OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Meteorologists say heavy snowfall atop icy roadways and blowing snow could make travel exceptionally hazardous over the weekend in northern Nebraska and much of northern Iowa.
The National Weather Service said Friday in winter storm warnings that up to 16 inches of snow could be dumped in northern Nebraska with lesser amounts to the south, where higher temperatures are expected as the wintry storm passes to the east.
The Iowa warnings say as much as 7 inches is expected in Sioux City, with lesser amounts to the east and south. Rain, freezing drizzle or sleet is expected to precede any snow.
Wind gusts of up to 40 mph are forecast in parts of both states.
The Kearney Police Department would like to announce arrests in 2 recent shooting cases.
On November 18th, 2018, KPD officers responded to a call of shots fired at 1601 W. 39th Street. It was determined that a 21-year-old Kearney Resident had sustained a gunshot wound to the arm. The male subject was treated and released from CHI Good Samaritan Hospital the same day.
A 16-year-old male has been arrested and charged with Accessory to a felony for being the driver of the vehicle that 3 shots were fired from. There were 2 passengers in the vehicle, an 18-year-old male, who was not charged with a crime, and a 14-year-old male who has been identified as the shooter.
The 14-year-old male has been arrested and charged with 2nd-degree assault, use of a weapon to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm in the city limits. The 14-year-old male is being held at the Juvenile Detention Facility in Madison, NE.
The investigation of this incident is still ongoing.
A second shooting was reported at 2919 5th Ave. on November 22, 2018. A 26-year-old Kearney resident suffered 4 pellet gun wounds to his hand, upper arm, and back. He was treated at CHI Good Samaritan hospital and released the same day.
A 15-year-old male has been arrested in this case and has been charged with 2nd-degree assault, use of a weapon to commit a felony and discharging a BB gun in the city limits. He is being held at the juvenile detention facility in Madison, NE.
In addition, an 18-year-old male was arrested and charged with 3rd-degree assault. He was issued a citation and released.
It is believed that these 2 shootings are related and stem from an incident involving drugs.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A man caught on security video sexually assaulting a drunken woman at a Lincoln bar has been sent to prison.
Judge Lori Maret gave 47-year-old Moses Childs Jr. 19 years and 10 months to 20 years in prison at his sentencing Thursday. She told him that what she saw on the video was horrifying.
Authorities say employees at JJ Hooligan’s bar found the bar office in disarray when they arrived on Aug. 30 last year. They soon contacted police after seeing what they thought was sexual assault on the video.
Childs initially told police the encounter was consensual and that he had been drinking. His attorney, Stephen Kraft, told the judge that when Childs saw the video he realized he’d crossed a line. Childs pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree sexual assault.
FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – An eastern Nebraska high school went into a lockdown after a student reported another student walk into the building carrying what looked like a gun.
Fremont police said Thursday the weapon turned out to be a BB pistol. Officers took the student who’d been carrying it and another student into custody about two blocks from Fremont High School. The two students’ names haven’t been released.
Police say no shots were fired and no one was injured. Classes had ended for the day, but some students and staff members were still in the building. Officers sent to the school cleared the building room by room as other officers surrounded it.
An Endangered Missing Advisory has been activated to determine the whereabouts of Vivian Svehla.
The Harlan County Sheriff’s Office is attempting to locate Vivian Svehla, a 79-year-old white female. She was last seen wearing black pants, a white shirt, and a maroon jacket. Svehla is 5 feet tall, 182 pounds with white hair and blue eyes. Svehla is missing from Alma, NE and suffers from dementia. If you have information about Vivian Svehla please call 911 or the Harlan County Sheriff’s office at 308-928-2147.
This advisory is for the following State Patrol Troop Areas: Troop D
WILBER, Neb. (AP) — A woman accused of helping kill and dismember a Lincoln woman has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and unlawful disposal of human remains.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the pleas for 24-year-old Bailey Boswell were entered Thursday in Saline County Court.
