A North Platte man charged with the murder of his wife will undergo a competency test before court proceedings continue in his case. Rogelio Diaz is charged with second-degree murder in the June 25th death of his wife Michelle. He was originally charged with manslaughter but those charges were updated three days after the alleged murder was committed. Diaz’s attorney, Stephen Potter, requested the competency test at Diaz’s arraignment yesterday. Diaz will be evaluated for his fitness to stand trial for the murder, but will not be given a full psychological exam.

CHADRON, Nebraska (AP) – Authorities have toned down their search for a missing Nebraska man presumed drowned in Lake Minatare. Thirty-year-old Chris Miller of Mitchell was riding in a boat
when he fell overboard. Miller was reported missing on Sunday near a swimmer’s beach. Nebraska Game and Parks District law enforcement supervisor Jim Zimmerman says searchers have exhausted all diver possibilities after three days of looking. Boating had been banned at the lake and the boats ramps were closed since Miller disappeared. The ban was lifted and the ramps reopened Wednesday morning.

FREMONT, NE (AP) – State and local fire officials will recognize a Fremont woman who pulled three small children from a fire. State Fire Marshal John Falgione says the siblings wouldn’t have survived Monday’s blaze at a mobile home in Fremont without the heroic efforts of Kathy Griess. She’ll be honored Wednesday night at the Fremont fire department. Griess was traveling Monday evening on U.S. Highway 77, noticed the smoke coming from the nearby home and went to investigate. Ray Nance says that when Griess arrived at the home, she saw the oldest sibling, about 8 years old, trying to escape through a window and helped get the child out. Then, he says, she rescued the others from the burning home. Fire officials have said the younger children are 3 and 1.

LOUP CITY, Neb. (AP) – A Wood River man has pleaded not guilty to drunken boating in a fatal crash at Sherman Reservoir. Brian Packer entered the plea last week in Sherman County Court. Authorities say Packer was operating a pontoon boat that struck two stepbrothers on a tube on July 3. Twelve-year-old Joshua Rowley died at the scene. Nineteen-year-old Matthew McAlexander died a few days later. The stepbrothers from Kernsersville, N.C., were in Nebraska for a family gathering. A complaint says Packer’s blood-alcohol level was .089 at the time of the crash. The legal limit in Nebraska is .08. The 39-year-old Packer is due back in court Sept. 22. He faces up to six months in prison if convicted of drunken boating.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Officials say an inmate at the new Lincoln County jail may have tampered with a fire sprinkler in a cell, which set it off and flooded a dayroom. The incident happened Saturday night. A fire department crew tried unsuccessfully for almost an hour to turn off the sprinkler, and officials finally had to call the sprinkler company. County commissioners on Monday talked about ways to prevent a future problem, including putting a cage around the sprinkler head so it can’t be reached. Sheriff Jerome Kramer says the control system needs to be
evaluated.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A small alligator found roaming through a backyard in Omaha has died. The Nebraska Humane Society says the gator was found Tuesday morning and was taken to the Henry Doorly Zoo. The staff examined the alligator, which they said became dehydrated and later died.
The society says the alligator, which was small enough to be held with one hand, was likely someone’s escaped pet or one that got too big to handle and was let loose. The society also says alligators are illegal to possess in Omaha.

BLAIR, Neb. (AP) – Federal regulators plan to increase their oversight of Omaha Public Power District’s Fort Calhoun nuclear plant because of a new regulatory violation at the plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday that the failure of a key electrical part during a test last year represented only a low to moderate safety risk. But Fort Calhoun will receive
additional scrutiny because this new violation follows a significant safety concern that regulators found last year. The new oversight level for Fort Calhoun will be determined in
September. The NRC says the part’s failure didn’t pose a danger to the public because other backup systems were working.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension team has been awarded $4.1 million from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture for a five-year project on climate change and animal agriculture issues. Five other land-grant universities are partnering in the project that will be facilitated through the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center. It’s hoped the project will lead to decisions that result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing America’s capacity to produce meat, milk, eggs and other animal products.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A man arrested in Nebraska for fleeing a murder sentence in Croatia has been deported. Federal immigration officials say Drazen Demirovic was sent to Croatia on Monday. He was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Authorities say Demirovic was charged with killing the owner of a goat he was trying to steal in the mid-1990s. He spent a year in
jail in Serbia while awaiting trial. He fled when he was released before his trial, and the court convicted him in his absence. Demirovic entered the U.S. in 2002 and became a permanent
resident in 2005. A warrant was then issued. Demirovic was arrested at his home in Omaha in 2009. In April, a judge rescinded his resident status and ordered him deported.

Though flooding in the city of North Platte did not reach the extent that was at times feared, the damage caused by rising waters has been significant. According to Lincoln County emergency management coordinator Jim Nitz, the total damage to residences in the county due to flood damage is an estimated 1.3 million dollars. Nitz also estimated a total of 60,000 dollars worth of damages and lost revenue to local businesses, and over 625 thousand dollars of damages to infrastructure, including future prevention costs. Nitz’s office worked with the American Red Cross to come up with the damage estimations.