SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have charged a 53-year-old Sidney man who they say was growing marijuana in a field of corn.
Records say Floyd Kettle bonded out of jail after being arrested on two counts of marijuana distribution and one of marijuana cultivation. A phone listed for Kettle was not in service Tuesday. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
Authorities say Kettle sold marijuana to police informants earlier this year. They learned that he was growing the pot himself, so a tracking device was placed on Kettle’s vehicle. Authorities say the device guided them to the field where the pot was found.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Four Nebraska homes for veterans have each received perfect quality and care scores in a federal government review.
The homes in Bellevue, Grand Island, Scottsbluff and Norfolk are all managed by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Gov. Dave Heineman said Tuesday that the homes each scored perfectly for the second consecutive year.
The homes are graded based on factors such as safety, resident care, staff training and development, and dietary and food service.
The homes have a combined total capacity of 637 beds. They also provide medical, nursing and rehabilitative services. State officials are planning to relocate the Grand Island home to Kearney.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says sunshine and higher-than-normal temperatures across much of the state last week helped crops mature.
However, the USDA said in a report released Monday that only 3 percent of the state’s corn had been harvested, compared with 9 percent on average by the date. The soybean harvest also lagged, with just 1 percent harvested compared with 5 percent on average by the date.
The USDA says 56 percent of the winter wheat had been planted by Sunday, compared with the average of 50 percent over the past five years.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials are still waiting to see if a proposed central Nebraska home for veterans will receive federal funding.
Gov. Dave Heineman said Tuesday that he hasn’t received word on whether the federal government will approve grant funding for the project in Kearney.
Heineman says state officials believe they will be notified late in the federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, or early in the next one.
The new planned veterans home would replace an outdated facility in Grand Island. The current home has about 375 employees.
Heineman announced in July 2013 that the state would build the $121 million, 225-bed Central Nebraska Veterans Home in Kearney. Kearney won the project in competitive bidding with Hastings, Grand Island and North Platte.
A Hastings man has been given up to five years in prison on a charge related to the shooting death of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son.
31-year-old Matthew Edwards was sentenced on Monday to 59 to 60 months in prison.
His girlfriend, Amanda Pecor’s, 9-year-old son has been charged with manslaughter, accused of using a .22-caliber rifle to fatally wound his little brother in April. Amanda Pecor was convicted after she pleaded no contest on Sept. 9 to felony negligent child abuse resulting in injury. Prosecutors had lowered the charge from felony negligent child abuse resulting in death. Her sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 28.
NEW YORK (AP) — Coke, Pepsi and Dr Pepper say they’ll work to reduce the calories Americans get from beverages by 20 percent over the next decade by more aggressively marketing smaller sizes, bottled water and diet drinks.
The announcement was made at the Clinton Global Initiative Tuesday and comes as the country’s three biggest soda makers face public pressure over the role of sugary drinks in fueling obesity.
In many ways, the commitment follows the way customers’ tastes are already changing. People have been moving away from soda on their own for several years because of concerns about sugar. But the industry group says the new commitment will accelerate the calorie-cutting.
Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says the announcement shows “the industry is seeing the writing on the wall.”
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Longtime technology guru Ray Ozzie wants to bring back the emotions of the human voice to phones.
His mission began more than two years ago as Ozzie noticed people were increasingly communicating through texts, emails and social media posts instead of calling each other.
Ozzie, Microsoft’s former chief software architect, hopes to orchestrate voice’s comeback through Talko, a mobile application being released Tuesday for the iPhone. A version for Android phones is expected in a few months.
Talko sends the equivalent of text messages in the form of a spoken word. Talko users can record a voice message and send it over the Internet to anyone else with the app. Recipients listen to the recording when it’s convenient, rather than being interrupted by a traditional phone call.
A Lincoln County District Court Judge has ordered a North Platte man, accused of sexually assaulting a young boy, to undergo a psychological evaluation.
On Monday, Judge Donald Rowlands ordered that Scott Shoemaker undergo a psychological evaluation due to a potential not guilty by reason of insanity argument.
Shoemaker was arrested in August, after North Platte Police received a report from the parents of a juvenile that Shoemaker had sexually penetrated their child a few weeks earlier.
Following an interview with the child, police determined that there was probable cause to charge Shoemaker with 1st degree sexual assault of a child.
Shoemaker, at the advice of his attorney, stood mute when asked to enter a plea on Monday.
As a result, the court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Shoemaker will be back in court for a status hearing on November 3.
A North Platte man who held a woman at gunpoint last March has been sentenced to prison.
On March 11, 2014, North Platte Police responded to a residence in the 1300 block of East 15th Street.
It was reported that a female was being held against her will at gunpoint.
The female told police that Jamie Vancura was using a handgun to prevent her from leaving and making threats to harm her.
Officers were able to defuse the situation and take Vancura into custody.
Vancura was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, felony terroristic threats and 1st degree false imprisonment.
A search warrant on the residence the next day led to the discovery of methamphetamine.
While in custody, Vancura contacted a witness in the case, and picked up a tampering charge.
He reached a plea deal in the case, which led to several charges being dropped.
Prior to sentencing, Vancura’s attorney, Amanda Speichert, told the court that Vancura’s legal problems stem from his use of methamphetamine.
She said prior to this incident, Vancura had been clean for six-years, then he relapsed.
Deputy Lincoln County Attorney Tonya Roberts-Connick asked Judge Donald Rowlands to sentence Vancura to a straight prison sentence.
Judge Rowlands reviewed Vancura’s lengthy criminal record, which dated back to 1994, then sentenced him to 195 days for tampering with a witness, and two to six years on a firearms charge.
