August 2013 – Page 30 – North Platte Post Archive

Iowa Man Dies in Douglas County Jail

Posted on August 21, 2013

(AP) — Officials say an Iowa man has died in an Omaha jail.

The Douglas County Department of Corrections reported that 65-year-old Robert Basten, of Zwingle, Iowa, was found unresponsive Wednesday morning in a housing unit of the Douglas County Department of Corrections. Paramedics responded, and Basten was pronounced dead at the jail.

Basten had been held in the jail since May 2 on a charge of flight to avoid arrest in Douglas County. Officials say he also was facing pending charges from Dodge County for flight to avoid arrest, theft of services, and willful reckless driving.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is investigating. Nebraska law also requires a grand jury investigation when someone dies in custody.

Railroads Trying to Install Cameras to Watch Crews

Posted on August 21, 2013August 21, 2013

(AP) — At least two major U.S. freight railroads are trying to install cameras in their locomotives to make sure crews are following rules and avoiding cellphone use.

Union Pacific filed a court action this week asking a federal judge to declare that it has the authority to install the cameras under the railroad’s labor agreements. Kansas City Southern railroad won a similar lawsuit last month over the objections of labor unions.

Installing these inward-facing cameras to monitor crews was recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board after the 2008 collision of a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific train in southern California that killed 25 and injured more than 100.

Metrolink did install cameras after that crash, which was blamed on a distracted engineer sending text messages.

Columbus Man Gets 6 to 10 Years for Headbutting Tiny Son

Posted on August 21, 2013

(AP) — A 25-year-old Columbus man who acknowledged that he head-butted his 4-month-old son has been given six to 10 years in prison.

Judge Robert Steinke sentenced Jeremy Hetrick for attempted child abuse. Hetrick was sentenced last week.

Prosecutors say Hetrick had abused the infant at a Columbus apartment he shared with the boy’s mother. Court records say Hetrick called 911 on Jan. 22 to report that his son had stopped breathing. Police Capt. Bret Strecker stated in an affidavit that doctors later said the boy had bleeding on the brain and three healed rib fractures.

Strecker said Hetrick acknowledged that he’d lost patience when his son became fussy that night, had squeezed the boy and then head-butted him very hard.

Omaha Police Identify Woman Found Dead on Sidewalk

Posted on August 21, 2013

(AP) — Authorities in Omaha have identified a woman found dead near a street intersection.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says 33-year-old Andrea Kruger was discovered about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday on 168th Street, just south of Fort Street in northwest Omaha.

Douglas County sheriff’s investigators and crime scene experts are checking the area.

Sheriff’s Lt. Rob Jones says Kruger’s injuries were consistent with gunshot wounds. No arrests have been reported.

Trial Begins for Ohio Mom Charged in School Brawl

Posted on August 21, 2013

(AP) — Prosecutors say the case of an Ohio woman accused of helping her teenage daughter beat up a fellow classmate is the result of a mother acting “like a child.”

Meanwhile, the woman’s attorney told jurors at the start of the trial Wednesday that she was trying to protect her daughter.

Thirty-one-year-old Precious Allen faces misdemeanor charges of assault and trespassing in the February scuffle at Withrow High School in Cincinnati.

Accounts of the fight differ. Allen’s then-14-year-old daughter says another teenage girl started it and she was defending her mother. The other girl says Allen and her daughter attacked her.

Police have said Allen held a teen down in a classroom and told her daughter to hit the girl with a combination lock.

11 Cases of West Nile Confirmed in Nebraska This Year

Posted on August 21, 2013

(AP) — Nebraska health officials say they’ve recorded 11 human cases of West Nile virus in the state this year.

The state Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that of those cases in 2013, three people have been hospitalized.

West Nile virus is transmitted to people through mosquitoes that feed on an infected bird. Most people with the virus will have no symptoms or only mild flu-like symptoms. A small percentage will develop a serious illness.

Health officials say 75 mosquito pools in 14 Nebraska counties have tested positive for the virus. No birds have tested positive.

In 2012, there were 193 human cases of West Nile virus in Nebraska and four deaths.

More Cameras to Stream Shows at Nebraska State Fair

Posted on August 21, 2013

(AP) — Additional cameras have been added to live stream livestock shows at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island.

The three additional cameras will allow all the fair arenas to be viewed via streaming video on the Internet.

The video will show the Swine Arena, the Five Points Bank Arena and the Sheep Barn Arena.

Joseph McDermott, executive director of the Nebraska State Fair, says the camera additions are a result of streaming video being so popular during last year’s fair.

A schedule of live streaming events is available on the fair’s website. The Nebraska State Fair is scheduled to run from Friday through Sept. 2.

Scottsbluff Man Charged in Hell’s Angels Club Slaying

Posted on August 21, 2013

(AP) — A Scottsbluff man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a man at the Hells Angels’ Motorcycle Club building in Omaha.

Jay Witt was ordered held without bail during a Wednesday hearing. He is accused of killing 48-year-old William Furlong on July 14.

Prosecutors say the 48-year-old Witt shot Furlong following an altercation. Witt was arrested Monday without incident after investigators tracked him via GPS in a stolen vehicle.

Witt also faces charges of use of a weapon to commit a felony and possession of a weapon by a felon. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney in the case.

Expert: Nebraska School Funding Should Be Predictable

Posted on August 21, 2013

(AP) — A national school-finance expert is echoing a concern raised by many Nebraska public schools: that state aid needs to be predictable.

Policy analyst Michael Griffith urged Nebraska lawmakers on Wednesday to look for ways to make it easier for schools to anticipate how much money they will receive each year.

Aid has fluctuated in recent years, leading to conflicts between small and larger districts. Many have increasingly relied on property taxes since the recession, but surging farmland values and rising enrollment in urban schools have caused more money to flow to larger districts.

Aid is distributed through a formula that seeks to fill the gap between what school districts need and their local resources.

Nebraska is expected to distribute nearly $1 billion each year between July 2013 and June 2015.

Parents of California Teen Shot by DEA Agents Get $3 Million

Posted on August 21, 2013August 21, 2013

(AP) — A federal judge has awarded $3 million to the parents of a Southern California teen who was fatally shot by plainclothes Drug Enforcement Administration agents three years ago.

The judge said Wednesday that the DEA agents had reason to believe they were in danger but it was unreasonable for them to fire at the moving car driven by Zachary Champommier (sham-POH-mee-ay).

In June 2010, the 18-year-old was driving by a Studio City parking lot where agents were discussing a search warrant they had just served. Authorities said the agents fired at the teen after he tried to run down a sheriff’s deputy.

Champommier’s parents claimed in a wrongful-death suit that the agents recklessly shot at their son, who had no way of knowing he was encountering law enforcement officers.