Box Butte and Dawes Counties have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit over the death of 47-year-old Lori Heiting of Hay Springs in the Box Butte County jail a little more than 2 years ago.
Heiting died Dec. 4, 2010, after she was found unresponsive in her cell, where she was being held following her arrest in Dawes County for drunk driving the day before.
Heiting’s daughter, Jennifer Young of Hay Springs, filed a lawsuit last month claiming the counties were negligent and violated Heiting’s constitutional rights to due process and equal protection.
The counties say the lawsuit should be dismissed on two different grounds: they’re protected from such lawsuits by sovereign immunity, and Young missed the two-year deadline to file her suit by about a month.
A Box Butte County grand jury on January 24, 2011, cleared officials of wrongdoing in Heiting’s death. Box Butte County Attorney Kathleen Hutchinson said the grand jury determined Heiting died of natural causes — although she wouldn’t specify an exact cause of death.
Scottsbluff Senator John Harms says will not support…at least for now…Governor Dave Heineman’s tax reform proposals.
It’s not that he thinks eliminating the individual and corporate income taxes or shield some retirement income from taxes are bad ideas, it’s that he thinks they go too far too fast.
Harms wants to see more study any major tax reform is considered, Harms thinks most Nebraskans feel the way he does…based in part on what he heard when the Revenue Committee held well over 10 hours of hearings on the two bills the make up the governor’s alternative proposals.
The two plans are LB-405…which ends the individual and corporate income taxes by doing away with nearly $2.5 billion dollars of sales tax exemptions.
LB-406 would eliminate about $320-million in sales tax exemptions to fund an end to the corporate income tax and to exemption some military retirement benefits and other retirement income from the individual income tax.
Lincoln – The Nebraska women’s basketball team notched its seventh straight win with a 58-39 run past Ohio State on Thursday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Senior point guard Lindsey Moore led the Huskers with 14 points, a season-high eight rebounds and four assists, while sophomore Emily Cady added 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 19-6 overall and 9-3 in the Big Ten. Ohio State slipped to 14-11 and 4-8 in the conference after being held to the lowest point total in Coach Jim Foster’s 11 seasons with the Buckeyes.
Junior forward Jordan Hooper added eight points and 10 rebounds, as Nebraska outworked the Buckeyes 53-45 on the boards. From the last media timeout in the first half, to the last media timeout of the game, the Huskers dominated the glass, 35-17, turning a tie game at 15 into a 19-point win.
“Rebounding and defense,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. “Our offense struggled early tonight and Ohio State did a good job of taking some things away. But rebounding was big and our defense was really effective tonight. That is a big win for us.”
Nebraska rolled to its seventh straight Big Ten win despite shooting just 32.8 percent (22-67) from the field, including 4-for-14 from three-point range. But the Huskers held Ohio State to just 25.4 percent shooting (16-63), including 3-of-16 from long range. NU also kept Ohio State off the free throw line, as OSU hit all four of their free throw attempts in the first half. Nebraska also won the turnover battle 13-10.
In a low-scoring first half that featured cold shooting by both teams, Nebraska took a 25-21 lead to the locker room at the half. Ohio native Rachel Theriot led the Huskers with nine first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting, including her lone three-point attempt.
Hooper and Tear’a Laudermill each added four first-half points, while Moore and Katie Simon both contributed three points in the first half. Cady pitched in two points while adding 11 first-half rebounds.
Nebraska hit just 10-of-31 shots (.323) including 2-of-7 threes, while knocking down 3-of-5 free throws in the opening period. NU also won the first half turnover battle 9-6, and turned OSU’s turnovers into 12 big points.
Tayler Hill, who finished with a game-high 20 points, led the Buckeyes with 15 first-half points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a three-pointer. Hill added seven rebounds in the game. Amber Stokes and Raven Ferguson added six points in the game for Ohio State.
OSU hit just 28.6 percent (8-28) of its shots in the first half, including 1-of-3 three-pointers. OSU outrebounded NU, 22-21 in the half, but the Huskers pulled down the final seven rebounds of the first half.
