OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 37-year-old convicted sex offender from Colorado who’d been living in Nebraska has been sentenced for receiving child pornography.

Federal prosecutors said Thursday that Vance Baumbach had been given 15 years in prison. He also must pay $5,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors say investigators determined that Baumbach had offered online to share child porn computer files. A subsequent search of his computer equipment revealed more than 1,000 such files.

Nebraska records say Baumbach was convicted in 2005 in Larimer County, Colorado, for felony sexual exploitation of children.

He’s been living in Oxford, Nebraska.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new monthly survey of bankers suggests the economy is slowing down in rural areas of 10 states in the Plains and the West.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says falling crop prices have farmers spending less, and crop prices are expected to continue declining this fall.

The overall economic index for the region fell into negative territory to 48.3 in August from July’s 51.8.

The survey indexes range from 0 to 100. Any score below 50 suggests decline in the months ahead.

Goss said bankers are not very optimistic about the next few months. The survey’s confidence index dropped to 39.9 in August, from 42.9.

Bankers from rural areas of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

• Today: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Light north northeast wind becoming east 6 to 11 mph in the afternoon.
• Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Breezy, with an east wind 10 to 20 mph becoming south southeast after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
• Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Southeast wind 7 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the morning.
• Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. South wind around 8 mph becoming north after midnight.
• Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph.
• Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 58.
• Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 82.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new name will be going on some hospitals in Nebraska and southwest Iowa.

Alegent Creighton Health and the other Catholic Health Initiatives facilities are getting a new name, CHI Health. That name is being added as a prefix to the names of hospitals and clinics already well-known in the area.

For examples, Creighton University Medical Center will be called CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center and Mercy Hospital in Corning, Iowa, will be called CHI Health Mercy Corning.

Primary and specialty clinics will continue under the names of CHI Health Alegent Creighton Clinic and The Physician Network.

CHI Health has nearly 15,900 employees, 15 acute-care hospitals, a medical school, two inpatient psychiatric facilities, a rehabilitation center, a burn center and two networks of multispecialty clinics with nearly 200 locations.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — Voters in the northwest Nebraska city of Chadron will decide whether to approve a one-half percent sales and use tax to pay for a proposed swimming pool center.

Dawes County Clerk’s office told city officials Tuesday night that the measure had qualified for the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

The proposal calls for funding the $6 million project that includes enclosing the swimming pool and other improvements, such as a fitness and therapy facility.

City Manager Wayne Anderson says 512 valid signatures were needed to place the measure on the ballot, and organizers submitted 652 signatures, of which 575 were deemed valid.

The North Platte Community Playhouse has announced the cast for the first production of their 2014/2015 season, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a musical comedy that centers on a fictional spelling bee at Putnam County Middle School.  Six quirky adolescents compete in the Bee, run by three equally quirky grown-ups.  In an unusual twist, four real audience members will be invited to the stage to compete in the Bee alongside the six young characters.  The Broadway production was nominated for six Tony Awards.

The production is directed by Darrell Drullinger.

Performance dates for the production are September 27 and 28, and October 3, 4 and 5, 2014.  Friday and Saturday performances begin at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday matinees begin at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets will go on sale Monday, September 22, and will be available at the Playhouse Box Office Monday-Friday from Noon-5:00 p.m., online at www.northplattecommunityplayhouse.com or at the door prior to each performance.

Tickets are $15 for Adults and $8 for children and students.

Season memberships are also available.  The cost is $50 for Adults and $25 for Students.

Season memberships can be purchased at the Playhouse on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., or on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Inquiries can also be sent to northplattecommunityplayhouse@gmail.com.

The Cast

Rona Lisa Peretti…Tiffany Wood

Chip Tolentino…Butch Lehmkuhler

Leaf Coneybear…Matt Pederson

Logainne Shwartzangrubenierre…Tracy Sawyer

Olive Ostrovsky…Marta Holscher Nelson

William Barfee…Brian Horst

Marcy Park…Florence Gonzales-Todd

Mitch Mahoney…Tim Vanderheiden

Douglas Panch…Andrew Lee

 

There will also be three or four spellers from the audience.

Several North Platte Residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Jacque Little, 28, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture containing methamphetamine, beginning on or about May 2014, and continuing to on or about July 2014.

Little was booked into the Lincoln County Detention Center in mid-April on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of a legal drug without a prescription.

Also indicted were Reynaldo Perez, Jr., 34, and Jamie Perez, 31.

The Perez are also charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture containing methamphetamine.  The United States Attorney’s Office says the incidents began on or about February 2014 and continued through July 2014.

Jamie and Reynaldo Perez were booked into the Lincoln County Detention Center in mid-July on meth charges.

Little and the Perez all face up to 20 years in prison, a $1,000,000 fine and a 3-year term of supervised release.

As the Post reported earlier, Sheena Strand and Ross Rivera were also federally indicted.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A 23-year-old Gering man is accused of drugging and raping a 15-year-old girl.

Online court records say John Marsh is charged with sexual assault of a minor. Scotts Bluff County Jail records say Marsh remained in custody on Thursday. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

An arrest affidavit says the girl reported that she’d gone to visit a 17-year-old girl at Marsh’s home, but she found her friend was sleeping in another room there. The girl says she began to feel disoriented after she drank a blue-colored liquid Marsh offered her.

The affidavit says the girl reported that she tried to push Marsh away and told him no as he sexually assaulted her. She says he also threatened her if she reported what happened.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A 39-year-old Mitchell man has made a plea deal in a case stemming from a bomb scare in the Nebraska Panhandle town.

Christopher Lopez pleaded no contest on Wednesday in Scotts Bluff County District Court to an attempted threat to use or place a bomb. Prosecutors had lowered the charge and dropped two others in exchange for Lopez’s plea. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 30.

Mitchell Police Chief Mike Cotant says an officer recognized Lopez as he fled a vehicle that had been parked behind the police station on Dec. 31. The officer raised an alarm when he smelled fuel coming from the vehicle and saw four fuel cans lashed together, sitting on the car’s dashboard.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska State Fair organizers say they’ll be ready for the crowd Friday with a variety of entertainment options, plenty of food on a stick and hundreds of volunteers when the event opens.

The fair is celebrating its fifth year in Grand Island with a brand new exhibit hall featuring displays from the state Game and Parks Commission and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Extension program.

Inside the new Nebraska Building, fairgoers will be able to check out a 6,500-gallon aquarium, a shooting gallery and a hands-on exhibit about farming.

State Fair Executive Director Joseph McDermott jokes that those exhibits are so impressive he may have trouble getting visitors to check out the rest of the fair.

But McDermott says there will be plenty to do.