OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A bomb squad has detonated a live explosive found near an office in west Omaha.
Authorities were sent to the area around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after someone spotted the device. Investigators say it was cylindrical, wrapped in electrical tape and filled with explosive powder.
Authorities say it was detonated without incident or harm to anyone.
Police are investigating how the device got there.
HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A Hastings woman accused of killing a toddler by stuffing a baby wipe down her throat has been sentenced to three to five years in prison.
34-year-old Azudany Serrano-Contreras was sentenced Wednesday in the death of 19-month-old Aliyana Peterson. Serrano-Contreras had pleaded no contest to negligent child abuse resulting in injury.
Serrano-Contreras is the aunt of the girl’s mother.
Investigators have said that Serrano-Contreras told officers that she was babysitting the child on March 12, 2015, when she cleaned the girl’s face, set the wipe down on a counter and turned to get lotion. According to authorities, Serrano-Contreras said that Aliyana was gasping for air when she turned back.
The girl was pronounced dead two days later.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Powerball jackpot has grown even larger.
There was no jackpot winner in Wednesday night’s drawing, increasing the prize from $348 million to an estimated $415 million.
While that’s not chump change, it’s a far cry from the $1.6 billion Powerball prize shared by three winning lottery ticketholders in January, the largest ever jackpot draw in the world. No one has won the full jackpot since March 2.
Powerball says the odds of winning the top prize are one in more than 292 million.
Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Well over 400 donors and sponsors gave more than $107,000 to local nonprofit causes during the first-ever North Platte Giving Day that was extended from midnight Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon due to nationwide difficulties of the website service provider.
Problems with the North Platte Giving Day website made online giving difficult for much of Tuesday, but online giving was smoother during the extended hours Wednesday that ended at 6 pm. Many donors brought their donation checks to donation site around North Platte.
Because of the nationwide website provider problems, the total number of donations displayed on the website as well as the breakdown of gift numbers and donation dollars to nonprofit organizations were not up-to-date.
Mid-Nebraska Community Foundation coordinated North Platte Giving Day. More than 400 donors and sponsors made donations that will benefit more than 50 local nonprofit causes.
Cash prizes to nonprofits provided by sponsors were being rearranged to adjust for periods of downtime, and for the extended hours of giving. The full amount of the cash prize money provided by event sponsors will be awarded to nonprofits.
Everyone involved with North Platte Giving Day regretted the inconvenience caused by the nationwide difficulties of website service provider Kimbia. The website problems also affected about 50 other giving day campaigns across America on May 3.
We are pleased that charitable people in the North Platte area worked through these difficulties and helped more than 50 community causes.
Kimbia reported that the problems were caused by the confluence of 1) an extraordinarily amount of online transactions, 2) a hardware problem and 3) added system functions. The potential for the problems was not detected during weeks of high volume testing. Foundations using the website provider were advised that the website operation problems were not related to any data security issue and that all transaction were processed securely.
Eagle Communications, Inc. of Hays, Kansas is pleased to announce that Olivia Hasenauer has been promoted to General Manager of its Media Centers in Alliance and Chadron, Neb.
Hasenauer began her career with Eagle in 2011 as a Marketing Consultant and was promoted to Sales Manager in June of 2014. She has received numerous awards with Eagle Communications including the 2014 Individual Performance Award, given annually to an employee-owner who exhibits exemplary leadership, ability and job performance.
In making this announcement, Eagle Communications CEO Gary Shorman stated, “Olivia has great energy and enthusiasm and has been very successful as Sales Manager in North Platte. As an employee-owned company, it is important to recognize positive team leaders, and we know she will bring those same qualities to our leadership position in Alliance and Chadron.” Shorman said Hasenauer will be replacing Jerome Gilg, the Nebraska Market Manager, who has been interim General Manager in Alliance for the past 18 months.
Gilg will retire from a full-time role with Eagle at the end of July.
“This is an exciting time for Eagle, and I’m grateful for this opportunity to move forward in a company that is growing new ways to serve communities,” Hasenauer said. “The future is what we make it, and with an employee-owned company like Eagle, the future is very much in our hands.” Hasenauer has served on the Board of Directors of the Connection Homeless Shelter in North Platte, as well as the Board of Trustees of the
Hasenauer has served on the Board of Directors of the Connection Homeless Shelter in North Platte, as well as the Board of Trustees of the Mid-Plains United Way. She is also a co-founder of You-Gen, a branch of the North Platte Chamber of Commerce whose mission is to help develop young leaders in a professional setting and retain young business professionals in the community.
She is married to Neil Hasenauer and has two children, Lillian and Damian.
Today
Lincoln – University of Nebraska men’s basketball coach Tim Miles announced the hiring of Michael Lewis as an assistant coach for the Husker basketball program. Lewis comes to Nebraska after spending the past five seasons at Butler University. Continue reading “Michael Lewis Hired as Assistant Coach”
Final, A-5 District Championship (SO): Bulldogs 0 – 1 Omaha Central. #NEPrepSoccer
— NP Bulldog Soccer (@NPBulldogSoccer) May 5, 2016
Omaha Central clinches a berth in the Class A state tournament after winning the penalty shootout 4-2 following a scoreless 100 minutes. Overall, five tickets were punched on Wednesday night for the Class A boys state tournament. The final two district championship games will be played Thursday, May 5. One additional team will qualify based on the wildcard point standings, North Platte is still in the running for that wild card berth.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A jury has awarded $2.64 billion to the family of a 19-year-old Peru State college student who disappeared in 2010, but the massive judgment likely won’t be collectable.
The verdict in Tyler Thomas’ disappearance is against Joshua Keadle who is the last person to have seen Thomas alive.
The 34-year-old Keadle is in prison for an unrelated rape conviction. Authorities say Keadle made several statements that led investigators to believe he was involved in Thomas’ disappearance, but he has not been charged.
The family’s attorney, Vince Powers, says the ruling holds Keadle accountable and affirms the value of Thomas’ life.
Thomas’ body was never found, but a death certificate was issued in 2013.
The family’s lawsuits against the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees were dismissed.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Three former bank executives must pay over $3.1 million for their roles in a fraud scheme that led to Lincoln-based bank’s collapse.
A judge Wednesday ordered former TierOne CEO Gilbert Lundstrom, former President James Laphen and former chief credit officer Don Langford to jointly pay the restitution fee.
U.S. District Judge John Gerrard wrote that the amount represents the losses suffered by the bank’s shareholders who purchased stocks during and after the fraud period.
Lundstrom was sentenced in March to 11 years in federal prison after being convicted of 12 counts related to the 2010 bank failure. Laphen was sentenced to 34 months in prison and Langford received 21 months in prison, after each pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud charges.
