(Kearney, NE)- An arrest for driving on a suspended license leads to the seizure of 82 ½ lbs of gift wrapped marijuana.

Just after 11.30 a.m., on Wednesday, June 15, 2011, a trooper stopped an eastbound 2011 Ford Taurus for failure to signal. The traffic stop occurred on I-80 at mm 278 near Kearney.

The driver of the vehicle, Shamall T. Fleming (M), 36, Council Bluffs, IA was found to be driving on a suspended license and was arrested. During an inventory search of the vehicle, the trooper detected an odor of marijuana coming from three gift wrapped packages in the trunk. The packages were found to contain 25 bundles containing 82 ½ lbs of marijuana.

Fleming was lodged in the Buffalo County Jail on charges to include Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – North Platte faces another fight as
the swollen North Platte River threatens to flood parts of the
city. There’s a bumper crop of mosquitoes this year.
Cindy Glos of the West Central District Health Department says
the number trapped around North Platte is double the usual number.
She blames the abundant moisture.
Each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sets
traps at six location around North Platte. Glos says the first
batch was collected about a month ago, but increased numbers mean
additional time is need for testing and results haven’t been
released.
Glos says mosquito-borne West Nile virus is a concern again this
year. The city is spraying for mosquitoes this week.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson has faced scathing
criticism for his key role in the passage of President Barack
Obama’s health care overhaul legislation last year.
Now the Nebraska Democrat is fighting back. He has sent a
fundraising letter to about 11,000 Nebraska households this week
bashing Republican opponent, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning,
for supporting a Republican-backed plan to reshape Medicare.
The letter indicates Nelson will join Democrats across the
country hoping to turn concerns over the Medicare plan into success
at the polls next year.
The GOP plan would replace basic Medicare for anyone 55 or
younger with a system in which insurance companies would offer
coverage while the government contributed toward the cost of
premiums. The program would remain unchanged for anyone 55 or
older.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A former University of Nebraska football star
is recovering from a gunshot wound at an Omaha hospital.
Omaha police say Tony Veland was shot about 9:15 p.m. Monday as he sat in a sport utility vehicle near Benson High School, where he
was a prep star.
No arrest has been reported.
Authorities say Veland’s wound is not believed to be
life-threatening. A Creighton University Medical Center spokesman
said Tuesday that no information on Veland would be released.
Veland starred in the defensive backfield for Nebraska in 1994
and 1995 before playing in the NFL with the Denver Broncos.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska Republican Party official says
former President George W. Bush will attend the opening game of the
2011 College World Series in Omaha.
GOP chairman mark Fahleson told the Omaha World-Herald that Bush
is expected to throw the ceremonial first pitch at Saturday
afternoon’s game between Vanderbilt and North Carolina.
The former president threw out the first pitch of the 2001
series.
Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, played in the
1947 and 1948 series for Yale.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) – The lawyer for a 28-year-old man charged
with vehicular homicide for a fatal suburban Omaha crash says a
plea agreement has been reached.
Jason Laware is also charged with two felony counts of drunken
driving, causing serious bodily injury.
His attorney, James Martin Davis, told the Omaha World-Herald on
Tuesday that Laware will plead guilty to felony motor vehicle
homicide and one felony count of driving under the influence of
alcohol, causing serious bodily injury.
Police in La Vista say that on Aug. 11, Laware’s car hit a
median, went airborne and hit an oncoming car.
The crash killed the other driver, Adam Smith, and injured
Smith’s two sons, ages 8 and 3 at the time. Laware was seriously
injured.

North Platte, Nebraska – Pamela Sweeney, vice president of Quality at Great Plains Regional Medical Center, has been appointed by Dr. Patrick Gallagher, director of the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to the 2011 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Award, created by public law in 1987, is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive.

As an Examiner, Pam is responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the Award. The board is composed of approximately 500 leading experts selected from industry, professional and trade organizations, education and health care organizations, and nonprofits (including government).

Those selected meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition. All members of the board must take part in a preparation course based on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and the scoring and evaluation processes for the Baldrige Award.

The Baldrige Award may be given annually in each of six categories: Manufacturing, Service, Small Business, Education, Health Care, and Nonprofit. Awards have been presented to 80 organizations, including the 2010 recipients: MEDRAD, Warrendale, Pa. (manufacturing); Nestlé Purina PetCare Co., St. Louis, Mo. (manufacturing); Freese and Nichols Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (small business); K&N Management, Austin, Texas (small business); Studer Group, Gulf Breeze, Fla. (small business); Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove, Ill. (health care); and Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Md. (education). Information about the Baldrige National Quality Program and the application process is available from the Baldrige National Quality Program, at 301- 975-2036 or nqp@nist.gov, or from the Baldrige Program’s website at https://www.nist.gov/baldrige.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing held Nightingale White Coat Ceremonies June 10 to recognize new students in its Accelerated Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing program. Students are enrolled in Omaha, Lincoln and Scottsbluff.

During the ceremony, which was held at the UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division, 42 nursing students recited an oath of professionalism, signed a pledge and donned white coats they will wear until graduation.

Donations from UNMC College of Nursing alumni and supporters help pay for the white coats, and also support student programming and activities.

Gothenburg’s Lindsy Mercer and Cari Gruszczynski and Jocelyn Jordan of Broken Bow are local participants in the Nursing program.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Warmer weather is helping crops grows in
Nebraska as farmers brace for flooding along the Missouri and
Platte rivers.
The weekly crop report on Monday said warm, dry temperatures
early last week boosted development of corn and soybeans and the
harvesting of hay. Cooler weather moved in later in the week.
The report says winds eased, allowing farmers to spray for
weeds.
Flooding along the Missouri and Platte river is affecting
low-lying areas.
Ninety-eight percent of the corn crop is up, and 74 percent is
in good to excellent condition. Soybean planting is nearly
complete, with 84 percent emerging. Seventy-five percent of the
soybean crop is in good to excellent condition.
The first cutting of alfalfa is still lagging, at 59 percent
complete.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Federal authorities say a man from Dix has
been given five years in prison for receiving child pornography.
A news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says 28-year-old Richard Marks pleaded guilty in December.
At his sentencing on Friday, Marks also was ordered to serve five
years of supervised release after his five years behind bars.
Gilg’s office says that in 2008, Nebraska State Patrol
investigators were monitoring file-sharing software that allows
people to download child pornography. The investigators were able
to pinpoint Marks’ computers by verifying his Internet protocol
address.
After serving a warrant on Marks’ home in Dix, investigators
found more than 100 digital images and 25 videos of child
pornography on his computers.