May 22, 2012

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Nebraska families encourage to save now for college later (AUDIO)

May 22, 2012 By

Treasurer Don Stenberg answers a question as David Cota with 1st National Bank looks on

State officials hope to encourage more Nebraskans to invest in their children’s future; or their grandchildren, nieces, nephews, even a friend to help them pay for college.

The state offers four college savings plans through the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust, but only about 12% of the Nebraska families eligible participate.

“I was very pleased to oversee the development of Nebraska’s College Savings Plan during my years as State Treasurer,” said Gov. Dave Heineman stated during a news conference at the Capitol office. “I am thrilled to see Nebraskans taking advantage of this opportunity. Education is a top priority for our state, and college savings plans are important to help students and families plan for the future.”

The governor has issued a proclamation declaring May 29th “529 College Savings Day” in Nebraska. That somewhat awkward tag stems from the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 529, which offers both federal and state tax breaks to those investing toward a college education.

While saving for college has long been a priority for parents and grandparents and for the students themselves, never has saving for college been more critical,” Stenberg noted, stating that college tuition keeps rising each year.

More than 52,000 families in Nebraska and more than 180,000 nationwide are saving for their children’s higher education through NEST. Still, Stenberg says many more can participate.

The Nebraska Educational Savings Trust (NEST) is made up of four savings plans – the NEST Direct College Savings Plan, the NEST Advisor College Savings Plan, the TD Ameritrade 529 College Savings Plan, and the State Farm College Savings Plan. First National Bank of Omaha is the program manager, and the State Treasurer is the program trustee. All investments are approved by the Nebraska Investment Council.

Senior Managing Director of First National Bank, David Cota, says the assets in the four plans totals $2.7 billion. The NEST Direct plan is the most popular of the plans, with total assets of $1.2 billion. Another plan is offered that is FDIC insured up to $250,000. The average college savings account is $14,000.

State officials stated the plans are attractive, because they offer tax advantages and are professionally managed.

Click here for more information on 529 college savings plans.

AUDIO: Gov. Heineman hosts news conference, promoting college savings plans [10 min.]

Filed Under: Education, News Tagged With:

Nebraska senator reflects on the USDA’s 150 years (AUDIO)

May 22, 2012 By

A current United States Senator and former Agriculture Secretary looks back on 150 years of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Sen. Mike Johanns served as Agriculture Secretary in the Bush Administration for three years, beginning in 2005. He says President Lincoln had a vision for what agriculture could do for the United States.

“It was not accidental that in the Secretary’s office at the USDA I had a bust of President Lincoln,” Johanns says. “I had so much admiration for what he had done, not only as a president, but very specifically, relative to the USDA.”

Johanns says the USDA has stuck to its original goal of promoting the best for agriculture: sponsoring research, conducting research and promoting best practices down on the farm.

The Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice commemorated the signing of the Homestead Act, Morrill Act and creation of the USDA 150 years ago on Sunday.

Homestead National Monument of America and the community of Beatrice will also be the host of the 2012 Chautauqua of the Nebraska Humanities Council through Friday.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:40]

Filed Under: Agriculture, News

Nebraska family expresses relief after arrest in Schlender shooting death

May 21, 2012 By

A Nebraska family expresses relief and a desire for justice as Mississippi authorities report they have arrested a suspect in the shooting death of a Raymond, Nebraska man.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety reports 28-year-old James Willie has been arrested in connection with the death of 74-year-old Thomas Schlender, a retired Lincoln Electric System employee. Willie is also a suspect in the shooting death of 48-year-old Lori Carswell of Hernando, MS, also shot to death at the side of an interstate in northern Mississippi.

The department reports the break in the case came after a woman reported she had been raped in Tunica, located in northern Mississippi. Police arrested Willie and discovered a gun that matched the weapon used to kill both Schlender and Carswell.

Matt Anderson, Schlender’s son-in-law, said the family has been in contact with Mississippi authorities. Anderson said the family has gone through a range of emotions since learning of the arrest and has conveyed to authorities in Mississippi that they simply want justice applied in the case.

Authorities found Schlender shot to death in his pick-up on a deserted stretch of I-55 in northern Mississippi in the early morning hours of May 8th. He had been traveling from Raymond to Pensacola, FL to pick up one of his grandsons from college. Three nights later, Carswell was found dead of similar means.

Authorities first suspected someone who had been impersonating a police officer in the killings. They dropped the theory upon the arrest of Willie. They believe robbery is the likely motive in the shootings.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Featured Stories, News

NE Medical Center has treated six in last month for flesh-eating bacteria

May 21, 2012 By

Six patients have been treated at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for necrotizing fasciitis, the flesh-eating bacteria.

The Omaha World-Herald reports the medical center has treated the six in the last month, the highest number of patients with the condition ever treated there in such a short period of time, according to Dr. Jeff Cooper, medical director of the hospital hyperbaric oxygen unit.

All the patients are reported to be doing well.

Cooper tells the newspaper, “It’s a very scary disease.”

It can be deadly. Up to 40% of the patients who contract the bacteria die. Many need to have limbs amputated to keep the disease from spreading.

A story that has gained national attention has raised awareness of the disease. 24-year-old Aimee Copeland from Georgia contracted the disease after suffering a gash to her leg May 1st when she fell from a homemade zip line over a river.

Filed Under: Featured Stories, Health & Medicine, News

Investigators seek whether bodies found at Lake Manawa are NE mother and son

May 21, 2012 By

Two bodies have been found at Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs, Iowa as authorities work to discover whether they are those of a mother and son missing from Plattsmouth, Nebraska for a week.

A spokesman for the FBI reports that the bodies of a woman and a boy were discovered Sunday evening.

Authorities have searched, but so far have not been able to find 41-year-old Charlotte Schilling and her 10-year-old son, Owen. Authorities say the bodies discovered in a remote area at the lake near the Missouri River have decomposed so badly that autopsies have been ordered to identify them. Officials will not disclose how the two died.

Schilling’s care was found abandoned at the lake on the 11th of May. The police chief in Plattsmouth has indicated investigators have uncovered no evidence of foul play.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News
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