OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Bellevue man has pleaded no contest to manslaughter and a weapons count in the south Omaha shooting death of his friend.
32-year-old Matthew Arnold entered the plea Tuesday in a deal with prosecutors.
Police say an argument and name-calling led to the December shooting of 32-year-old Matthew Johnson.
Arnold will face up to 70 years in prison when he’s sentenced in November.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Jane Raybould is requesting correspondence and any records of financial assistance between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a Nebraska ranch co-owned by Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer.
Raybould submitted the Freedom of Information Act request Tuesday as part of her ongoing criticism of Fischer, a first-term incumbent in a GOP-dominated state.
Raybould has attacked Fischer’s campaign donations and personal finances, noting that her net worth has increased substantially while in office. Fischer, who ranches with her husband, has previously said she values her integrity and doesn’t appreciate the attacks by a campaign desperate for attention.
The request seeks to uncover whether Fischer, her husband or their ranch received various forms of USDA assistance.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 74-year-old man serving a life term has died in a Lincoln prison.
State prison officials say Elijah Jones died just after 4 p.m. Monday at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln.
Officials have not said what caused Jones’ death, but acknowledged that Jones was being treated for a long-term medical condition.
Nebraska law requires a grand jury investigation anytime someone dies in state custody.
Jones had been in the prison system since 1983, when he was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1979 shooting death of Elijah Kelly in an Omaha club.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman who was critically injured after a deer crashed through her car’s windshield remains on life support to allow for the donation of her organs.
Sara Steiner, 35, was taken to Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy after the Friday crash, The Omaha World-Herald reported .
Kara Cordell of Nebraska Organ Recovery declined to comment on Sara Steiner’s case specifically, but said it can take several days after an accident before a donor’s organs can be recovered. Organs are sometimes injured in an accident, but can heal while a donor remains on a ventilator, she said.
The organ donation is just one example of Steiner’s generosity, said Tammy Trahan, her mother.
Trahan said her daughter is also known for being outgoing and having a bubbly personality.
“She just had zest,” her mother said.
The accident occurred Friday morning while Steiner was on her way to work, officials said. Another vehicle initially struck the deer, which sent the animal airborne and into Steiner’s car, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The deer hit Steiner in the head and then exited through the vehicle’s rear window.
Sara Steiner had married Joseph Steiner in November. She was almost five months pregnant with a baby boy, who has died, Trahan said. She also has a five-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, according to her family.
Her mother-in-law, Julie Steiner, called her a “ray of sunshine.”
“She’s just got a wide open smile,” Julie Steiner said. “So much love to spread.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska search-and-rescue team is joining the emergency forces responding to Hurricane Florence as it heads toward the Eastern Seaboard.
More than three dozen members of Nebraska Task Force 1 left Tuesday morning for Raleigh, North Carolina. The deployed members include two K-9 search units.
The task force is composed of firefighters from Lincoln, Omaha and other departments, as well as civilian members: doctors, structural engineers and rigging specialists. Members helped out last September when Hurricane Irma struck Florida and Hurricane Harvey hit Texas.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man with a robbery record has been imprisoned for an Omaha bank heist.
Federal prosecutors say 37-year-old Robert Sanford, of Omaha, was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court in Omaha for robbing the bank on Dec. 26 last year. Sanford was given 12½ years behind bars and was ordered to pay more than $4,300 in restitution.
Prosecutors say Sanford didn’t have a gun when he menaced a teller at the Bank of the West branch in southeast Omaha. He had two prior robbery convictions and was sentenced as a career offender.
YORK, Neb. (AP) — A York prison inmate who attacked a guard and a prison nurse has been given 12 to 23 more years behind bars.
32-year-old Lakrecia Donnell was sentenced Monday. She’d pleaded no contest to assaulting an officer, to using a deadly weapon to commit a felony and to assault with body fluids on an officer.
Court records say Donnell already was serving time at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women for assaulting an officer, burglary and other crimes.
In a York courtroom Monday she said she was sorry and said she took full responsibility for her actions.
BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has announced a settlement that will see the owner of a Bellevue apartment complex pay more than $76,500 in damages for illegally charging military service members for broken leases.
The Justice Department says Twin Creek Apartments must also pay a civil penalty of $20,000 for violating federal law by imposing lease termination charges against 65 service members. The charges ranged from $72 to $1,498 per service member.
The law prohibits landlords from charging service members an extra fee when they move due to military orders.
The settlement also prohibits Twin Creek from engaging in future violations.
HARTINGTON, Neb. (AP) – A South Dakota man accused of drinking alcohol before the fatal crash of an all-terrain vehicle has made a plea deal with Nebraska prosecutors.
Cedar County District Court records say 26-year-old Derrik Nelson pleaded no contest Monday to vehicular homicide and false reporting. Prosecutors dropped manslaughter and other charges in exchange. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10.
The records say Nelson was driving the ATV after drinking for several hours before the June 2017 crash near Fordyce that killed his passenger, Jessi Anderson, a South Dakota State University student.
Prosecutors also dropped an accessory charge filed against Nelson’s father, J. Douglas Nelson. Prosecutors had accused him of dismantling the ATV to hide evidence. He’d said he was merely repairing damage he’d noticed.
The two men live in Yankton, South Dakota.
Buffalo County Court records say Quinton Phillips, of Riverdale, is charged with misdemeanor theft and false reporting. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him. Phillips’ arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 3.
Police say Phillips worked for a security company and had been assigned to make a night deposit of money from the Viaero Center after a hockey game Saturday night. He told police he was robbed before he could make the deposit, but officers say he lied and had taken the money for himself.
It’s unclear how much money was taken.
