LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A state senator says Gov. Dave Heineman’s  opposition to an oil pipeline route – but not the pipeline itself – reflects the opinions of most Nebraskans. The senator, Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm, is among those calling for a special session to address the pipeline route. On Wednesday the governor announced that he’d sent a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging them to deny a permit for the pipeline because it would run over the precious water resources of the Ogallala aquifer. Jane Kleeb is executive director of Bold Nebraska, which opposes the project. She hailed the governor’s letter as a sign of growing opposition to the pipeline. It would carry Canadian oil south to Texas’ Gulf Coast refineries.

 

Courtesy: National Weather Service

A warm front will lift north through Nebraska producing hot weather Today and Thursday. Highs should reach well into the 90s. A strong cold front will drop into the region Thursday afternoon…possibly becoming the focus for isolated severe thunderstorms. Much cooler weather will develop Friday through Tuesday with highs in the 70s to lower 80s.

as of 8:14 am

Today: Turning mostly sunny, with a high near 96. South wind between 7 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 65. South southeast wind between 6 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 4 and 7 mph.

A joint operation of the CODE drug task force led to the arrest of 12 individuals for distribution of controlled substances. Monday and Tuesday morning, CODE members including the North Platte and Cozad Police Departments, Dawson, Lincoln, Red Willow and Frontier County Sheriff’s Offices, Nebraska State Patrol, FBI, DEA and Homeland Security executed the warrants in Cozad, Eustis, North Platte and McCook. During the investigation, the arrested individuals sold controlled substances to undercover investigators. The individuals arrested include:

Bill E. Cheever, Jr., 22, Cozad
Bill E. Cheever, Sr., 53, Eustis
Tammy K. Cheever, 45, Eustis
Judith V. Stark, 48, McCook
Daryll B. Foster, 50, North Platte
Stephanie L. Hill, 26, North Platte
Jeffrey D. Manary, 41, North Platte
Marina E. Mata, 20, North Platte
Robert A. Miller, 40, North Platte
Fred Nabry, 61, North Platte
Joseph M. Boggs, 21, North Platte
William Dennis Boe, 56, North Platte

Not pictured: Judith V. Stark and Jeffrey D. Manary 

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Police say a 19- year-old man was captured by two emergency medical technicians who had been lured by a false call to a North Platte home. The North Platte Telegraph reports that Carlos Charging Elk was arrested Sunday night. A medical team was dispatched to the home a little before 8 p.m. to answer a call about a woman who had cut herself. Two of the EMTs entered the home. Police Lt. Rich Thompson says Charging Elk locked the door behind them and threatened them. The third EMT called for police help. Thompson says Charging Elk attacked the EMTs but dropped his knife. The EMTs grabbed him, unlocked the door and were dragging him outside when officers arrived. Charging Elk remained in jail Tuesday. Court records don’t list his attorney.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A 72-year-old North Platte man who had
violated terms of his probation for shooting a man trimming a neighbor’s bushes has been given three years in prison.  James Benak had pleaded no-contest in March 2010 to two counts of attempted assault. In May 2010 he was given five years of probation. Police say Benak had threatened to shoot Ted Herrick and his brother in September 2009 for making too much noise. Herrick told police that Benak used a handgun to shoot at Herrick. The bullet grazed Herrick’s stomach. North Platte television station KNOP reports that while on probation, Benak was caught using marijuana. Officers also say they found alcohol and ammunition in Benak’s home.

McCOOK, Neb. (AP) – A court hearing has been scheduled to consider the competency of the suspect in the slaying of a 14-year-old McCook girl. The attorney for 19-year-old Stathis Kirkpatrick filed a motion earlier this month requesting a hearing to determine whether he’s mentally competent to stand trial. Records filed in Red Willow County District Court show a hearing on the request is set for Sept. 8. The Bartley man has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and three lesser felonies in the death of Kailee Clapp. The teen’s burned body was found the evening of Jan. 21 in a Bartley cemetery. She had been reported missing that morning from her McCook home.

Mix 97.1, Q Country 107.3, ESPN Radio 1410 and the North Platte Post gave away a brand new Chrysler 200 this weekend. Out of thousands of entries, 100 became finalists and one local man, Jason Sullivan won the car. “Everybody loves a car, everybody wants a car and needs a car and it was the most exciting promotion idea we came up with,” said Jerome Gilg, General Manager, Eagle Radio. The contest was made possible in part by Janssen motors, First National Bank and Gary’s Super Foods.

North Platte Post Video

Video courtesy Jacquline Skarda – KNOP TV

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has vacated a manslaughter conviction and sentence in the case of a man who argued he was essentially convicted twice for his role in the 2007 drunken driving death of a rural Nebraska high school volleyball coach.  Authorities say Herchel Huff was drunk and speeding when he hit and killed Kacey Jo Warner of Arapahoe as she was jogging with her 3-year-old daughter. Huff pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years.  But a Furnas County jury later convicted him of motor vehicle homicide in Warner’s death, and he was sentenced to another 45 years. Huff appealed, saying the two convictions for the same death amounted to double jeopardy. The state’s high court agreed, but
upheld his motor vehicle homicide conviction and sentence.

BENKELMAN, Neb. (AP) – Amtrak says a small number of passengers have been taken to hospitals after a train carrying about 175 people derailed in Nebraska. Amtrak says the California Zephyr train ran into some equipment on the tracks and derailed around 8 a.m. near Benkelman, not far from the state’s borders with Kansas and Colorado. Two locomotives and the first three of 10 passenger cars left the tracks. Some of the cars tipped onto their sides but there was no fire. Amtrak spokesman Mark Magliari says he can’t confirm the exact number of injuries but says none are believed to be life-threatening. Dundy County Hospital spokeswoman Sandy Noffsinger says seven patients are being treated there. She confirms none of those injuries are considered to be life-threatening.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska vineyards are rushing to harvest the grapes before high temperatures make them too ripe. KNOP-TV in North Platte says vineyards across the state are bringing in the grapes, which must be picked by hand. And, the heat isn’t making it easy. Connie Brittan is the winemaker at Feather River Vineyards near North Platte. She says the heat is good for later grapes, but it’s really stressing the early grapes, and they’re rushing to get finished. Brittan told KNOP on Tuesday that they hoped finish 8 rows, but it will take four workers per row about six hours to get it done. Their season is over at the end of September.