NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (North Platte Post) – Two Lexington men have been arrested following an investigation by the Cooperative Operation for Drug Enforcement (CODE) Drug Task Force.
33-year old Jorge Yzeta and 23-year old Cesar A. Medina were charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute, while one of the suspects was also charged with Domestic Assault. Both men remain in the Dawson County Jail.
The CODE Drug Task Force is made up of law enforcement agencies throughout 22 counties in west-central and southwest Nebraska. The arrests in Lexington were the combined effort of members of the Lexington, North Platte and Broken Bow Police Departments, the Dawson and Custer County Sheriff’s Offices, the Nebraska State Patrol, FBI and Homeland Security.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The U.S. Justice Department is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by several states that challenges the new federal health care rule that requires contraception coverage for employees of church-affiliated hospitals, schools and programs.
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning is leading the suit, and he scoffed at the department’s request Tuesday. He calls it a bait and switch, noting that the department pushed the enforcement deadline to next year – after the elections – and hasn’t detailed how it plans to address religious groups’ concerns.
The lawsuit says the rule violates the rights of groups that object to contraceptive use. It was filed by Bruning and attorneys general from Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas, along with religious groups.
Department lawyers asked for its dismissal Monday.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A North Platte woman has pleaded not guilty to an arson charge.
Royalene Hernandez made her plea Monday in Lincoln County District Court.
Hernandez was arrested April 2 after firefighters were sent to her home to battle a carpet fire. Prosecutors say Hernandez started the fire so another resident would leave.
No injuries were reported.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska farmers have taken advantage of drier fields to make progress on getting the corn crop planted.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in Monday’s report that 44 percent of the corn was planted before rain moved in late in the week. That compares to 14 percent the week before and ahead of last year’s 12 percent. The average is 23 percent.
Four percent of the corn has emerged.
Six percent of the soybean crop has been planted, ahead of the average of two percent.
Sorghum planting is just beginning, while 93 percent of the expected oat crop has been planted. The winter wheat crop is rated 70 percent good to excellent.
The report says spring calving is 94 percent complete.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – A judge has thrown out an appeal from University of Nebraska Regent Kent Schroeder that sought to overturn his larceny conviction.
The judge ruled last week that the appeal was without merit.
Schroeder was found guilty in June of a misdemeanor count of larceny.
Police have said a man reported Schroeder entered his unlocked rental home without permission in February and took a $30 snow shovel. Schroeder allegedly returned it a few days later.
Schroeder testified he thought he had permission to enter the home and didn’t believe anyone was living there.

ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) – An Alliance man has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in a pair of fatal stabbings.
25-year-old Dominick Dubray entered the plea Friday in Box Butte County District Court. A trial was set for July 30.
Dubray is accused of killing Catalina Chavez and Mike Loutzenhiser, of Scottsbluff, in February.
The bodies were found in an Alliance home Dubray shared with Chavez. Dubray, who was also in the house, suffered cut wounds and was hospitalized.
Dubray is being held without bond in the Box Butte County jail.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska Congressman Adrian Smith is welcoming the U.S. Labor Department’s decision to withdraw a proposed rule designed to protect children who work on farms, calling it a “major victory for farmers and ranchers.”
Smith, a Republicans in Nebraska’s 3rd District, released a statement Thursday evening celebrating the Labor Department’s decision to abandon its proposed rule. He argued that “common sense has prevailed.”
In announcing it was dropping its proposal Thursday, the Labor Department noted it would not pursue the matter during the duration of the Obama administration. The agency says it will work with groups such as the American Farm Bureau Federation and Future Farmers of America to reduce accidents involving young people.
Officials earlier argued new rules were needed because farming is among the nation’s most dangerous occupations.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska inmate who pleaded guilty to threatening President Barack Obama has been given a two-year federal sentence.
A news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says Loren Hamlin was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf.
Hamlin was indicted in November. Federal prosecutors say Hamlin sent a letter from prison saying that after he got out, he would track down and kill the president.
Hamlin pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Lincoln on Feb. 3.
Hamlin is serving three to five years in prison for burglary in McCook in 2010. Kopf ruled that Hamlin’s federal sentence will be begin after his state time has been served.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (North Platte Post) – A juvenile bicyclist was injured Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a vehicle.
According to North Platte police, a 2010 Nissan Titan driven by Clinton Wilkening was travelling east on B Street around 3:34 p.m. As Wilkening approached the intersection of B and McDonald, he paused as two bicyclists crossed heading south, and then proceeded. Wilkening did not realize that there was another bike rider trailing the first two. He struck the third bicyclist, an unidentified juvenile. The child was taken to Great Plains Regional Medical Center with undisclosed injuries. No citations were reported.