OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Federal regulators say southeast Nebraska’s
Cooper Nuclear Station will receive more oversight.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that it’s
requiring additional oversight because of problems with procedures
to shut down the plant in the event of some fires.
The NRC in a statement focuses on procedures to manually operate
values that are part of a coolant injection system. That system
provides water to cool the reactor during certain accidents
involving the loss of coolant.
The NRC says the violation is of low-to-moderate safety
significance, and is based on an inspection completed in March.
The plant at Brownville is operated by the Nebraska Public Power
District. NPPD spokeswoman Jeanne Schieffer says
the company accepts the NRC’s decision and will work with the
agency going forward.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) – A Lexington man has been sentenced to
prison for sexually assaulting two girls.
The Lexington Clipper-Herald reports 58-year-old Daniel Holliday
was given three terms ranging from 30 to 36 years for two counts of
sexual assault of a minor and one count of visual depiction of
sexual conduct with a minor. The sentences handed down Friday in
Dawson County District Court are to be served concurrently.
Holliday had pleaded guilty to the charges in April.
Authorities say he molested two girls starting in June 2010. At
the time, the girls were ages 5 and 14.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Miss Omaha Kayla Batt has been crowned
the next Miss Nebraska.
Batt was selected in Saturday night’s
scholarship pageant to take over for Nicky Haverland, who was
tapped to fill Teresa Scanlan’s term as Miss Nebraska after she
became Miss America.
Batt is an Alliance native who attends the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. She was Nebraska’s Miss Outstanding Teen in 2007.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Smaller communities along the Missouri River
may face the greatest flood risk this summer as the water rises.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says this summer’s Missouri
River flooding could rival the record years of 1952 and 1993 in
places. Officials will increase releases to 150,000 cubic feet per
second of water from five of the river’s dams on Tuesday.
As a result, the river will rise 5 to 7 feet above flood stage
in most of Nebraska and Iowa before continuing into Missouri where
it may rise 10 feet above flood stage in several places.
The places in most danger of flooding include the small towns of
South Sioux City, Rulo and Plattsmouth in Nebraska; and Hamburg,
Blencoe and Pacific Junction in Iowa.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Games and Parks Commission is
considering whether to cancel archery paddlefish season because of
Missouri River flooding.
The commission will hold a special meeting Friday in Lincoln to
decide whether river conditions are too unsafe for the season.
The season usually begins the second Saturday of July and
continues for 30 days.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – Work continues to safeguard the North
Platte airport from flooding.
Col. Robert Ruch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says
crews are working to raise the levee protecting the airport from
the swollen North Platte River. Work should be finished by Tuesday.
The North Platte River is swollen because of steady spring rain
and above-normal mountain snowpack that have filled upstream
reservoirs. The river converges with the South Platte River at
North Platte to form the Platte River.

NORTH PLATTE – The torch for the Cornhusker State Games arrives in North Platte today. The torch will be at the North Platte Rec Center at 6pm. New this year is that there will be demonstrations in skateboarding and arm wrestling. The torch will be carried into town by family of Chris Jarvis, a North Platte native and former battalion fire chief. This is just one of many stops for the torch as it makes its way across the state and will reach Lincoln in time for the July 15 start of the Cornhusker State Games.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The University of Nebraska president is
proposing a 5 percent tuition hike for most students next year.
James Milliken says the increase comes to about $120 to $150
more per semester for a resident undergraduate student with 15
credit hours. The 5 percent increase would apply to both resident
and nonresident rates.
Milliken says that despite the increase, the University of
Nebraska is still a good deal compared to its peers. He says that
in 2010-11, tuition and fees in Lincoln were 26 percent less than
its peers, Omaha’s were 12.5 percent lower and Kearney’s were 19
percent lower.
Milliken announced the proposed increase on Thursday, along with
a $2.2 billion budget for 2011-12. The regents will vote June 17.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska farmers affected by flooding are
urged to contact their local Farm Service Agency office to report
losses.
Nebraska agriculture director Greg Ibach says reports can
include failure to plant acres or loss of livestock pasture due to
flooding.
He says the FSA will use the information to pursue agricultural
disaster declarations and for assistance programs.
Dan Steinkruger, executive director of the State FSA Office in
Nebraska, says farmers have until July 15 to report planting
problems. Failure to do so could make them ineligible for
assistance.
Both the Missouri and the Platte rivers in Nebraska are expected
to reach record levels later in June and remain high into fall.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning is
heading back to Nebraska after flying to Atlanta for the latest
round in the legal fight over President Barack Obama’s health care
overhaul.
Bruning was in a federal courtroom in Atlanta on Wednesday as a
three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral
arguments on whether to reverse a Florida judge’s ruling that
struck down the law.
Bruning and the attorneys general of some 26 other states
opposing the law argue that Congress didn’t have the power to
require virtually all Americans to pay for health insurance. The
Justice Department says the legislative branch exercised its
“quintessential” right.