(AP) — Authorities say an 82-year-old man has been fatally injured in a four-wheeler accident in central Nebraska.
The accident occurred Thursday as Clair Burnett, of rural Anselmo, was moving cattle.
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office says Burnett was taken to Melham Memorial Medical Center in Broken Bow, where he was pronounced dead.
It was all about art at Kids First Preschool in North Platte on Wednesday.
Thanks to the help of local artists, Sandy Meyer and Sue Condon, over 95 preschoolers got a chance to celebrate “Art Wednesday at Kids First Preschool.”
The students combined different painting techniques to create a “mystical moon” painting.
Additionally, the four and five year old students were able to visit several other centers to experiment with various paints, tools and processes.
“Fostering creativity in young children helps them develop mentally, emotionally and socially,” said Kids First Director Liz Berglund. “But more than anything, this day of art was all about good, not so clean fun.”
Kids First Preschool is a non-denominational Christian preschool that operates at the First United Methodist Church.
(AP) — Officers are investigating the shooting of a woman at her home in Loup City.
The Sherman County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded to a call a little after 10 p.m. Wednesday. Sandra Hill told deputies that her husband, Michael, had fallen asleep with a handgun on his chest. She says the gun accidentally went off when she tried to awaken him, and the bullet struck one of her hips.
She was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
(AP) — A Kearney man who was holding an infant car seat over his head when the child dropped out has been given a year of probation.
Online court records say 19-year-old Nicholas Bailey pleaded no contest and was convicted of negligent child abuse, a misdemeanor.
A court affidavit says Bailey, the 5-month-old child’s mother and another man had gone to Hilltop Mall on May 18 last year. Bailey grabbed the car seat with the child still in it and ran from the car up to the mall sidewalk. Bailey then raised the car seat above his head and the child fell out, because he wasn’t buckled in.
The affidavit says doctors at Good Samaritan Hospital later determined the little boy had suffered a skull fracture and had bleeding on the brain.
(AP) — Witnesses are telling a Senate panel that rural communities need to sell what they are, not what they are not in order to thrive economically.
They also say government support is important for growth and that small cities and towns should band together to maximize their potential.
A subcommittee of the Senate Agriculture Committee focused Thursday on how to boost rural economies. Witnesses included business and community leaders from North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
Mark Tilsen is the chief executive officer of Native American Natural Foods based in Kyle, South Dakota. He says his company has studied other rural businesses to plan for success.
But he says that for his business to succeed, the government has to follow through on programs designed to boost rural economies.
(AP) — A new federal report says nearly 43,000 Nebraskans signed up for health insurance in the six months since the federal marketplace was launched.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported Thursday that 42,975 Nebraskans enrolled between Oct. 1 and March 31. An estimated 74,606 people in Nebraska were deemed eligible to enroll.
Nationally, more than 8 million people signed up by the end of the first national enrollment period. That includes 5.4 million who signed up through the federal marketplace. Another 2.6 million enrolled through state plans.
Nebraska is among 36 states relying on the federal website to enroll residents in the health marketplace, which is part of the federal health care law.
(AP) — Nebraskans with insurance policies that don’t comply with the federal health care law may be able to keep their plans for a few more years.
The Nebraska Department of Insurance announced this week that it would allow insurers to keep offering plans that were issued before Jan. 1. Policies for individuals and small businesses can now be extended through Oct. 1, 2016.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska says it will allow the extension for its customers and will notify the affected policy holders about their options.
Any new policy sold after Jan. 1 must comply with the Affordable Care Act. Non-compliant policies that are extended will not qualify for federal cost assistance.
(AP) — A monthly economic index for nine Midwestern and Plains states hit a three-year high in April, suggesting more economic growth over the next three to six months.
A report issued Thursday says the overall Mid-America Business Conditions Index rose to 60.4 from 58.2 in March.
Looking six months ahead, the business confidence portion of the overall index jumped to 64.2 in April from 59.0 in March.
The survey results from supply managers are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth, while a score below that suggests decline.
The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
A collision between a horse and a vehicle south of North Platte led to a pileup and sent one man to a Denver hospital by helicopter.
According to the Nebraska State Patrol, the accident happened around 6:00 a.m., Thursday, on Highway 83 near Lake Maloney.
A Ford F-250, driven by 28-year-old Mark Dennis, of North Platte, was traveling northbound when he collided with a horse on the roadway.
Shortly thereafter, a black Chevy pickup, driven by 61-year-old Sergio Ramirez, of North Platte, approached the scene of the accident and hit the horse before striking Dennis’ pickup. The Patrol says Ramirez’ pickup came to rest in the ditch on the east side of the highway.
Dennis and Ramirez, both uninjured, were surveying the scene when a southbound vehicle, driven by 59-year-old Angel Zarraga, collided head on with Dennis’ pickup.
Patrol Sgt. Art Freirichs said Zarraga and his 19-year-old son, Jesus, were both transported to Great Plains Regional Medical Center, before the elder Zarraga was transported, by helicopter, to a Denver Hospital with serious injuries.
Sgt. Freirichs said Zarraga is expected to survive his injuries.
Jesus Zarraga was treated for minor injuries and released. Dennis and Ramirez were both uninjured.
The horse was euthanized due to the seriousness of its injuries and authorities are still trying to identify its owner.
