February 2015 – Page 30 – North Platte Post Archive

Nebraska Proposal to Allow 24/7 Bars Dies in Committee

Posted on February 18, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A proposal to let Nebraska bars stay open 24 hours a day has died in a legislative committee.

Members of the Generals Affairs Committee voted 7-0 Wednesday to strip the measure out of this year’s alcohol omnibus bill.

Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill says he submitted the legislation so businesses could decide for themselves.

The idea drew opposition last month from city officials, law enforcement and groups that fight binge drinking. No one testified in favor of the bill.

Nebraska imposes a 1 a.m. closing time for bars but gives local governments the option to extend theirs to 2 a.m. with a supermajority vote of a city council, village board or county board.

Omaha and Lincoln have allowed bars to close at 2 a.m. since 2010.

Kansas Commune Leader Found Guilty of Drowning Woman in Pool

Posted on February 18, 2015

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The leader of a Kansas commune that received millions of dollars in life insurance payouts from dead members has been convicted of murder in the drowning death of a female member.

A jury on Wednesday found 55-year-old Daniel Perez guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for 2003 death of Patricia Hughes at the suburban Wichita compound that was home to the commune. Her death was considered an accident until 2011, when a woman who was 12 at the time told authorities the death was staged.

He also was found guilty of all 27 other counts, including rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, sexual exploitation of a child and making false information.

Perez testified during the trial that he was innocent of all the allegations.

Nebraska DHHS Seeks $7 Million to Avoid Running Out of Money

Posted on February 18, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s child welfare system will run out of money by mid-April unless lawmakers approve an emergency $7 million cash transfer to cover foster care expenses.

Tony Green, acting director of the Division of Children and Family Services, told a legislative committee Tuesday that the department can’t wait for the regular budget process that ends in May.

Green says the shortfall was caused by higher rates for foster care services, increased mileage costs that weren’t expected, unpaid bills from last year and the loss of some federal foster care payments.

Green made his request to the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee. Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha, the committee chairman, says the problems were caused by former members of the Heineman administration.

Man Recaptured in 2nd Escape in Sheridan County

Posted on February 18, 2015

RUSHVILLE, Neb. (AP) — A 19-year-old man has been caught after his second escape from Sheridan County authorities.

Sheridan County Attorney Jamian Simmons says Michael Brown was caught just after 1 a.m. Tuesday in Gordon. Simons says officers had received a tip about Brown’s location. Brown previously escaped from the back of a police car on Jan. 21 and was captured the next day. He escaped from the Sheridan County Jail on Feb. 10.

A jailer said Brown remained in custody on Wednesday. Brown’s attorney in another case didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press. Brown faces escape, criminal mischief and other charges.

Simmons says Brown’s jail escape is still under investigation.

Dentist Charged in Death of Patient Getting 20 Teeth Pulled

Posted on February 18, 2015

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut dentist has been charged in the death of a patient who was having 20 teeth pulled and several implants installed.

Enfield police say 45-year-old Rashmi Patel turned himself in Tuesday on a misdemeanor count of criminally negligent homicide and a felony count of tampering with evidence. Patel has offices in Enfield and Torrington.

State authorities say Patel’s patient, 64-year-old Judith Gan, of Ellington, died at a hospital last February after her oxygen levels dropped while under sedation after she had her teeth pulled.

Gan’s death prompted the State Dental Commission in December to suspend Patel’s license pending a comprehensive review of his practice.

Patel and his attorney didn’t immediately return messages Wednesday. He has denied wrongdoing.

Fracking Water Disposal Site Draws Opposition in Western Nebraska

Posted on February 18, 2015

GERING, Neb. (AP) — Scotts Bluff County’s commissioners don’t like the location of a proposed disposal well for fracking water in nearby Sioux County and have appealed for help from a state regulatory board.

Terex Energy Corp. wants to truck the saltwater recovered from oil searches and production in Wyoming and Colorado to a Nebraska ranch about 14 miles north of Mitchell. The water would be injected into an old oil well. The water would be carried in by an initial maximum of 80 trucks a day.

The commissioners on Tuesday approved a letter to the Nebraska Oil and Gas Commission, which has scheduled a March 24 public hearing on the proposal.

The Scotts Bluff commissioners cited concerns about wear and tear on county roads and on the possibility of spills.

Bellevue Police ID Man Struck by Car

Posted on February 18, 2015February 18, 2015

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha hospital spokeswoman says a 74-year-old man who was injured in a Bellevue traffic accident remains in critical condition.

Joseph Sypal was hit around 3 p.m. Monday while walking across Harvell Drive at Fairfax Road. The Omaha television station says the area was briefly closed to traffic during the investigation. The vehicle driver wasn’t injured.

Nebraska Medical Center spokeswoman Jenny Nowatzke told The Associated Press on Wednesday morning that Sypal is being treated at the Omaha hospital.

Police: Woman Fatally Shoots Self Adjusting Bra Holster

Posted on February 18, 2015

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) — Police say a 55-year-old southwestern Michigan woman who died after accidentally shooting herself in the head in January was adjusting a handgun in her bra holster at the time.

The St. Joseph Public Safety Department is awaiting a full autopsy report in the death of Christina Bond, but Director Mark Clapp on Wednesday released details about the circumstances surrounding the Jan. 1 shooting.

Clapp says Bond was “having trouble adjusting her bra holster, couldn’t get it to fit the way she wanted it to. She was looking down at it and accidentally discharged the weapon.”

Bond was taken to a hospital, where she died.

Derailment Spills Tons of Coal in Eastern Nebraska

Posted on February 18, 2015

LOUISVILLE, Neb. (AP) — A derailment of several railroad cars has spilled tons of coal just west of Louisville (LOO’-ihs-vihl) in eastern Nebraska.

The accident occurred around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. No injuries have been reported.

It’s unclear when all the coal will be picked up and train traffic resumes on the tracks.

Missouri Woman Accused of Foiled Murder-for-Hire Plot Involving Nebraska Man

Posted on February 18, 2015

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A southern Missouri woman is jailed without bond on federal charges that she tried to hire someone to kill her sister.

Federal prosecutors in Springfield charged Leta Faye Douglas of Houston, Missouri, last week with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

Authorities allege that Douglas told her ex-husband in Nebraska that she questioned her sister’s handling of the finances of the women’s parents.

Investigators say Douglas asked her former husband to help her hire someone to kill her sister for $2,000. But the former husband, who had been divorced from Leta Douglas for 18 years, notified Nebraska authorities.

A message left Tuesday with Douglas’ court-appointed public defenders was not immediately returned.

She is scheduled for a detention hearing Thursday in Springfield.