We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Month: September 2012

Columbus Mother & Son Killed In Wednesday Crash

Posted on

A Columbus woman and her 12-year-old son are dead following a crash on a wet city street.

The crash happened around 9 p.m. Wednesday when 37-year-old Maria Diaz lost control of her vehicle while changing lanes on a wet street.

Police say Diaz’s car crossed a median and was hit by a semitrailer. Daniel Diaz, a seventh-grader at Columbus Middle School, died at the scene. His mother was taken to a local hospital, then to an Omaha hospital, where she died.

The 52-year-old driver of the semitrailer refused medical treatment.

Thursday Sports Wrap – Jay Cutler Just Got Sacked Again While You Were Reading This Headline

Posted on

Bombers, Birds win…Weaver gets 17th

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Yankees have managed to keep their share of first place in the American League East by winning back-to-back games for the first time since mid-August.

Phil Hughes combined with three relievers on a six-hitter as the Yanks downed the Red Sox 2-0. Hughes allowed five hits and struck out seven over 7 1/3 innings to help the Bombers remain tied with the Orioles for the division lead, four games ahead of Tampa Bay.

Derek Jeter hit an RBI single while serving as the designated hitter, one night after pulling himself out of a game with a bone bruise on his left ankle.

Earlier, Manny Machado blooped a game-winning single with two out in the bottom of the 14th to give the Birds a 3-2 win and a three-game sweep of the Rays. The O’s have won 14 of 19 and are 26-11 since Aug. 3, thus securing their first non-losing season since 1997.

Tampa Bay remains 3 1/2 games behind Oakland for the second AL wild card after the Athletics absorbed a 6-0 loss to the Angels in Anaheim. Jered Weaver improved to 17-4 by limiting the A’s to two hits while striking out nine in seven innings. Torii Hunter contributed a solo homer and an RBI single during a six-run seventh as the Angels avoided a four-game sweep.

The Halos are three games out of a wild-card berth. The A’s are still three games behind West-leading Texas.

The Rangers were unable to pad their division lead as Jason Kipnis smacked a two-run homer in the ninth to push Cleveland past Texas 5-4. The Indians ended a five-game skid by homering twice in the ninth off closer Joe Nathan, who failed to record an out after converting 31 straight save opportunities.

The AL Central race was put on hold. The White Sox and Tigers were rained out and will make up the game Monday afternoon in Chicago.

The Pale Hose are just a game ahead of Detroit with 20 games remaining.

Also in the AL, Edwin Encarnacion hit his 40th home run and Adam Lind also went deep as the Blue Jays whipped Seattle 8-3. Toronto handed Felix Hernandez his third straight loss.

Minnesota beat Kansas City 4-3 on Denard Span’s walk-off double in the 10th inning. Trevor Plouffe’s solo homer tied it in the ninth.

Over to the National League, where baseball’s worst team cooled off the hottest.

Jed Lowrie delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning as the Astros ended Philadelphia’s seven-game winning streak, defeating the Phillies 6-4. Matt Dominguez hit a three-run blast for Houston, which trailed 4-0 after three innings.

St. Louis beat Los Angeles 2-1 to move two games ahead of the Dodgers for the final NL wild-card berth. Allen Craig and Skip Schumaker each hit RBI singles to support Lance Lynn, who allowed a run and five hits in six innings for his 15th win.

Packers trounce Bears

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers gave Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler a night to forget while clobbering the Bears 23-10 at Lambeau Field.

Cutler was 11-of-27 for only 127 yards and four interceptions. He also was sacked seven times and threw as many touchdown passes as Packers’ punter Tim Masthay.

The Packers scored their first TD on a fake field goal. Masthay took the snap and shoveled the ball to Tom Crabtree, who ran the ball 27 yards for a touchdown to make it 10-0 late in the first half. Mason Crosby hit field goals of 48, 35 and 54 yards before Aaron Rodgers hit Donald Driver for a 26-yard touchdown pass to put the Packers up 23-3 with 11:17 remaining.

Tramon Williams had two interceptions and Clay Matthews recorded 3 1/2 sacks as Green Bay bounced back from Sunday’s loss to San Francisco.

Howard to miss opening of camp

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Lakers say center Dwight Howard won’t finish his rehabilitation from back surgery in time for the start of training camp or their first preseason game.

Howard recently began working with the Lakers’ training staff on his recovery from spinal surgery in April. He was acquired from Orlando in a four-team summer trade that sent All-Star center Andrew Bynum to Philadelphia.

Hall of Fame coach retires

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Jim Calhoun has retired after 26 seasons, seven Big East tournament titles and three NCAA championships as men’s basketball coach at Connecticut.

The 70-year-old Hall of Famer is being replaced by assistant coach Kevin Ollie, a former player for Calhoun.

Calhoun will take a transition appointment through next spring as a special assistant to the athletic director. When he is fully retired, Calhoun will become head coach emeritus.

Calhoun has been slowed by health problems in recent years including a fractured hip last month.

The Huskies won’t play in the NCAA tournament next year after being punished for failing to meet academic standards.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 3 Tampa Bay 2, 14 Innings
L.A. Angels 6 Oakland 0
Toronto 8 Seattle 3
N-Y Yankees 2 Boston 0
Cleveland 5 Texas 4
Minnesota 4 Kansas City 3, 10 Innings
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Houston 6 Philadelphia 4
St. Louis 2 L.A. Dodgers 1
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Green Bay 23 Chicago 10

Woman Loses Lawsuit Claiming She Was Fired For Speaking Spanish

Posted on

A Nebraska woman who says she was fired for speaking Spanish at work failed to convince a federal judge that was true.

