(AP) — A 41-year-old Scottsbluff man has been accused of throwing his 6-year-old son to a floor and striking him.
Authorities say Joseph Hafner was arrested on Tuesday and charged with felony child abuse. A Scotts County jailer said Hafner remained in custody on Friday, pending $75,000 in bail. Hafner’s attorney didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
An arrest affidavit says the boy told school officials about being slammed down. A doctor at Regional West Medical Center told police the boy had bruises on his back and a shoulder and forearm.
The affidavit says Hafner told investigators that he had “lost it” when his son denied taking a key to a garage.
Military officials say a Humvee carrying six Navy SEALs and two other sailors overturned during a training exercise at Fort Knox in Kentucky, killing one of the SEALs and injuring the others on board.
Lt. David Lloyd, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Group Two in Virginia Beach, Va., says the Humvee was part of a convoy on the post when it overturned Wednesday night. What caused it to flip remains under investigation.
The Navy says the SEAL who died was Special Warfare Operator Third Class Jonathan H. Kaloust, who was based in Virginia. He was from Massapequa, N.Y.
Lloyd says the seven survivors were treated for minor injuries and released from a hospital.
The sailors had been conducting tactical training, but Lloyd would not release further details about the exercise because it was considered sensitive.
Authorities say Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate declined to 3.7 percent in April after registering 3.8 percent for four straight months.
The Nebraska Labor Department says in a report released Friday that the rate was three-tenths of a point lower than in April 2012 and less than half the national April rate of 7.5 percent for this year.
The 3.7 percent was the second-lowest state unemployment figure in the country, trailing only North Dakota’s 3.3 percent for April.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s office is seeking the public’s help in the near-drowning case of Landon Schroeder.
A news release from Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says, “As part of a criminal investigation regarding the near drowning death of three-year-old, Landon Schroeder on May 6th, 2013, between the hours of 12:00 noon and 6:30 PM, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance.”
The Sheriff’s Office is looking for information from any persons who may have been on the larger of two lakes in kayak’s or small boats, at the North East area of the Newberry overpass, North of the railroad tracks on this date and times.
Anyone who has any information is urged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 308-535-9519 or 308-535-9599.
On Friday, May 10, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Investigators arrested the boy’s stepfather, Trevor Perry, and charged him with Felony Child Abuse.
Through an extensive investigation, Deputies learned that Perry took Landon to a remote fishing spot near North Platte, where they fished from 12:00 p.m. until at least 6:30 p.m.
According to Deputies, at some point during the day, Perry became inattentive for an extended period of time. He eventually found Landon underwater about 15 feet from the shoreline.
Perry told Investigators that Landon was not conscious when he removed him from the pond.
Authorities say Perry did not call for assistance, instead, he walked Landon to his vehicle, loaded his property and drove to his residence.
Landon’s mother immediately recognized that Landon was in great distress and immediately took him to Great Plains Regional Medical Center.
Landon was transported to a Denver hospital where he made an amazing recovery and is expected to return home this week.
A North Platte man has been charged with assault after he bit his step-mother.
According to a North Platte Police Department news release, Officers responded to the report of an assault in the 300 block of West 1st Street on Thursday at around 8:00 p.m.
Upon arrival, an Officer met with a 61-year-old female victim. The victim told police that her step-son, Trevor Perry, who was currently living with her, had assaulted her.
The victim stated that Perry had appeared intoxicated or under the influence of something and was attempting to leave the residence in his vehicle.
Fearing that Perry would cause an accident by driving in his intoxicated state, the victim attempted to convince him not to drive, and even offered to drive him to his destination.
When the victim attempted to take Perry’s keys from him, he bit her on the arm causing visible injury.
Perry then left the property.
Perry’s vehicle was located a short time later in the 1500 Block of West 10th Street. Officers responded to a residence where they took Perry into custody without incident.
Officers said that Perry appeared to be intoxicated at the time of his arrest.
He was charged with 3rd Degree Assault and taken to the Lincoln County Detention Center.
Perry was recently charged with Felony Child Abuse in the near-drowning case of Landon Schroeder.
CORRECTION: The initial release from the North Platte Police Department stated the victim was Perry’s mother. However, it turns out the victim was his step-mother.
The American Red Cross is urging residents in Nebraska and Iowa to make sure households, schools and business are prepared for possible severe weather including rain, strong winds and possible tornados.
“Listen to weather alerts and designate a safe space where people can gather for the duration of the storm,” said Tina Labellarte, Region CEO. “The area should be a basement, storm cellar or an interior room on the lowest floor away from windows.”
Download Tornado App
The American Red Cross Tornado App is available in English or Spanish and gives iPhone, iPad and Android smart phone and tablet users instant access to local and real-time information, so they know what to do before, during and after a tornado.
The free app includes a high-pitched siren and “tornado warning!” alert that signals when a NOAA tornado warning has been issued. This feature allows users to make critical decisions and to take actions to help keep themselves and their loved ones safe even in the middle of the night. An “all clear!” alert lets users know when a tornado warning has expired or has been cancelled.
