(AP) —The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Moore, Okla., had wind speeds up to 200 mph.
The weather service’s preliminary classification of Monday afternoon’s tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale.
Authorities say emergency crews are working to rescue people trapped in Moore, which is southwest of Oklahoma City. Rescuers are frantically searching the remains of an elementary school that took a direct hit.
Oklahoma City Police Capt. Dexter Nelson said emergency crews are trying to reach the affected areas. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The suburb of Moore was hit hard by a tornado in 1999. The storm had the highest winds ever recorded near the earth’s surface.
(AP) — Authorities in Omaha have launched a task force to investigate any connection between last week’s killings of a Creighton University professor and his wife and the 2008 slayings of an 11-year boy and his family housekeeper.
Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said Monday that the public should report any suspicious activity as authorities investigate the deaths of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary, as well as the unsolved 2008 stabbings of Thomas Hunter and 57-year-old Shirlee Sherman.
The Brumbacks were found slain May 14 in their Omaha home. Schmaderer has refused to say how they were killed.
Roger Brumback was a pathology professor and colleague of Thomas Hunter’s parents, who both work at Creighton. Schmaderer will only say authorities are “exploring very hard” the possibility the killings are related.
Singer Joe Cocker is 69
Singer-actress Cher is 67
Actor Dave Thomas (“Grace Under Fire,” ”SCTV”) is 64
Musician Warren Cann of Ultravox is 61
Actor Dean Butler (“Little House on the Prairie”) is 57
Guitarist Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s is 55
Actor Bronson Pinchot is 54
Singer Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills is 54
Actor John Billingsley (“Enterprise”) is 53
Actor Tony Goldwyn is 53
Singer Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 is 52
TV personality Ted Allen (“Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”) is 48
Actress Mindy Cohn (“Facts of Life”) is 47
Guitarist Tom Gorman of Belly is 47
Rapper Busta Rhymes is 41
Bassist Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne is 38
Actor Matt Czuchry (zoo-KREE’) (“The Good Wife,” ”Gilmore Girls”) is 36
Singer-actress Naturi Naughton (3LW) is 29.
On May 20th, 1954, Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” was released. It didn’t catch on until it appeared on the soundtrack of “Blackboard Jungle” the following year.
In 1966, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who started a concert in Windsor, England, without bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. When they finally showed up, Townshend hit Moon over the head with his guitar. Moon quit the band, but was back a week later.
In 1967, Jimi Hendrix signed his first U.S. recording contract, with Reprise (rih-PREEZ’) Records.
In 1971, Peter Cetera of the band Chicago was beaten by several men at a baseball game, apparently because they didn’t like the length of his hair.
In 1985, Daryl Hall and John Oates headlined a concert for the reopening of the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. The show benefited the United Negro College Fund.
In 1989, actress-comedian Gilda Radner died of ovarian cancer in Los Angeles. She was 42.
In 1993, the final episode of “Cheers” was broadcast on NBC.
In 1995, Connie Chung was fired as co-anchor on the “CBS Evening News.”
Also in 1995, singer Don Henley married Sharon Summerall.
In 1998, actor Charlie Sheen was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for a drug overdose.
Gladys Joy Johnson, 77, of North Platte, NE, passed away Sunday, May 19, 2013, at Linden Court in North Platte.
Gladys was born June 6, 1935, at Cozad, NE to John Henry and Violet Mae Lanham Pebley. She grew up in various Nebraska communities and graduated from North Platte High School in 1953. She then went to work for Woolworth’s Five and Dime Store before getting married.
On December 24, 1961, Gladys married Fred “Fritz” Johnson in North Platte where they made their home. Along with raising her own two daughters, Gladys did childcare for 40 years, retiring in 2007. During this time she took care of kids too numerous to count.
Gladys was a member of Valley Christian Church and enjoyed church activities. She loved the Huskers and spending time with her family. She was also an avid bell collector and enjoyed knitting. Gladys had a great love for children.
Survivors include her daughters, Melody (Mike) Ziegler, of Destin, FL and Melisa (Calvin) Davidson, of North Platte; four grandchildren, Jessica and Justin Ziegler and Callie and Carter Davidson; two sisters, Verla (Richard) Moore, of Colorado Springs, CO and Sarah “Ginny” Herold, of Cozad, NE; brothers-in-law, Delbert Greeley and Bud (Barb) Johnson, of North Platte; a sister-in-law, Joan Johnson, of Colorado; several nieces, nephews and other family.
Gladys was preceded in death by her husband, Fred “Fritz”, in 1991; her parents, John and Violet Pebley; a brother, Lonnie Pebley; her sister, Dorothy Greeley; brothers-in-law, Amos Johnson and Ivan Johnson; and her sisters-in-law, Irma (Encil) Kiser, Cora (Pat) Holley and Fern Jenkins.
Funeral service will be 10 a.m. Friday, May 24, 2013, at the Valley Christian Church with Pastor Brent Montgomery officiating. Burial will follow in Fort McPherson National Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. with family greeting friends from 6 to 8 p.m. at Odean Colonial Chapel At C & Sycamore. Condolences may also be shared at odeanchapel.com. Memorials are suggested to the Playground Fund at Valley Christian Church. Odean Colonial Chapel At C & Sycamore is in charge of arrangements.
A North Platte man is facing arson charges after getting carried away with gasoline.
At around 11:00 p.m., Officers with the North Platte Police Department and firefighters from the North Platte Fire Department responded to the 2000 Block of West 16th on the report of a fire.
Upon arrival, Officers were told that Carl McKinney, 26, had started the fire.
