A grand jury has cleared the North Platte Police Department of any wrongdoing in the death of a North Platte man who committed suicide during a standoff.
The grand jury was convened last month to review the facts in the suicide of Jesse Hornbacher.
North Platte Police received a report, last December, that Hornbacher was barricaded in his home at 918 North Walnut with loaded guns. As officers attempted to talk him out of the home, Hornbacher took his own life.
Because Hornbacher was not free to leave at the time of the incident, he was legally considered to be in custody. Nebraska State law requires a grand jury review of any death that occurs while the subject is in the custody of law enforcement.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office completed an independent investigation of the matter and submitted their findings to Lincoln County Attorney, Rebecca Harling, who conducted the grand jury hearing.
A Sutherland man is in custody, and another is fighting for his life following a fight.
At around 5:21 p.m. on March 31st, deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to a disturbance at the Ozzie’s Apartment Complex, located at 1014 1st Street in Sutherland.
Upon arrival, deputies found a male subject who was unconscious and having difficulty breathing following an assault.
Deputies located several witnesses and the suspect, 35-year-old Travis Louthan, in and around the complex.
Witnesses advised that Louthan and the victim were riding in a vehicle around Sutherland consuming alcoholic beverages.
Deputies say Louthan and the victim, both passengers in the vehicle, began fighting. Louthan allegedly assaulted the victim from the front seat of the vehicle, then moved to the back seat and assaulted him more.
The victim was transported by Sutherland Rescue to Great Plains Regional Medical Center, then flown to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
Deputies eventually arrested Louthan and transported him to the Lincoln County Detention Center where he was interviewed and later arrested for 1st degree assault.
According to LCSO Chief Deputy, Roland Kramer, the victim’s condition is very serious, and his injuries are likely life-threatening.
Kramer said the investigation into the matter continues, and additional charges may be filed.
A North Platte woman, her grandmother and her three children have all been charged after they were busted stealing from a North Platte store.
According to Officer Rodney Brown, North Platte Police responded to the report of several shoplifters at Shopko at around 4:15 p.m. on March 30th.
Officers learned that store personnel had observed several people stuffing clothing into bags and exiting the store.
The suspects, identified as 37-year-old Tina Edington and her three children, ages 14, 12 and 11, allegedly entered a white Suburban operated by Edington’s grandmother, 81-year old Goldene Roueche, and attempted to leave the property.
Officers arrived and conducted a traffic stop on the Suburban.
An investigation and statements from store staff revealed that the family placed several items of clothing in various bags, then the children would carry them out to the vehicle where Roueche would retrieve them and place them in the Suburban. Brown said store surveillance video captured the crime and confirmed that the family worked together to perpetrate the crime, to include the 14-year-old serving as a lookout.
When all was said and done, Edington was charged with theft by shoplifting, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and misdemeanor child abuse. Roueche and the three children were all cited for theft by shoplifting and released.
Brown said the items, valued at $330.00, were all recovered.
In 2007, Audri Pelton of North Platte was well on her way to attaining her educational goals when life’s events set her on another path. Six years later, Pelton found herself back on the higher education track, thanks to the Reverse Transfer Program now offered at Mid-Plains Community College.
Like many before her, Pelton began taking classes at MPCC following high school. She later moved to Omaha with plans to complete her bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska and ultimately fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher and dance coach.
And then, as it so often does, life happened.
After getting married and having a child, the need for a steady income forced Pelton to put her college career on hold and reevaluate her plans for the future.
“As life went on and continued to happen around me, I ended up climbing the corporate ladder. I was in a very well-paying job where I was comfortable and, for the most part, very happy,” she said.
Although she loved her job and appreciated the opportunity to teach young women confidence and other valuable life skills, Pelton always felt there was something missing.
“Ever since I was a little girl the only thing I ever wanted to be when I grew up was a teacher. So, in the summer of 2012 I took a leap of faith and restarted my journey towards fulfilling my career desire,” she said. “I knew this would take some strategic planning as I am a single mother and was making a lot of money at the time. Bettering our future is what brought me back to North Platte from Omaha where I had been living for the better part of the last 10 years.”
When her daughter, Alexandra, began kindergarten last fall, Pelton felt she was finally at a place where she could resume her college career and still be the mother she wished to be, however she still had to figure out a way to pay for her continuing education.
“When my aunt, Teresa Piccolo (MPCC Bridge Grant Coordinator), and my mother told me about the new Reverse Transfer Program at the college it sounded like the perfect solution,” she said. “When I checked into it I found out I already had 81 credit hours under my belt. I only needed to take two classes at MPCC to earn my Associate of Arts degree. And the best part was that the Reverse Transfer Program paid for everything but my lab fees.”
