COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A lawyer for a convicted rapist who claims a 112-year prison sentence imposed for crimes committed when he was 15 is unconstitutional has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the sentence.
Brandon Moore was tried as an adult and convicted by a jury in the 2001 armed kidnapping, robbery and gang rape of a 22-year-old Youngstown State University student.
The 29-year-old Moore contends a sentence that exceeds his life expectancy for crimes he committed as a juvenile is cruel and unusual punishment.
Attorney Rachel Bloomekatz (BLOOM’-katz) told the court Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court banned life sentences for juveniles for crimes not involving homicides in 2010.
Mahoning County assistant prosecutor Ralph Rivera argued the sentence is constitutional because it involved multiple and consecutive sentences.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The largest U.S. measles outbreak in recent history isn’t the one that started in December at Disneyland.
It happened months earlier in Ohio’s Amish country, where 383 people fell ill after unvaccinated Amish missionaries traveled to the Philippines and returned with the virus.
The Ohio episode drew far less attention, even though the number of cases was almost four times that of the Southern California outbreak, because it seemed to pose little threat outside insolated religious communities.
The Disneyland outbreak has already spread well beyond the theme parks that attract tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe.
Dr. James Cherry is a pediatric infectious disease expert at the University of California, Los Angeles. He says the outbreak “could continue to smolder” if not enough people get vaccinated.
CRAWFORD, Neb. (AP) — A truck making a delivery to a uranium mining company has overturned and caused a minor hazardous chemical spill in northwestern Nebraska.
Dawes County Deputy Sheriff Scott Swickward says a tankard truck hauling a trailer slipped down a rig early Wednesday morning while delivering a chemical to Crow Butte Resources, Inc. near Crawford. He says the leak resulting from the accident is not a public threat, but nearby residents were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Swickward says only a valve broke on the truck, causing hydrochloric acid to drizzle out. He says Nebraska hazmat crews have responded to the scene and are working to clean up the spill.
Hydrochloric acid forms a mist that can have an erosive effect on human skin, eyes and other organs.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A mobile message sign set up outside the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus police station has been providing a three-part plea for safety in language that even non-text-savvy people will understand.
First it says, “Stay alive.”
After a few seconds comes the second part: “Don’t text and drive.”
Then finally: “OMG.”
Assistant campus police chief Charlotte Evans said she wanted the message to be snappy. She says that, “If you drove past it and it made you smile, it did what it was intended to do. It got your attention.”
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — International scammers have bilked an Omaha commodities company out of more than $17 million dollars.
An executive with The Scoular Co., which employs 800 and has about $6.2 billion in annual revenue, wired $17.2 million last summer to a bank in China after receiving emails instructing him to do so from someone pretending to be Scoular’s CEO Chuck Elsea and the company’s outside auditing firm.
Court documents say the emails used addresses set up in Germany, France and Israel and computer servers in Moscow.
The FBI says the emails appeared genuine and contained elements of truth, including references to Scoular expanding in China and the company official’s work with the auditing company.
Elsea says the business will not be affected by the loss.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would require Nebraska voters to show government-issued photo identification at the polls is headed to the full Legislature for debate.
The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee voted 7-1 on Wednesday to advance the measure. Opponents have promised to filibuster the bill on the legislative floor and file a lawsuit if the bill becomes law.
The proposal by Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill would require voters to show a driver’s license, state ID card or other government-issued photo identification.
An amendment backed by the committee would also allow for the use of tribal identification or county-issued voter registration acknowledgements.
Voters who cast ballots early or by mail would not have to provide identification unless they’re voting for the first time.
NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury has decided that charges aren’t warranted against a Norfolk officer who struggled with a man who later died.
The 42-year-old man, Andrew Murphy Sr., died at a hospital after the incident at a Norfolk motel on Jan. 7. The grand jury concluded on Tuesday that no crime had been committed by the officer, who has not been named. Nebraska law requires that a grand jury investigate whenever someone dies in custody or while being arrested.
Madison County Attorney Joe Smith said Wednesday morning that he would release autopsy results later in the day.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill to require meningitis vaccinations for Nebraska youths has won first-round approval from lawmakers.
The measure advanced Wednesday on a 28-3 vote, despite arguments from some senators that parents should be able to decide for their children. The measure was endorsed by public health groups and Nebraskans who were scarred by the disease.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all students get immunized before entering seventh grade, and again after at age 16. The bill by Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha would require immunizations at both of those of points, but parents could still opt out for religious reasons.
Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte says parents should be educated about the disease but not required to have their children vaccinated.
NEW YORK (AP) — Staples is buying Office Depot in a cash-and-stock deal valued at nearly $6 billion.
Office Depot Inc. shareholders will receive $7.25 in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples Inc. at closing. The deal values Office Depot at $11 per share. The companies put the transaction’s value at $6.3 billion.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — New Nebraska coach Mike Riley has announced a recruiting class of 20 players on letter-of-intent signing day.
Riley added 11 players to a group of nine that verbally committed to former coach Bo Pelini before Pelini’s firing after the regular season.
Some of the biggest names in the class are cornerbacks recruited out of Colorado by Pelini’s staff. Rivals.com lists Eric Lee of Highlands Ranch as the top overall prospect in Colorado and the 12th-ranked cornerback in the nation. Rivals has Avery Anderson of Colorado Springs ranked No. 25 at cornerback.
Other four-star recruits signing Wednesday were defensive tackle Khalil Smith of Blue Springs, Missouri; offensive lineman Jalin Barnett of Lawton, Oklahoma; and wide receiver Stanley Morgan of New Orleans.
The full list of recruits can be seen below.
NEBRASKA=
x-Avery Anderson, db, 6-0, 175, Pine Creek HS, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Lavan Alston, wr, 6-0, 175, St. Bonaventure HS, Ventura, Calif.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A lawyer for a convicted rapist who claims a 112-year prison sentence imposed for crimes committed when he was 15 is unconstitutional has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the sentence.
