SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – Western Nebraska Regional Airport has fallen short of its passenger goal for 2011 and will lose out on federal funding.
Airport director Darwin Skelton says the Scottsbluff airport needed 10,000 boardings but will fall short by about 500. That means the airport will receive only $150,000 for specific airport improvements instead of the $1 million it was seeking.
The money goes for safety items and can’t be used for operations.
Skelton says he’s looking into ways to increase annual boardings, including flights to Phoenix and Las Vegas.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) – Chadron State is looking for a new football coach after announcing it won’t renew the contract of Bill O’Boyle, who was relieved of his coaching duties after the school self-reported concerns of possible NCAA rules violations.
Chadron State says in a statement that O’Boyle’s contract, which expires in June 2012, won’t be renewed and a search for a new coach will begin after the holidays.
Chadron State raised concerns about fundraising to the NCAA and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. A report by an independent accounting firm said O’Boyle opened secret accounts for program funds and failed to document $22,000 in spending. O’Boyle said he didn’t use the money for his own expenses.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected death-row inmate Jeffrey Hessler’s claim that his lawyer failed to properly represent the convicted murderer, kidnapper and rapist at his sentencing.
The court issued a ruling Friday denying Hessler’s request for post-conviction relief. Hessler had argued that his trial-court lawyer should have demanded a competency hearing when Hessler moved to represent himself at his sentencing.
Hessler was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault of a child and use of a firearm to commit a felony in December 2004. He was sentenced to die for the 2003 rape and shooting death of 15-year-old Heather Guerrero as she left her home in Gering.
The high court ruled that Hessler had failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that he was incompetent at his sentencing hearing.

PLEASANT DALE, Neb. (AP) – Two California women are in custody after Nebraska state troopers seized 111 pounds of marijuana from an SUV that was stopped for speeding along Interstate 80 just west of Lincoln.
The Nebraska State Patrol says the SUV was stopped Wednesday afternoon near Pleasant Dale. A trooper smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle and a search found the marijuana in several boxes and trash bags in the back seat and in the cargo area of the vehicle.
The vehicle’s driver, 33-year-old Bounta Thongthap, and a passenger, 33-year-old Ounkham Bounthavong, both of Modesto, Calif., were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
They are being held in the Seward County jail, where officials say no bond has been set and no attorney information is available.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – A man questioned in the disappearance of a Peru State College student is scheduled to go trial in March on charges that he raped a teenager in Fremont in 2008.
Thirty-year-old Joshua Keadle is charged with first-degree sexual assault of a minor. A judge on Tuesday scheduled Keadle’s trial for March 13 in Dodge County District Court.
Authorities say Keadle is a person of interest in the December 2010 disappearance of Peru State student, Tyler “Ty” Thomas. No charges have been filed against Keadle in that case
Keadle, originally from Swansea, S.C., was accused of sexually assaulting another Peru State College student on Halloween night in 2010. Prosecutors dropped those charges last month after a hearing on new evidence in the case.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) – Bellevue police say a caregiver has been arrested in the scalding of a disabled man in a shower at a group home.
67-year-old Sarah Thomas was arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault.
Investigators say she left 22-year-old Donzell Harden alone in a shower at Hands of the Heartland on Dec. 9. Center officials say the scald guard on the shower head failed, but say Harden shouldn’t have been left alone. Program director Susan Chohaney says the incident should have never happened.
Harden suffered burns on his lower body and is hospitalized in Omaha. His guardian, Sherry Becker, says he’s improving daily. Thomas’ case is not on the online court system, and it’s not known if she has an attorney.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has denied a defense attorney’s request to remove the state’s attorney general’s office from death row inmate Michael Ryan’s case.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican says the court found the arguments in support of the motion to be “unpersuasive and without merit” in an order filed Wednesday.
Ryan’s attorney, Jerry Soucie, made the request because of circumstances in the case.
Soucie says Attorney General Jon Bruning’s office had advised the state’s Department of Correctional Services on buying supplies of the lethal-injection drug sodium thiopental. The first batch was ruled to have been illegally imported.
A spokeswoman with the attorney general’s office says there was no legitimate reason for it to be recused from the case.
Ryan has been sentenced to death for killing James Thimm in 1985.
Bruning has asked the Supreme Court to set an execution date for Ryan, but that request is pending.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A new U.S. Census report shows Iowa and Nebraska have each gained more than 12,000 people during the one-year period that ended on July 1.
The estimates released Wednesday show that Nebraska’s population increased by 12,500 people between July 2010 and July 2011. Iowa’s grew by a little more than 12,100 in that period. In both cases, the growth rate was less than 1 percent.
David Drozd at the University of Nebraska’s Center for Public Affairs Research says Nebraska’s gains are lower than he expected. He says the estimates offer a snapshot of how the states have changed as they deal with the global recession and recovery. More detailed information about counties and cities is expected next year.