NU added the first two boards of the second half and extended its lead to 29-21 just over a minute into the second period on back-to-back layups by Hailie Sample and Cady.
The Huskers pushed the lead to 10 points for the first time after a pair of Cady free throws made it 31-21 with 17:08 left. The Buckeyes would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
Laudermill’s three-pointer with 13:25 left capped a 9-0 NU run to push the Husker margin to 40-25 after the Buckeyes trimmed the margin to 31-25 with 16:04 left. Laudermill, who finished with nine points off the bench, gave NU its biggest lead of the night at 56-36 with 3:18 left.
Nebraska will enjoy the weekend off from competition before returning to Big Ten road action at Michigan on Thursday, Feb. 21. Tip-off with the Wolverines at Crisler Arena is set for 6 p.m. (CT)
Chadron State College unveils its refurbished 1918 Steinway Grand Piano Sunday afternoon at 3:00 with a free concert in Memorial Hall by music professor and pianist Dr James Margetts.
Refurbishing of the Model D…the largest concert grand made by Steinway and believed to be the first piano purchased by the school…began in late 2010 with the hope of having it ready for concert use during Chadron State’s Centennial celebration in 2011.
Margetts says a number of factors delayed the project and missed the centennial, but he couldn’t be more excited about the result of the work and being able to let the world hear the restored piano sound the way it was intended.
Jackson and Peg Hammitt, at right, visit Chadron State College faculty members Sandy Schaefer, Joel Schreuder and Una Taylor.
“The most exciting thing was to actually sit down and play the piano,” he says. “It’s absolutely beautiful (and) makes all the other pianos (at Chadron State) pale by comparison.”
For the concert, Margetts selected works that show some of the changes in piano music that occurred over the first 200 years of the instrument from composers who had significant milestones around the time CSC opened in 1911.
One piece was written by Maurice Ravel in 1909…the year that marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Franz Joseph Haydn…while American composer Samuel Barber was born in 1910 while the world celebrated the centennial of the birth of Frederic Chopin.
Dr Margetts says the refurbished Steinway will be a great asset for the CSC music program…providing a quality instructional tool and an enticement for touring artists who require similar instruments before agreeing to come and perform in a city.
Chadron State professor emeritus Dr Jackson Hammitt, the school’s long-time piano instructor, and his wife Peg donated $35,000 for the renovation project and kept close tabs on throughout the 2-plus years. Dr Hammitt says a similar new piano would cost $100,000 and probably wouldn’t be as good.
The Hammitts…who also made a long-term million dollar donation to the college…will be honored at a reception following the concert. Dr Margetts says the couple are a great example of the type of people who love and give to Chadron State.
For those unable to attend Sunday’s concert, it will be streamed live on the college website www.csc.edu/live.
Golden – The Chadron State College wrestling team ended its regular season on a high note defeating Colorado School of Mines 23-9 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference wrestling clash in Golden, Colorado.
The win gives the Eagles a 7-8 dual record to cap their regular season.
Chadron State will host the Super Region Four/RMAC Tournament on Feb. 22- 23 at the Nelson Physical Activity Center. The top four places qualify for the National Tournament.
Allan Schmaltz, Sports Information Graduate Assistant
125 – Jace Johnson (CSC) won by decision over Luis Gurule (CSM) 7-6.
133 – Perry McAfee (CSC) won by decision over Robert Schultheis (CSM) 9-6.
141 – Josh McCance (CSC) won by decision over Isaac Elge (CSM) 5-2.
149 – Austin Cordova (CSM) won by decision over Reed Burgener (CSC) 7-4.
157 – John Crowley (CSM) won by decision over Bruce Zurek (CSC) 10-3.
165 – Dylan Fors (CSC) won by decision over Justin Frazer (CSM) 8-7.
174 – Bret Klopp (CSC) won by major decision over Joshua Brown (CSM) 14-5.
184 – Jordan Debus (CSC) won by major decision over Ryan Swanson (CSM) 12-3.
197 – Paul Wilson (CSM) won by decision over Chris Leak (CSC) 10-4.