“MPCC’s Reverse Transfer Program allows students to transfer credits accumulated at a four-year university or other community college back to MPCC, where they will count towards the two-year degree program requirements,” explained Karla Coellner, Reverse Transfer Advisor. “As an added incentive, a scholarship fund is available to encourage students to return to MPCC to complete their associate degree. Students must meet a set of criteria to be eligible, but if eligible, the scholarship may fund tuition up to 15-credit hours.”
“Even though it is a very strange feeling to be going back to school after six years, I am more ready than ever to not only complete my Associate of Arts, but also my bachelor’s degree and show my young daughter the value of education,” Pelton said, adding, “Having my associate’s degree will also help aid in the job hunt while I finish a bachelor’s degree and will make me more marketable in the future.”
MPCC’s Reverse Transfer Program is grant funded and may only be available at the college for the 2014 Spring and Summer terms. For more information, contact Coellner at (308) 535-3649 or coellnerk@mpcc.edu.
(AP) — A bill inspired by the decision to relocate a Nebraska state veterans home has died in the Legislature, even though it only would have applied to future projects.
Lawmakers voted 13-17 in favor of the measure on Monday. The measure would have required a legislative review of any proposal to move a state service or agency from one community to another, if the cost was $15 million or more.
The original measure by Sen. Mike Gloor, of Grand Island, could have been applied to the decision to move the Central Nebraska Veterans Home from Grand Island to Kearney.
Supporters say the current selection process pits cities against one another. But opponents countered that the bill would have lawmakers picking winners and losers for projects.
Today: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 49. Light and variable wind becoming south southeast 11 to 16 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. East wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of rain after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. East wind around 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: A chance of rain and snow before 1am, then a chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 29. East northeast wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Thursday: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 39. North wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Thursday Night: A 40 percent chance of snow, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26.
(AP) — Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has signed a bill into law that will allow voters to register and update their registrations online.
Heineman made the announcement on Monday along with the state’s top elections official, Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale.
Nebraska will join 17 other states that have allowed voters to register online. Supporters say the bill will improve the accuracy of the state’s voter registration database. The system is expected to be finished by 2017.
The new online system will link voter registrations to signatures provided to the Department of Motor Vehicles for driver’s licenses or state identification cards.
The bill was introduced by Sen. Bob Krist, of Omaha.
(AP) — Gov. Dave Heineman and Secretary of State John Gale are voicing opposition to a bill that could change how Nebraska awards its electoral votes.
Heineman and Gale said during a press conference Monday that the measure could eliminate Nebraska’s voice in presidential elections.
The bill would add Nebraska to the National Popular Vote compact. Once in place, the system would require Nebraska to award its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes nationally.
The compact would go into effect when it has been adopted by states with at least 270 combined electoral votes.
Sen. Tyson Larson, who prioritized the bill, says the decision to pick a president should be made by the nation and not just a few swing states.
Three teens who escaped from the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Kearney Sunday night are all back in custody.
According to a news release, Kearney Police were notified that the teens, two of whom were 16 and one who was 14, escaped from the facility late Sunday night.
Two of the boys, ages 14 and 16, were located shortly thereafter and returned to the facility. The third escapee remained at large.
At around 9:44 a.m., on Monday, Kearney police located the boy and, following a short chase, placed him under arrest.
Captain Mike Kirkwood said the teen was armed with a knife when officers made contact with him and an officer deployed a Taser, in accordance with departmental policy.
The boy was charged with felony terroristic threats and use of a weapon to commit a felony.
He was jailed at the Buffalo County Detention Center.
(AP) — Applications are being accepted for the 2014 Nebraska Ranch Practicum.
Participants will cover several topics, including plant identification, range conditions and grazing strategies, wildlife management and evaluation of beef cattle production systems.
Classroom activities will open and close the practicum in North Platte with the remainder of the classes conducted at UNL’s Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory near Whitman.
Practicum dates this year are June 11 and 12, July 10, Sept. 3 and 4 and Nov. 6, 2014. The final two sessions are Jan. 7 and 8, 2015.
Applications are due May 2, 2014, with a $250 deposit.
For applications or additional information, call Brent Plugge at 308-236-1235 or email brent.plugge@unl.edu or visit the practicum website at https://nebraskaranchpracticum.unl.edu/.
A grand jury has cleared the North Platte Police Department of any wrongdoing in the death of a North Platte man who committed suicide during a standoff.