The U.S. District Judge John Gerrard dismissed Rocio Reyes’ lawsuit against Pharma Chemie Inc.

Reyes and one other woman often conversed in Spanish while working at the maker of nutritional supplements for animals and humans. The company developed its English-only policy in March 2010 because managers wanted to make sure employees understood directions.

Gerrard says Reyes failed to prove that PCI’s policy requiring employees to speak English at work was discriminatory.

And Reyes couldn’t prove she lost her job for violating the policy. The company says Reyes was laid off along with two non-Hispanic workers who didn’t speak Spanish.

Unclaimed Property To Be Sold On Ebay

Posted on

Nebraska is putting unclaimed property left in safe deposit boxes up for auction on eBay.

State Treasurer Don Stenberg says there are 272 lots, including coins, jewelry and collectible sports cards. The auction begins Monday and will last a week.

Stenberg says state law allows the auction. Banks hold onto the items for five years before turning them over to the state, which then keeps them for another five years before holding an auction.

He says the property is put on the auction block only after various efforts to find the original owners have failed. He says they don’t have the storage space to keep the items forever.

Proceeds from the sale are recorded in the original owner’s name and are held indefinitely, or until it’s claimed.

20 Year Old Convicted Of Killing During Robbery In Omaha

Posted on

A Douglas County jury has convicted a man of killing an Omaha man during a botched robbery.

The jury on Thursday found 20-year-old Ryan Elseman guilty of first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. He was charged in the shooting death of 25-year-old Kristopher Winters in July 2011.

Elseman faces a sentence of life in prison plus 50 years when he’s sentenced in November.

Elseman was one of five people charged in Winters’ death.

The trial of Marqus Patton ended in a hung jury in July. He’s to go on trial again in October. Cases against the other three defendants are pending

Omaha Police Need Help Identifying Burned Body

Posted on

Omaha police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man found dead found inside a burning garage at an abandoned house last month.

Firefighters discovered the body on Aug. 30 after the fire was out. The body was burned beyond recognition.

Police on Thursday say the man was about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed about 140 pounds. He had three gold inlays and a gold crown on his teeth and appeared to have facial hair.

Homicide detectives joined arson investigators in the case.

Gov. Dave Heineman Wants Answers

Posted on

Gov. Dave Heineman wants to know why the University of Nebraska is asking local governments in Omaha to help pay for a $323 million cancer research center.

Heineman told The Associated Press Thursday that he signed a funding bill for the project with the understanding that the university would first raise $60 million in private money. Meeting that goal would trigger $50 million in state aid this fiscal year.

His remarks came as the Omaha City Council considers a 35-cent-per-pack cigarette tax to help pay for the center. University officials have also approached Douglas County.

Heineman says he supports the Omaha-based project. But he says the university “owes us an explanation,” and that their push for local tax funding will make him more skeptical about future requests for state aid.

New U.S. Citizens Will Have A Great Opportunity Monday

Posted on

More than 40 new U.S. citizens will have the opportunity to take their oath of citizenship in a special ceremony on Monday.

The ceremony will be held on Constitution Day at the Homestead National Monument near Beatrice.

Historian Blake Bell will teach about the immigration and homesteading in a program at 1 p.m. Monday. Then the citizenship ceremony will follow at 2 p.m.

Nebraska PSC Announces Lifeline Awareness Week

Posted on

On September 5, Governor Dave Heineman signed a proclamation declaring the week of September 10-16 as Nebraska Lifeline Awareness Week.  The Nebraska Public Service Commission administers the program.

 

The proclamation brings attention to the national Lifeline phone assistance program.  Lifeline provides a monthly credit of $12.75 off monthly service for one landline or wireless phone to a qualified household.  This program helps those eligible to obtain phone service and access to emergency services.

 

Nebraskans seeking Lifeline assistance must be participating in one of the following programs offered through these agencies:

 

Department of Health and Human Services:  Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamps); Low-Income Home Energy Assistance; Kids Connection (Children’s Health Insurance including SAM, MAC, EMAC) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (also known as Aid to Dependent Children)

Department of Education:  National School Free Lunch Program

Social Security Administration:  Supplemental Security Income (SSI)\

Federal Housing Administration:  Federal Public Housing Assistance

In addition, households may seek assistance if their income is at or below 135% of the poverty level.

 

If you have questions, please call our office and ask for the Nebraska Telephone Assistance Program (NTAP) at 402-471-3101 or toll free 800-526-0017.

Businesses Reopen After Wildfire Threat In The West

Posted on

The Nebraska Tourism Commission is getting the word out that parks and attractions in northwest Nebraska are open for business, despite recent wildfires in the region.

Nebraska Tourism Commissioner Mike Kesselring says travelers should know that attractions in communities like as Chadron, Crawford and Hay Springs are open and accessible. Those attractions include museums, parks, forts, wildlife areas, golf courses and national monuments.

Kesselring says visitors to Chadron State Park may see a change in the scenery, but will still find a full slate of outdoor experiences such hiking, biking, fishing, camping and hunting. The park closed briefly late last month because of fire. Toadstool Geologic Park, noted for its moonlike geologic formations, also reopened after a short closure, and Fort Robinson State Park remains open.

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File