WELLFLEET, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 31-year-old woman died after her sport utility vehicle crashed into a school bus that had stopped at a railroad crossing in western Nebraska. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department says the crash occurred a little before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the crossing on U.S. Highway 83 south of Wellfleet. Wellfleet is 23 miles south of North Platte. There was only a driver on the bus. The woman’s 3-year-old daughter was driving with her.
All three were taken to Great Plains Regional Medical Center in North Platte. The little girl and the bus driver were listed in stable condition. The SUV driver had died. Their names have not been released.
Category: Local News
Miller Named Exec. Director of Lincoln Co. CASA
Stephanie Miller of North Platte was named executive director of the
Lincoln County CASA for Children Tuesday at the organization’s monthly
board meeting.
Miller, a native of Sutherland, is a 1991 graduate of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a minor in
English. She served as a legislative intern for the Nebraska State Legislative
Judiciary Committee and was an intern for the Gender Fairness Task Force.
She also was a research assistant/teacher’s assistant for the UNL Criminal
Justice Department in 1990-91.
In 1992-93, Miller was a child support caseworker in the Lincoln County
attorney’s office.
Miller’s most recent work has been as a literature, humanities and
composition teacher for Winter Park Christian School in Tabernash, Colo. In
addition to classes, Miller taught A.C.T. preparation classes for juniors and
seniors and coached the high school mock trial team. She continues to teach
two classes a week via the Internet.
Miller will assume her duties March 15, working 10 hours a week. She will
be working from home until a temporary office can be established in the
North Platte Community Day Care.
(PHOTOS) Car decides NOT to stop at Kwik Stop…
A car crashed through the front window of Kwik Stop at 4th and Poplar this afternoon.. According to a witness, the driver of the vehicle accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal and crashed through the front window of the store. There were no injuries involved.
North Platte To Host Governor’s Conference on Rural Development
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Small towns across Nebraska will be able to learn more about strategies they can use to strengthen their communities at a conference in North Platte next month. The governor’s conference on rural development will be held on April 18. The daylong event will focus on how small communities can boost economic development. Before April, registration costs $50 per person. After that registration costs $75. More details are available online at www.serve.nebraska.gov .
Husker Baseball Blanked By Cal; Aim For Series Split This Afternoon
After putting 12 runs on the board in a win on Saturday, the Nebraska baseball team was unable to find an offensive rhythm on Sunday afternoon in a 4-0 loss to the 21st-ranked California Golden Bears at Hawks Field in Lincoln. The Huskers compiled just three hits on the afternoon as six Cal pitchers combined for the shutout. Tom Lemke worked six and two-thirds innings in his start for the Huskers and was tagged with the hard-luck loss, as he allowed three runs, all earned, on nine hits. The Bears hold a 2-1 advantage in the four game series that concludes today. The Huskers will look for a series split tomorrow when they send Tyler Niederklein to the mound for his first start of the season. Cal will counter with Mike Theofanopolous. First pitch at Hawks Field is set for 7:05.
North Platte Drug Dealers Sentenced in Fed Court
Story Courtesy John P. Tretbar
Two high profile drug busts in our area resulted in federal prison terms for two defendants from North Platte.
On March 1, Brian Craig Devino, 36, was sentenced to 20-years in prison for distributing methamphetamine which resulted in the overdose death of Stacey Gonzalez in February of 2011.
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg says Gonzalez was found dead in her North Platte home by a family member on February 23, 2011. A small amount of methamphetamine was found in Gonzalez’s bedroom by investigators from the North Platte Police Department. Devino and Gonzalez had gone out for drinks and then returned to Gonzalez’s residence with take-out food on the evening of February 22, 2011. Devino admitted to officers that he had provided Gonzalez with a small amount of methamphetamine before leaving her residence.
Devino’s charge carried a mandatory minimum prison term of 20 years due to the fact that the use of the methamphetamine resulted in a death. Following the prison term, Devino will serve four years on supervised release.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the North Platte Police Department.
Another convicted drug dealer from North Platte was sentenced March 6 to nearly five years in federal prison. Gilg says Lisa Ann Rosenberg, 27, was arrested and charged last year, after selling more than 51 grams of cocaine base to a confidential informant on June 14, 2011. A co-defendant from Colorado, Megan Miller, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and will be sentenced April 4th.
That case was investigated by the CODE Task Force which is made up of law enforcement agencies throughout a 22-county area in west-central/southwest Nebraska and includes the North Platte Police Department, Dawson County Sheriff’s Office, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Red Willow County Sheriff’s Office, Frontier County Sheriff’s Office, Nebraska State Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
McCook murder suspect to use insanity defense
McCOOK, Neb. (AP) – Lawyers for a 20-year-old Bartley man have notified the court that he’ll use an insanity defense at his murder trial.
Stathis Kirkpatrick is accused of killing 14-year-old Kailee Clapp. The teen’s burned body was found the evening of Jan. 21, 2011, in a Bartley cemetery. She had been reported missing that morning from her McCook home.
Kirkpatrick has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and three other felony charges.
In September, Red Willow County District Judge David Urbom ruled Kirkpatrick wasn’t mentally competent and committed Kirkpatrick for treatment at the state psychiatric hospital in Lincoln.
Last month Urbom ruled Kirkpatrick competent to stand trial. The judge said he’d reviewed a letter from a psychiatrist and psychologist who treated Kirkpatrick at the hospital.
A trial date has not been set.
Nebraska case management transition complete
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The head of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says the state has now reclaimed management of the child welfare cases that were handled by one private lead agency.
Department CEO Kerry Winterer announced that the transition from KVC Nebraska to the state is complete. KVC Nebraska had served a 19-county area in southeast Nebraska, including one-third of the cases in the Omaha area.
Nebraska state officials have now assumed case management duties in 17 of those counties. Another lead agency, Nebraska Families Collaborative, is taking over the cases in Douglas and Sarpy counties.
State officials have said they will hire case managers from KVC Nebraska to keep them working with the same children as much as possible.
Ex-NU regent faces lien on office property
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – The Justice Department has filed a lien for over $729,000 against the Scottsbluff office property of former University of Nebraska Regent David Hergert.
The Mitchell businessman was sentenced in January to five years of probation for federal bank fraud. He was ordered to pay $654,000 restitution to the First National Bank of Omaha.
The lien was recorded in the Scotts Bluff County Register of Deeds office in February. It says it’s a lien on all property belonging to Hergert and should be considered a notice in lieu of the restitution ordered at his January sentence.
Hergert admitted inflating business assets to keep a $3 million loan from the Omaha bank.
Hergert was removed from the university’s board of regents in 2006.
Not so fast my friend…
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A plan to allow gambling outlets in Nebraska to run keno games every 3 minutes instead of 5 minutes has failed.
Lawmakers on Monday morning decided that people who play keno in bars and restaurants don’t need to be wagering their money faster.
Under current law, a keno operator must wait 5 minutes between games. Supporters of Legislative Bill 1067 say making that waiting time 3 minutes would raise more money for city governments.
Cities with keno use profits to pay for city services, ambulances and police cars.
Opponents said Monday that the state should not be encouraging people to gamble faster.
Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilbur is the bill’s sponsor. He says more than $81 million would have been raised per year if lawmakers had approved the keno change.