NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — The Great Plains Regional Medical Center in North Platte plans to work with eight other hospitals in Nebraska to reduce expenses and improve quality.
Under the plan eight hospitals would create a board with two representatives from each hospital. The board would then create a company, which would coordinate the sharing of resources.
Great Plains Regional’s CEO Greg Nielsen says that could include joint purchasing of supplies and sharing of best practices — the preferred methods in the medical industry for treating a particular ailment.
Bryan Health in Lincoln, The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, the Methodist Health System in Omaha and Regional West Health Services in Scottsbluff are considering the plan along with hospitals in Columbus, Norfolk, Fremont and Hastings.
A 24-year-old North Platte man charged with having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
Jamie Johnston entered a no contest plea Monday in Lincoln County District Court to a reduced charge of felony child abuse.
Johnston had been charged with 1st degree sexual assault.
Prosecutors say Johnston, then 22, engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with the girl.
The Lincoln County Attorney’s Office became aware of the situation when they were contacted by the girl regarding child support for a baby Johnston fathered in the relationship. An investigation was launched and Johnston was charged in September.
Lincoln County Attorney Rebecca Harling said the deal was made after the girl contacted her and requested that no charges be brought against Johnston. She said the felony child abuse charge is what they came up with.
Nebraska State law requires minors to be 16-years-old to legally have consensual sex with a person over the age of 19.
Johnston will be sentenced on February 3rd.
An 18-year-old accused of stabbing two employees at a North Platte youth shelter has been found competent to stand trial.
At a hearing in October, Keenan Lambert was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation to determine if he was competent to stand trial for the crime.
In Lincoln County District Court on Monday, the Court determined that, based on the findings of Dr. Lee Kimzey, Lambert was competent to answer to the charges.
Lambert and 16-year-old Jordan Baker are accused of stabbing two employees at the Nebraska Youth Center before stealing their car. The teens were captured in Dawson County a short time later.
District Court Judge Donald Rowlands set Lambert’s jury trial for March 11, 2014.
Lambert is charged with two counts of attempted 1st degree murder, use of deadly weapon to commit a felony, escape and felony theft by taking.
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A Wyoming judge has sentenced a Cheyenne, Wyo., man to up to 60 years in prison for a fatal crash in January that killed two Scottsbluff, Neb., teenagers.
Judge Keith Kautz sentenced 23-year-old Ethan Kaufman on Monday to serve 12 to 20 years for each of two charges of aggravated homicide.
Two passengers in Kaufman’s vehicle, Hallie Anderson and Alexis Wheeler, died in the Jan. 9 crash near the Nebraska state line.
Kaufman also was must serve three to 10 years on two charges of causing serious bodily injury to other passengers.
The sentences must be served consecutively, but one bodily injury count could be suspended if Kaufman serves the other sentences without incident.
Prosecutors say Kaufman was traveling 99 mph, was intoxicated and was texting before the crash.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot has been boosted to $586 million.
The hike pushes the prize for Tuesday’s drawing closer to the $656 million U.S. record set last year. Should nobody win this week, officials say the jackpot could approach the once-unheard of $1 billion mark.
Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia Lottery and Mega Millions’ lead director, says ticket sales are ahead of projections. She says the jackpot may be increased one more time on Tuesday morning in advance of the evening drawing.
She says if no winner is selected Tuesday and Friday, the jackpot could surpass $1 billion for the Christmas Eve drawing.
Between 65 and 70 percent of the roughly 259 million possible number combinations will likely be in play when the numbers are drawn Tuesday.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska man has been convicted of first-degree murder for the 2011 stabbing death of his girlfriend in their home near Sidney.
The office of Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning announced Monday that 48-year-old Craig Johnson was found guilty after a jury trial. Johnson was accused of killing 42-year-old April Smith. Smith was found bound, strangled and beaten to death on her living room floor. An autopsy showed she died from an abdominal stab wound.
