LINCOLN – The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) has honored Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale’s office for an online application regarding tracking of proposed state rules and regulations.

 

NASS presented Gale’s office with the first-ever IDEAS Award. The national award recognizes innovation, dedication, excellence and achievement in service in state member programming, as well as significant contributions to the mission of NASS.

 

Gale’s office was honored for its creation of a state tracking and email notification system for proposed rules and regulations. NASS said this cross-agency application has yielded significant results in government economy through operational time savings in many areas.

 

“My office has brought the legal process of creating, amending and repealing regulations into the 21^stcentury,” Gale said.

 

“In a process that can be very lengthy, following up on every proposal manually could be challenging,” he said. “Now, the three agency administrators involved in the regulation adoption process have a tool that will accomplish this for the public.”

 

The online application was developed in partnership with Nebraska.gov, the state’s official website.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The summer heat continues to put stress on Nebraska’s crops, and some farmers have been forced to stop irrigating because of low river levels. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued its weekly update on the state’s crops on Monday.

The USDA says the heat moderated a bit in Nebraska last week, but the state’s main crops still aren’t in great shape.

About 43 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop is in good or excellent shape. That’s well below the average for this time of year of 79 percent.

The soybean crop rates even worse with 34 percent in good or excellent condition. Normally, about 77 percent of the soybeans are in good or excellent shape.

The wheat harvest is now about three weeks ahead of normal and 97 percent done.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been sentenced to 4 to 6 years in prison for his role in death of a pizza deliveryman. 

Larry Fountain was sentenced on a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery on Monday in Douglas County District Court. He pleaded guilty in April.

Christopher Taylor was stabbed to death in 2010.

Fountain’s attorney says Fountain made the mistake of letting others use his cellphone to order a pizza, luring Taylor to a vacant apartment where he was killed.

Three others were charged in the case.

Dontavis McClain was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder. Bryton Gibbs is serving 100 years for second-degree murder. Marcus Robinson was sentenced to 10 to 15 years for conspiracy to commit robbery.

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A South Sioux City man has been given up to 24 years in prison for molesting his grandchildren.

The 58-year-old man had pleaded guilty after making an agreement with prosecutors. He was given 20 to 22 years for first-degree sexual assault and 20 to 24 months for incest.

The Associated Press is not using the man’s name, to protect the privacy of his victims.

Prosecutors say the man molested two of his grandchildren for years in their home and in the bathroom of his workplace.

Court documents also contain reports that the man sexually abused the children’s mother and her brother when they were children.

YORK, Neb. (AP) — A 44-year-old York man has been given 10 to 20 years in prison for possessing and trying to sell methamphetamine.

Judge Alan Gless, of York County District Court, sentenced Sammy Keezer Jr. on Monday.

Gless told Keezer that he’d seen his cases for several years and that there comes a time when judges must make “problem defendants disappear.”

Gless gave Keezer 10 to 20 years for the attempted sales and 20 months to five years for meth possession. They will be served at the same time.

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A South Sioux City man will spend up to 16 years in prison for killing his girlfriend, whose body was found stuffed in a window seat of their home.

The 54-year-old John Baker was sentenced on Monday to 11 to 16 years in prison for manslaughter and concealing the death of another person. He pleaded guilty in May in Dakota County District Court.

Baker was charged in the death of 47-year-old Kelly Alspach in October 2011.

Baker was later arrested in North Dakota. He was originally charged with second-degree murder but pleaded no contest to the lesser charges.

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Pavement projects are expected to disrupt traffic on U.S. Highway 136 in southeast Nebraska.

The Nebraska Roads Department says the work is scheduled for next week. The projects begin at milepost 175 on the western edge of Beatrice and extend west for nearly 20 miles.

Lane closures expected and pilot cars and flaggers will be deployed to guide motorists.

The work could take up to seven days to complete.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The public can learn more about the Omaha Public Power District’s troubled nuclear power plant Tuesday.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold another public meeting in downtown Omaha to discuss Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant.

Fort Calhoun, which is about 20 miles north of Omaha, has been offline since April 2011. It was initially shut down for refueling maintenance, but flooding along the Missouri River and several safety violations forced it to stay closed.

OPPD officials have said they hope to restart the plant in September.

But regulators say they won’t let the plant restart until they’re confident it’s ready. And the Sierra Club of Iowa asked regulators to revoke the plant’s license because of past safety problems.

The meeting at Omaha’s Doubletree Hotel will begin at 6 p.m.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say an 18-year-old who was wounded when his father and brother were fatally shot also has died.

Police say Miguel Avalos Jr. died Saturday.

His father, 44-year-old Miguel Avalos, and 16-year-old brother, Jose Avalos, were killed on July 9. Jose Avalos died at the southeast Omaha home. His father died later at a hospital.

Police suspect more than one gunman entered the home and shot down the three. Other Avalos family members in the apartment were not injured.

No arrests have been reported.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old man has returned the World Championship Buffalo Toss men’s championship back home to Chadron, home of the Fur Trade Days event.

Thye DeKoning, of Chadron, tossed the piece of dried bison dung more than 115 feet on Saturday to win the men’s 18-and-up division. DeKoning’s throw fell well short of the world record of nearly 187 feet set in 2000.

A Sidney man won last year’s event with a throw of nearly 168 feet.

The women’s 18-and up competition on Saturday was a family battle. Maureen Miller Hunt, of Chadron, had a throw of nearly 84 feet to top her sister, Nicol Bottsford-Miller, of Houston.

This year’s event drew more than 100 competitors to the courthouse lawn.

The “competition chips” were collected at Fort Robinson State Park.