February 4, 2012

You are here: Home / Archives for News

Winter storm predicted to hit Nebraska this weekend (AUDIO)

February 3, 2012 By

A mild January gives way to a winter storm watch for Nebraska this first weekend in February.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for the state, predicting a storm will move from Colorado into the state. It could leave anywhere from four to 14 inches of snow in its wake.

Meteorologist Ken Siemek predicts winter returns with a vengeance this weekend.

“This one bears watching,” Siemek says. “It is certainly is, without question, going to be the most significant storm Nebraska has seen this entire winter. And they’re still talking about the potential of 10, 12, maybe up to 14 inches of snow in parts of western and central Nebraska.”

This winter storm should move from in Friday evening, hitting western Nebraska hard.

“We’ve got blizzard warnings in the far west,” according to Siemek. “We’re talking about west of North Platte in the Imperial and McCook areas and then winter storm warnings out around North Platte.”

It is a forecast so bleak that Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood has announced that legislative hearings at the Capitol on Friday afternoon have been cancelled. The hearings have been rescheduled for Monday, February 13th, beginning at 9:30am. The legislature plans to only be in session for a couple of hours this morning so that members can get home ahead of the storm.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:40]

Filed Under: News, Weather

Legislature cancels afternoon hearings due to severe winter weather warning

February 3, 2012 By

The threat of severe winter weather has prompted the legislature to cancel legislative hearings this afternoon.

Speaker of the Legislature, Mike Flood, announced that hearings scheduled to begin this afternoon at 1:30 will be cancelled so legislators can return home ahead of the storm and the public won’t be caught in it traveling to and from the Capitol in Lincoln.

The hearings scheduled for this afternoon have been rescheduled for Monday, February 13th, beginning at 9:30am.

“Bill hearings are an integral part of the legislative process, and it is important for both senators and citizens to be able to attend public hearings,” Speaker Flood said in a written statement. “This change in schedule will help keep folks off the roads during potentially unsafe conditions.”

For the legislative agenda, click here for the Nebraska Unicameral website.

Filed Under: Legislature & Government, News

Fewer flu cases but reports of norovirus are through the roof

February 3, 2012 By

While there are only scattered reports of influenza across the Husker State this winter, plenty of people are getting sick with another bug.

Deb Scholten, director of the Northeast Nebraska Health Department in Wayne, says she’s seeing numerous reports of people coming down with norovirus.

“There isn’t any way you can prevent that,” Scholten says. “It’s highly contagious as most family members know, if you’ve had somebody come down with norovirus. When we talk about norovirus, we’re talking about the stomach flu, which actually isn’t an influenza but we’ve always called it that.”

Scholten says if you catch it, you will feel pretty sick for 24 to 48 hours, likely with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

She says, “The important thing is, even when you are done having the symptoms, you should probably wait at least 24 hours because your body still might be shedding some of that virus and you can still pass it on to other people.”

Scholten says there is no shot or antibiotic to treat norovirus. If you or your kids are sick, she recommends a simple course of action.

“Stay home,” she says. “It’s sometimes a hard call because kids love to wake up in the morning and say they have a tummy ache so they don’t have to go to school, but if there’s norovirus around, you may want to do a little extra listening, especially if they have the symptoms.”

She says the virus can be transmitted through the air or by direct contact.

Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, News

Deadly start to 2012, after low traffic fatality rate in 2011 (AUDIO)

February 2, 2012 By

2012 is off to a deadly start on Nebraska roads.

The Nebraska State Patrol reports 19 people lost their lives in traffic accidents in January. Only eight deaths were recorded on Nebraska roads last January.

Blame it on the nice weather says Fred Zwonechek of the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety, who says drivers tend to become complacent during stretches of good weather in winter.

“As compared with normal, routine weather where you get snow and ice conditions; it’s cold, drivers are perhaps a little more sensitive to the environment and the roadway and tend to be a little slower,” Zwonechek tells Nebraska Radio Network.

One characteristic threads through most of the fatalities. Of the 19 people killed, 15 were not wearing their seat belts. The Office of Highway Safety estimates that the use of seat belts cuts the risk of death in a crash by as much as half.

Nebraska recorded 180 fatalities last year, the second lowest fatality rate since 1945 when 166 people were killed on Nebraska roads, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

AUDIO: Brent Martin interviews Fred Zwonechek, Nebraska Office of Highway Safety [4 min]

Filed Under: Featured Stories, News, Transportation

Assault on doctors, nurses would draw stiffer penalty under bill (AUDIO)

February 2, 2012 By

Sen. Steve Lathrop/Unicameral Information Office photo

A bill increasing the penalties against those who assault doctors and nurses has advanced in the Unicameral.

Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop sponsors LB 677 that would crack down on those who attack a health care provider. Lathrop told colleagues Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates health care workers are twice as likely as others to experience violence in the workplace.

“And there are two reasons. One is, as you suggest, they can’t turn people down in the emergency room. They have to take these people in,” Lathrop responded to a question posed during flood debate. “And a lot of these assaults are happening on emergency room physicians, doctors, nurses.”

Some senators expressed sympathy for the situations outlined by Lathrop, but questioned whether the state should designate certain classes of workers for enhanced protection.

Sen. Brenda Council of Omaha opposed the measure, stating she’s concerned about carving out classes of workers for extra protection.

“I think the better public policy approach to dealing with this is to deal with workplace violence and assaults in the workplace,” according to Council.

Despite the reservations, the Unicameral has advanced the bill easily, sending it to the next round of debate.

AUDIO: Unicameral debate on LB 677 [1 hour]

Filed Under: Legislature & Government, News
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »