstoppable star.

According to studio estimates Sunday, Warner Bros.’ “Focus” easily topped all competitors on a weekend with little competition at the multiplexes. In second place was the Colin Firth spy thriller “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” which made $11.8 million in its third week of release.

After two weeks atop the box office, “Fifty Shades of Grey” slid to fourth with an estimated $10.9 million for Universal Pictures.

The weekend’s only other new wide release, Relativity’s horror film “The Lazarus Effect,” opened in fifth place with $10.6 million.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Kearney police are trying to determine whether a high school student assaulted an administrator.

Kearney school district Superintendent Brian Maher said Assistant Principal Kevin Madsen was assaulted Friday when he removed a student from study hall.

Police helped school officials deal with the student. Madsen was examined by the school nurse but was able to continue working.

Police and school officials are investigating the incident to determine how it happened.

School board president Jon Watts says the district will try to learn from the incident before deciding if changes need to be made.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill under review by a legislative committee could boost out-of-state tourism to some of Nebraska’s best but little-known attractions.

The measure by Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln would offer $1 million dollar grants to four sites demonstrating the greatest potential to draw visitors to the state.

Morfeld says the grant money could apply to nonprofit, state or county entities to develop education and access to existing attractions.

Tourism is Nebraska’s third-largest industry, but officials say the state has difficulties with national visibility and interest.

Morfeld says he is working with the committee to draft an amendment addressing senators’ concerns about the financial stability of potential grant recipients.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — In a split decision, the Nebraska Supreme Court has determined that simply giving police a made-up name does not constitute felony criminal impersonation.

The ruling Friday came in the case of 43-year-old James Covey, of Holdrege, who was convicted last year of felony criminal impersonation and sentenced 10 to 14 years as a habitual criminal.

Covey was charged after giving a sheriff’s deputy who stopped him in 2013 the false name “Daniel Jones.”

On appeal, Covey argued that because the false name he provided didn’t correspond to an actual person, he should have instead been prosecuted under a lesser misdemeanor charge.

State prosecutors argued that state law doesn’t require the false name to be that of an actual person. But on Friday, the high court disagreed and reversed Covey’s conviction.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bipartisan team in the Legislature is trying to reform Nebraska’s politically charged process of approving new legislative and congressional districts.

Sens. John Murante of Gretna and Heath Mello of Omaha argued Friday that lawmakers should create an independent commission to propose new boundaries.

Murante, a Republican, told the Legislature’s Executive Board he’s still sorting out final details on his bill with Mello, a Democrat.

Nebraska’s current process requires a special legislative committee to propose new boundaries once every decade, after the census, for lawmakers and the governor to approve. The system came under fire during the last redistricting in 2011, with Democrats accusing the majority Republicans of gerrymandering.

The bill was backed by Common Cause Nebraska and the Nebraska Farmer’s Union.

• Rusty William Foster, 20, North Platte and Delta Dawna Elsasser, 18, Hershey

 

• Robert Daniel Woodward, 42, North Platte and Summer Rae Neal, 35, North Platte

 

• Scott Allen Taylor, 34, North Platte and Shannon Amber Boyce, 36, North Platte

 

• Adam Dean Schweitzer, 37, North Platte and Robyn Louise Henke, 35, North Platte

 

• Zachary Lee Kaiser, 34, North Platte and Dixie Kay Howell, 33, North Platte

 

• Brandon Micheal Stenger, 24, North Platte and Brittney Belle DeBord, 23, North Platte

A North Platte man is in a Kearney hospital following a crash on Thursday.

At around 2:04 a.m., deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of an injury accident near US Highway 30 and Reigan Road, just west of North Platte.

Upon arrival, deputies located the driver, 22-year-old Brent Duran.

An investigation revealed that Duran was driving westbound on Highway 30, when he drifted off the road, over corrected and rolled into the south ditch.

Deputies say Duran was not wearing a seat belt, and was ejected from the vehicle.

He was transported by the North Platte Fire Department to Great Plains Health, and was later transported to CHI Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.

Investigators say they suspect that alcohol and marijuana use were a factor in the crash, as both were found in the vehicle.

Duran was the lone occupant in the vehicle.  The investigation is ongoing.

A 21-year-old North Platte man is facing a felony charge after he allegedly stole items from Walmart.

At around 11:04 p.m., on February 26, an officer with the North Platte Police Department was finishing up an unrelated case at Walmart, 1401 South Dewey Street, when he was contacted by loss prevention personnel.

Store staff advised that there was an active shoplifter in the store, and he was currently being monitored on surveillance cameras.

The officer began watching the cameras, and observed Taylor Rector removing tags and packaging from items in the store and concealing them on his person, and in a backpack he was carrying.

Police say Rector paid for one item at the self checkout station, and left the store.

The officer stopped Rector in the parking lot, and a search revealed that he had stolen over $1,000 in merchandise from the store.

Additionally, the officer found a set of brass knuckles in Rector’s pocket, along with several prescription pills.

Rector was placed under arrest and transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center.

He’s been charged with felony shoplifting, carrying a concealed weapon and felony possession of a controlled substance.