NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A North Platte man has been arrested on weapon and explosives charges after a two-week investigation.
The Nebraska State Patrol says 61-year-old Gary Wilson was arrested last Friday. He was taken into custody without incident near a grocery store.
The patrol says a search of his car and home led to the seizure of firearms, ammunition and explosive materials.
Wilson is charged with possession of firearms by a felon and possession of explosives. He was released from the Lincoln County jail on Sunday on $15,000 bond.
Wilson’s case is not on the online court system, and it’s not known if he has an attorney.
Shelli Arensdorf, a member of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo committee, receives the Justin Boots Standard of the West Committeeman of the Year Award. She is flanked by Miss Rodeo Nebraska Sierra Peterson and rodeo co-chair Jack Morris. Photo by George Hipple
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (North Platte Post)- A Hershey woman has been recognized for her volunteer work. Shelli Arensdorf was awarded the Justin Boots Standard of the West Committeeman of the Year award Feb. 25 for her volunteer efforts with the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte. She has been on the Buffalo Bill Rodeo committee for five years and is the first woman to be on the committee. Prior to that, she volunteered as scoreboard operator at the rodeo.
Arensdorf has been involved in rodeo in other capacities. She currently judges the cowgirls events at Nebraska State High School Rodeo Association rodeos and served as finals coordinator for eleven years with the Nebraska State Rodeo Association. She also produces the Cowboy Christmas gift show in North Platte every November.
The cowgirl, who grew up in the Bridgeport area, competed as a team roper and breakaway calf roper at the junior, high school, and college rodeo levels. She was the Team Roping-heeler Rookie of the Year in 1996 in the Professional Women’s Rodeo Association, and finished third in the nation in the year end standings the same year.
GERING, Neb. (AP) – A 32-year-old Gering woman is scheduled to be sentenced in April for thefts.
Linda Carrillo pleaded no contest to the charges and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Court records say Carrillo also is known as Linda Cerillo, Linda Cerrillo-Mendoza, Linda Rivas and Linda Mendoza.
Prosecutors say that in one case, Carrillo wrote a fraudulent check on her former employer’s account. In another case, Carrillo had used her employer’s credit card to buy an iPad 2.
Carrillo is scheduled to be sentenced on April 18.
HARRISON, Neb. (AP) – A 32-year-old Nebraska Panhandle man has been given life in prison for murdering his 8-year-old stepdaughter.
Salvador Lopez, of Mitchell, admitted killing Kerra Wilson.
Lopez was sentenced Friday in Sioux County District Court. Sioux County Attorney Adam Edmund says Lopez deserved to die in prison In exchange for Lopez’s guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a provision that could have led to the death penalty.
The little girl’s body was found Sept. 22 on remote ranchland in Sioux County.
Prosecutors say Lopez killed Wilson because she told him she was going to tell her mother that he “had touched her in a bad way.”
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A medical technician accused of sexually assaulting three women as they were undergoing ultrasound testing at Omaha facilities has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual assault.
27-year-old Kevin Ryan, of Ralston, entered his plea in Thursday. A judge set bond at $1 million.
Online court records show Ryan’s case was bound over to Douglas County District Court.
According to police reports, three women reported being sexually assaulted by a technician in September, October and December. The women told police the assaults happened as they were having ultrasounds performed on their chest, abdomen and legs.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Seven states are asking a federal judge to block an Obama administration mandate that requires birth control coverage for employees of religious-affiliated hospitals, schools and outreach programs.
The lawsuit in U.S. District Court of Nebraska alleges that the new rule violates the First Amendment rights of groups that object to the use of contraceptives.
The rule, announced as part of the federal health care law, has come under fire from religious groups that object to the use of birth control. In response to the criticism, Obama administration officials have said they will shift the requirement from the employers to health insurers themselves.
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning says the proposed change still fails to address their concerns.
Joining the lawsuit are Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has put on hold the execution of an inmate condemned to die for two 1985 cult-related slayings at a farm near Rulo.
Michael Ryan’s execution had been set for March 6. His attorney, Jerrie Soucie, with the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy had filed a motion with the state’s high court last week asking for a stay of execution while a lower court considers his request to have Ryan’s sentence commuted to life in prison.
The state supreme court granted Soucie’s motion on Thursday, noting that Ryan’s postconviction filing in Richardson County District Court was reason enough to put Ryan’s execution on hold.
NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) – Authorities have arrested a man for allegedly helping a suspect in a shooting in Norfolk.
Carlos Arevalo-Martinez is accused of shooting Edna Gutierrez on Feb. 14. Gutierrez remains hospitalized in Omaha.
40-year-old Bennie Smith was arrested on Wednesday for being an accessory to a felony.
Police Chief Bill Mizner says Smith allegedly gave Arevalo-Martinez a ride to Gutierrez’s house, was present when she was shot and gave Arevalo-Martinez a ride to Stanton after the shooting.
Arevalo-Martinez was arrested after a standoff in Stanton on Feb. 16.
Smith’s case isn’t on the online court system, and it’s not known if he has an attorney.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A trust has donated 1,000 acres of farmland in south central Nebraska valued at over $4 million to benefit the Nebraska Children’s Home Society.
The land in Dawson and Gosper counties is from the Nellie M. Cole Trust.
Proceeds are invested in the nonprofit’s endowment to support services to children and their families.
According to the society, Nellie Cole and her husband, Stephen Cole, started buying land in Gosper County in 1889.
Estate trustee Tom Hedstrom says Nellie Cole’s daughter, Hazel Sitlington died last year, and the instructions were the sell the land with proceeds going to the society. Those wishes were granted last month.
The agency, which has 10 statewide offices, provides a host of services, including pregnancy, adoption and foster care.
NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) – The U.S. Postal Service plans to close mail processing centers in Norfolk, Grand Island and Alliance to cut costs.
The list of the facilities the Postal Service plans to close was released Thursday.
It was not immediately clear Thursday morning what will happen to all the jobs at those centers. The Grand Island center employs 66, Norfolk has 58 and Alliance has 8.
The mail processing currently being done in Grand Island and Norfolk would be move to an Omaha facility.
The western Nebraska mail processing done in Alliance will move to a facility in North Platte.
The Postal Service is predicting it will lose a record $14.1 billion this year. The agency is dealing with declining revenue because people are switching to electronic communication tools instead of mail.