Prosecutors say Boswell and 52-year-old Aubrey Trail strangled Sydney Loofe, and Boswell helped Trail cut up Loofe’s body and stuff the remains into trash bags. The remains were found Dec. 4 in Clay County, weeks after Loofe was reported missing.
Both Boswell and Trail face the death penalty if convicted.
The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) and Scottsbluff Police Department Bomb Squads have disposed of 17 blasting caps that were found in a Box Butte County residence.
The Box Butte County Sheriff’s Office responded to a rural residence after receiving a report that 17 silver blasting caps had been found in a shed.
The caps were safely removed from the shed by sheriff’s deputies, who then alerted NSP to the situation. Troopers and officers were able to render the devices safe using counter charges.
“Explosive devices are extremely dangerous, especially if you’re not sure where or when they came from,” said Lt. Jim DeFreece, Commander of the NSP Bomb Squad. “If you ever find a device like this, or any other that may be explosive, call 911 and alert your local law enforcement agency immediately.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say no one was hurt when a fire broke out at an elementary school in Lincoln.
Lincoln Fire & Rescue says students and staffers evacuated Saratoga Elementary a little before 8:30 a.m. after smoke was noticed in an area near the school gym. Firefighters later contained the fire to a mechanical room.
The students were able to get their coats before going out into the subfreezing weather and were moved to a nearby church within 15 minutes.
WAKEFIELD, Neb. (AP) — An accountant charged with stealing nearly $110,000 from a northeast Nebraska church has pleaded not guilty.
Dixon County District Court records say 45-year-old Michael Pommer, of Wakefield, entered the written pleas Wednesday to 15 counts of theft. The records don’t show that a trial has been scheduled.
Pommer’s accused of taking the money from two bank accounts of Salem Lutheran Church without church officials’ authorization. The records say the bank account transfers occurred from June 24, 2016, to Sept. 5 this year.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Testimony in a trial for a former Nebraska inmate’s lawsuit against the state over a 2015 prison riot was cut short Wednesday, when a judge declared a mistrial after recusing himself.
Lancaster County Judge John Colborn recused himself following two days of testimony, determining his potential conflict of interest in John Wizinsky’s case. Wizinsky had taken the stand Monday in his civil lawsuit over a riot three years ago at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution that left two other inmates dead and more than $2 million in damage.
Wizinsky, who sued the state upon his release in 2016, testified that he feared for his life as inmates took over a housing unit from prison guards, started fires and attacked other inmates. He also alleges he suffered from nightmares, panic attacks and increased post-traumatic stress symptoms from witnessing an inmate nearly beaten to death during the May 10, 2015, riot.
Wizinsky’s lawsuit claims that the state was negligent in failing to provide reasonable protection for inmates.
Colborn said he didn’t realize his conflict of interest until he heard testimony regarding the Tecumseh prison’s overcrowding and staffing problems.
Wizinsky’s attorney, Joy Shiffermiller, claimed that overcrowding at the state prison and a staffing shortage were factors that led to prison guards abandoning areas of the prison during the riot, leaving inmates to fend for themselves.
State Corrections Director Scott Frakes also testified Tuesday about the prison’s staffing issues.
Colborn said he has knowledge and personal involvement in justice reform for prison overcrowding. Colborn served on the state’s Justice Reinvestment Committee and attended governor’s advisory meetings on the subject.
A new judge will be appointed to preside over the trial, but there’s no set timeline.
Wizinksy’s attorney Shiffermiller expressed disappointment that her client’s trial will have to start over.
Wizinsky’s trial was the first civil case to be heard in connection to the 2015 riot, which was followed by another riot at the Tecumseh facility in 2017 that also left two inmates dead.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Meteorologists say heavy snowfall atop icy roadways and blowing snow could make travel exceptionally hazardous over the weekend in northern Nebraska and much of northern Iowa.
