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Posted: 05/22/13 08:56

Sixteen members of the Nebraska State Patrol were honored yesterday during the 14th Annual Mothers Against Drunk Driving Outstanding Law Enforcement Awards & Recognition ceremony held this afternoon in Lincoln. The awards recognized law enforcement officers who work daily to ensure Nebraska roadways are kept safe from drinking and drugged drivers. Trooper Andrew Ecklund from the State Patrol Troop C in Grand Island was among those honored today. Colonel David Sankey, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol said “A key component in reducing fatality and serious injury crashes is removing impaired drivers from our roadways. Through their efforts these troopers are helping to save lives and make travel safer for all of us.”

Posted: 05/22/13 08:59

Scottsbluff city leaders are considering a proposal to build a meatpacking plant in the western Nebraska city. During a City Council meeting Monday, Keith DeHaan with Future Food Energy LLC outlined the company's proposal to buy 43 acres of city land. The company has already signed a letter of intent to buy the property in the Immigrant Trails Subdivision along state Highway 26. The company is now hoping the city will approve the sale, with Future Food Energy offering $10,000 per acre. The Wyoming-based company is seeking to construct a 358,000-square-foot plant that would initially employ 250 to 400 workers to process 300,000 to 375,000 cattle per year. The facility would use reclaimed heat in a process that DeHaan says eliminates the odor commonly associated with meatpacking facilities.

Posted: 05/22/13 08:28

The devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Iowa within the past week have mobilized the American Red Cross to help with these disasters. The Red Cross says that its main need right now is monetary donations. Liz Dorland is a Red Cross Communications specialist and says that donating and helping is easier than ever.That money helps the Red Cross buy the specific items to help the storm victims such as food, water, blankets, and cots. And by being able to buy supplies in Oklahoma, the relief gets to people faster and more efficiently. Dorland also says that everyone needs to be prepared as disasters can strike anywhere. One free way to be prepared is to download the Red Cross Tornado app for your smart phone.Again the ways to donate to the Red Cross Relief Effort: By calling 1-800- Red Cross, online at RedCross.org or texting the word Red Cross (all one word) to 90999 to make a $10 donation through your cell phone bill.
Dorland is our guest this morning on the KHAS Radio Closeup program.

Posted: 05/22/13 08:35

State lawmakers have advanced a bill that would provide tax breaks to a Kansas company considering building a wind farm in northeast Nebraska.
Sponsor Steve Lathrop, a state senator from Omaha, says Nebraska has failed to develop its great potential to harness the wind to generate electricity. Some studies suggest Nebraska ranks fourth among the states in wind energy potential. Lathrop's bill would provide sales tax breaks totaling 16-Million dollars to Trade Winds to construct a wind farm in Dixon County.

Posted: 05/22/13 08:41

Yesterday, Gov. Dave Heineman returned a portion of the Nebraska Legislatures budget to the Unicameral with a line-item veto of funding for an Omaha golf tournament. Lawmakers sent 8 bills to the Governor Monday. Those bills make up the state’s 7.8 billion dollar budget package.

Posted: 05/22/13 08:48

State Senator Ernie Chambers has succeeded in repealing the local option sales tax, for Omaha. And, only the Omaha metro area. Chambers failed in his attempt at a total repeal, so he tells colleagues he will take a different route. His efforts to repeal the local option sales tax fell short of the votes needed.His limited repeal...pertaining only to Omaha...passes with five votes to spare as an amendment onto another bill that has advanced in the legislature.

Posted: 05/22/13 08:32

The University of Nebraska Medical Center is showing off its new $30 million eye institute. The grand opening celebration for the Stanley M. Truhlsen Eye Institute is being held on Wednesday. The institute houses research facilities, offers treatments for macular degeneration, glaucoma and other degenerative eye diseases, and provides eye exams. Officials hope the institute will produce revolutionary research and become recognized as one of the top eye care centers. It is led by Doctors Quan Dong Nguyen and his wife, Diana Do. The institute is named after a former faculty member in UNMC's ophthalmology department and former president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Ophthalmology Society.

