FRANKLIN, Neb. (AP) — The Franklin County Attorney’s Office has identified the man killed in a crash in south-central Nebraska this week.
County Attorney Patrick Duncan said 42-year-old David Nelson, of Wilcox, died in the early Wednesday morning crash about five miles north of Franklin on Highway 10.
Duncan says Nelson’s car that left the roadway around 3:30 a.m. and rolled several times, causing him to be thrown from the car.
Duncan says Nelson was not wearing a seat belt.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A late spring freeze in May damaged more than Nebraska’s mainstay corn crops. Growers say the freeze wiped out the state’s strawberries and hit vineyard grapes hard.
The May 16 freeze that sent temperatures as low as the upper 20s in some parts of southeast Nebraska wiped out most strawberry crops in the area.
Beverly Schaefer, who owns Roca Berry Farm with her husband, says their two-acre patch was destroyed.
Schaefer says not only did the freeze take away her strawberry revenue, it also means the loss of berry-picking jobs for about 30 local teens.
Area vineyards report 30 to 50 percent losses to their grape crops from the freeze.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — New research confirms that black walnut trees can be raised successfully in southeast Nebraska for their wood.
The Nebraska Forest Service recently published a technical report with observations from 25 to 45 years of growing walnut trees in the state.
Forester Dennis Adams says walnut trees’ success depends on climate, soil type and other factors. So anyone considering growing walnut trees should consult a local forester to determine whether the trees would thrive.
But Adams says the wood from black walnut trees is sought after for high-end furniture and expensive gun stocks.
NELIGH, Neb. (AP) — Opponents of a proposed pipeline that would carry Canadian oil south to the Gulf Coast hope to cultivate more resistance to the project by planting corn in the shape of a message.
About four acres of Ponka red corn will be planted this weekend in a field near Neligh, Nebraska, to fill out an anti-pipeline message carved into the ground earlier this spring.
The 80-acre artwork reads “Heartland#NoKXL.” It is one of the latest protests against TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline that needs presidential approval before it can be built.
TransCanada has said the pipeline will have upgraded safety measures and will offer the safest way to transport the oil across Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.
Critics of the project fear it could contaminate groundwater and contribute to pollution.
CHICAGO (AP) — For the first time in a decade, an experimental drug has extended the life of patients with advanced lung cancer who relapsed after standard chemotherapy.
But the benefit in the study was so small — six extra weeks, on average — that it is raising fresh questions about the value of some costly new cancer medicines.
Eli Lilly and Co.’s drug Cyramza (sih-RAM-zuh) was tested in more than 1,200 patients. It is sold now for stomach cancer and costs $6,000 per infusion.
The study was discussed Saturday at a cancer conference in Chicago where doctors also reported progress with new drugs against relapsed ovarian cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common type of leukemia in adults.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Experst say corn farmers in parts of southeast Nebraska can expect to take a hit on yields this year, thanks to a late spring freeze.
DuPont Pioneer seed account manager Ron German said the May frost hit mainly from the Bennet area southeast to areas around Tecumseh.
German says about 10 percent of plants in affected fields won’t recover, and those that survive likely will yield 20 to 25 percent less corn.
Experts are not recommending replanting in most cases, because the late start on replanted corn also would mean reduced yields. German says only about 5 percent of fields were hit hard enough for replanting to pay off.
KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have seized 60 pounds of marijuana following a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in Buffalo County.
The Nebraska State Patrol says a trooper stopped a vehicle Friday as it traveled east near the Kearney exit. The trooper says the car was following too close.
A service dog indicated the odor of drugs. A search led to the seizure of marijuana found in the trunk.
The driver, 31-year-old David H. Esty III, of Surry, Maine, was arrested and taken to the Buffalo County Jail. He faces a charge of possession with intent to deliver. Court records do not list an attorney.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska Board of Regents has approved a tuition freeze for state students.
Regents made the decision Friday during a meeting where they also approved a $2.4 billion operating budget. That’s a 3.5 percent increase in the budget.
The tuition freeze is part of a 2012 deal with the Nebraska Legislature. It provides a 4 percent increase in state appropriations in exchange for keeping tuition rates flat for Nebraska students.
Undergraduate students can expect to pay a base tuition rate of $216 per credit hour next year. Nonresident students can expect to pay at least $680 per credit hour.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) The Nebraska Democratic Party has filed an ethics complaint against Gov. Dave Heineman, alleging that he illegally used state resources to announce that he would apply for the University of Nebraska presidency.
The complaint says Heineman, a Republican, announced his candidacy using his state staff, stationary, office space and social media. It also alleges that the governor used public money to set up a meeting with Howard Hawks, chairman of the university’s Board of Regents.
Heineman is accused of violating laws that prohibit public employees from using state resources for financial gain or to campaign for a public office.
The governor’s office says it hasn’t yet received the complaint, but deputy communications director Sue Roush says Heineman believes it’s politically motivated.
