Partnership for Prescription Assistance to stop in Hastings

The "Help Is Here Express" bus tour will make a stop in Hastings on Thursday to provide education about prescription assistance programs that provide free or reduced-price medications.

The tour is part of the Partner for Prescription Assistance, a group sponsored by pharmaceutical research companies.

The bus will be located at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Specialists will be on hand to help uninsured patients in need access information on more than 475 patient assistance programs. Patients can also learn about new medicines in development to fight chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and asthma.

For more information, visit the Partnership for Prescription Assistance Web site, www.pparx.org, or call 1-888-4PPA-NOW.

Mountain lion e-mail untrue

An e-mail circulating locally about a mountain lion killed near Alda is a hoax.

The mountain lion in the e-mail's photo is actually from Arizona, said Sam Wilson, a nongame mammal/furbearer program manager with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

The e-mail has been making the rounds in several different states, including West Virginia, with each e-mail changing the geographical details to make it closer to home, Wilson said.

For the latest official information on Nebraska's mountain lion population, visit www.ngpc.state.ne.us/wildlife/mountainlion.asp.