LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers will continue investigating whether a longtime state senator lives in his district.
A special legislative committee decided Thursday it had jurisdiction to hear the case against Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha. Lawmakers have spent the past month questioning whether the investigation could move forward because challenger John Sciara failed to meet all legislative rules.
Former Nebraska Supreme Court Justice William Connolly says Sciara fulfilled all statutory requirements.
Sciara says he is pleased the case is moving forward but disappointed it didn’t happen sooner.
Sciara, who lost the 2016 election to Chambers by more than 6,000 votes, contends Chambers really lives in Bellevue. Chambers has provided senators and reporters with utility bills from his north Omaha home as proof of address.
North Platte St. Patrick students are wearing GBJF 2017 #LIVING WATER wristbands as they prepare to host the three-day retreat in March 2017. Young people are encouraged to attend and even apply to be part of the Banana Bunch that will help lead the weekend. (Courtesy Photo)
Five hundred (500) young people from across the Diocese of Grand Island and the Midwest signed up for the 19th Annual Going Bananas For Jesus Catholic Youth Rally in North Platte, Nebraska, March 17-19. The Biannual event started 30 years ago in Scottsbluff.
The core team created a schedule filled with prayer, workshops, seminars, and musical performances. Brenda Conell says it’s a faith-filled event that encourages people to grow stronger to Christ through discovery and prayer. These events will be held at the North Platte Catholic School facilities.
“We do offer adult mini sessions and special workshops, too,” says Conell, as we are focused on faith development for all Catholics in the region.
Special keynote presenters, Jesse Manibusan and ValLimar Jansen will headline the weekend with music and faith stories.
Jesse Manibusan is a composer, singer/songwriter, storyteller, humorist, catechist, evangelizer and encourager. Manibusan has that knack to build instant rapport, connect to his audience, and create life-giving memories that help deepen faith and cultivate the joy that inspires service, sacrifice and the celebration of life.
ValLimar Jansen is a highly regarded singer, composer and recording artist. She is educated and experienced as a university/college professor, a leader of worship and prayer and a workshop presenter at conferences across the United States and abroad. ValLimar Jansen has a long history of singing sacred music.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, March 17, 2017
8:30 pm Living Passion Experience
Saturday, March 18, 2017
8:30 am Welcome & Morning Prayer
9:15 am Speakers/Workshops
12:45 pm Speakers/Workshops
2:55 pm Banana Splits & Service Project Celebration
7:30 pm FREE PUBLIC CONCERT with Jesse Manibusan and ValLimar Jansen
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 29-year-old man has been imprisoned for the crash death of a teenage girl while he was driving drunk in Omaha.
A judge sentenced Tyvinn Smith to 22 to 25 years in prison Wednesday. Smith had pleaded no contest to vehicular homicide while driving drunk and to two related charges.
Prosecutors say Smith was speeding June 24 when he slammed into the back of a car on Sorensen Parkway around 10:45 p.m., killing 16-year-old Janis Brown and injuring two others. Prosecutors say Smith had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit and had cocaine and PCP in his system.
Marjorie A. Cool, 100, formerly of Callaway, died Wednesday, March 8, at Hilltop Estates in Gothenburg.
Funeral services will be held Monday, March 13, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. CDT at Tallin Church south of Arnold. Interment will be at Tallin Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to Morning Star Church in Callaway, the Senior Center or donor’s choice. Visitation hours are Sunday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Arnold Funeral Home.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped charges against a teenager accused of sexually abusing a mentally disabled woman in suburban Des Moines whom he met online.
The case against Nicholas Fifield was dismissed Tuesday with prejudice, which means the charges can’t be refiled. A judge rejected an earlier plea deal.
A criminal complaint says Fifield, then a 17-year-old high school student, met the 18-year-old woman online and took her on a date in December 2015. The complaint says they went to his house and had sex, even though the woman said “no” several times.
The motion to dismiss says the woman’s parents asked that the case be dropped. The motion also says the woman can’t help prosecutors because of her “mental health diagnosis and attendant condition.”
FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A woman who bore a child after having sex with a 13-year-old boy in Dodge County has been sentenced to three years in prison.
