2017 Girls GNAC Soccer Bracket
Month: April 2017
Prosecutor: Gun play led to Omaha shooting death of Iowa man
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Douglas County prosecutor says gun play seems to have led to the death of a 20-year-old western Iowa man in Omaha, and two men have been arrested.
Police say 20-year-old Scott Evans, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was found dead early Sunday inside a home in north Omaha home. Officers were called the house for a report of a shooting.
Officials say an 18-year-old Omaha man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and a weapons count, and a 19-year-old Council Bluffs man has been arrested on suspicion of being an accessory.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine says Garbez and Gaytan appeared to have been using a gun in a game similar to Russian roulette, and Evans was shot in the head.
I-80 crash in Omaha damages 2 police cars, injures officer
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 80 in Omaha damaged two police vehicles and seriously injured an officer.
Police say it happened shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday on the westbound lanes of I-80 near Q Street. A preliminary investigation shows two police cruisers were on the shoulder as part of a traffic stop when a car hit a cargo van, sending the van into both police cruisers.
Police say Officer Brian Vanderheiden was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, but is expected to survive. The driver of the van was also taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
The westbound lanes of the interstate were closed for more than an hour.
Facebook intends to build data center in Omaha suburb
PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — Facebook has announced plans to build a data center near the Omaha suburb of Papillion (puh-PIHL’-yuhn).
The company said Tuesday at a news conference the center will be located on 144 acres at a Nebraska Highway 50 intersection just north of Springfield. It will include two 450,000 square foot (41,806-sq. meter) buildings and another 70,000 square foot (6503 sq. meter) building connecting them that will serve as administrative office space. The company says it could add up to two more buildings on the land if needed.
Officials say between 100 and 150 employees will work in the data center.
The county already has data centers for Yahoo, Fidelity Investments, Travelers Insurance and Cabela’s. Facebook also built a $300 million data center in Altoona, Iowa, in 2015.
Gun pre-emption bill sparks debate among Nebraska lawmakers
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have kicked off a debate over a bill that would prevent local governments from passing gun restrictions that are stricter than state law.
The bill discussed Tuesday would allow residents to sue cities and counties if they are adversely affected by a local gun ordinance. Supporters say it would eliminate a confusing patchwork of local gun ordinances, particularly in Omaha and Lincoln.
Officials in both cities oppose the bill, arguing that it fails to consider differences between higher-crime urban areas and the rest of the state.
Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, the bill’s sponsor, says he reached agreement to address objections from Omaha’s police union, which voiced concerns that the bill would undermine police efforts to curb gang violence.
Berkshire Hathaway’s newspaper group cutting 289 jobs
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The newspaper chain owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is eliminating nearly 300 jobs to cut costs because of declining advertising and circulation revenue.
181 people will be laid off at BH Media Group newspapers and another 108 vacant positions will be eliminated.
BH Media CEO Terry Kroeger says some of the group’s 31 daily newspapers are also reducing the number of pages they print.
For instance, the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia plans to lay off 33 employees, including 13 in the newsroom, and eliminate its separate daily business section.
Newspapers are a relatively small part of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 90 subsidiaries and holds investments in companies like Coca-Cola Co., Wells Fargo, Apple and IBM.
Nebraska lawmakers advance bill to keep teen moms in school
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would require schools to provide accommodations for pregnant and parenting students has advanced in the Nebraska Legislature over protests from rural senators who say schools don’t need a mandate.
Senators gave the measure first-round approval Tuesday with a 29-3 vote. The bill would require schools to provide spaces for breastfeeding students to express and store milk and direct school boards to adopt policies allowing absences and alternative coursework for teen mothers.
Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha says he sponsored the bill because a December study from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska found few districts had policies to make sure pregnant students graduated.
Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte says rural districts already take care of their students.
Nebraska medical students to receive high-tech learning
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska Medical Center is creating a facility that will give those in the medical field high-tech visualization and virtual reality tools to teach and learn.
University officials announced the nearly $119 million project Monday.
The four-story building will feature replicas of hospital settings where people can practice on lifelike, computer-driven mannequins. They will also be able to virtually map a brain tumor or see how a protein folds.
The facility’s name, which awaits approval by the university Board of Regents, will be the Davis Global Center.
The Davis Global Center will house two programs. One will allow all medical professionals to practice their skills. The other program will be a training, simulation and quarantine center focused on infectious diseases.
The facility is expected to open in fall 2018.
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China, Cherry Coke, and the Oracle of Omaha
NEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola is featuring a different type of celebrity on its cans in China: Warren Buffett.
The Atlanta company says it decided to feature a drawing of the billionaire investor on cans for the launch of Cherry Coke in the country. Buffett is a known fan of Cherry Coke, and his Berkshire Hathaway is Coke’s largest single shareholder.
Coke says it launched Cherry Coke in China March 10, and that the special edition cans with Buffett’s image will remain on shelves for a limited time. The flavor was introduced in the United States in 1985.
Seizure leads to multi-vehicle accident on Buffalo Bill viaduct
The Buffalo Bill viaduct was the scene of a multi-vehicle accident on Monday night after a man had a suspected seizure while he was driving.
According to Investigator John Deal with the North Platte Police Department, 29-year-old Nicholas Cooper, of North Platte, was traveling southbound in his 1992 Chevy S10 Blazer over the viaduct when he felt symptoms of a seizure coming on.
Cooper told officers that he attempted to pull over to the side and put the vehicle in park, but instead accidentally put it in reverse. Deal says the vehicle began traveling northbound, backward down the viaduct.
Deal says the Blazer eventually veered back into the correct lane of traffic and struck a 2000 Nissan Xterra, driven by 19-year-old Jamie Roth, of North Platte. Deal says the Blazer then came to rest in the opposite lane of traffic, but Roth’s Xterra was rear-ended by a 2000 Dodge Neon driven by 31-year-old Barbara Webster, also of North Platte.
After the Neon struck the Xterra and came to rest, Deal says a 1992 Cadillac DeVille driven by 18-year-old North Platte resident Jeremy Battreall, rear-ended Neon.
According to Deal, Cooper and Roth were both transported to Great Plains Health with minor injuries. No citations were issued.
The accident forced the closure of the viaduct for about 45 minutes.