LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska is making it easier for people to obtain copies of accident reports. The state now offers accident reports online at www.buycrash.com. Each report costs $15. The website has a searchable database that includes reports from police and sheriff departments and the Nebraska State Patrol.
DENISON, Iowa (AP) – Railroads crews are cleaning up after 22 cars of a coal train derailed in western Iowa. Mark Davis, spokesman for Omaha-based Union Pacific, says the 136-car train was headed from Wyoming to Illinois when a section derailed about 6:40 a.m. Sunday. No injuries were reported. Davis says crews will work into Monday to clear debris and repair about 800 feet of damaged track that stretches over two rail lines. One of the lines is expected to reopen early Monday. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Authorities have arrested three people in connection with the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man at a
Lincoln house party. The victim, Dwayne Greer, died at a hospital soon after the Sunday morning shooting. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that three people have been arrested, but their names and other information about them has not been released yet. Police say Greer was found on the front lawn of a home with gunshot wounds. Another man reported being assaulted at the party shortly before the shooting. This is the second homicide case in Lincoln this year.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Congress and the White House have
apparently reached a compromise to raise the nation’s borrowing
limit.
President Barack Obama announced the deal in a White House press
conference Sunday evening. The President says the plan will cut $2
trillion in federal spending over the next ten years.
A report released to the Nebraska Tax Rate Review Committee this
month warned that the outcome of a debt ceiling standoff could have
a “significant impact” on Nebraska’s state revenues.
Elk Creek Sen. Lavon Heidemann, who chairs the Legislature’s
Appropriations Committee, says a sudden interest rate hike could
hit Nebraska businesses, which in turn could cut into the state’s
recently improved budget outlook.
Several North Platte businesses are getting into the spirit of the Relay For Life’s “Paint the Town Purple” campaign, August 1st through August 6th. Residents and businesses are encouraged to wear and decorate with purple colors to show support for the Relay For Life event, Saturday August 6th at Adams Middle School.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 26-year-old North Platte woman was arrested after traces of methamphetamine were found in her daughter’s system. Court records say Kayla Tobey has been charged with intentional child abuse. Jail records say Tobey remained in Lincoln County custody on Friday. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press. Police say a tipster said earlier this month that Tobey’s daughter, who is in preschool, may have been exposed to meth. Police say tests on some of the little girl’s hair showed meth traces. Police say it’s unclear how meth got into the girl’s body. Tobey’s next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 18.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A pool of mosquitoes has tested positive for West Nile virus in North Platte.
Shannon Vanderheiden with the West Central District Health Department told North Platte television station KNOP that the
sample was collected about two weeks ago.
Mosquito pools in Madison, Dawson and Douglas counties also have tested positive for the virus this year. West Nile virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird. Last year in Nebraska, there were 48 confirmed human cases and two deaths from West Nile.
KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say more than four dozen dogs have been rescued from a home near Kearney. Heartland Pet Connection is caring for 12 of them, and executive director Lynn Jasnoch told Hastings television station KHAS that the dogs are in terrible shape.
The dogs are all bichons and range in age from 2 to 8 years old. Jasnoch says many of the dogs have never been bathed and many had serious dental problems. Nearby shelters have taken in the other dogs.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a southwest Nebraska irrigation district that pushed for the state Department of Natural Resources to declare portions
of the Republican River basin as over-appropriated. The Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District had argued that the river basin’s current designation as fully appropriated isn’t sustainable. A change to over-appropriated would put stricter limits on how much water in the river basin can be used. The Natural Resources department has held that it doesn’t have the authority to upgrade the basin’s appropriation status under
revisions made in 2004 to a state water law. In an opinion released Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court said the irrigation district failed to state an injury suffered because of the Natural Resources department’s decision, and dismissed the appeal.
SUTHERLAND, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska game officials have confirmed a mountain lion sighting north of Sutherland in western Nebraska.
The mountain lion was spotted on the rail of a bridge north of Sutherland on July 20. The animal jumped off the bridge and into the muddy river bank. A conservation officer found the prints in the mud for analysis, and experts used them to confirm the sighting. Mountain lions, also called cougars and pumas, have turned up as far east as Omaha.
