(AP) — Interstate 80 lanes will be closed overnight later this month to replace two electronic message boards.
The Nebraska Roads Department says the work will require closure of eastbound I-80 lanes between Elm Creek and Kearney and closure of westbound lanes between the Phillips Spur and the U.S. Highway 281 interchange in Grand Island.
The lanes are scheduled to be closed from 10 p.m. April 29 until 6 a.m. April 30. Detours will be marked.
A North Platte teenager is facing multiple counts of child pornography after police found images of child pornography on his computer.
According to Officer Rodney Brown, over the past few months, the North Platte Police Department has received several reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding a subject in North Platte uploading child pornography to an internet cloud server.
An investigation was initiated and, using the information provided by the NCMEC, police were able to develop a 16-year-old male suspect.
Officers conducted a search on the juvenile’s computer which revealed evidence of child pornography.
As a result, the boy was charged with 12 counts of felony child pornography.
He was processed and released from the Lincoln County Detention Center.
The Post is not naming the boy pending the filing of formal charges by the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office.
(AP) — The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has risen 5 cents in the past two weeks.
The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.61, the highest price in Lundberg’s twice-monthly surveys since late July 2013.
But the current price is 4 cents under its year ago point.
Midgrade costs an average of $3.79 a gallon, and premium $3.94.
The average diesel price is $4.00, down 2 cents.
Of the cities surveyed in the Lower 48 states, Billings, Mont. has the nation’s lowest average price at $3.20. Los Angeles has the highest at $4.04.
In California, the lowest average price was $3.83 in Sacramento. The average statewide for a gallon of regular was $3.07.
In Nebraska, the average price for a gallon of regular is $3.51.
(AP) — Gering officials are looking forward to the demolition of an idle meatpacking plant in the Nebraska Panhandle city.
The Swift Packerland building has been empty for about ten years and has long been considered unsafe.
Twin Cities Development Project Developer Mike Sarchet says city officials have been working with the building’s owner, JBS Swift, to have the building demolished for several years.
Asbestos removal has been scheduled and should be completed by June. After that the structure can be demolished.
Sarchet says he’s excited about the possibility of another business using that site once demolition is completed.
(AP) — Nebraska has three inspectors trying to make sure that potato seeds sold in the state are free of pests to protect growers.
Two of the inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture recently quarantined nine boxes of potato seeds at a Lincoln True Value hardware store
The store’s owners didn’t have paperwork needed to prove the seeds were free of the Columbia root-knot nematode worm. That pest eats the roots of plants like grasses, legumes and cereals.
Nebraska Agriculture Department spokesman Christin Kamm says the inspectors are part of the state’s efforts to protect the potato industry here.
Nebraska farmers only grow about 20,000 acres of potatoes each year, but the state provides potato seeds to the rest of the industry.
(AP) — A status hearing for the man charged in the shooting deaths of his ex-wife and his former divorce attorney has been postponed for a second time.
58-year-old Michael Petersen, of Glenvil, was supposed to have the hearing Friday morning. It was postponed until April 21.
Petersen is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and use of a weapon in the Nov. 13 slayings of 52-year-old Todd Elsbernd and 58-year-old Nancy Peterson.
Elsbernd was shot in the back with a rifle outside his Grand Island law office. Police say that earlier in the day, Nancy Petersen was found dead outside her rural Buffalo County home.
Michael Petersen has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
(AP) — A western Nebraska woman accused of helping her husband kill himself, then hiding his body, will stand trial in the case.
Cheyenne County Sheriff’s deputies say 53-year-old Deann Kimble, of Sidney, was arrested last month and charged with assisting suicide and concealing a body in the death of her husband, 61-year-old Russell Kimble.
Deputies say Kimble told them that she had promised her husband she would not intervene when he decided it was “his time to die.”
She told investigators that Russell Kimble shot himself on March 22, believing he was gravely ill. Investigators say Deann Kimble then wrapped his body is a shower curtain and sheet and buried him in a shallow grave.
Her first appearance in trial court is set for Tuesday.
State park areas temporarily closed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission last fall will reopen April 18 – two weeks earlier than previously planned.
The parks will reopen early because work crews reassigned from the closed parks completed their assigned projects ahead of schedule. The purpose of the closures was to redirect Game and Parks staff and resources from the closed areas in an effort to reduce the more than $40 million of identified deferred maintenance needs of an aging Nebraska State Park System and meet compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and environmental requirements.
Work groups of 2-3 employees each were located in six sites across Nebraska. They built 42 double-wide vault toilets to replace deteriorated ones, exceeding their goal by six. The new vault toilets will be distributed to park areas around the state.
During the closure period, several communities, civic groups and political subdivisions provided volunteers and funding to keep some of the park areas open for varying periods of time.
“We are gratified that many communities and persons stepped forward and provided resources to keep some of the parks open,” Game and Parks Director Jim Douglas said. “We are truly grateful for their efforts.”
It was announced last Aug. 30 that 29 state park areas would temporarily close to all services and vehicle access. Management of one park area, Oliver Reservoir, has since reverted from Game and Parks back to its owner, the South Platte Natural Resources District.
The following state recreation areas will reopen April 18: Alexandria, Blue River, Cheyenne, Conestoga, Cottonwood, Dead Timber, DLD, Keller, Long Lake, Long Pine, North Loup, Olive Creek, Pelican Point, Riverview Marina, Rock Creek Lake, Sandy Channel, Schramm, Sutherland, Union Pacific, Verdon, Stagecoach, Walgren, and War Axe.
The state historical parks that will reopen are Arbor Lodge, Ash Hollow, Buffalo Bill, Fort Atkinson, and Fort Hartsuff.
(AP) — Republican Pete Ricketts has won the endorsement of Sarah Palin in his primary bid for Nebraska governor.
Palin, a former vice presidential nominee and Alaska governor, joined Ricketts Friday at a campaign rally at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds in Grand Island. She praised Ricketts as a “principled conservative” with private sector experience.
Palin has ventured into Nebraska politics before. Last month, she endorsed Midland University President Ben Sasse in his primary bid for U.S. Senate. In 2012, she publicly supported Republican Deb Fischer’s successful U.S. Senate campaign.
Ricketts is competing in a six-way Republican primary race with Attorney General Jon Bruning, State Auditor Mike Foley, Omaha tax attorney Bryan Slone, and state Sens. Tom Carlson and Beau McCoy.