Through an investigation, Officers learned that a fire pit had been burning in the back yard of the residence, when McKinney started spreading gasoline from the pit to other areas, including a neighbors fence line.
The fire caused damage to the residence and a television cable.
Officers determined there was probable cause to arrest McKinney and charge him with 2nd Degree Arson.
He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.
A 67-year-old Stapleton man is dead following a head-on collision north of Stapleton Saturday evening.
Authorities say Roger Beckett was traveling in a minivan on Highway 83 near mile marker 119 just before 5:00 p.m., when a pickup driven by 71-year-old Jesus Gonzales-Torres of North Platte crossed the center line and struck the minivan head-on.
Beckett was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife Barbara, was transported to Great Plains Regional Medical Center by ambulance. Gonzales-Torres was also transported to the hospital.
Law enforcement officials say the investigation is still ongoing, but alcohol is believed to have been a factor.
(AP) — Two FBI special agents on the agency’s elite Hostage Rescue Team have been killed in a training accident in Virginia.
The FBI’s national press office said in a statement Sunday that the accident happened off the coast of Virginia Beach on Friday. No other details were given and the cause is under investigation.
The special agents were identified as 41-year-old Christopher Lorek and 40-year-old Stephen Shaw,
FBI Director Robert Mueller said in the statement that “we mourn the loss of two brave and courageous men” and “our hearts are with their wives, children and other loved ones who feel their loss most deeply.”
The Hostage Rescue Team is part of the Critical Incident Response Group based at Quantico in northern Virginia.
The 14th-seeded Nebraska softball team fought through three weather delays and a tough 13th-ranked Stanford squad to win its first regional championship since 2002 with a 10-5 victory over the Cardinal in the NCAA Lincoln Regional championship game on Sunday at Bowlin Stadium.
With the win, Nebraska (43-13) advanced to the first Super Regional in school history, as the NCAA did not adopt the regional-super regional until the 2005 season. Overall, the Huskers won their seventh NCAA regional title. The Huskers will face No. 3 seed Oregon on the road in the Eugene Super Regional (dates and times TBA).
The title did not come easy. The game started late following a 32-minute rain delay. Stanford then led 3-1 after one inning of play, before inclement weather delayed the start of the second inning for more than an hour. But the Huskers would not be denied, scoring five times in a rain-delayed fifth inning and four times in the sixth to pull away from the Cardinal (39-21).
Junior right-hander Tatum Edwards (29-8) went the distance to earn the win for the third straight game, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits. Teagan Gerhart (21-13) took the loss for Stanford, allowing 10 runs (four earned) on eight hits in 5.2 innings.
Offensively, Nebraska’s seniors came up huge in their final home game. Gabby Banda was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and one RBI, and she drew her 40th walk of the season, tying the school record. Brooke Thomason was 2-for-2 in her final game at Bowlin Stadium, producing three RBIs. Courtney Breault also drove in three as part of a 2-for-4 day that included a double. Throw in Tatum and Taylor Edwards – who combined for two hits, two RBIs and three runs scored – and the first six hitters in the Husker lineup combined to go 7-for-14 with six runs scored and nine RBIs.
Freshman Alicia Armstrong also enjoyed an outstanding day at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 including a solo home run that opened Nebraska’s five-run fifth inning and ignited the Husker offense.
Before the big middle innings, Nebraska jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to a Stanford error. Tatum Edwards worked a leadoff walk after a dropped foul ball. She moved to third on a bunt single from Banda and scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly from Thomason.
In the bottom of the frame, a leadoff, infield single was followed by a walk. After a pop out, Jenna Rich singled to load the bases with one out. An infield single brought home the tying run before a pair of bases-loaded walk gave Stanford a 3-1 lead.
Photo Courtesy of huskers.com
The Huskers pulled within one when Armstrong hit the first pitch of the top of the fifth inning over the fence in left field for a solo home run. A one-out error and a Tatum Edwards double then put Huskers at second and third with only one out. Banda tied the game with a squeeze bunt that scored Jordan Bettiol. Following a pickoff on a first-and-third rundown, Taylor Edwards hit a spinning ball toward second that spun away from the second baseman and into center field for a two-out, RBI single that gave Nebraska a 4-3 lead.
A falling rain then intensified and forced a 36-minute rain delay, the third weather delay of the day. Following the break, Thomason walked to put runners on first and second before Courtney Breault ripped a two-run double to right center to score two and put the Huskers up 6-3. Breault’s double capped a five-run inning in which four runs were unearned.
A two-out Husker error then allowed Stanford to pull within 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth.
Nebraska made up for the error with a four-run sixth inning. Armstrong began the frame with an infield single, before Mattie Fowler walked. After the next two batters were retired, Banda walked to load the bases before Taylor Edwards picked up an RBI with a two-out bases-loaded walk. Thomason then produced a two-run single before Breault capped the inning with an RBI infield single that deflected off the pitcher.
Trailing 10-4, Stanford answered with a two-out RBI single from Erin Ashby to trim the lead to five. But that was as close as the Cardinal would get, as Tatum Edwards held Stanford scoreless the rest of the way.
(AP) — The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 11 cents over the past two weeks.
The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.66. Midgrade costs an average of $3.84 a gallon, and premium is $3.98.
Diesel held steady at $3.93 gallon.
Of the cities surveyed in the lower 48 states, Tucson, Ariz., has the nation’s lowest average price for gas at $3.18. Minneapolis has the highest at $4.27.
In California, the lowest average price was $3.94 in Fresno. The highest was in San Francisco at $4.07. The average statewide for a gallon of regular was $4.03, up 18 cents.
