A 35-year-old man is facing felony assault charges after he allegedly assaulted a man with a beer bottle following an argument over a football game.

According North Platte Police, officers responded to an assault complaint in the 800 block of West D Street, at around 11:26 p.m., on Thursday.

Upon arrival, officers made contact with a 40-year-old male victim, who had a laceration on his head.

The victim indicated that he had been inside the residence watching a football game when an argument broke out between Joel Rendon-Peinado and another man.

The victim told officers that when Rendon-Peinado and the other man stepped outside, he tried to intervene.

He claimed that Rendon-Peinado then threw a beer bottle at him and struck him in the face, causing a laceration.

Officers found a broken beer bottle at the scene.

Rendon-Peinado was placed under arrest and charged with felony aggravated assault.

During the investigation, officers learned that Rendon-Peinado did not have United States citizenship, and did not have a green card.

He was jailed on the assault charge, as well as immigration violations.

A Sutherland man is facing charges following a disturbance that included him allegedly firing a shotgun.

At around 2:33 a.m., on Friday, deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a disturbance at a residence on West Front Road.

Two victims at the residence claimed that they were sleeping at around 2:30 a.m., when 20-year-old Tycen Gavin arrived at the residence and began beating on the front door.

The victims told deputies that Gavin was highly intoxicated and told to leave.

Gavin allegedly made his way to the north side of the residence and began beating on the bedroom window.  Again, he was told to leave.

At this point, the victims claim that Gavin retrieved a shotgun from his vehicle and fired one round.  They say Gavin eventually left the property.

A short time later, deputies located Gavin at his residence in Sutherland, and placed him under arrest.

He’s been charged with felony terroristic threats, criminal mischief and disturbing the peace.

Gavin was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and jailed.

ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities in the Nebraska Panhandle say a woman has died in a home explosion that injured her adult daughter.

Alliance Fire Chief Troy Shoemaker says a propane build-up caused the Thursday evening blast that killed 84-year-old Patricia Vogel. He says the explosion leveled the home and scattered debris up to 350 feet away.

Sixty-one-year-old Cynthia Zurn was treated for smoke inhalation at an area hospital. Shoemaker says 92-year-old William Vogel was standing outside and wasn’t injured.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Five people have applied to replace Charlie Janssen in the Nebraska Legislature, representing the 15th Legislative District.

The applicants all hail from Dodge County. They include Paul Von Behren of Ames, a retired veterinarian; Lawrence Marvin, of Fremont, a broker and owner of Marvin Realty; and Stacey Huffman, of Fremont, a social services supervisor with the Department of Health and Human Services. The others are David Schnoor, of Scribner, in commercial cattle feeding and farming, and Craig Corn, of Fremont, a restaurant owner who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Fremont in 2012.

Janssen, a Fremont Republican, beat Sen. Amanda McGill to become the next Nebraska auditor.

Gov. Dave Heinemann will appoint Janssen’s successor, with the approval of Gov.-elect Pete Ricketts.

• TodaySunny, with a high near 48. North wind 6 to 13 mph.
• TonightPartly cloudy, with a low around 17. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight.
• SaturdayMostly sunny, with a high near 45. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
• Saturday NightMostly cloudy, with a low around 27. South southeast wind 7 to 10 mph.
• SundayMostly sunny, with a high near 55. South southeast wind 7 to 11 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
• Sunday NightMostly clear, with a low around 24.
• MondaySunny, with a high near 51.
• Monday NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 24.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A commission created to monitor Nebraska’s new health insurance marketplace is recommending that the state continue to let the federal government run the operation.

The Nebraska Exchange Stakeholder Commission said in a report this week that building a state-run marketplace would be “difficult at best,” given the lack of federal funding and the problems other states experienced after setting up their own systems.

The report comes one month after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could jeopardize federal tax credits for Nebraska and other states that use a federally facilitated marketplace. Nebraska is one of 27 that declined to set up its own system.

Commission chairman J.J. Green of Grand Island says the group opted for a wait-and-see approach while the case moves through the courts.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Work has begun on replacing the Fort Kearny Hike-Bike Trail pedestrian bridge, but it likely won’t be finished by the time thousands of migrating sandhill cranes start arriving in the area, along with ecotourists and bird lovers.

Two temporary exits have been fashioned off the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80, just north of the bridge site, for use only by construction-related vehicles. Construction equipment and materials, including about half of a crane, already have been delivered to a staging area. The rest of the crane should arrive soon and be assembled by the end of this week.

A March 2009 wildfire destroyed the 300-foot-long wooden railroad channel bridge over the north channel of the Platte River.

ST. PAUL, Neb. (AP) — The new mayor of St. Paul has fired the police chief who’d amassed 24 years on the job.

Former chief Steven Studnicka said he was shocked by his ouster.

The new mayor, Tracy Howard, was elected last month. Howard was sworn in Monday, and Studnicka soon was out of work. Marcus Paczosa, who’d been serving as a sergeant under Studnicka, was named to replace him.

Studnicka says the only reason he was given is that Howard wanted to go in a different direction.

Howard declined to comment, saying it was a personnel matter. St. Paul code says police officers may be removed from their jobs at the discretion of the mayor.

St. Paul is county seat of Howard County and has about 2,300 residents.

A 21-year-old North Platte man has been accused of having forcible sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl.

On August 19, North Platte Police responded to the Knights Inn, 501 Halligan Drive, on the report of a sexual assault.

According to Officer Rodney Brown, the then 15-year-old girl alleged that, while visiting a friend at the motel, Mitchell Kubert, who was 20-years-old at the time,  forced her to have sexual intercourse with him.

Brown said an interview was conducted with the teen at the Bridge of Hope Child Advocacy Center.

Following the interview and further investigation, a NPPD investigator determined that there was probable cause to arrest Kubert, due to the age difference, and charge him with felony 1st degree sexual assault of a child.

On December 3, Kubert was placed under arrest and jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

 

A 35-year-old North Platte man has been jailed on felony charges following an alleged assault on his girlfriend.

At around 10:45 a.m., on December 3, an officer with the North Platte Police Department responded to the report of a domestic assault.

A 20-year-old female alleged that her boyfriend, Jeremy Nelsen, had assaulted her following an argument.

The victim stated that, after the argument, she attempted to leave the residence in the 1200 block of West 11th Street, at which time she claims Nelsen began pushing her before pushing her onto a sofa.

She alleged that Nelsen then choked her.

Officers located Nelsen and placed him under arrest.

He’s been charged with felony 3rd degree domestic assault and felony strangulation.

Nelsen was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.