The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has released their 2014 “Detention Center Year-in-Review.”

According to the report, the Lincoln County Detention Center (LCDC) booked 1,820 people during the year, and had a daily population of 111, consisting of 87 males and 24 females.

Staff served 93,270 meals to inmates, and say inmates and their families conducted 6,133 visits through video visitation.

With the new facility, authorities say they have been able to implement several new programs to assist inmates and the community.

The LCDC has partnered with Lutheran Family Services to offer an Intensive Outpatient Drug and Alcohol Treatment program for inmates.  64 inmates participated in the program, and logged over 450 hours of session time.  The report says, in the past, inmates needing this type of service were sent to other areas of the state, at the expense of the County.

The Inmate Worker Program was also successful in 2014, according to the report.  The inmate workers are responsible for meal preparation and delivery, laundry, interior cleaning and exterior groundwork.  In addition to their duties at the LCDC, inmates also worked six days per week cleaning the North Platte Animal Shelter and gave numerous hours to Keep North Platte/Lincoln County Beautiful and the Village of Hershey.

The report says inmates have more than doubled the hours of work generated and have provided over 3,200 hours of community service.

Improvements made to the facility during 2014 included the installation of an internet visitation system, which allows attorneys to visit with inmates from their office, without the inmate leaving their cell.

Officials say they will continue to look for efficient cost-saving measures in the future, and look forward to serving the citizens of Lincoln County in 2015.

 

Little Kade O’Dea was born on December 1, 2014, 16 weeks early.

Weighing just one pound, six ounces at birth, Baby Kade is currently at Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital in Lincoln, where he has already undergone one surgery, with another one expected to take place in March.

Kade’s mom, Cassie, is an employee of NebraskaLand National Bank, and his dad, Tyler, works for Union Pacific.

They are currently back in North Platte to work, and care for Kade’s brother, Ean, but will make trips back to Lincoln as often as possible.

In order to assist the family with the expenses of traveling to see Kade, and assist with his care, NebraskaLand National Bank and the North Platte Jaycees are teaming up to host a cookie competition this Sunday, January 11, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

Organizers say they have already surpassed their original goal of 10 teams, and currently have 14 teams registered, with a new goal to reach 20 teams.

Registrations will be accepted until 1:00 on Sunday.  Teams must pay a $25.00 entry fee.

Tickets to the event, which will be held at the North Platte Eagles Club, 620 North Chestnut, are $5.00 per person., with all proceeds from the event going directly to the family for care and travel. Additionally, NebraskaLand National Bank will match the funds raised at the event, up to $1,000.

For more information, or to enter a team, contact Trish at (308) 660-1862 or Tiffany at (308) 520-2713.

 

 

 

• Richard Leroy Perkins, 37, North Platte NE and Ashley Lynn Stringham, 25, North Platte NE

 

• Shawn Matthew Moore, 53, North Platte NE and Lynette Marie Cook, 47, North Platte NE

 

• Austin LeRoy Lewis, 21, North Platte NE and Traci Lynn Brown, 30, North Platte NE

 

• Todd Elden Herndon, 25, North Platte NE and Alisha Marie Skala, 32, North Platte NE

 

• Aaron William McLean, 35, North Platte NE and Amanda Lorraine Stanek, 36, North Platte NE

 

• Curtis Leroy Brown, 30, Hershey NE  and Nicole Lynn Graves, 36, Hershey NE

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of beating his grandson to death.

Peter Draper, of Franklin, was found guilty last May of two child abuse counts in the April 2012 death of 2-year-old Joseph Rinehart Jr. and sentenced to a minimum of 109 years in prison.

Draper appealed, saying the trial court should not have allowed his wife to be called as a witness by prosecutors.

On Friday, the high court sided with Draper, noting that his wife, Nancy Draper, invoked her right against self-incrimination on the stand. The high court also noted that prosecutors asked her several leading questions implicating Peter Draper in the death and that the trial judge refused to instruct the jury to disregard his wife’s testimony.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The director of a group leading opposition to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline is denouncing the Nebraska Supreme Court’s tossing of a lawsuit over it.

Jane Kleeb, executive director of Bold Nebraska, sobbed Friday morning following the release of the court’s opinion throwing out the lawsuit, even though a majority of judges agreed that the landowners who sued should have won their case.

Because it raised a constitutional question, a supermajority of five judges was needed to rule on the law. But three justices found that the landowners didn’t prove they had standing to file the lawsuit.

Kleeb says she is still confident the White House will not approve federal permits needed to build the pipeline, but says opponents will consider other ways to try to block the project.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s highest court has tossed a lawsuit challenging a proposed route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

The decision released Friday by the state Supreme Court upholds a 2012 state law that allowed the governor to empower Canada-based TransCanada to force eastern Nebraska landowners to sell their property for the project.

Four judges on the seven-judge court agreed that the landowners had legal standing to bring their case. But because the case raised a constitutional question, a super-majority of five judges was needed.

President Barack Obama has said he was waiting for the Nebraska ruling before making major decisions for the pipeline, which would carry more than 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada to Texas refineries.

Republicans say the pipeline is a top congressional priority.

ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) — The Box Butte County attorney has resigned after 12 years in office.

Kathleen “K.J.” Hutchinson’s last day in office was Wednesday. She’d been re-elected without opposition in November to her fourth term.

County officials declined to comment

• Today: Sunny, with a high near 17. Wind chill values as low as -9. West wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 3. Wind chill values as low as -8. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the evening.
• Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 36. Wind chill values as low as -3. South southwest wind 6 to 8 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon.
• Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 4. Wind chill values as low as -4. North wind 3 to 6 mph.
• Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 25. North northeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
• Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 9.
• Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 19.
• Monday Night: Cloudy, with a low around 8.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The days of the census taker with clipboard in hand may be numbered.

The Census Bureau plans to test going digital in preparation for the 2020 census.

Instead of asking people to send the traditional census form by mail, officials are asking those in the Savannah, Georgia, area and in Maricopa County, Arizona, to submit their sample census forms on the Internet this year.

And rather than sending census workers out with clipboards and paper to do follow-up, officials will have them input information directly on smartphones.

Census Director John H. Thompson says that most of the money spent during a census goes to getting people to participate. He says going digital works could save millions of dollars.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Republican Pete Ricketts has been sworn into office as the 40th governor of Nebraska.

The Omaha businessman took the oath of office on Thursday in the Capitol’s legislative chamber. The 50-year-old replaces Gov. Dave Heineman, who served a record 10 years as the state’s top executive.

Republican Mike Foley, Nebraska’s outgoing state auditor, will serve as Ricketts’ lieutenant governor. Foley replaces former state Sen. John Nelson, who was appointed as Heineman’s lieutenant governor in September.

Ricketts defeated Democrat Chuck Hassebrook, of rural Lyons, in the November general election.

Ricketts has said his focus in the 2015 legislative session would be on reducing property taxes. The session began Wednesday.