285 – Michael Hill (CSC) won by decision over Alec Bird (CSM) 3-1.
Sidney Police Chief Mike Brown surprised everyone at Tuesday night’s city council meeting by announcing near the end of the session that he’s resigning, with his last day to be in 2 weeks on the 28th.
Brown cited “family health issues” for stepping down, calling it was a decision that had to be made for his family and one that was not entered into lightly.
City Manager Gary Person says Brown will be terribly missed because the Sidney police officers felt his hiring was one of the best decisions the City had ever made. No decisions have been made yet on finding a new chief.
Brown’s resignation was the second of the night for the Sidney council, but the first was already known…with Councilman Aaron Barnes previously saying he was stepping down and moving to California.
The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team is back in the NJCAA national rankings after clawing their way through a season that saw the team undergo a lot of adversity last semester.
WNCC, 12-13, climbed back into the national rankings this week at No. 23. The Cougars are the highest Region IX team in the rankings this week as Sheridan College dropped to No. 25 and Gillette College dropped out of the rankings.
Jessica Aratani, the sophomore from Morrill, said getting back into the rankings is a bonus for the team especially since they have maintained a positive attitude despite all the adversity they have faced this season.
“I feel like we really deserve this,” she said. “We were at the top at the beginning and we know we belong there. Despite all the negative things that have been happening that have put us back, we still keep climbing to get back on top.”
The Cougars were as high as No. 6 in the nation back in December before they had to forfeit 13 games from a ruling from the NJCAA.
Aratani said the team has been motivated ever since and this is a special team this year.
“It really has pushed us more to work harder. We have to earn everything that we done,” she said. “It just keeps pushing us harder and harder because people are pushing us down. But we overcome all the obstacles and are right back on top.
“This team is special. We have really good chemistry on the court and off the court. We know we are good and we know we deserve to be up there. We have a chance to win a region title, which hasn’t been done here in a while. We also have a chance to go to nationals and do some work down there, too.”
Aratani said that there are a lot of ifs or could-have-beens to the season if they would not have had all the misfortune that they have endured. If that was the case, the Cougars would have been 25-0 and possibly number one in the country. The only other time the Cougars were number one in the country was back in February 2005.
“People are out to get us and they know that technically we haven’t lost a game and we have been winning every game in our region so far,” Aratani said. “Like Coach Harnish said, it will make anyone’s year if they knock us off one time and it will make their season. We know people are out to get us. That actually helps us out because they are playing their very best game and it pushes us to work harder and to get ready for the regional tournament.”
This week’s ratings finds a new No. 1 team as Trinity Valley Community College takes over the top spot from previous No. 1 Hutchinson Community College, who drops to No. 3. Central Arizona College (24-1) is at No. 2.
The rest of the top 10 includes sees North Idaho College at No. 4 (24-2), followed by Shelton State (24-0), Chipola College (22-3), Walters State Community College (23-1), Northwest Florida State College (21-3), Blinn College (24-1), and Collin County Community College (22-2).
Moving back into the rankings will be important during the next month as this year’s national tournament will take 24 teams. The 16 regional winners qualify along with the four runner-up teams from a selected four regions. The other four teams will come from at-large bids, which could be decided by the rankings.
The Cougar women will look to stay unbeaten in the South Sub-Region when they travel to Otero Junior College and Trinidad State Junior College this weekend.
Nebraska’s Jordan Hooper captured her second straight Big Ten Player-of-the-Week honor and the sixth of her career when the conference office announced its winner on Tuesday morning.
Hooper, a 6-2 junior forward from Alliance, Neb., poured in a game-high 29 points and added eight rebounds in Nebraska’s 76-75 win at Iowa on Monday night. She hit 11-of-23 shots from the field, including a pair of early three-pointers to allow the Huskers to lead the game from start to finish.
For the week, Hooper averaged 24.0 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting Nebraska to a pair of road wins, including a 55-50 victory at Northwestern on Feb. 7. Hooper had 19 points and seven rebounds in a low-scoring affair with the Wildcats.
