LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Three environmental groups have expanded a lawsuit that seeks to halt the development of a transnational oil pipeline through Nebraska.
The groups announced Tuesday that their lawsuit will challenge claims that a spill from the Keystone XL pipeline would not likely affect whooping cranes or other endangered species.
The lawsuit in U.S. District Court of Omaha aims to stop early work to make way for the pipeline, such as mowing native prairie grasses. Pipeline operator TransCanada, which was not named in the lawsuit, has said it mowed the grass to protect an endangered beetle species. Company officials say they also received permission from the landowners.
The lawsuit names the U.S. State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other federal agencies and officials as
defendants.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (North Platte Post)- A Colorado man is in custody, caught with marijuana and a handgun.
On Sunday, Deputy Jeff Gaasch with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office stopped 48-year-old Darrell Eugene Decker of Colorado Springs for speeding just east of Hershey. Deputy Gaasch soon became suspicious of Decker and his passenger and asked for permission to search the vehicle. Decker consented and Deputy Gaasch dispatched his K-9 Zeigo who discovered contraband found to be marijuana amounting to less than a pound but more than an ounce. A concealed 9 mm Glock handgun was also found in the vehicle.
Decker was arrested and incarcerated for Possession of Marijuana more than an ounce less than a pound and Carrying a Concealed Weapon.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (North Platte Post)- A child welfare check conducted by the North Platte Police Department late Monday night resulted in the arrest of 4 local residents.
Lt. Hoaglund reports that officers responded to the call at 2421 East E Street where they found an extremely unsanitary living environment as the home was littered with dirty clothes, trash and animal feces. Officers also found two young boys, ages 5 and 3, being housed inside a 42 X 30 inch animal kennel secured by a wire tie.
Arrested and charged with Felony Child Abuse, First Degree False Imprisonment and Misdemeanor Child Abuse were: 25-year-old Bryson Eyten, 24-year-old Samantha Eyten, 22-year-old Ashly Clark and 20-year-old Lacy Beyer.
Two other children, a 7-year-old and an 8-month-old girl were also in the home at the time of the arrests, but were not being confined. All of the adults and children were living in the house. The two girls are the children of Bryson and Samantha Eyten; the two boys are Clark’s children. All were taken into juvenile protective custody by HHS.
The adults were aware of the unsanitary living conditions and claim the boys were locked up to prevent them from sneaking away from the home.
(Update) A court appearance has been scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Thursday October 27th for all four adults listed in this story. Bond has been set at $50,000 for each. Lt. Hoaglund reports that authorities are relocating a number of animals left in the home including cats, dogs, rabbits and snakes. According to police, the four were the only adults residing in the home at the time of the arrest. The North Platte Post will provide updates following the court appearance Thursday.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A 24-year-old man has been charged with manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of another North Platte man. Nathaniel Polanco also was charged with use of a weapon in the slaying of 24-year-old Michael Fernau. Polanco appeared in court on Monday and is due back on Thursday. Officers sent to a North Platte home early Saturday morning found the injured Fernau. He died later at Great Plains Regional Medical Center. Police say it appears Fernau and Polanco were arguing just before the stabbing. Authorities believe alcohol was a factor. Polanco remains jailed, pending $500,000 bail. Court records don’t yet list the name of his attorney.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a fire that started in a piece of farm equipment was pushed by wind and soon blackened several hundred acres of grassland southwest of North Platte. Firefighters were dispatched about 3:15 p.m. Monday to a baler fire about a dozen miles from the city. Wind pushed the fire northward as flames fed on the dry vegetation. By the time firefighters from six departments had the blaze under control around 6 p.m., an area estimated at three to four miles long and a half mile wide had been blackened and an abandoned homestead had been destroyed. No injuries were reported.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman says he’ll call a special legislative session for lawmakers to consider challenging the planned route of a massive transnational oil pipeline. The Republican governor’s Monday decision means Nebraska doesn’t intend to just leave the matter to the federal government, which is expected to decide whether to approve the $7 billion Keystone XL Pipeline project by year’s end. Pipeline opponents sought the special session to consider a proposal that would have given the state control over the pipe’s route. Heineman acknowledges the proposal is likely to face a court challenge. The 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline would travel Nebraska and five other states. Supporters say it could reduce U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil, while environmental groups say a spill could cause an ecological disaster.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (North Platte Post)- A traffic stop on I-80 near North Platte last Friday morning turned up over $90,000. According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the driver of the vehicle had been pulled over for speeding and was acting suspicious, prompting a search for contraband. The driver alerted the deputy that the money was in a locked, double-vacuum sealed metal box. $90,040 in U.S. money was found inside. The driver could not provide proof of ownership nor details as to how he got the money, but did not have any other contraband in the vehicle. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputies and DEA agents seized the cash but the driver was allowed to go free.
KIMBALL, Neb. (AP) – A Wyoming man and his girlfriend have been charged in the death of a Colorado man whose body was found in western Nebraska. 40-year-old Vencil Ash III has been charged in Kimball County Court with first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Ryan Guitron. Ash’s girlfriend, 23-year-old Kelly Meehan, has been charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder. Investigators believe Ash took Guitron to an abandoned farmstead in southwest Kimball County in September 2003, shot him and buried him in a woodpile. Human remains, identified as Guitron’s, were found in the woodpile early last year. Authorities say Ash and Guitron were once roommates. Ash is set to be arraigned Nov. 1st. No arraignment date has been set for Meehan.
OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) – A western Nebraska man sentenced to up to 60 years in prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting an Ogallala teenager is appealing his sentence. 21-year-old Jade Cleveland, of Keystone, argues in an appeal filed last week that his sentence was excessive. Cleveland was sentenced last month after pleading guilty to the charges. Prosecutors say he abducted a 17-year-old girl from her home at knifepoint and raped her in rural Keith County in October 2010. Cleveland’s attorney, Robert Lindemeier, says there is no question his client is guilty. But he says Cleveland sought out a plea to spare the victim a trial and to show remorse.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Canadian pipeline operator that wants to run a controversial oil line through Nebraska is proposing new safeguards it says would limit the effects of a spill. But in a letter to Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood, TransCanada executive Alex Pourbaix maintains that the company cannot reroute the proposed Keystone XL away from the Nebraska Sandhills, as critics and some lawmakers want. Pourbaix says that, in addition to its existing commitments to clean up a spill, TransCanada is willing to provide a $100 million performance bond payable to Nebraska if the company fails to clean up a spill in the Sandhills. Pourbaix met with Flood and several other lawmakers last week to address concerns about a pipeline spill near the Ogallala aquifer, which supplies drinking and irrigation water.
