SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — A Cheyenne County judge has given a Sidney man 35 to 60 years in prison for threatening and terrorizing a woman at a Sidney motel.
Court records say 36-year-old Jason Assad was sentenced on Thursday. He’d been convicted of several charges, including false imprisonment, terroristic threatening and use of a weapon to commit a felony.
The woman told officers who responded to a call last September that Assad had threatened to rape her, placed a knife to her throat and struck her repeatedly. Court documents say the victim had two black eyes and bruises on her body.
Assad’s attorney had argued in court that his client never threatened the woman or sought to terrorize her.
HOLDREGE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a 31-year-old man who died after a shooting in Phelps County.
A news release from the Phelps County attorney identified him as Domonick Linden, of Holdrege.
Deputies responded to a call around 7:30 p.m. Monday about an accidental shooting at a residence north of Funk. They found Linden’s body outside the residence. He’d been hit in the head by a shot from a handgun, and Sheriff Gene Samuelson says there were witnesses at the scene.
An autopsy has been ordered. The county attorney’s office says foul play is not suspected.
Nebraska will open the 2014 season on Sept. 5 at 2:30 p.m. against BYU on ABC. (Photo Courtesy Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations)
Nebraska’s Sept. 5 season-opening contest with BYU will be televised to a national audience on ABC, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. (Central) at Memorial Stadium.
The Big Ten Conference and its television partners announced television plans and start times for several games during the first three weeks of the 2015 season on Friday, June 12.
The Huskers’ matchup with BYU is the first-ever meeting between the schools. The Cougars are coming off an 8-5 record and a trip to the Miami Beach Bowl in 2014.
Nebraska leads the nation with 29 straight victories in season openers, most recently a 55-7 win over Florida Atlantic in 2014.
The Huskers’ game with BYU is the fifth contest on the 2015 schedule with game time and TV information.
NU’s Sept. 12 contest against South Alabama will be televised by BTN, with kickoff set at 7 p.m. (Central). The Huskers’ road test at Miami on Sept. 19 will also be televised on ABC/ESPN2 with a 2:30 p.m. (Central) kickoff. NU completes non-conference play with an 11 a.m. (Central) game against Southern Miss on Sept. 26. The Nov. 7 home game against Michigan State will be played at either 6 or 7 p.m. (Central) and will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.
All other kickoff times and television information will be announced six to 12 days in advance of kickoff.
BURWELL, Neb. (AP) — A 72-year-old man has died after falling into the water at Calamus (KAL’-uh-muhs) Reservoir in north-central Nebraska.
The Loup County Sheriff’s Department said Friday that the accident occurred around 5:30 p.m. Thursday. A witness reported that the man had fallen in while getting onto a boat dock.
The witness says the man struggled as he tried to swim to his drifting boat. The witness says he unsuccessfully used a long pole to try to reach the man and then left to get a life vest to throw to him. By the time the witness returned the older man had gone under.
The department says a dive team was called in, and the man’s body was recovered around 6:30 p.m.
The names of the man and the witness haven’t been released.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A southeastern Nebraska farmer hopes to harvest oil that’s oozing out of his land.
The Lincoln Journal Star (https://bit.ly/1dzKoOv ) reports that Alvin Simon says he has known for decades about a possible “river of oil” underneath his Richardson County land. He thought about acting on it around 20 years ago, getting his land tested before putting it in the Conservation Reserve Program.
Colorado-based Orion Geophysical Consulting told him in 1994 that it didn’t find high enough levels of petroleum to warrant further investigation. But it said that it didn’t mean there wasn’t the possibility of oil and gas pools in deep formations.
Simon says the oil began appearing on his land following heavy rainfall this spring.
He says he has invited oil companies to take a look at his land.
Community Connections Mentoring is offering a Suicide Awareness Class on Friday, June 12th, 2015 from 9:30-11:00 am at McKinley Education Center. This class is being offered through Region II Services.
Diane Nichols, Community Connections Mentoring Coordinator stated “Suicide is a topic that I feel everyone needs to be aware of and to learn more about. When Region II offered this class to us, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and offer it to our families as a start to the entire community being aware of the possibility of suicide among our families and friends and given the knowledge as to handle a potential situation.”
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says it is lifting a temporary boating ban imposed at Bridgeport State Recreation Area in the Panhandle after a moose was spotted.
The moose was seen on the island in Center Lake, as well as in the park and the surrounding vicinity. She frequently swam between the island and the park shore.
Officials say the moose’s affinity for swimming clashed with the public’s desire for skiing and other water sports, causing Game and Parks to ban boats from the lake for the safety of the public as well as the moose.
The last confirmed sighting occurred June 4. Officials say that if the moose returns to the park, they will make another assessment about appropriate action.
Moose often are aggressive toward people and pets.
BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man who tried to extort an Ohio 16-year-old into sending him more sex photos has been imprisoned for 30 years.
Federal prosecutors say 37-year-old Christopher Brackett, of Bellevue, was sentenced Thursday in Omaha. He’d been convicted by a Nebraska jury of producing, transporting and possessing child pornography.
Prosecutors say Brackett met the 16-year-old girl online and went to Canton, Ohio, twice in 2013 to have sex with her and record several images.
Once home he asked her for more sexually explicit images. When she declined despite his threats to post the earlier images on the Internet, he went ahead and posted them. He listed her phone and address and encouraged people to call or to stop at her home for sex.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — President Barack Obama has nominated an Omaha attorney to fill a vacant federal judgeship in Nebraska.
Robert Rossiter Jr. would replace U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon (buh-TAL’-yuhn), who is taking senior status. Rossiter is a partner at Fraser Stryker, where he specializes in labor and employment issues.
Rossiter’s nomination was announced by the White House on Thursday. Rossiter’s name was sent to the president about 10 months ago by U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer and then-U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns, who has since been replaced by U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (sass).
Rossiter, a Republican, now faces confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