Posted: 05/22/13 08:26

The devastating tornados in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Iowa within the past week have mobilized the American Red Cross to help with these disasters. The Red Cross says that its main need right now is monetary donations. Liz Dorland is a Red Cross Communications specialist and says that donating and helping is easier than ever.That money helps the Red Cross buy the specific items to help the storm victims such as food, water, blankets, and cots. And by being able to buy supplies in Oklahoma, the relief gets to people faster and more efficiently. Dorland also says that everyone needs to be prepared as disasters can strike anywhere. One free way to be prepared is to download the Red Cross Tornado app for your smart phone.

Posted: 05/21/13 08:43

This past Friday night, The Nebraska State Patrol in conjunction with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office contacted 70 motorists during a special enforcement focused on reducing the risk of alcohol related crashes. During the special enforcement effort, two people were arrested for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), one citation was issued for open container. The special enforcement included a DUI check point and high visibility patrol in Hall County. It was paid for thanks in part to a $2,375 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS).

Posted: 05/21/13 08:45

Nebraska officials have kicked off their annual seat belt campaign to promote roadway safety. The "Click It or Ticket" campaign began on Monday and will run through June 2. Nebraska recorded 212 roadway deaths last year, marking the first time the fatality count has increased in the last three years. Gov. Dave Heineman says the number of roadway deaths this year has put the state on pace to see another year of increased traffic deaths. The campaign involves 62 law enforcement agencies from across the state. It provides more than 12,000 hours of additional traffic enforcement time, with a focus on the use of seat belts and proper child restraints. The summer also marks the heaviest time for roads projects.

Posted: 05/21/13 08:47

Production at Midwest refineries is the lowest in 23 years. Triple-A Nebraska's Rose White says a refinery in Kansas joined two others in Indiana and Illinois that shut down production for maintenance. There is a concern about supplies. States in the Midwest are feeling the impact and White says we could see gas prices hit $4.11 in the next week or two. Triple-A reports that drivers in Minneapolis are paying $4.35 a gallon which is the highest in the nation. In Tucson that same gallon of gas will cost you $3.18.

Posted: 05/21/13 08:36

A Hastings man has been given more than five years in prison for helping to distribute methamphetamine. U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg announced Monday that Ruben Manzano has been sentenced to 70 months in prison. He will be given two years of supervised release after he completes his sentence. He also will be ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. Manzano pleaded guilty in late February to conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine between May and October 2012.

Posted: 05/21/13 08:39

Nebraska cities will retain the authority to impose special use sales taxes after an effort to repeal a law enacted last year failed. Senator Brad Ashford of Omaha favored repeal, saying a comprehensive tax study could broaden the sales tax burden. A repeal effort fell a vote short last week. It lost ground Monday. Senator Tom Carlson of Holdrege announces he changed his mind, believing cities should be given authority to impose a special sales tax. The tax must go to a vote of the people and be designated to pay for capital improvements.

Posted: 05/21/13 08:41

The Nebraska State Patrol is asking several other agencies to help insure the safety of truck drivers delivering alcohol to the small town of Whiteclay. Superintendent David Sankey says this is after two drivers were met by threatening protesters. The protesters are against alcohol sale in Whiteclay that borders the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota where alcohol is illegal. Colonel Sankey says the protesters quickly cross the border back on to the reservation where Nebraska has no authority to make arrests.

Posted: 05/21/13 08:33

A giant tornado, a mile wide or more, killed at least 91 people, 20 of them children, as it tore across parts of Oklahoma City and its suburbs Monday afternoon. Amy Elliott, the spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner, said that the death toll was likely to climb. Hospitals reported at least 145 people injured, 70 of them children. The tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m., 16 minutes after the first warning went out, and traveled for 20 miles, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla. It was on the ground for 40 minutes, she said. It struck the town of Newcastle and traveled about 10 miles to Moore, a populous suburb of Oklahoma City.

