News – Page 1506 – North Platte Post Archive

Neb. man given life as teen may get new life

Posted on October 10, 2011October 10, 2011

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska man ordered as a teen to spend life in prison will get a new sentence. Thirty-six-year-old Jeremy Herman was convicted of kidnapping for his role in the 1992 murder of Jeremy Drake. Herman was 17 when he and another teen kidnapped Drake. Herman’s accomplice, Christopher Masters, killed Drake. Herman pleaded guilty to kidnapping on the advice of his attorney, who didn’t know that the conviction carried a life sentence. A Douglas County district judge has vacated Herman’s conviction and will re-sentence him this week on a lesser charge. Herman sought a new sentence after 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said teens sentenced to life must have a meaningful opportunity to obtain release if they haven’t killed their victims.

Inmate caught after escape from N.P. hospital

Posted on October 10, 2011

HERRING,-CHRISTOPHER-SCOTT — Christopher Herring

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A North Platte man faces a second escape charge after allegedly fleeing a North Platte hospital while in custody. Nineteen-year-old Christopher Herring is serving a 270-day sentence for theft by unlawful taking out of Lincoln County. Herring fled Great Plains Regional Medical Center on Wednesday and was arrested a few hours later. It wasn’t clear why he had been at the hospital. Court records show Herring was charged with escape, attempted assault and criminal mischief. Herring was also charged with escape in August for failing to show up to serve his sentence at the Lincoln County Detention Center. A message left Saturday by The Associated Press with Herring’s attorney wasn’t immediately returned. Herring is due in court on Thursday.

Driver in bus crash remains critical

Posted on October 7, 2011October 9, 2011

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – One of the five people hospitalized after a bus crash on a Nebraska interstate is improving, but the bus driver remains in critical condition.

Only 5 of the 41 people taken to the hospital after the Thursday wreck on Interstate 80 were admitted. Most of the people in the wreck involving a Denver-bound bus and two semitrailers sustained minor injuries.

Good Samaritan Hospital spokeswoman Marsha Wilkerson said Friday that bus passenger 77-year-old Barbara Bishop, of Hemet, Calif., had improved to good condition from serious. The Burlington Trailways bus driver, 50-year-old Michelle Anderson, of Omaha, remained critical Friday.

Three other people remained in fair condition: 48-year-old Danny Briggs, of St. George, Utah; and 50-year-old Willie Abner, of Birmingham, Ala., 39-year-old Mohammed Arguini, of Antioch, Tenn.

TransCanada CEO surprised at furor over pipeline

Posted on October 7, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – The chief executive of a Canadian company that wants to pipe oil from tar sands in western Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast says he is surprised at the opposition the project has generated. CEO Russ Girling, Calgary-based TransCanada, said Friday he did not expect the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to become a “lightning rod” in the debate over fossil fuels and alternative energy. The company installed a similar pipeline less than three years ago with little opposition. Environmental activists, religious groups and young people inspired by the protests against Wall Street plan are protesting the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would travel through Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The State Department is holding a hearing on the $7 billion project. A decision is expected in December.

Fires near Stapleton reflare

Posted on October 7, 2011October 7, 2011

STAPLETON, Neb. (AP) – Firefighters have controlled a wind-blown blaze just miles from the spot near Stapleton where a giant wildfire erupted earlier this week. The new fire began Thursday east of U.S. Highway 83, about seven miles east of where Tuesday’s fire began in west-central Nebraska. Wind gusts of nearly 60 mph fanned the flames. Officials haven’t released an estimate of damage to farms or fields. No injuries have been reported. Stapleton officials reported Thursday night that the fire had been brought under control. The wildfires that raced through the area Tuesday and Wednesday devoured more than 20,000 acres of farmland and caused millions of dollars in estimated crop and property damage. At least one home was destroyed near Stapleton and at least one person was treated for smoke inhalation.

Neb. bus crash passengers describe wild scene

Posted on October 7, 2011October 9, 2011

GIBBON, Neb. (AP) – Two passengers aboard a bus that crashed into an overturned semitrailer in Nebraska say the driver may have been on the phone at the time of the collision.

Dozens of people on the Denver-bound bus were hurt in the wreck, including five who were hospitalized. Passengers Jimmy Strickland and Anthony Pavarotti say the driver may have been on her cell phone. But Nebraska State Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins says the initial investigation showed the cell phone was not in use when the accident happened.

The bus company prohibits personal calls, but drivers use cell phones to communicate with dispatchers and other drivers. A spokesman for the American Bus Association said there was no indication the driver was doing anything improper.

Former NP DEVCO Head to lead State Chamber post

Posted on October 7, 2011October 7, 2011

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska’s top economic development official is resigning to join the state Chamber of Commerce. Gov. Dave Heineman said Thursday that Richard Baier would leave his post after Oct. 28. Baier has led the department since he was appointed by Heineman’s predecessor in 2003. Heineman praised Baier’s efforts to promote the state and improve the climate for businesses. Baier helped redesign the incentives Nebraska uses to attract companies and led several trade missions to help boost business. Baier will lead a new Chamber program to research business trends in the state and make recommendations about what should be done to strengthen Nebraska’s economy. Chamber President Barry Kennedy says Baier’s research will help determine what Nebraska needs to do to set itself apart from other states.

Scotts Bluff County goes to court over mining

Posted on October 7, 2011

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – Scotts Bluff County has asked a court to stop a company from mining sand and gravel near the North Platte River on the west side of Scottsbluff. The complaint was filed against Western Engineering, of Scottsbluff, and seeks a court order to halt the mining. The complaint says a county road has been damage. The county says the mining is a permit violation because a conditional use permit for the mining expired in 1993. The county also says mining is not authorized on the property where it is occurring. A phone listed for Western Engineering was not in service Friday morning.

HHS responds to ‘sadistic’ abuse of Beatrice residents

Posted on October 6, 2011October 6, 2011

jodi-fenner — Jodi Fenner, Director, Division of Developmental Disabilities

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – At least five staffers hit, pushed or choked developmentally disabled residents of the troubled Beatrice State Developmental Center, according to investigative reports. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services released the center’s 78-page internal report on the alleged abuses happening earlier in the year, with the names of accused staffers and at least seven center victims redacted. The report details incidents in which center residents were routinely slapped, punched, ridiculed and choked, sometimes into unconsciousness. Jodi Fenner, the director of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Developmental Disabilities, says the suspected abuse occurred at one of five homes on the Beatrice grounds. Fenner says among the 15 staffers currently suspended are a manager and nine other staffers suspected of knowing of, but not reporting the abuse.

No evidence found in search tied to Omaha slaying

Posted on October 6, 2011

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say no evidence was turned up in a search at the home of the parents of a man convicted of killing an Omaha college student. Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning said Thursday there had been several tips about a new patio that had been poured in the home’s backyard about the time that 19-year-old Jessica O’Grady disappeared in 2006. Her body was never found. No evidence turned up after the patio at the Omaha home of Christopher Edwards’ parents was torn up and ground beneath and around it was searched. Edwards was convicted of second-degree murder and a weapons charge in 2007. Edwards was sentenced to 100 years in prison.