An 18-year-old North Platte man has been charged with felony assault after he allegedly beat down a North Platte juvenile over text messages sent to his girlfriend.

On Saturday at around 12:37 a.m., deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Emergency Room at Great Plains Regional Medical Center on the report of an assault.

A male juvenile was receiving treatment in the ER for serious injuries to the face and jaw.

The juvenile told deputies that he had been at a cabin in the Prairie Lake Boat Club at Lake Maloney, when he was assaulted.  He told deputies he had sent several text messages to a young female, and her boyfriend, Tyler Bornsen, took offense to it.

Bornsen allegedly sent a text message back to the juvenile telling him that he was going to assault him.  Deputies say Bornsen then went to the cabin, confronted the victim, punched him in the head and face multiple times and left.

Medical staff at GPRMC advised deputies that the victim had fractures to the face that could not be treated at their facility.  He was transported by ambulance to a Denver, Colo. hospital for treatment.

After speaking to the victim, deputies located Bornsen and spoke to him about the incident.  Investigators say Bornsen remorsefully admitted to the assault, and verified that the incident occurred because of the text messages the victim sent to his girlfriend.

Bornsen was placed under arrest and charged with felony first degree assault.  He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

Deputies say the investigation is ongoing.  No further details of the victim’s condition were released.

The Nebraska Tourism Commission says it’s gained the tourism industry’s top accreditation.

The accreditation comes from the Washington, D.C.-based Destination Marketing Association International. The association’s Destination Marketing Accreditation Program is designed to recognize destination marketing organizations that meet or exceed industry standards.

Applying organizations must meet 53 mandatory standards, 29 voluntary standards and submit written documentation for review by the association’s international board of industry experts.

The standards cover 16 disciplines including technology, marketing, visitor services, innovation and destination development.

(AP) — Gov. Dave Heineman is preparing a “united front” of Nebraska business and farm groups to push for a multiyear tax relief package after a new legislative session begins on Wednesday.

The Republican governor tells The Associated Press he will focus this year on reducing property taxes for farmers and personal income taxes for families making between $60,000 and $120,000 a year. Without giving specifics, the governor says the plan would include “hundreds of millions of dollars” in tax relief phased in over several years.

Heineman says he has spoken over the last few months with groups that represent farmers, ranchers and businesses. Last year, those groups were among the first to publicly oppose Heineman’s plan to eliminate or reduce Nebraska’s income tax by getting rid of sales-tax exemptions.

 

Nebraska officials say there were no boating-related deaths reported in the state in 2013, the first time that’s happened since tracking began in 1965.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the number of boating accidents also decreased to 31 last year. There were 44 in 2012.

Herb Angell, the state’s boating law administrator, says diligent law enforcement and expanded safety education were factors in the change.

There were eight boating-related fatalities in Nebraska in 2012. The state has averaged five a year since 1965.

• Justin Lee Garrett, 21, Wellfleet NE and Tawny Jo Bernt, 20, Wellfleet NE

 

• Clay O’Brian Kobza, 28, Gorman TX and Hayley Ty Schaffer, 26, Gorman, TX

 

• Roger Gene Yates, 38, North Platte and Melissa Kaye Riley, 40, North Platte

 

• Randon Chase McKain, 22, Sutherland NE and Myria Ann Knapp, 22, North Platte

 

• Juddson Delphus Reed, 26 North Platte and Stevie Raeanna Swedberg, 24, North Platte

(AP) — Business leaders in Iowa and Nebraska are joining forces to promote economic development in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area.

Govs. Terry Branstad and Dave Heineman signed an agreement Friday to add Advance Southwest Iowa Corp., a new public-private partnership, to the Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership. The group includes business leaders from Douglas, Cass, Washington, Dodge and Sarpy counties in Nebraska.

David Brown, president of the Great Omaha Chamber of Commerce, says the partnership will work to market the area for new business investment and expansion.

Pete Tulipana, president and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation, says about 18,000 Council Bluffs residents cross the Missouri River each day to work in Omaha, and roughly 6,000 employees travel from Omaha to work in Council Bluffs.

A North Platte woman who was being arrested for distributing drugs has racked up additional narcotics charges.

On January 2nd, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to the Motel 6, in North Platte, to arrest Staci Ponte for distributing a controlled substance on December 22nd.

Officers located Ponte in her room, where she was living, and attempted to take her into custody.

Ponte indicated that she needed to use the restroom, a request which was honored by the officers who advised her not to flush the toilet when she was done, as they suspected she may attempt to flush drugs.

Police say Ponte appeared to be stalling in the restroom, when they heard her flush the toilet.  Officers told Ponte to finish her business and again ordered her not to flush the toilet.  However, Ponte ignored the order and flushed the toilet a second time.

Officers then placed Ponte into custody and noticed a small plastic baggie that had been torn open floating in the toilet.  Additionally, a search of Ponte’s person produced two small baggies which contained suspected meth in her jeans pocket.

A search warrant was then obtained for the room, and other items commonly used in the distribution of controlled substances were located.

Ponte then requested that her prescription medication be brought to the jail.

Upon arrival at the jail, officers checked the contents of the pill bottle and discovered Valium, a controlled substance which was not prescribed to Ponte and which differed from the label on the bottle.

In the end, Ponte was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Deliver,  two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance and Destruction of Evidence.

Ponte was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center where she is being held without bond.

(AP) — The planned Central Nebraska Veterans Home in Kearney has been added to a national priority list for federal construction grants.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that the planned facility was ranked 22nd on a list of “priority one” projects for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs released a list of 62 national “priority one” projects.

Gov. Dave Heineman announced in July that Kearney would serve as the home’s new location. The decision angered some residents in Grand Island, where the home has been located for more than a century.

The $121 million project includes a new, 225-bed long-term care facility. It will be paid for with state and federal aid.