We’ve all seen the major changes going on at Great Plains Regional Medical Center.  From the multi-million dollar construction project, to parking lot expansion, to the addition of medical specialists-change is in the air.

Hospital officials announced one more major change this morning; their name.

Great Plains Regional Medical Center is now Great Plains Health.

“At Great Plains Health, we know how important it is to offer the highest level of care, close to home,” said interim CEO, Mel McNea.

McNea noted the remarkable growth the hospital has seen in the past five years, including the expansion from 70 physicians to 90, the creation of nearly 30 medical specialty programs, the new patient tower and much more.

According to McNea, the new name reflects their growth from a hospital to a regional health care system.

McNea says the hospital’s new and bigger mission is to “inspire health and healing by putting the patients first-always.

McNea said Great Plains Health will continue to work hard to inspire good health in the community through programs like Couch to 5K training, the Great Plains Get Moving Club, the Platte River Fitness Series partnership, the GPFit community health series and free smoking cessation classes.

Great Plains Health has more than 940 employees and serves nearly 120,000 people.

 

• Today: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Southeast wind 9 to 14 mph becoming south southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 55. South southwest wind 7 to 9 mph becoming east southeast after midnight.
• Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 93. West southwest wind 6 to 13 mph.
• Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. South southwest wind 8 to 13 mph becoming southeast in the evening.
• Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. South southwest wind around 11 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
• Wednesday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.
• Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The annual Wagons West Celebration in Kearney will offer live music and family-friendly activities.

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 28 at the Buffalo County Historical Society Trails and Rails Museum. Acoustic musician Paul Siebert will present a program titled “Echoes of an Era,” with live music followed by a question-and-answer segment. The performance will include a live history demonstration of seven instruments and period dress.

Other activities include quilting, rope-making, woodcarving and blacksmithing demonstrations. Archivists with the Buffalo County Historical Society’s Archives will provide genealogical research assistance. Children can also participate in carnival games and scavenger hunts.

Guests can also attend a book-signing of “Kearney’s Historic Homes,” by Brian Whetstone and Jessie Harris.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s largest public schools are still using local tax dollars to pay for lobbyists at the Capitol, and more than three-fourths of that money is coming from districts in the Omaha area.

An Associated Press analysis of lobbying reports finds that school districts paid more than $477,000 last year to lobbyists, in addition to membership fees for statewide education groups. Of the money from individual districts last year, nearly $366,800 was spent by those in Douglas and Sarpy County and the Omaha area’s Learning Community.

Schools have continued to retain lobbyists despite a 2011 change in Nebraska’s school-funding formula that prevents them from using state aid to cover the cost. Jack Gould of the group Common Cause Nebraska says it gives bigger schools an unfair advantage over smaller ones.

2013 SCHOOL DISTRICT SPENDING ON LOBBYISTS

Adams Central Public Schools — $11,117.87

(*)Bellevue Public Schools — $60,200

(*)Bennington Public Schools — $32,300

Columbus Public Schools — $11,250

(*)Elkhorn Public Schools — $18,950

Fremont Public Schools — $20,000

Grand Island Northwest Public Schools — $11,079

Grand Island Public Schools — $30,000

Lakeview Community Schools — $6,080

Lincoln Public Schools — $45,086

(*)Millard Public Schools — $66,079

(*)Omaha Public Schools — $67,091

(*)Papillion-La Vista School District — $27,200

(*)Ralston Public School District — $28,416

(*)Springfield Platteview Community Schools — $10,769

(*)Westside Community Schools — $31,418

TOTAL SPENT BY INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS: $477,038

REGIONAL GROUPS

Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy County — $24,345

TOTAL SPENT BY DOUGLAS, SARPY DISTRICTS AND LEARNING COMMUNITY: $366,769

STATEWIDE GROUPS

Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council — $18,750

Nebraska Association of School Boards — $40,106

Nebraska Council of School Administrators — $92,295 (some dues paid through payroll deductions)

Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association — $27,700

Source: Clerk of the Nebraska Legislature

(*)District based in Douglas/Sarpy County

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A 47-year-old rural Scottsbluff man accused of sexually assaulting a child over 13 years has pleaded not guilty pleas to five charges.

The man entered the pleas during his arraignment Friday in Scotts Bluff County District Court.

He faces three first-degree sexual assault charges, a third-degree sex assault charge and one count of incest. He is being held on a $1 million cash bond.

His trial has been set for September.

The Associated Press is not naming the man to protect the identity of his alleged victim.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Education Nutrition Services has announced sites where children may receive free meals this summer.

The program provides meals and snacks to children at schools, churches, playgrounds and parks during school breaks.

It was created to ensure children in low-income areas can get meals when they don’t have access to the school lunch or breakfast. The program is sponsored and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Summer Food Service Program.

A list of the sites where meals will be offered this summer may be found at https://1.usa.gov/TGJBBM.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Two Union Pacific Railroad workers have been injured in a crash at the railroad’s Bailey Yard in North Platte.

Fire and rescue workers say the two men were injured when the company pickup they were in collided with a railcar in the yard shortly after 11 a.m. Friday.

Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said both men were taken to a local hospital with unknown injuries and that the cause of the collision is still under investigation.

Fire Capt. T.J. Williams said rescue workers had to remove the top of the pickup to pull the two men from it.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Those attending the first games at the College World Series in Omaha will be looking to the skies for any sign of severe weather.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for much of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa on Saturday. Sustained winds of 25 mph are expected for the area, with gusts of more than 35 mph.

The service predicts thunderstorms in central Nebraska late in the afternoon, moving east into the Omaha area late Saturday night and into Iowa overnight.

The service says the storms could bring damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain. Tornadoes also are possible.

The first game of the College World Series will be played Saturday afternoon, with a second game scheduled for Saturday night.

 

• Bradley Scott McCartney, 32, North Platte and Jessica Lynn Crider, 29, North Platte

 

• Robert Jake Tiedeman III, 30, North Platte and Lindsay Elizabeth Pedersen, 28, North Platte

 

• Brandon Scott Winter, 26, Brady NE and Ariel Merie Adam-Rowley, 19, Brady NE

 

• Robert John Heinzen Jr., 26, North Platte and Jamie Lea Jacobson, 25, North Platte

 

• Justin Riley Falcon, 20, North Platte and Sharee Alison Gentleman, 21, North Platte

 

• Jon Jason Musil, 37, North Platte and Randa Earlene Ogier, 30, North Platte

 

• William Lee Fear, 58, North Platte and Alma Jean Wilson, 58, North Platte

 

• Toby Brent Arnold, 36, North Platte and Kathy Jo Billings, 27, North Platte

 

• Michael Ray Buffington, 42, North Platte and Candy Leah Clark, 39, North Platte

 

• Kyle Richard Stevenson. 24, Sutherland NE and Katie Elizabeth Sandberg, 23, Sutherland NE