21-year-old Brianne McIntosh was sentenced Wednesday in Dodge County District Court in Fremont. She’d pleaded no contest to sexual assault of a child and child abuse.
Authorities say McIntosh was 19 in May 2014 when she and the boy had sex. Under Nebraska law, people 19 and over cannot have sexual contact with people under 16. A DNA test confirmed the boy had fathered the child born to McIntosh in February 2015.
The child, who is a ward of the state, lives with the boy and the boy’s mother.
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A 25-year-old Columbus woman has been given jail time and probation for the crash death of a St. Edward man.
Mikala Phillips was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in jail and three years of probation. She’d pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of vehicular homicide and first-offense driving under the influence. Prosecutors had reduced the homicide charge from a felony in exchange for Phillips’ pleas.
Court records on her plea deal say Phillips agreed to be sentenced to the maximum probation on each charge. The agreement was not binding on the judge, however.
Authorities have said Phillips’ car collided with a pickup truck driven by 33-year-old William Sorensen on June 9 last year. He was pronounced dead at the rural crash site about a mile west of Tarnov.
Robert Franklin Kramer, age 85 of Stapleton, passed away Tuesday March 7, 2017 in Lincoln, NE.
Robert was born on September 21, 1931 in rural Logan County near Stapleton, NE to Franklin J. and Ethel T. (Gill) Kramer. He served in the Army from September 1953 until September 1955, during the Korean Era, serving at Ft. Lewis, WA. He was the honor graduate of his army intensive training class. After his discharge from the army he married Hazel Small on November 12, 1955 in Tryon and to this union 6 children were born, Danny, Aneta, Alvin, Rolland, Arthur, and Marie. In 1957 the family moved to the school section 4 miles southwest of Stapleton and this is where he raised his family. After Hazel’s death in December 1992, he married Doris Paul on August 11, 2000 and the family grew by four children. In his younger years he was the family mechanic. Everyone called on Robert to work on their tractors. He farmed in the Stapleton area all of his life. He was very active in the American Legion. He helped remodel the current Vet’s Club in 1974. Robert enjoyed western movies, John Wayne movies in particular, playing cards, fishing, hunting and dancing ~ he met both of his wives on the dance floor.
Robert is survived by his sons Danny (Kristy) Kramer of Stapleton, Alvin (Peggy) Kramer of West Point, NE, Rolland (Jan) Kramer of North Platte, and Arthur (Becky) Kramer of Stapleton; daughter Marie (Layne) Pyzer of North Platte; additional children Brenda Paul of MD, Peggy (Mike) Fox of North Platte, Steven (Alice) Paul of North Platte and Darwin Paul of Denver, CO; 16 grandchildren; 26 great grandchildren; siblings MaryAnn (Ben) Fox, Audrey (Bob) Magnuson, Richard (Karen) Kramer, Kenneth D. (Peggy) Kramer; sisters-in-law Louise Kramer and Deb Kramer; as well as other extended family members and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wives Hazel and Doris; daughter Aneta Engel; granddaughter Elizabeth Thompson; and siblings George (Darleen) Kramer, Edna (Leroy) Griffiths, Raymond Kramer, Joseph Kramer and Alta Faye Kramer.
Memorials are suggested to the American Legion Post 324 and online condolences may be shared at www.adamsswanson.com. Christian Wake Services will be held 5:00 p.m. Sunday March 12, 2017 at Adams and Swanson Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:00 a.m. Monday March 13, 2017 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church with Reverend James Novakowski as Celebrant. Burial will follow at St. John’s Cemetery in Stapleton with military honors. Visitation will be Sunday from noon until 8:00 p.m. at Adams and Swanson Funeral Home which is in charge of arrangements.
BERWYN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a man whose pickup truck ran off a road and crashed in Custer County.
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office says the crash was reported around 8 a.m. Wednesday, about 9 miles south of Berwyn. The driver had been traveling alone and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Sheriff’s Office identified him as 70-year-old Jerry Hallman, of rural Ansley.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers will continue investigating whether a longtime state senator lives in his district.