Posted: 05/20/13 09:33

Nebraska landowners who want to create or protect habitat for wildlife are invited to tour well-managed lands in the state. The Nebraska chapters of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are hosting tours of 17 different locations in the state this spring and summer. The tours began Thursday with a cedar tree removal project near Linwood. The final event is a rangeland management workship on Aug. 16 in Holt County. The tours are meant to show habitat management practices in action and provide information on how landowners can take part in conservation programs. More details about the free tours are available online at www.nebraskapf.com .

Posted: 05/20/13 09:30

Authorities say tornadoes have touched down in Wichita, Kan., and a suburb of Oklahoma City but there are no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage. Officials say they are "very grateful" about the few reports of damage from the tornado that touched down near Wichita Mid-Continent Airport shortly before 4 p.m. CDT Sunday. A tornado also reportedly grazed the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond before heading toward a sparsely populated area. There were reports of debris but no injuries or traffic crashes. The National Weather Service described the tornado as "large, violent and extremely dangerous" and said it was moving northeast at 30 mph.

Posted: 05/20/13 09:23

Hastings Utilities water rate increases for 2014 will be considered as long as results of a water rate study are in hand by budget time. At the May 2 meeting, the Hastings Board of Public Works discussed the idea of conducting a new rate study and if it would be possible to have the results back prior to the budget hearing in November. During Thursday's meeting, HU manager Marv Schultes said the firms he had spoke with about the proposal say that having the results in by October for budget preparation is a reasonable request. The issue before the board now is how much the rates will need to increase to cover the cost of a $45 million water treatment plan proposed by consulting firm HDR Inc. of Omaha

Posted: 05/20/13 09:25

A longtime faculty member at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been chosen as director of the Great Plains Veterinary Education Center in Clay Center. The university says Dr. Dale Grotelueschen served most recently as the managing veterinarian for beef cattle veterinary operations at Pfizer/Zoetis. He also served on the university's faculty, and was the director of the Panhandle Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Scottsbluff. Grotelueschen is a member of the Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association and Nebraska Cattlemen. He will assume his new position on July 1.

Posted: 05/20/13 09:25

Eugene T. Mahoney State Park will be the site of a run to raise money for wildlife conservation next month. The 10K Run Wild trail run on June 1 will feature participants in a wild-animal costume. Registration fees for the race are $45 through Friday. The fees include a T-shirt and park entry for the day of the race, and proceeds go to the Nebraska Wildlife Conservation Fund. The fund helps thousands of nongame species that call Nebraska home. For more information or to register, visit the Run Wild site online at www.RunWildNe.org.

Posted: 05/20/13 09:27

Lawmakers are planning to review why few Nebraska students who receive free and reduced-price lunches also participate in the federal funded breakfast program. Of students who take part in the lunch program, the Food Research and Action Center finds only two states have fewer students who also eat free or reduced-price breakfasts. The group finds that four out of 10 students who participate in the lunch program aren't part of the breakfast program, even though the income requirements are the same. Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln has asked legislative staff to study the matter to see whether there are barriers to participation. The Legislature's Education Committee will hear public testimony on the issue later this year. Depending on what's found, Avery said he might introduce legislation next year.

Posted: 05/20/13 09:22

Ag Processing Inc. of Omaha announced late Friday that the corn processing plant in Hastings will not be reopening. The corn processing plant that makes ethanol was put on a temporary shutdown Feb. 1 because of a slowdown in the economy, high corn prices and low oil prices that reduced ethanol consumption.
AGP stated Friday in a news release that it would be permanently shutting down the corn processing operation. Matt Caswell, vice president of corporate relations with AGP in Omaha, said the age and high utility costs associated with operation of the Hastings plant led to the decision. Most of the plant's 43 employees found jobs within AGP's other operations in Hastings. AGP also operates a soybean processing plant, vegetable oil refinery and an AminoPlus production facility in the city. APG says none of those facilities have been impacted by the ethanol plant's closure.