During Nebraska’s Big Ten-best six-game winning streak, Hooper has carried the Huskers with 24.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game to increase her team-leading averages to 19.5 points and 8.5 boards on the year. Hooper is shooting 49 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from long range during the surge.
Hooper, who also won the award Feb. 5 after leading NU to wins at Ohio State Jan. 31 (28 points, 7 rebounds) and against Minnesota Feb. 3 (27 points, 7 rebounds) shared this week’s honor with Penn State point guard Alex Bentley. It is Hooper’s third Big Ten Player-of-the-Week award of the season.
Hooper, who was a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore in 2012, also became one of Nebraska’s top-10 career scorers in the win over Iowa. In less than three seasons, Hooper has amassed 1,545 points (No. 10) and 715 rebounds (No. 8).
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has chosen former state Sen. Lavon Heidemann of Elk Creek as his new lieutenant governor, making the announcement Wednesday afternoon at the Capitol.
Heidemann, elected to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents last November, resigned that post shortly before taking the oath of office during a public ceremony that was part of the governor’s news conference announcing his selection.
The 54-year-old Heidemann served as chairman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee during his eight years in the Legislature…which he left last year because of term limits. He is a farmer-rancher, and serves his community as a volunteer firefighter.
A Republican like the governor, Heidemann replaces Rick Sheehy…who resigned earlier this month following a newspaper report that he had made thousands of personal calls to women, other than his wife, on his state-issued cellphone.
Governor Heineman said at the combination news conference swearing-in ceremony that he’d gotten to know and respect the new lieutenant governor during Heidemann’s 6 years as chairman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee…calling him “a proven, dedicated public servant for the citizens of Nebraska.”
Heidemann said he was excited about becoming lieutenant governor because public service is something he believes in deeply, but admitted he hated to leave the Board of Regents after serving less than 2 months.
The governor will appoint the replacement for Heidemann on the Board of Regents, and that person will serve for two years, until the next election. The regents position is unpaid but the lieutenant governor is paid $75,000 annually.
The governor had said after Sheehy’s resignation that he wanted to appoint someone who would not be running next year to be his successor…calling it an unfair advantage over the other candidates. Heidemann says he agrees completely.
Retired District Judge Paul Empson wants the Chadron school district to start a program that would arm and train at least 3 teachers per floor in each of the district’s 4 schools, allowing them to respond within seconds to any intruder.
Empson told the school board this week that almost all the mass shootings in recent years have been in locations where guns are not allowed, with the major exception being the incident in Phoenix where Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot and where the gunman surrendered after being confronted by an armed citizen.
A prosecutor before spending more than 20 years on the bench, Empson said he wasn’t talking about “dishing out guns like popcorn,” but rather having a core of armed teachers trained in both the use of guns and training in incident management and response.
He also said he thought female teachers would be the best choices to be armed because they’re quicker learners than men, retain learned training better, and are physiologically better equipped to multi-task…important in a quickly changing emergency situation.
Empson apologized during his remarks for frequent pauses trying to find the proper words and getting frequent word prompts from his wife, a retired teacher, blaming his condition on a traumatic injury to the brain.
Empson’s idea went counter to a report from School Resource Officer Aron Chrisman on discussions by the school district’s safety committee. Chrisman said that arming teachers was among a mix of ideas considered for providing faster response to an emergency situation, but was not one that was recommended.
While liking the idea that armed teachers would cut response time from minutes to seconds, Chrisman said the feeling in the committee was that there would be too many hurdles to overcome…including the cost, training of teachers, the possibility of accidents or mistaken identity, and liability issues.
Chrisman said the review of the safety plan…based in part on the district’s “lockdown” drill with law enforcement…did result in some tweaking on the procedures to use in a hostage or intruder situation and an informal decision to continue exploring new safety options.
Among the ones he mentioned were magnetic door locks that allow rooms to be quickly accessed or sealed off, requiring visitors to scan their driver’s licenses for criminal record checks, the use of metal detectors on visitors, and fortifying the entrances to the schools.
Box Butte and Dawes Counties have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit over the death of 47-year-old Lori Heiting of Hay Springs in the Box Butte County jail a little more than 2 years ago.