Other features of the app include:
· Location-based NOAA tornado, severe thunderstorm and flood watch and warning alerts;
· Enhanced weather maps and information provided by Weather Underground, a digital brand of The Weather Company;
· One touch “I’m safe” messaging that allows users to broadcast reassurance to family and friends via social media outlets that they are out of harm’s way;
· Preloaded content that gives users instant access to critical action steps, even without mobile connectivity;
· Toolkit with flashlight, strobe light and audible alarm; and
· Locations of open Red Cross shelters.
“If a tornado is threatening your area, listen for alerts and warnings, grab your emergency preparedness kit and head to your designated safe area,” Labellarte added.
The Tornado App, along with other apps, can be found in the Apply App Store and the Google Play Store for Android by searching for American Red Cross or by going to redcross.org/mobileapps. People can go to redcross.org/tornado for more safety tips.
As with any disaster, preparation can be the difference between life or death. The Red Cross recommends that individuals and families prepare for tornadoes by:
Creating and practicing a Home Tornado Plan: Pick a “safe room” or uncluttered area without windows where family members and pets could seek shelter on the lowest floor possible: a basement, a center hallway, a bathroom or a closet. Putting as many walls between you and the outside provides additional protection.
Assembling a Emergency Preparedness Kit: Kits should contain a first aid kit and essential medications, foods that don’t require cooking or refrigeration and manual can opener, bottled water, flashlights and a battery-powered radio with extra batteries and other emergency items for the whole family.
Heeding Storm Warnings: Listen to your local radio and TV stations for updated storm information. A tornado WATCH means a tornado is possible in your area. When a tornado WARNING is issued, go to the safe room you picked to protect yourself from glass and other flying objects. If you are outside, hurry to the basement of a nearby sturdy building. . If you are in a car or mobile home, get out immediately and head to the nearest building for safety. If you are outside and there are no buildings, lie flat in a low lying area or ditch and cover your head with your arms and hands.
Preparing for High Winds: Make trees more wind resistant by removing diseased and damaged limbs, then strategically removing branches so that wind can blow through. Install permanent shutters on your windows and add protection to the outside areas of sliding glass doors. Strengthen garage doors and unreinforced masonry. Move or secure lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants and anything else that can be picked up by wind and become a projectile.
For more information on tornado preparedness, contact the Nebraska/SW Iowa Region of the American Red Cross at (402) 343-7700, visitwww.redcross.org/neia or call 1-800 RED CROSS.
(AP)-The public can learn more about the progress being made at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant on Friday.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Omaha Public Power District will discuss the latest inspections at the idle plant 20 miles north of Omaha at the meeting.
Fort Calhoun initially shut down for routine maintenance in April 2011, but flooding along the Missouri River and a series of safety violations forced it to stay closed.
The utility is working to address a list of about 480 items in 18 major categories the NRC says must be fixed before the plant will be allowed to restart.
OPPD officials say they think Fort Calhoun can be ready by late May.
Regulators say the plant won’t restart unless they’re confident it is safe.
Omaha cold case investigators have been looking for links between this week’s slayings of a Creighton University professor and his wife and the 2008 slayings of an 11-year-old boy and his family housekeeper.
The professor, Dr. Roger Brumback, was a colleague of the boy’s father and mother at Creighton’s medical school. They are Drs. William and Claire Hunter. Their son, Thomas Hunter, and their housekeeper, 57-year-old Shirlee Sherman, were stabbed to death at the Hunters’ home on March 13, 2008.
Police have not said how Roger and Mary Brumback were killed. Their bodies were discovered in their west-central Omaha home on Tuesday.
No arrests have been reported in either case.
Police won’t say whether they found any links, other than the professional relationships between Roger Brumback and the Hunters.
Sentencing has been rescheduled for a Blair woman who was convicted of negligent child abuse in the drowning of a toddler at her day care facility.
The new court date is May 30 and had been requested by the lawyer for 59-year-old Nancy Tierney. She’d pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge. Prosecutors dropped a manslaughter count in exchange for her plea. Tierney’s original sentencing date was May 16.
Police say Tierney was charged after a 16-month-old girl drowned in August last year in a pool at Tierney’s home, which served as a certified day care facility. A court document says Tierney left the girl, Isabella Thallas, and other children unattended when she used a bathroom. Tierney said she thought the gate to the pool had been locked.
Investigators say more than 130 marijuana plants have been found at the home of a woman who worked as a litigation assistant in the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
38-year-old Kimberly Meidell was arrested Wednesday at the home she shares with 38-year-old Eric Trost, who also was arrested.
An arrest warrant affidavit says that in addition to the marijuana plants, more than a pound of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia were found in the home.
Meidell had worked in the Attorney General’s Office for more than nine years. Deputy Attorney General David Cookson said Thursday that Meidell’s “employment has been terminated.”
A Lancaster County jailer said Meidell and Trost remained in custody on Friday. Online court records don’t list the names of their attorneys.
(AP) — A 41-year-old Scottsbluff man has been accused of throwing his 6-year-old son to a floor and striking him.
