KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Officials at the University of Nebraska at Kearney say they’re disappointed about $65,000 in fines over its previous record keeping of crime statistics.
University spokeswoman Kelly Bartling said Monday the fines are connected to a random review in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Education.
The department noted a lack of geographical breakdown of incidents in UNK’s statistics. The school was also cited for not properly distributing its security report to prospective employees and graduate students. A third issue involved the school inaccurately reporting a burglary as a larceny.
UNK filed a response in 2011 to resolve the issues. The department imposed the fines in July.
Bartling says school officials are “disappointed” with the “nature” of the fines. A message Monday for a department regional office was not immediately returned.
Today: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. South southeast wind 6 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tonight: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. South southeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. North wind 9 to 11 mph.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. North wind 5 to 9 mph.
Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Light and variable wind becoming east around 6 mph in the afternoon.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Four Nebraska farmers are demanding that the state compensate them for irrigation water that was diverted away from their crops to comply with the Republican River Compact.
The farmers allege in a lawsuit that their yields were lower last year because they were denied access to water that should have been stored in nearby dams and canals. Nebraska released the water downstream to Kansas to meet its obligations under the 1943 compact.
Dave Domina, an attorney for the farmers, argues that Nebraska is placing a statewide obligation on the backs of those farmers without reimbursing them for their losses. The farmers are seeking class-action status, which would increase the number of plaintiffs to more than 150.
The Nebraska attorney general’s office will likely defend the state against the lawsuit.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials say the loss of federal funding could jeopardize a program that pays tuition and fees for low-income high school students taking college-credit courses in Nebraska.
Access College Early program was authorized by state lawmakers in 2007. It pays college tuition and fees through scholarships to students who qualify.
About $285,000 in federal money is expected to disappear for the program. The Nebraska Coordinating Commission says if the funding isn’t renewed or a replacement funding source isn’t secured, as many as 1,000 high school students would lose their scholarships. It leaves the state agency to find another way to support the program.
The organization has approved an initiative that asks the state legislature to fully fund the program.
A 21-year-old North Platte man is facing charges after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend on Saturday.
At around 3:07 p.m., on August 2, officers with the North Platte Police Department met with a female subject who reported being assaulted by her boyfriend, Ethan Claudson.
The victim alleged that she was involved in an argument with Claudson at his home. She stated that the argument escalated and, at one point, Claudson slapped and choked her.
Officers later contacted Claudson and, following further investigation, placed him under arrest for 3rd degree domestic assault and felony strangulation.
He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.
A two-year-old boy is expected to survive and fully recover after he nearly drowned at Lake Maloney on Saturday afternoon.
According to Sheriff Jerome Kramer, at around 4:50 p.m., on August 2, deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s officer received at report that a two-year-old boy had drowned at the Kansas Point Recreation Area at the Lake Maloney Inlet.
Deputies responded and found that the boy had been revived by a nurse in the area. The boy was transported to Great Plains Health, where he stayed overnight for observation.
Deputies spoke to the boy’s father, 29-year-old Justin Blankenship, of North Platte, who said that he and another individual were setting up camp when the boy slipped out of his sight.
Blankenship said they immediately started looking for the boy and found him in the water.
Blankenship said the boy was lifeless when he pulled him out of the water and began CPR, with the assistance of a registered nurse.
Kramer said the boy was quickly resuscitated.
After completing an investigation, deputies determined that the incident was “accidental in nature,” and no charges were filed.
Medical staff advised that the boy would be fine and would suffer no long-term effects from the incident.
SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a 19-year-old Chappell woman who was fatally injured in a western Nebraska traffic accident.
She was identified as Karman “JoJo” Reichman.
Cheyenne County authorities say Reichman was driving east on U.S. Highway 30 a little after 11:30 p.m. Thursday when her vehicle ran into a westbound vehicle driven by a teenage boy. The accident occurred about four miles east of Sidney.
She was pronounced dead at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. The boy was taken to Sidney Regional Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.
A 28-year-old Colorado Springs man has been given 14 to 22 years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl in Lincoln County in 2006.
Stephen Schaetzle appeared in Lincoln County District Court on Monday for sentencing, after a jury convicted him in March of first degree sexual assault of a child.
Prosecutors say Schaetzle had non-consensual sex with his 14-year-old female cousin at a North Platte motel in 2006, when he was in town for a family gathering. Schaetzle was 20-years-old at the time.
Prior to sentencing, Deputy Lincoln County Attorney, Tanya Roberts-Connick, asked for a substantial prison sentence, saying that this was also the wish of the victim in the case.
She argued that there were no mitigating circumstances for the court to consider, adding that the victim had been traumatized while the case went through the legal process.
Schaetzle’s attorney, Michael Nozicka, said Schaetzle disagrees with the judgement of the jury, and asked the court to consider that Schaetzle had served five years in the United States Navy, and five years in the United States Naval Reserve.
He also noted that Schaetzle had been involved in his Colorado Springs community, and had served as a youth sports coach.
While not minimizing the severity of the crime and its impact on the victim, Nozicak stated that Schaetzle had never been convicted of any crime, and had been determined to be a low risk in nearly every category of the pre-sentence investigation.
After Schaetzle declined to address the court, Lincoln County District Court Judge, Richard Birch, handed down the sentence.
Judge Birch stated that he had reviewed the pre-sentence investigation, and noticed that Schaetzle had many people who “supported him a lot” that had submitted letters of support. However, he said he had also received many letters on the victim’s behalf that painted a different picture.
Birch said that Schaetzle continues to deny responsibility for the crime, and called Schaetzle’s actions “predatory in nature.”
“You took advantage of a young, vulnerable relative,” Birch said.
Birch then sentenced Schaetzle to not less than 14, nor more than 22 years in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.
He was given credit for 93 days already served in jail, and must register as a sex offender.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart is making changes to its website to personalize the online shopping experience of each customer.
The company is rolling out a feature that will enable its website to show shoppers more products that they may like, based on their previous purchases. It also will customize Wal-Mart’s home page based on where each shopper lives, showing local weather and events, as well as the customer’s search and purchase histories.
So if a new mom just bought a stroller or crib on Walmart.com, the revamped website might recommend diapers and car seats, too.
The move to personalize websites for shoppers has become a top priority for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers like Wal-Mart as they play catch up with Amazon.com, which pioneered customizing content for shoppers.
KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Officials at the University of Nebraska at Kearney say they’re disappointed about $65,000 in fines over its previous record keeping of crime statistics.
