Firefighters successfully protected the homes around Jeffrey Lake during the bitter cold night Sunday, the incident command said the next morning, but the danger to the homes is not over.

In the high winds Sunday, the Cottonwood Fire continued to rage, posing a threat to homes at Jeffrey Lake that were evacuated Saturday night.

Residents of Jeffrey Lake were ordered to evacuate their homes at 7:43 p.m. Saturday, as the Cottonwood Fire continued to rage out of control.

Three fires that started Thursday in central and western Nebraska had damaged around 600,000 acres -- the equivalent of more than 900 square miles -- by Saturday morning.

As night fell Friday, the Cottonwood Fire continued to burn. Flames jumped the tri-county canal near Snell Canyon Road at the south edge of the Platte Valley, about halfway between Maxwell and Brady.

Central and western Nebraska became a hot spot on Thursday afternoon, as 24 reports of wildfires across central and western Nebraska were received withing 24 hours, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said Friday.

A vehicle crash claimed the life of a motorist Thursday on I-80 about two miles west of North Platte.

Around 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, March 10, an adult woman was assaulted by a white male near the South Platte River bicycle and pedestrian walking trail, west of Jeffers St.

Three experienced Nebraska education leaders are finalists for the position of interim superintendent of North Platte Public Schools.

A rundown of entertaining events in North Platte and Lincoln County, March 12-21:

The North Platte Public Schools Board of Education will interview three candidates for the interim superintendent position on March 24, as the board moves forward to fill the gap left by the abrupt resignation of former Supt. Todd Rhodes.

A North Platte man involved in a minor traffic accident faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly selling drugs, based on evidence that police seized from his car and his home.

State troopers responded to over 40 weather related incidents during Sunday’s winter storm, when blizzard-like conditions affected Nebraska.

A wildfire in the Bessey Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest has blackened about 35,000 acres after flaring up from the smoldering remains of a prescribed fire that took place a day and a half earlier.

New dietary guidelines are being put in place by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on March 4.