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Lincoln woman sentenced to prison in child drowning case

Jacqueline Cooley
Jacqueline Cooley

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 29-year-old Lincoln woman whose 2-year-old stepson drowned after she left him alone in the bathtub has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Jacqueline Cooley was sentenced in Lancaster County District Court on Tuesday. She pleaded no contest in December to a felony child abuse charge.

Prosecutors say Cooley told police she left Jase Queen in the bathtub on Jan. 7, 2016, and left to get a towel. Mathers says when she came back two to three minutes later, he was face down and turning blue in about 10 inches of water.

Mathers says the boy’s grandmother told police he had survived a similar incident in November 2015, and Cooley told family members she had learned her lesson.

Teachers, activists slam Nebraska student restraint bill

highschoolLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Educators, attorneys and disability rights advocates are speaking out against a bill that would allow Nebraska teachers to physically restrain disruptive students.

Opponents spoke during a Tuesday evening committee hearing on the bill. They say it will harm students and may violate federal law protecting students with disabilities.

The bill would make teachers who use such force immune from legal action and administrative discipline.

Sen. Mike Groene sponsored the measure in response to a 2014 incident in his hometown of North Platte in which a long-time elementary school teacher grabbed an 8-year-old boy’s foot and dragged him about 90 feet.

The bill’s sole supporter, the Nebraska State Education Association, says thousands of teachers have voiced concerns about classroom safety because of disruptive students.

Man rescued from river after leap from Omaha bridge

omaha-policeOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have rescued a man who jumped into the Missouri River from a pedestrian bridge that connects Omaha with Council Bluffs, Iowa.

He leaped from the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge at 6:15 p.m. Monday and spent 15 minutes in the frigid water before his rescue on the Nebraska side.

Omaha Police Officer Phillip Anson says an officer entered the water to try to reach the man but couldn’t get a good hold. Anson says two other officers reached out with a stick, and the man grabbed it so he could be pulled to shore.

He was taken to Creighton University Medical Center. His name hasn’t been released.

Fremont man makes plea deal in assault on woman

gavel-and-scaleFREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A Fremont man accused of beating up and choking his girlfriend is scheduled to be sentenced March 27.

27-year-old Jacob Booze pleaded no contest Monday to felony strangulation and false imprisonment. His plea deal calls for two sentences of three years, to be served consecutively. The judge is not bound by the agreement.

Authorities say he choked and suffocated her early in the morning of Nov. 1, after she returned home from a night out with a friend. Authorities say he stomped on her face, menaced her with a shower curtain bar and threatened to kill her.

She was treated later at a hospital for facial fractures.

Teens who escaped Kearney facility caught, officials say

yrtcKEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have captured four young people who escaped from the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Kearney.

Nebraska Health and Human Services Department spokesman Russ Reno says the four left a classroom at 10:55 a.m. Monday and walked out of the building. Reno says they were captured without incident about 15 minutes later by police and facility staffers, a little more than a mile away.

The four were described only as a 14-year-old, two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old.

Reno says six youths have escaped from the center and been captured since July, not including the four who fled Monday.

Electrician injured at downtown Omaha building dies

ambulance-lightsOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man who was electrocuted and burned in a downtown Omaha building has died.

On Tuesday Nebraska Medical Center spokesman Taylor Wilson confirmed the death of 59-year-old Steven Nitz, but Wilson said privacy rules prevented him from saying when Nitz died.

Authorities say Nitz was working as a contract electrician for Sprint Communications when he was injured Dec. 13. Firefighters soon put out the small fire, and investigators say the blaze was an accident.

Protecting Nebraska cemeteries proves tough

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GRETNA, Neb. (AP) — Even though state laws protect existing burial sites, protection of tiny pioneer cemeteries in Nebraska is proving hard to enforce because of growing housing developments.

Many of the at least 40 pioneer cemeteries in Sarpy County are tucked away on private property, leaving it up to the property owners to ensure the subtlest of them will survive.

But leaders of the Nebraska State Historical Society have heard of cases of property owners throwing away gravestones for renovations on the land. Rob Bozell, the society’s archaeologist, says the county relies on citizen reporting to be able to enforce the preservation of those abandoned cemeteries.

State law defines pioneer cemeteries as burial sites established before 1900, and have the graves of some of Nebraska’s first white settlers and Native Americans.

Will authorities get to keep nearly $41K found in vehicle?

state-patrol-logoAINSWORTH, Neb. (AP) — A March forfeiture hearing has been scheduled to determine whether authorities will keep nearly $41,000 seized during a traffic stop in Brown County.

A trooper stopped a speeding vehicle Jan. 6 on U.S. Highway 183. Brown County Attorney David Streich says the trooper got permission to search the vehicle and then found the cash in a bag.

Streich says both people in the vehicle denied any knowledge of the cash, so the trooper followed state law and seized the money. He says that if no one were to claim the money, half would go schools in Brown County and rest to the county’s fund for drug enforcement and education.

Pension bill draws protest from firefighter, police unions

OMAHA-FIRE-AND-RESCUE-BADGELINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Firefighters and police officers are protesting a pension overhaul bill aimed at Nebraska’s two largest cities.

The bill set for a hearing Tuesday would offer a cash-balance retirement plan to newly hired officers and firefighters in Omaha and Lincoln, rather than a traditional pension. Cash-balance plans are similar to pension plans but also have characteristics of 401(k)-style plans.

Supporters say cash balance plans would help Omaha and Lincoln address their pension liabilities. The cities’ firefighter and police unions say they would endanger public safety by making it harder to recruit new firefighters and police officers. They also argue that employees would be more likely to leave for other cities that offer better benefits.

UNL Phi Gamma Delta chapter suspended during investigation

UNLLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An investigation into allegations that members of a fraternity made vulgar comments during the Women’s March in Lincoln last month has led the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to suspend the school’s Phi Gamma Delta chapter.

A UNL news release Tuesday says the investigation into those allegations led to discovery of broader conduct issues — including reckless alcohol use.

Juan Franco, UNL’s vice chancellor for student affairs, says the interim suspension will remain in place until the university’s investigation is complete.

The investigation was launched after several people complained that fraternity members made vulgar and sexually harassing comments at participants in the Women’s March on Jan. 21. A Phi Gamma Delta adviser, Joe Skradski, denied those allegations last month.

Skradski did not immediately return a phone message left Tuesday seeking comment on the suspension.

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