(AP) — A Lexington woman and her boyfriend have been charged with child abuse, accused of injuring her 17-month-old son.

20-year-old Kelsey Dangler was arraigned on Tuesday. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press.

Her boyfriend is 21-year-old Christopher Perez, of North Platte. He’s already been arraigned on the same felony charge. Perez’s attorney, Bob Lindemeier (LIHN’-deh-meye-ur), says Perez intends to plead not guilty.

Authorities say Dangler took her son, Zachary Simite, to Lexington Regional Health Center on Feb. 18. Court documents say Dangler told police that Perez fell on the child while they were playing. Medical personnel say the boy’s injuries were not consistent with Dangler’s account.

(AP) — A 38-year-old western Nebraska man has been convicted of sexually assaulting a girl over several years.

Richard Cobos, of Gering, was convicted Tuesday of sexual assault of a child. He faces up to five years in prison when he’s sentenced on June 4.

Prosecutors say the girl Cobos was convicted of assaulting is not a student in the Mitchell school district, where he taught junior high math.

Police say Cobos assaulted the girl on several occasions between 2009 and 2012 when she was staying at his house.

(AP) — People across the nation will observe Arbor Day on Friday, but no state will celebrate with as much fervor as Nebraska, where the celebration of trees got its start 142 years ago.

Like elsewhere, Nebraskans will plant trees and children will read poetry and join in coloring contests. But unlike other states many public offices will close — it’s the only state in which Arbor Day is a paid holiday for state workers.

Nebraska City’s J. Sterling Morton first proposed the tree-planting holiday in 1872. Morton was a newspaper editor and secretary of the Nebraska Territory.

The city’s celebration this year includes a parade, chili cook-off, home and garden show and a run.

The holiday typically attracts less attention in other states, where it can be overshadowed by Earth Day.

Yes, it’s true, more road work will begin in North Platte on Monday.

According to the City of North Platte Engineering Department, Western Engineering will begin construction of the Overlay Project on Rodeo Road.

Officials say construction will take place on Rodeo Road from Sycamore Street to Mills Avenue.

The project will get underway Monday, April 28, and is expected to run through the month of June.

Delays should be expected during the construction period, and some intersections my be closed.

Residents are urged to use caution in and around the construction area.

 

• Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 77. South southeast wind 10 to 18 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph.
• Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38. Breezy, with a north northwest wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.
• Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 69. West northwest wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.
• Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. West northwest wind 5 to 14 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
• Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. West wind 5 to 8 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
• Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 44.
• Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Breezy.

(AP) — Nurse practitioners will still need to collaborate with physicians in order to practice in Nebraska, after the governor vetoed a bill that would have changed state regulations.

Gov. Dave Heineman on Tuesday vetoed the bill, which removed the requirement that nurses have an integrated practice agreement with a collaborating physician in order to practice in Nebraska. In the final vote, legislators had approved the measure unanimously.

Heineman says in the future there will be a shift toward additional independence for nurse practitioners, but the option provided by the bill went too far, too quickly.

Heineman and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Acierno expressed concern about patient safety in the governor’s veto letter.

Lawmakers adjourned last week, so they cannot try to override the governor’s veto.

UPDATE (April 23, 2014 6:30 a.m.)

Kelsey’s mother, Megan Essex, issued the following statement to the Post Wednesday morning:

“Kelsey is home safe.  We appreciate all of the prayers and support that we have received during this difficult time and would like to ask everyone to continue praying so we can all heal and move forward!! We respectfully ask for privacy while dealing with this matter and thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. I am certain that it was everyone’s prayers that kept Kelsey safe and that led her to reach out and come home! God is good! Feeling blessed.”

The Cozad Police Department has not commented on the case.

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UPDATE (April 22, 2014 6:30 p.m.)

According to a Facebook post by Kelsey’s mother, “Kelsey is safe, we will update more later, thank you everyone for your prayers and support. I will let everyone know when I see her with my own two eyes. God bless.”

We will update this story with additional details as they become available.

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Family members are asking for help in finding a Cozad teen who has been missing for a week.

According to family members, Kelsey Newburn, who also goes by Kelsey Kerkow and Kelsey Essex, was last seen when she left Cozad High School on Monday, April 14, with her boyfriend and an unknown male.

Kelsey’s boyfriend, who is from Aurora, claims that Kelsey left with someone he doesn’t know, and has stated that he has no idea where she went.

Kelsey’s mother said the boyfriend has not been very forthcoming with information with them or the Cozad Police Department.

Kelsey is 17-years-old with brown hair and brown eyes.  She is 5’6”, weighs approximately 150 pounds, and was last seen wearing dark blue sweatpants, flip flops, a camo coat and glasses.

Cozad Police have classified Kelsey as an endangered runaway and say she may be in the Central City, Grand Island or Aurora area.

If you have any information on Kelsey’s whereabouts, please contact the Cozad Police Department at 308-784-2366, or her mother through Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/meganessex.

 

(AP) — A Scottsbluff legislative candidate says he’s been working with the IRS to eliminate a $30,500 tax lien.

Scottsbluff lawyer Mike Meister (MYE’-stur) said on Monday that he’d gotten into a “cash flow crunch” so he couldn’t pay the accumulated federal withholding for his employees. He says his staffers are “not in any risk.”

Meister says he’s working with the IRS on paying the arrearage. He told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he expected to be caught up by the end of the month.

Meister is running against Valley Bank President John Stinner Sr. for the legislative seat in Nebraska’s 48th District.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln County commissioners have refused to exempt from taxes thousands of acres of land bought by a group of natural resources districts so groundwater that had been used for irrigation would instead flow into the Platte and Republican rivers.

The Board of Commissioners on Monday followed the recommendation by county assessor Julie Stenger to tax the property on its grassland value.

Farmers and ranchers from throughout the county gathered to hear the board’s comments about tax exemption requests for the Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement land.

The co-op is an agency composed of several natural resources districts. It bought 19,500 acres to stop irrigation and direct the groundwater into the Platte and Republican rivers to help the state meet river water obligations.

UPDATE (April 22, 2014 6:30 p.m.)

Authorities have identified the victim of this morning’s fire as 58-year-old Randy Mills.  They say no one else was in the home at the time of the blaze.

The Post has not received any updates on Mills’ condition.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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A North Platte resident sustained serious injuries in a house fire Tuesday morning.

According to North Platte Fire Department Battalion Chief, Trent Kleinow, firefighters were dispatched to the fire at 313 West D Street at around 10:32 a.m.

Kleinow said that, upon arrival, the house was completely filled with smoke.

Firefighters made entrance into the home, where they found a male victim.  Kleinow said the victim had no pulse and was not breathing when he was pulled from the residence at 10:36 a.m.

CPR was immediately initiated, and Kleinow said the victim was breathing and had a pulse when he was transported to Great Plains Regional Medical Center.  At last report, the victim remained in critical condition and had been flown by helicopter to a burn center in Lincoln.

Kleinow said the fire started in the basement, however, the cause is still under investigation.

The name of the victim was not released.