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Colorado Pot Market Getting New Competition

Colorado-MarijuanaDENVER (AP) — Colorado’s new marijuana industry is in for a brand new element Wednesday — competition.

The state gave medical marijuana dispensaries and growers a nine-month exclusive on the new recreational pot business, fearing an unmanageable explosion of new businesses.

The grandfathering period expires Wednesday, meaning pot shops and growers who weren’t in business before votes approved recreational pot in 2012 are now able to enter the market.

Colorado is issuing licenses for 46 more pot shops, in addition to about 200 already in place. Colorado is also licensing 37 more growing facilities and 13 new product manufacturers who make marijuana-infused products.

The expansion means pot prices for consumers could soon drop. But some warn Colorado needs to watch for overproduction, which could give growers an incentive to sell pot illegally.

Hastings College Received $1.7 Million Gift

hastings-CollegeHASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A 1946 Hastings College graduate has left her entire $1.7 million estate to the college.

Sarah Leer’s gift is among the largest the university has received. She died in April in Viroqua, Wisconsin.

Leer majored in business administration at Hastings College, participated in the campus Spanish club and also met her husband, Stanley, while at school. She spent her career as an administrative assistant with the Social Security Administration in Madison, Wisconsin.

In addition to the gift, Leer established a scholarship in memory of her family and parents. She’s also helped support the restoration of the oldest building at Hastings College.

Former Nebraska Chevy Dealer Dies at 96

pierce-county-sheriffLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ray Lambrecht, the former northeastern Nebraska Chevy dealer who collected a lifetime of cars that sold for $2.8 million last year, has died. He was 96.

Pierce County Sheriff Rick Eberhardt confirmed Lambrecht died at his home Sept. 22.

During one weekend last year, Lambrecht’s sale of his car collection drew 30,000 people to Pierce. The History Channel gave the auction three hours of prime time, and the highway through Pierce was backed up for miles because of the sale.

At the sale, the auctioneer sold one 1958 pickup for $140,000 and a 1978 Corvette for $80,000.

The sheriff visited with Lambrecht’s wife last week. He said she was missing her husband and that they’d been married nearly 70 years.

Lincoln Trail Extension Project Nears Completion

city-of-lincolnLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln officials say a $935,000 trail project is close to completion.

The 1.3 mile extension should be finished in October or November.

The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District says a federal transportation fund paid for 80 percent of the $935,000 project. It will connect the Antelope Valley Trail to the Haymarket Ball Park Trail.

Officials say they expect thousands of runners, cyclists, students and Nebraska Cornhusker fans to use the trail.

A Lincoln park official says the city’s monthly trail maintenance budget will remain at $1,500 after the extension is completed.

Fremont Man Sentenced in Child Sexual Assault Case

gavel-and-scaleFREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A Fremont man has been sentenced to up to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a child.

20-year-old Blake Maslonka received the sentence of one to three years on Monday. He was found guilty in August of third-degree felony sexual assault of a child.

Prosecutors say Maslonka contacted the 14-year-old victim on Facebook and met her at her home in Fremont.

Maslonka’s attorney says his client his genuinely remorseful and lacked a positive male role model. The judge denied a request for probation.

Maslonka will receive credit for 159 days served and will have to register as a sex offender upon his release.

Fremont Councilman Latest Targeted for Recall

fremont-ne
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FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A Fremont man who filed a petition last week to recall the eastern Nebraska city’s mayor has filed a new petition to recall his city councilman.

LaVern Kucera, who ran for mayor last year but lost to Scott Getzschman, filed a recall affidavit Sept. 24 against Getzschman. Kucera accuses Getzschman of trying to stop implementation of a city ordinance that bars property owners from renting homes to immigrants living in the country illegally.

On Monday, Kucera filed a recall affidavit against Ward 2 Councilman Larry Johnson, citing similar reasons regarding the city’s immigration ordinance.

Kucera also says a group of people in town plans to file recall affidavits against the city’s other three council members.

Police: Lincoln Woman Finds Intruder in Bed

lincoln-policeLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police say a 20-year-old Lincoln woman awoke to find a stranger in her bed and the man took her cellphone before leaving.

Lincoln Police Department spokeswoman Katie Flood says the man was clothed and the woman was not injured or assaulted during the Sunday morning encounter. Police believe he entered the home near Memorial Stadium through an unlocked door.

Flood says the woman asked the intruder why he was there and that he replied, “I don’t know.” He then left.

The woman says she and her roommates had a party before the Nebraska-Illinois football game and returned after the game with people they knew.

Police are searching for the man.

Confederate’s Grave Has Wrong Name, VA Won’t Fix

department-of-veterans-affairsELMIRA, N.Y. (AP) — A descendant of a Confederate soldier who died in a Civil War prison camp in New York says the wrong name is on his gravestone, and the Department of Veterans Affairs won’t fix it.

Tom Fagart of Concord, North Carolina, said his great-great-grandfather Pvt. Franklin Cauble was buried with the last name Cooper engraved on his gravestone at Woodlawn National Cemetery.

Fagart says Cauble and a soldier named Cooper were friends who enlisted on the same day, served in the same regiment and were captured on the same day in Petersburg, Virginia.

Fagart says both men were sent to Elmira’s prison camp, where Cauble died in 1864. Cooper was released after the war ended in 1865.

The VA says it doesn’t correct historic gravestones.

1 Student Shot, 2 in Custody at NC School

police-lights-redALBEMARLE, N.C. (AP) — Police say a student was shot after an argument at a central North Carolina high school just before school began.

Albemarle Police Chief William Halliburton said at a news conference the wounded student was shot in the lower extremities around 7:40 a.m. Tuesday at Albemarle High School. His condition wasn’t released.

Halliburton says the student who fired the shots put down his gun and waited for police. The names and grades of the students haven’t been released.

The chief says the shooting happened in a campus courtyard minutes before classes started. Investigators don’t know what the argument was about. Police don’t think any other students were involved but they are still interviewing witnesses.

Albemarle is in Stanley County, about 35 miles east of Charlotte.

Secret Service Boss Vows No Repeat of Breach

Courtesy Image (secretservice.gov)
Courtesy Image (secretservice.gov)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service Director Julia Pierson vows that a security breach like the Sept. 19 incident in which a man scaled the White House fence and made his way well into the executive mansion will never happen again.

Pierson told the House Oversight and Government Operations Committee on Tuesday that the breach was unacceptable.

Omar J. Gonzalez, an Army veteran who was armed with a knife, jumped the fence and made it much further into the White House than officials previously disclosed, according to lawmakers.

Pierson said she will make sure such a thing “never happens again.”

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