DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The nation’s wheat crop is smaller than earlier was predicted due to drought, but corn and soybean crop expectations have changed little in the latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The monthly update released Wednesday shows farmers producing 1.38 billion bushels of winter wheat, down 2 percent from a month ago and 10 percent from last year. Hard red winter wheat, the type used to make bread, is down 3 percent from last month’s estimate to 720 million bushels.
Farmers are expected to produce a record 13.9 billion bushels of corn and 3.6 billion bushels of soybeans, both unchanged.
A cool wet start to planting season improved as May progressed and the USDA says corn crop conditions are better than any time since 2007 in the Corn Belt.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Days of rain have caused water damage at the North Platte Public Library, shortly after an employee discovered a bedbug infestation.
Rain caused ceiling tiles to fall inside the building on Sunday night. No one was injured, but the incident caused significant water damage.
It comes on the heels of a bedbug discovery in late May, which forced the library to temporarily shut its doors.
The library is still open despite the water damage, but employees have roped off some areas of the first and second floors.
Sara Aden, the library’s information systems manager, says water started dripping over the circulation desk on the main floor on Saturday.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials say the first roads projects covered under a 3-year-old state law are ahead of schedule.
The work began after lawmakers passed the Build Nebraska Act, which commits one-quarter of a cent out of the state’s 5.5-cent sales tax to roads projects. Gov. Dave Heineman and Department of Roads Director Randy Peters said Wednesday that the projects scheduled for fiscal 2014 and 2015 are moving forward.
Projects include highway construction between Blair and Omaha, bypass projects in Kearney and Wahoo, and three projects around Interstate 80 in Omaha. Future projects will include roadwork around Lincoln, Plattsmouth, Bellevue, Hastings, Schuyler, Fremont, Nebraska City and the Heartland Expressway to Alliance.
The law was approved in 2011 in an effort to accelerate work on construction that was delayed for years.
MCCOOK, Neb. (AP) — The McCook school board won’t let a new teacher out of the contract she signed to teach this coming school year.
Tori Peters, of Omaha, agreed in March to teach eighth-grade science for the 2014-15 year. But in a resignation letter she submitted May 19, she asked to be released from her contract because of “major life-changing events,” which the board didn’t explain Monday night. She said she preferred to remain in Omaha to teach.
Superintendent Grant Norgaard told the board that he understood why Peters wanted to resign but that the board needed time to find a quality teacher. He said Tuesday that teachers can lose their certifications if they don’t fulfill contract obligations.
Attempts to reach Peters on Wednesday were not successful.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska led the nation in five categories of agricultural production last year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its annual rankings Tuesday.
Nebraska ranked number one in the number of cattle on feed in the state and the amount of red meat production.
The USDA says Nebraska produced 82 percent of the nation’s crop of Great Northern dry edible beans last year.
The 2012 Census of Agriculture also showed that Nebraska produced 45 percent of the nation’s popcorn crop.
Nebraska’s 8.3 million irrigated acres of cropland were the most of any state. The USDA says 14.9 percent of the nation’s irrigated acres are in Nebraska.
KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a $1.75 million gift will let the new Kearney High School add 10,000 square feet of space for career and technical education programs.
The money comes from Scott and Rochelle Morris. Scott Morris is CEO of Morris Press and a graduate of Kearney High. His wife is a former educator for Kearney Public Schools.
Early designs for the addition show three different labs: auto, metals and wood shop.
Superintendent Brian Maher says he Scott D. Morris Institute will be ready for classes when the new senior high opens in fall 2016.
There’s no doubt about it, road construction season is in full-swing in North Platte. And, of course, it’s just in time for the 50th Anniversary of the state’s official celebration, NEBRASKAland Days.
Organizers are encouraging visitors to use alternate routes when coming into the city for events:
From the East, visitors can use Exit 179 (Newberry Access), and continue to Buffalo Bill.
Visitors from the South can turn west on State Farm Road, to Buffalo Bill , then proceed north to the arena.
Visitors from the West can exit at Sutherland and continue to Buffalo Bill, via Highway 30.
The Nebraska Department of Roads will utilize electronic message centers at key locations to help improve the flow of traffic.
“What we’re hoping to avoid is a bottleneck at exit 177,” said Executive Director David Fudge. “That could force westbound traffic to back up down I-80, and we want to avoid that at all costs.
In addition to using alternate routes, Fudge also urges attendees to give themselves extra time.
“Give yourself an extra half hour,” Fudge said. “The arena opens at 6 p.m., two hours before the shows begin, so we’ll be there with plenty to see and do.”
A North Platte woman was jailed Tuesday night after she allegedly kicked to North Platte police officers following a disturbance.
At around 9:21 p.m., officers responded to a disturbance in the 100 block of South Willow.
Upon arrival, an officer witnessed Kim Heinis lunging at a male, while another person attempted to hold her back.
The officer was able to separate the group and determined that the argument had been strictly verbal, and no crimes had been committed.
Heinis indicated that she wanted to walk to a location down the street. The officer agreed, however, Heinis refused to leave and continued to argue with the male subject.
Heinis was advised by a second officer, that had arrived on the scene, that she would be arrested if she didn’t leave. But it fell on deaf ears, and Heinis continued to cause a scene. She told the officer she was concerned about a vehicle being towed, despite reassurance from the officer that it was legally parked and would not be towed.
According to Investigator John Deal, Heinis continued yelling and refused to listen to reason.
As the officers attempted to place Heinis under arrest for disturbing the peace, she allegedly kicked one of the officers in the leg, causing a minor injury.
Eventually, Heinis was placed in handcuffs.
As the officers placed her in the cruiser, Deal said Heinis kicked another officer in the leg.
In the end, Heinis was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center on charges of disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and aggravated assault on a police officer.
Deal said officers believe Heinis was intoxicated at the time of the incident.
Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. South wind 7 to 13 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. North wind 10 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. North wind 6 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52. East northeast wind 7 to 9 mph becoming south southeast after midnight.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Breezy, with a south wind 13 to 18 mph increasing to 21 to 26 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Breezy.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The amount of moisture in Nebraska soil improved with last week’s heavy rains, but the storms also caused damage with large hail.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says much of central and eastern Nebraska received between 2 inches and 3 inches of rain last week. So 76 percent of the topsoil and 61 percent of the subsoil now has adequate or surplus moisture.
But the USDA says some farmers may have to replant crops after the storm damage.
About 70 percent of the corn crop was rated in good or excellent condition. And 69 percent of the soybean crop was also in good or excellent shape.
Pastures showed some improvement with the rain, but still only 39 percent of them were rated good or excellent.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The nation’s wheat crop is smaller than earlier was predicted due to drought, but corn and soybean crop expectations have changed little in the latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
