NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — The winner of the 2014 Miss Nebraska competition is Miss Douglas County Megan Swanson.

Swanson won the crown Saturday night at the pageant in North Platte.

She is a graduate of Millard North High School in Omaha, and is studying music at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Swanson impressed the judges and audience with her vocal rendition of “You Raise Me Up.”

Swanson says she hopes to set an example for others of what it’s like to live a balanced life as she promotes total body wellness.

Swanson will represent Nebraska at the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City in September.

Swanson’s Court includes:

• 4th Runner Up-Miss Eastern Nebraska, Alyssa Howell
• 3rd Runner Up-Miss Heartland, Allison Tietjen
• 2nd Runner Up-Miss River City, Rachel Foehlinger
• 1st Runner Up- Miss State Fair, Aleah Peters

In the event that Swanson is unable to fulfill her duties, Peters would assume the title of Miss Nebraska 2014.

 

SCOTTSLBUFF, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska health department has begun testing for the mosquito-borne West Nile virus.

The Scotts Bluff County Health Department began collecting mosquitoes on June 1 and is accepting dead birds for testing for the virus.

The neighboring city of Gering will begin spraying for mosquitoes on Tuesday.

West Nile is transmitted to people through mosquitoes that feed on an infected bird. Most infected people have no symptoms or only mild flu-like symptoms. A small percentage develops a serious illness.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services website says that last year, there were 229 human cases of West Nile — including five deaths.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — The owners of a North Platte cemetery say they are fed up with the increasingly blatant thefts of items from graves.

Sue Condon, co-owner of Floral Lawns Memorial Gardens cemetery, said that items stolen since Memorial Day include solar lights, pinwheels and planters.

Condon says the thefts have become more frequent over the past three years, but that this year has been the worst.

She says that on Thursday afternoon, she and her husband had cleared decorations from the infant section of the cemetery to mow, putting the decorations in a silver trailer. But when she and her husband returned to the trailer that evening, it had been cleaned out.

Office	Report Time	County	Location	ST	Event Type	Mag.	Source
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 18:10:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Sheridan	4 E Gordon	NE	FUNNEL CLOUD	0	fire dept/rescue
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 17:41:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	6 S Eli	NE	HAIL	0.5	trained spotter
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 17:41:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Sheridan	10 SSE Gordon	NE	HAIL	1.75	trained spotter
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 18:05:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Sheridan	3 SE Gordon	NE	TORNADO	0	fire dept/rescue
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 18:45:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Grant	Hyannis	NE	HAIL	0.88	trained spotter
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 19:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	6 W Cody	NE	HAIL	1	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 19:05:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Cody	NE	TSTM WND GST	60	trained spotter
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 19:41:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	4 S Eli	NE	HAIL	1.75	trained spotter
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 20:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	11 WSW Valentine	NE	HAIL	2	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 20:40:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Keith	6 WNW Paxton	NE	HAIL	1	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 18:30:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	4 S Eli	NE	HAIL	1	trained spotter
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 18:25:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	10 NNE Hyannis	NE	HAIL	1.25	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 19:45:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Keith	5 E Ogallala	NE	HAIL	1	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 20:22:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Hooker	16 SW Mullen	NE	HAIL	0.88	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 19:15:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Mcpherson	8 W Tryon	NE	HAIL	0.5	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 20:47:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Valentine	NE	HAIL	1.5	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Brown	Ainsworth	NE	HAIL	1	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:15:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	3 ENE North Platte	NE	TSTM WND GST	60	asos
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:18:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	3 ENE North Platte	NE	TSTM WND GST	85	asos
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:45:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	14 SW North Platte	NE	HAIL	0.5	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:55:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	4 N Valentine	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.57	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 23:50:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	2 SSE North Platte	NE	FLASH FLOOD	0	nws employee
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:15:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	4 S North Platte	NE	TSTM WND GST	50	nws employee
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:55:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	3 ENE North Platte	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.07	official nws obs
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 23:05:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	15 S North Platte	NE	HAIL	0.75	public
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 00:30:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	2 W North Platte	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.29	nws employee
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:15:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	1 S North Platte	NE	TSTM WND DMG	0	public
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 01:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	5 N Valentine	NE	FLASH FLOOD	0	law enforcement
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:15:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	4 S North Platte	NE	TSTM WND GST	50	nws employee
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:18:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	3 ENE North Platte	NE	TSTM WND GST	85	asos
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 20:15:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Cody	NE	TORNADO	0	public
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 00:52:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Cody	NE	HEAVY RAIN	4.5	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 21:30:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Valentine	NE	FLASH FLOOD	0	law enforcement
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 20:30:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	1 S Valentine	NE	TSTM WND DMG	0	trained spotter
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 19:05:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Cody	NE	TSTM WND GST	60	trained spotter
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:15:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	3 ENE North Platte	NE	TSTM WND GST	60	asos
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 09:03:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	2 W North Platte	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.67	nws employee
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	1 NW Sutherland	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.02	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Valentine	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.53	asos
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	Brady	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.2	co-op observer
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	9 NNE Elsie	NE	HEAVY RAIN	3.02	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Cody	NE	HEAVY RAIN	3.4	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	6 NW Hershey	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.09	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	7 NW Madrid	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.03	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	6 NE North Platte	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.53	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	4 NE Elsie	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.43	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Keith	7 S Paxton	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.34	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	Madrid	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.03	co-op observer
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	8 SW Madrid	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.1	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	3 ENE North Platte	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.32	asos
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Custer	8 WSW Callaway	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.26	co-op observer
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	8 NNE Wellfleet	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.4	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	3 S Grant	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.09	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	8 SW Madrid	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.84	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Frontier	10 S Maywood	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.45	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Lincoln	14 SE Elsie	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	9 NW Elsie	NE	HEAVY RAIN	3.02	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Frontier	4 WNW Eustis	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.72	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Perkins	3 N Grant	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.1	cocorahs
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 13:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Frontier	2 NW Eustis	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.56	co-op observer
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Frontier	14 SE Stockville	NE	HEAVY RAIN	2.3	cocorahs
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 18:05:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Sheridan	3 SE Gordon	NE	TORNADO	0	fire dept/rescue
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 12:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Frontier	3 NNE Curtis	NE	HEAVY RAIN	1.57	co-op observer
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 19:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Cody	NE	TORNADO	0	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 22:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	15 W Valentine	NE	FLASH FLOOD	0	911 call center
LBF	Sat Jun 07 2014 15:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Cody	NE	HEAVY RAIN	4.5	public
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 21:30:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Valentine	NE	FLASH FLOOD	0	law enforcement
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 21:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	Cody	NE	FLASH FLOOD	0	911 call center
LBF	Fri Jun 06 2014 19:00:00 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)	Cherry	1 E Cody	NE	TSTM WND DMG	0	public