Johnson faces a mandatory life sentence for the murder charge. Sentencing is set for Feb. 5 in Cheyenne County District Court.
Johnson also was convicted of one count of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, and one count of possession of a deadly weapon by a felon.
WINDSOR, Colo. (AP) — A Windsor meat company is expanding a recall of meat and poultry that was produced in unsanitary conditions.
The U.S. Agriculture Department announced the expanded recall Monday. There have no reports of illness from the recalled products.
The additional recalled products can be identified by the establishment number “Est. 20309” inside the USDA Mark of Inspection. They include “Corner Post Meats” brand hams and bacon, “Old Style Sausage” brand smoked andouille sausage and “Old Style Sausage” brand smoked Kielbasa sausage.
All products being recalled are packaged in retail-ready packaging of various sizes. The products were produced between April 1, 2013, and Dec. 5, 2013 and can be identified by four-digit Julian dates ranging between 3091 and 3339. The products were sold in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The USDA Food Safety Inspection Service reported unsanitary conditions including rodent activity. FSIS has suspended the assignment of inspectors at the establishment, and the investigation is ongoing.
An accident just north of Wellfleet Sunday afternoon seriously injured a Wauneta man.
According to a news release, deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to a two-vehicle accident at Bell Prairie Road and Highway 83, just north of Wellfleet.
Deputies learned that a Honda Civic, driven by 70-year-old Clarence “Butch” Way of Wauneta, was westbound on Bell Prairie Road when he pulled out in front of a Ford pickup driven by 22-year-old Bryce Buhr of McCook.
Deputies say it appeared Way did not see Buhr and was struck on the driver’s door.
Authorities say Way sustained multiple serious injuries due to the speed of the impact, and had to be cut from the vehicle.
Due to the seriousness of Way’s injuries, a flight for life helicopter was called to the scene and transported Way to Great Plains Regional Medical Center. Way was later transported to a Denver hospital, where he is listed in stable condition.
A passenger in Way’s vehicle was transported to Great Plains Regional Medical Center by ambulance. Deputies say their injuries were not as serious.
Buhr was not injured and a passenger in his vehicle sustained only minor bumps and bruises.
The accident remains under investigation by the LCSO, but at this point, they say alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the crash. No citations have been issued.
The number of recorded active bald eagle nests in Nebraska held more or less steady from 2012 to 2013.
In 2013, 102 active nests were recorded in the state, down from 103 in 2012. The flat numbers came as a surprise to those who track the state’s bald eagle population – the number of active bald eagle nests has increased each year since 1991 when the first active nest in a century was recorded in Nebraska.
Joel Jorgensen, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s nongame bird program manager, said the state had substantially increased its survey effort, which made the flat numbers more of a surprise.
“In past years, increased survey effort produced proportionally more active nests,” he said. “We have been accustomed to annual increases.”
The reason for the flat nest numbers is unclear, though it is possible that prey resources bald eagles depend on may have been reduced during the drought of 2012. Future nest monitoring will determine whether the 2013 results represent a leveling off of Nebraska’s bald eagle population or just a temporary pause in long-term increases. Regardless, the number of bald eagle nests recorded in Nebraska in 2013 is 10 times greater than the recovery objective identified in the 1980s by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The recovery of the bald eagle is considered a modern conservation success story. The bird was listed as a federally and state endangered species in 1978. Populations declined greatly throughout the 20th century, primarily due to the use of DDT and other similar chemical pesticides. In 1963, there were fewer than 500 breeding pairs in the lower 48 states. After the banning of DDT and many years of intense management efforts, the bald eagle was removed from both the federal and state lists of threatened and endangered species. In Nebraska, the majority of bald eagle nests are concentrated along Nebraska’s major rivers including the Missouri, Platte and Loup river systems.
Bald eagle nest monitoring is conducted and coordinated by NGPC, but also relies on cooperating agencies and trained volunteers to collect some of the data. Partners include: the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program, the Nebraska Public Power District and students from Concordia University.
