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Ponca State Park to celebrate 19th annual Hallowfest

PONCA, Neb. (AP) — Ponca State Park’s annual Hallowfest celebration is set for two dates next month.

The celebration will be held Oct. 14 and Oct. 21.

Now in its 19th year, Hallowfest offers a variety of fall activities, including campsite and cabin decorating contests, a pumpkin roll, pumpkin carving contest, haunted hayrack rides, seasonal crafts and more.

Tickets are required for the spooky haunted hayrack rides through the park, which are one of the event’s most popular activities. Guests can reserve tickets by calling the park at 402-755-2284 beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 9. Tickets often sell out within two hours.

More information on Ponca State Park’s Hallowfest activities can be found online at https://calendar.OutdoorNebraska.gov.

Former police chief arrested in drunken driving case

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A former police chief in an Omaha suburb who’s facing drunken driving charges has bonded out of jail.

Officers arrested 58-year-old Leonard Houloose on Thursday and booked him into Sarpy County Jail. He bonded out in less than two hours. A phone listed for Houloose rang unanswered Friday. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

Papillion (puh-PIHL’-yuhn) officers stopped their former chief Sunday afternoon after receiving a tip that he was driving drunk.

He’d served 22 years in the Papillion force, including 14 as chief. He left the department in 2015 and is employed by the city as director of the Tara Hills and Eagle Hills golf courses.

Former employee accused of theft from county program

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A former Platte County employee has been accused of stealing from the county while in charge of the county’s adult diversion program.

Court records say 43-year-old Traci Nelsen is charged with two counts of theft and one of tampering with evidence. A woman who answered Friday at a phone listed for Nelsen in Monroe said Nelsen doesn’t live there. Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for Nelsen.

Prosecutors say more than $10,000 is missing from the diversion program. Nelsen’s next court date is Oct. 18.

Injunction blocking Nebraska prison marriage policy reversed

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has sent an order blocking a state prison policy that kept two inmates from marrying back to a lower court, citing a conflict in how the lawsuit was filed and then decided.

The ruling Friday came in the case of two inmates who had their request to marry denied because corrections officials have been unwilling to transport either of them to the other’s prison for a wedding ceremony, or allow them to marry via video.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued on their behalf, and last year, a Lancaster County District judge ruled the prison’s policy was “constitutionally flawed.”

But the state’s high court found the judge was wrong to grant injunctive relief based on prison employees’ official capacities, because the officials were sued as individuals.

Task force brainstorms ideas for next high school in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Residents, teachers, principals and students in Lincoln are brainstorming ideas for what the local school district’s next high school should look like.

Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel says the goal is to address dramatic enrollment growth at the high school level.

He says high school enrollment is at 106 percent. District officials expect another 5,000 students to enter the district in the next five years.

In addition to a new high school, the district’s 10-year plan calls for four new elementary schools and two new middle schools.

Joel says a traditional high school would cost about $80 million. He says it wouldn’t be feasible to build more than one new high school because the district wouldn’t be able to address space needs in elementary and middle schools.

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Garland man sentenced to probation for fiery crash death

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Garland man who pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular homicide has been sentenced to two years’ probation.

68-year-old Gary Jacobsen was sentenced Friday in Lancaster County Count.

Prosecutors say Jacobsen was driving a truck loaded with rock on Dec. 6, when he pulled across U.S. Highway 77 just north of Lincoln and hit a southbound semitrailer. The semi rolled onto its side and erupted into flames, killing 21-year-old driver Brandon Gerdes, of Osmond.

Jacobsen was also ordered to perform 120 hours of community service in 30-hour blocks during the weeks of June 26 and Dec. 6 — the weeks of Gerdes’ birth and death.

Woman charged in road rage incident that injured Lincoln man

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police have arrested a woman they say was in a car in Lincoln that intentionally hit a man, then sped off in a road rage incident.

It was 21-year-old Shaniece Turner’s car that hit Steven Collins on Aug. 31. Police say she had let Deaubre Gardner drive the car when the incident happened.

Gardner is charged in a warrant with first-degree assault and another count. Police have not found Deaubre.

Police say both men got out of their vehicles following a crash, then Gardner got back into Turner’s car and intentionally hit Collins, severely injuring his leg. The leg had to be amputated at a hospital.

Turner has been charged with being an accessory to a felony. She remained jailed Friday on $50,000 bond.

2 hospitalized after Omaha school bus collides with 2nd vehicle

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say two people were taken to a hospital after a school bus collided with another vehicle in Omaha.

The accident occurred around 6:50 a.m. Friday on the northeast side of the city.

Authorities say it isn’t immediately clear whether the two are students and how the accident occurred.

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