HARRISON, Neb. (AP) — Fort Robinson State Park in western Nebraska will again be the site of one of the High Plains’ most celebrated Native American powwows.

The 15th annual Intertribal Gathering will be held June 13-15 and will feature traditional dancing, drumming and singing. The event attracts hundreds of dancers and spectators every year.

An array of activities will complement the dancing, including a 5K run, storytelling and the crowning of a princess. Vendors selling Native American crafts, food and other items also will be on-site.

The events are free to the public, but vehicles are required to have a Nebraska park entry permit.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — University of Nebraska-Lincoln extension experts are warning that recent floods from storm runoff could put private drinking water wells at risk of contamination.

UNL Extension water quality educator Sharon Skipton says that if floodwater came near a private drinking water well, its water supply may have been contaminated with pollutants carried in the floodwater.

Wells at greatest risk include those in well pits, dug wells or any wells without a watertight casing or cap. Also, wells that lack a grout seal in the annular space or were submerged with flood water or surface water runoff are at risk.

Homeowners who think their private drinking water well was affected by floodwater should not use the water for cooking, drinking or brushing teeth until lab tests confirms it is safe.

• Jesse Michael Sutphin, 20, North Platte and Stephanie Nicole Anderson, 20, North Platte

 

• Bernardo Eloy Mascarenaz Jr., 50, Ft. Collins CO and Misty Marie Douglas, 36, Ft. Collins CO

 

• Gary Wayne Eastwood, 60, Callaway NE and Trudy Joe Swedberg, 54, Hershey NE

 

• Matthias William Parenti, 45, Antioch CA and Niccole Lea Kotschwar, 37, Antioch CA

 

• Justin Rae Mayfield, 32, North Platte and Ashley Simpson, 32, North Platte

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Bridge engineers in Nebraska and Iowa says the safety problems seen in Delaware with an interstate bridge are not likely to happen here.

On Thursday, Delaware ordered immediate inspections of major bridges after closing a leaning bridge Monday. Officials think piles of dirt dumped near the bridge might be responsible for shifting the ground beneath the span.

Nebraska State Bridge Engineer Mark Traynowicz says a combination of inspections and laws requiring permits for any work or dumping of state rights of way would thwart similar problems in Nebraska.

Scott Neubauer, Iowa’s bridge maintenance and inspection engineer, says Iowa doesn’t plan inspections like Delaware is requiring. Neubauer says he’s never heard of an instance in Iowa with a contractor piling anything near a bridge that would interfere with its structural integrity.

A North Platte man has been arrested after he allegedly threatened to kill a North Platte city employee.

According to Investigator John Deal, officers responded to a disturbance at City Hall at around 8:46 a.m., on Thursday.

Deal said an officer met with an employee of the city who advised that a male subject, later identified as Brian Picard, had walked into City Hall and asked to speak to a certain employee of the city.

The employee stated that the employee wasn’t available and asked Picard what he needed.

At this point, Picard allegedly said that the employee was going to get killed if they didn’t “knock off their activities.”  Deal said Picard didn’t specifically say what activities he was referring to.

Deal said Picard then began to leave and made a comment about “government people being bombed.”  He then flipped off the employee and left.

According to Deal, investigators were able to identify Picard through surveillance footage of the incident.

Officers made contact with Picard later that day as he rode a bicycle near 2nd and Jeffers.

Following further investigation, officers determined that there was probable cause to arrest Picard.  He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony terroristic threats.

Authorities did not name the employee Picard was referencing.

A Canadian couple was killed when the vehicle in which they were driving was struck by a semi-trailer truck on Interstate 80 near Overton, in Dawson County.

The crash occurred around 2:30 p.m., Thursday, June 5, on westbound I-80 at mile marker 244, approximately four miles west of the Overton exit, when a westbound semi crossed the median and struck an eastbound 2009 Nissan Murano. The passenger vehicle, which was pulling a camper, was struck nearly head-on by the semi, with both vehicles coming to rest in the south ditch.

Bruce R. McPhail, 74, of Ontario, Canada and his wife Ruth McPhail, 76, of Ontario, were killed in the crash. Bruce McPhail was the driver of the vehicle. Both occupants of the Nissan were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

What caused the semi to cross the median and who was driving the semi remains under investigation. Two occupants of the semi, Jeremiah Kamau Ngengi, 50, SeaTac, Washington and John Bradley Seals III, 41, Charlotte, North Carolina, were both treated and released from the Lexington Regional Health Center.

Seat belts were in use in the passenger vehicle.  It has been undetermined if seat belts were used by either occupant of the semi.

The Nebraska State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and Overton Fire & Rescue.  The crash remains under investigation.