It's time for Scanner News, and I'm your host, Brian Hale, brought to you by RNC Welding in Gering, Nebraska.

Another swatting incident took place in the Panhandle yesterday. This one, Gering High School was the target.

A series of this type of calls is happening nationwide, with selected Walmarts being targeted recently, and now schools. On Thursday the 30th, at approximately 12:32 PM, the Scotts Bluff County Communications Center received a call on a non-emergent phone line indicating there was a threat at Gering High School. Officers from the Gering Police Department and deputies from the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff's Office responded.

School officials placed the building on lockdown out of abundance of caution. Law enforcement entered the building and were able to clear it without incident. The investigation revealed that this incident was a swatting call, and there was no threat to any students, staff, or visitors at the school.

Swatting incidents are intended to elicit a large emergency response and disrupt the functions of the targeted location. If you have any information related to this incident, we ask that you contact the Gearing Police Department.

Very busy night over scanner traffic.

Early this morning, there was a two vehicle accident with injuries, as well as several traffic complaints and fire calls. There was even a call for a vehicle versus pedestrian accident near East 27th Street and First Avenue near Pioneer Park in Scottsbluff. Scanner traffic indicated a 14-year-old female was hit by a car. We continue to ask people to please respect speed limits and school zones and the safety of our children. Please use an abundance of caution in school zones.

With all of the recent power outages, we installed a new tab on our website listing all of the local power companies and their outage maps. Look for it today under resources. That's panhandlescanner.com.

That's going to do it for today's scanner news. Thanks again for listening and may God bless. I'm Brian Hale.

No school today for Hay Springs. Due to 14 staff members and numerous students being sick, Hay Springs Schools is canceling school for today, April 30th. The elementary fourth and fifth grade music concert scheduled for today will be rescheduled. Boys golf will compete pending health of the team and coach. The school wrote that they apologize for any inconvenience that this cancellation will cause and continued that unfortunately they will not have adequate staff to run the school and they're hoping that this will allow staff and students time to rest and recuperate. No school for Hay Springs today.

Scanner traffic indicated that the Harrison Nebraska Volunteer Fire Dept. called for mutual aid in rural Harrison for a 14 yr old female who had a horse fall on her. Regional 3 went enroute immediately and a request for Air Link at Regional West was made. The patient was initially transported via ground ambulance by Mitchell Volunteer Fire Department, then transferred to Regional 3 for final transport.

There was a bomb threat yesterday at the Sidney Walmart. Sidney Police Department and multiple agencies responded to a high priority threat at the Walmart Super Center in Sidney at approximately 2.17 p.m. yesterday. A caller contacted the store claiming that an incendiary device was placed throughout the building and that an individual was armed with an AR-15 on his way to the store. The call has been determined to be a swatting incident, a dangerous hoax intended to trigger a large-scale emergency response. Walmart has confirmed that this appears to be part of a nationwide series of similar hoax calls. Sidney Walmart remained closed for the remainder of the day but reopened this morning at 6 a.m.

Last night's scanner traffic indicated horses out on highway 71 and highway 88. As of 2 a.m. the owners had not been located yet and the horses were still running free. Thank you to those who do report things to the Nebraska State Patrol using *55. Troopers were able to get a description but canceled the pursuit because they observed no actual violations other than running free.

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Let's start off with some crime news today. Lots of cases to report from around the panhandle. Let's start off in Alliance in Box Butte County. Thomas Wiendell, 74, pled no contest to a Class 3A felony charge of 3rd degree sexual assault of a child. Wiendell was originally charged with three different counts. Two other counts were plea bargained down.

You may remember the ATV or UTV crash on Highway 71 last weekend where scanner traffic indicated a rollover accident occurred near the Banner County / Scotts Bluff County line in the Wildcat Hills. Until now we had not learned the fate of the man due to the seriousness of the crash. Panhandle scanner has learned that the man is in critical condition still and still needs our prayers.

On Tuesday morning a large swath of Chimney Rock Public Power District's patrons were without power. To find our original post on that visit Panhandle scanner on Facebook where you'll find the outage map and a link to that site where you can check your area anytime there's a power outage. In fact there have been so many power outages lately we have added a tab on our website under PanhandleScanner.com under the resources tab.

Be sure to visit PanhandleScanner.com for more resources like Nebraska 10 Codes, Mile Markers, the Panhandle Alert System, Tornado Shelters and more. That's PanhandleScanner.com. And of course don't forget our public record every Monday through Friday when available. That's PanhandleScanner.com or on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and others.

Back in 2009, Hale Multimedia set up a free public broadcast to five feet so that every individual in the world could listen to the scanner without buying an expensive piece of equipment. Just visit any police scanner app in your favorite app store. Just search for Scotts Bluff County Public Safety. Or go directly to PanhandleScanner.com, where you can listen anytime.

Now let's take a listen to some of that traffic.

Drinking and driving do not mix. A drunk altercation back on the 15th of April turns deadly. Scanner traffic indicated an incident at Bridgeport State Lake where Nebraska State Patrol and Morrill County deputies were called to an incident at the Bridgeport State Recreation Area near Rec Road.

