TRENTON, Neb. (AP) – A southwest Nebraska school board has rejected an attempt to force a recall vote on three of its members. The Hitchcock County school board voted 5-1 this week to not call a recall election, even though the county clerk has certified the signatures. School attorney Karen Haase told The McCook Daily Gazette that that some signers claimed they were told the petition was to save an old school building, while others believed it was to lower their property taxes Haase says the man behind the petition, Shane Rippen, reportedly did not gather all of the signatures himself even though he signed the petition as the sole circulator. Haase says she advised the school board members against calling the election to avoid possible lawsuits.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – “Dumpster diving” is now a no-no in Kearney. The Kearney Hub reports that the City Council on Tuesday adopted an ordinance banning people from scavenging in garbage cans. The move came after Kearney Police Department Chief Dan Lynch raised concerns. According to the memorandum from City Attorney Michael Tye, other communities have reported problems with people scavenging through trash receptacles looking for recyclable metal and other materials. Scavenging also has been a source of identity theft. The new ordinance makes digging through someone else’s garbage a
misdemeanor offense.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – A summer traffic stop along Interstate 80 in central Nebraska is proving profitable for several Buffalo County agencies that will share $252,470 that was seized. The Kearney Hub reports neither of the men who were in the car when it was stopped on July 12 tried to claim the money in court. So Buffalo County Judge John Icenogle ruled the cash had been forfeited. Court documents say Nebraska State Troopers found the cash hidden in the lining of suitcases in the rental car’s trunk after the two men told conflicting stories about their travel plans. No drugs were found in the car, so the men were released. The money will be split between Buffalo County’s fines and licensing fund and the county drug law enforcement and education fund.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman says he’s frustrated with the state’s efforts to enact child welfare reforms, but he’s promising improvements after meeting with an agency director and other stakeholders. The Republican governor says he makes no excuses for the recent problems that have risen with the effort to privatize services. He says he met this week the director Nebraska Department of Health and Human services, a non-profit service provider, and the Lancaster County Attorney’s office, which has clashed with the state before. Heineman’s comments came one week after State Auditor Mike Foley released an audit of the state’s child welfare services. The agency dispute parts of the report, and says it has made improvements to address others. Heineman says he still supports privatization of Nebraska’s child welfare services.

DENVER (AP) – A melon farm in Colorado has issued a recall of cantaloupe following a Listeria outbreak that has killed at least two people, sickened 22 and spread to several states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the deaths from the outbreak were reported in Colorado and New Mexico, and state health departments said more deaths could be confirmed once testing comes back. The CDC said the 22 people infected are in seven states: Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia. Jensen Farms spokeswoman Amy Philpott said y that one of the Colorado farm’s Rocky Ford cantaloupes tested positive for the bacteria, but more tests are needed to determine if it’s the same strain linked to the outbreak. It is first time the bacteria has been linked to cantaloupe in the U.S.

GERING, Neb. (AP) – An 18-year-old Gering woman has been found guilty of child abuse for helping children she was supervising in an after-school program “huff” intoxicating fumes from cleaning products and other sources.  Scottsbluff radio station KNEB reports that Jessica McDaniel was convicted Wednesday in Scotts Bluff County Court of two counts of aiding and abetting inhaling an intoxicant and two counts of misdemeanor child abuse. Court records say McDaniel was supervising children at an after-school program at Westmoor Elementary School on Feb. 23 when she inhaled from empty whipped cream cans and from a can used to clean electronics. Prosecutors say McDaniel was also helped two children inhale from the cans. She is set to be sentenced Nov. 16 on the misdemeanor counts.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska State Patrol says a trooper seized six pounds of methamphetamine during a traffic stop. A news release from the patrol says the trooper stopped a pickup Tuesday after it turned onto a dead-end road near a Grand Island well field. The trooper says the two occupants in the truck gave him permission to search it, and the meth was found in a false compartment in the tailgate of the pickup. The patrol says the meth has an estimated street value of $300,000.  The 24-year-old driver of Keewatin, Minn., and 35-year-old passenger from Aurora, Minn., were arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) – A Hastings police captain faces a drunken driving charge after crashing his pickup. The Hastings Tribune reports that 43-year-old Gene Boner was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after his pickup rolled over Sunday night in Hastings. Police say Boner was not injured. The Nebraska State Patrol was called in to handle the DUI investigation and subsequent arrest. Boner was taken to the Adams County Jail on Sunday night and released on bond less than an hour later. A message left Wednesday for Boner at his Hastings home by The Associated Press was not immediately returned. Hastings Police Chief Larry Thoren tells the newspaper that Boner has been placed on administrative leave with pay. Thoren says an internal investigation will determine Boner’s future with the department.