GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska State Fair officials say an aerial tram will be built on the Grand Island fairgrounds at Fonner Park in time for the 2012 fair.
The Sky Tram will be 40 feet in the air and run more than 400 yards, from the Exhibition Building to the Cattle Barn.
Executive director Joseph McDermott says construction will begin next month.
He says the Sky Tram will be a permanent feature at the fairgrounds but will run only during the State Fair. This year’s fair opens Aug. 24 and ends Sept. 3.
The tram will be owned and operated by Wade Shows, which will be the fair’s carnival provider starting next year.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) – Bellevue police say a woman shot in the head at her mother’s home this week has died.
Police said in a news release that 21-year-old Michala Pomfret died early Thursday morning from her injuries.
Police say her stepfather, 36-year-old Michael Williams, is suspected of shooting her Tuesday morning on the front porch of her mother’s home. Williams and Pomfret’s mother had recently separated.
Soon after the shooting, police found Williams unconscious at his apartment, about a block from where Pomfret was shot.
Williams remains hospitalized with an undisclosed condition, but police say he is expected to survive.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – Police seized $232,530 in cash after a central Nebraska traffic stop because officers believe the money came from illegal drug sales.
The Nebraska State Patrol seized the money April 5 after a trooper stopped a car for speeding in a construction zone along Interstate 80 near Kearney.
Buffalo County Court records say the trooper smelled marijuana while he was talking to the 32-year-old driver of the car. The 38-year-old passenger admitted smoking the drug.
When the driver got out of the car, the trooper saw three bundles of money on the floor. A small box of cash was found after the vehicle was searched.
Both men were ticketed for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana and drug paraphernalia before being released.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The radio executives who approved sending stern letters threatening lawsuits to a handful of listeners in Lincoln, Neb., say they did so to protect their business.
A few of the listeners unhappy with the new morning show on Three Eagles Communications’ The Blaze station in Lincoln had organized a boycott of the show and contacted advertisers.
The top two executives at Three Eagles Communications, Rolland Johnson and Gary Buchanan, told The Associated Press that some of the unhappy listeners were harassing the station’s advertisers by flooding their inboxes with email.
Johnson and Buchanan say they had the company’s lawyers send letters to three people about a month after the morning show change. They say most listeners have been happy with the switch.

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say they’re investigating the death of a 33-year-old woman in the Nebraska Panhandle town of Sidney.
Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub says deputies who were sent to the home on Tuesday morning found the body of Hilary Crawford.
An autopsy has been ordered.
Schaub says there are no signs that she was a crime victim.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline proposal say a Nebraska bill on the verge of final lawmaker approval would effectively rubber-stamp the project.
Lawmakers are scheduled for a final vote Wednesday on a bill that would allow the state Department of Environmental Quality to resume its review of the proposed crude-oil pipeline. A federal permit was denied in January.
Opponents say they’re concerned because the department is part of Gov. Dave Heineman’s administration. Heineman supports the project.
The bill also requires an evaluation of the social, environmental and economic impact of any proposed route. But Ken Winston of the Nebraska Sierra Club says that wording lacks teeth, because the bill doesn’t define any of those impacts or specify whether they should factor into the final decision.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Democatic Party will see a change in leadership at its state convention this summer.
Nebraska Democratic Party Chairman Vic Covalt says he plans to step down when his second term ends in November. Election for a new chairman will be held at the party’s state convention.
Covalt has endorsed Joe Higgins, of Omaha, who has a long history of service in the party, including currently serving as the party’s finance chairman. Higgins has also served as president of the Nebraska State Education Association and served two terms on the Nebraska State Board of Education.
Former gubernatorial candidate and attorney Mike Meister, of Scottsbluff, is also seeking to lead the state party.
The Nebraska Democratic Party state convention will be held June 22-24 in Omaha.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) – Chadron State College President Janie Park has announced her intention to retire.
The announcement was made Tuesday during an employee honors luncheon.
Vice president for enrollment management and student services Randy Rhine will become the interim president of the school, which has nearly 3,000 students.
The 65-year-old Park has led the Nebraska State College System campus since August 2005. She says she and her husband intend to return to their home in Red Lodge, Mont., on May 12, the day after she ends her Nebraska service.

JUNIATA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 57-year-old Juniata man has died in a head-on collision near the south-central Nebraska city.
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says Paul Walters was driving west in a van about 4:10 p.m. Monday when it crested a hill and hit an eastbound pickup driven by Brad Reiss, of Heartwell.
Deputies say Walters died at the scene.
The 39-year-old Reiss and his passenger, Kim Kohn, were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The accident cause is being investigated.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) – A 22-year-old Hastings man has been given 14 to 19 years in prison for his role in a 2011 robbery and home invasion.
Andrew Lyle was sentenced Monday afternoon.
Lyle had pleaded no contest to three counts of robbery, one of discharging a firearm and one of possession of a firearm by a felon. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped charges of attempted murder, use of a firearm for a felony and two counts of terroristic threats.
The charges stemmed from a robbery at a bank night deposit and a home invasion on May 9.
Lyle’s cousin, Tyrell Lyle, has been given 11 to 18 years in prison for his role in the crimes.