"North Platte, 483."

"483"

"10-89 is 10-18. The only information is if the female jumped out of a moving vehicle. All she could give me is on Recreation Road."

Originally unable to locate the victim while going 1018 or lights and sirens, they eventually located 53-year-old Maria Lewis, who was found with a critical head injury. Court records indicate that Jason Parker of Bridgeport was driving the RV and was arrested for DUI. And then after asking me in the practical home, 641, the practical home, 641, then you can meet the victim of your male child out of. Parker originally stated that Lewis had jumped from the vehicle. After a short investigation, the male was transported to the jail.

"The female was transported by 10-55 (ambulance). Also, they have a male 10-15, reference 10-47 (DUI)."

"Midnight thirty-one."

On Saturday, a serious ATV rollover accident occurred around 11:00 am near the Scotts Bluff, Banner County line on Highway 71, south of Gering. Airlink at Regional West was unable to fly due to weather, and one male was transported via ground ambulance to Regional West Medical Center. We ask that everyone please pray for this very serious situation.

Then on Saturday night, local Scanner traffic in Gordon reported a two vehicle accident around mile marker 102 on Highway 20 between Gordon and Clinton. One male ejected with life flight requested. Extrication needed for the 42-year-old female, she was transported by EMS. And again, we ask for everyone to please pray for everyone involved. And thank you to the Gordon Volunteer Fire Department and anyone else you responded.

In crime news, Jerry Gorasek of Scotts Bluff and Rosa Gamboa both took plea deals after getting caught with 59 grams of methamphetamine, and a 45-year-old Terrytown man was arrested last summer in a July assault that left his victim hospitalized. Bernard Little Spotted Horse was back in court for sentencing last week, as well as the ousted Morrill County Assessor, Rose Nelson.

For all of our court cases, check our public record each Monday through Friday when available.

Tornado totals are in so far, only one tornado warning in Nebraska thus far in the season. And we are last on the list. Thankfully, with Illinois leading the way at 131 warnings issued so far this season. Wisconsin, surprisingly, and Missouri round out the top three. Our special tornado tracking reports make sure you follow Panhandle Scanner on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and frequently visit our news page at PanhandleScanner.com.

We have a new service! We are now periodically producing full overnight traffic in a time lapse format. That means you can listen to the entire night of scanner traffic in a matter of 30 minutes or less. We've stripped out all the personal details as far as medical information goes but you will hear details on some of the police calls. The new podcast is called Scanner Traffic and it's available on all podcast networks including Spotify, Apple, iTunes, iHeart and more. Scanner traffic by Hail Multimedia and Panhandle Scanner. Find it on our homepage at PanhandleScanner.com.

And don't forget about one of our most popular services across the state of Nebraska and that's the only published Nebraska public record. Available on PanhandleScanner.com.

The big news this morning are the wildfires that are raging across Nebraska again this morning. Last night, the town of Whitman, Nebraska was evacuated due to the wildfires. We have made several posts on our Penhandle Scanner Facebook page covering the fire, including maps and acreages burned with information provided by the WatchDuty app. According to the WatchDuty app, there are currently 10 fires actively burning in Nebraska, the largest one being the Andrews Fire near Valentine, consuming 2,500 acres thus far. There are currently three fires burning in Cherry County, as well as fires in Grant County, Hooker County, McPherson County, Arthur County and Custer County. Overnight in Grant County, the town of Whitman was evacuated, with a shelter point being listed as the county courthouse in Hyannis. Highway 2 was originally closed but was reopened per radio traffic because there was no immediate fire concern regarding the highway. For all the fire coverage, see our Panhandle Scanner website or Facebook page with frequent updates from the WatchDuty app. Our prayers for everyone involved, especially our first responders and those in the way of danger.

Again, for updates, visit panhandlescanner.com.

And don't forget about our public record every Monday through Friday when available.

Well things are getting a little squirrely out there with all of the power outages around the Panhandle. In fact, on the 21st at approximately 7.13 am, County Road 17 and Highway 92 was the 10-20 or location of said suspect, a squirrel, who caused a power outage that occurred recently.

On Tuesday, Scottsbluff Rural Fire was dispatched to a fire in a ditch on County Road 17 south of Highway 92. The fire was started by a deadly combination of a squirrel and a transformer. Thank you to Roosevelt Public Power District for their quick response and getting the power issue resolved very quickly.

In other scanner traffic, there was a smoke check in an apartment complex on 10th Street in Gering.

Speaking of power outages, Torrington also experienced a power outage yesterday morning and the City of Gering has frequent power outages. Our hope is that we can get our infrastructure secured and stabilized.

Also in Chappell, scanner traffic indicated that officers were responding to a high 10-73, or intoxicated pedestrian, with multiple firearms nearby. Troopers responded and the situation was de-escalated with verbal warnings given to all and one 10-12, or subject, given a ride home.

Yesterday in Morrill, scanner traffic indicated an active carbon monoxide alarm. This would be a good time to remind everyone to please check your detectors regularly. For any questions in regards to smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, please contact your local fire department.