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Woman accused of stealing from Lincoln business is sentenced

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A woman accused of stealing from her Lincoln employer has been sentenced.

Valerie Stevens, of Eagle, was given 15 months in a U.S. prison. The judge also told her at her sentencing Tuesday in Lincoln that she must serve three years of supervised release when she leaves custody and must pay more than $222,000 in restitution.

She’d pleaded guilty one count of wire fraud.

Court documents say Stevens was working as an office manager at Lincoln Family Wellness when she used business credit cards to obtain money and property for herself and others under false pretenses. The crime occurred between Jan. 11, 2011, and Oct. 17, 2016.

Authorities identify worker killed when grate fell on him

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a construction worker killed when a steel grate fell on him in northeast Lincoln.

Police identified the man as 27-year-old Cameron McThenia, who lived in Lincoln.

Authorities say McThenia was talking to a co-worker when the grate fell on him Monday.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

Nebraska starts fiscal year with more revenue than expected

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has started a new fiscal year with $20 million more in state tax revenue than expected.

The Department of Revenue reported Wednesday that the state collected $280 million in net revenue in July, which is nearly 8 percent above the state’s certified forecast of $260 million.

The state projections were set by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board in February. A tax revenue shortfall earlier this year forced lawmakers to cut the state budget.

The report says net revenue from sales-and-use taxes and individual income taxes were higher than projected. Net revenue from corporate income and miscellaneous came in below projections.

Boy arrested on suspicion of bringing gun to Bellevue school

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — School officials in a city just south of Omaha say a 15-year-old student was found with a handgun, less than a week after the start of the school year.

Bellevue West High School student brought the gun to school on Wednesday.

Bellevue Police Sgt. Andy Jashinske says school administrators were told that the student was armed and called police around 10:20 a.m.

Police say the boy told to officers that he had a handgun. He was taken to a juvenile detention center in Papillion and faces several charges.

Jashinske says there was no indication that threats were made or the boy had any plan to harm people at the school.

The first day of school in the district was Aug. 9.

Minnesota family sues Hy-Vee over pasta salad illness

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Minnesota family sickened by eating pasta salad contaminated with salmonella is suing the Iowa-based grocery store chain that distributed the food.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Hy-Vee Inc. The suit alleges a woman, her daughter and her grandson became ill after eating pasta salad bought at a Hy-Vee store in Winona, Minnesota. The lawsuit says the mother and daughter required a doctor’s care.

Hy-Vee issued a recall for the product on July 17. Federal health officials say 79 people across nine states were sickened, including 18 who needed hospitalization.

A Hy-Vee spokeswoman says food safety is the company’s top priority and that an investigation continues at the Nebraska facility where the pasta salad was made.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money for medical costs, pain and suffering, and wage loss.

Dismissal of ex-inmate’s suit over jail sex assault upheld

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against Phelps County and county law enforcement officials filed by a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by a county jail guard in 2012.

The woman says she was assaulted by former Phelps County jail guard Louis Campana during the five days she spent in the jail. Campana was later convicted of sexually abusing inmates and spent a couple of years in prison. The woman sued, but a lower court dismissed the county and officials from the suit.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal Tuesday, saying that while the woman was able to point to things the county could have done to prevent her abuse, its failure to equate Campana’s unprofessional behavior with unlawful actions “does not serve to establish a constitutional violation.”

The court also agreed the county sheriff and a jail official have qualified immunity.

The woman’s claim against Campana is still pending.

Man gets probation for hitting garbage collector

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A man has been given a year of probation for knocking down a sanitation worker with his vehicle during an argument in an Omaha suburb.

Sarpy County District Court records say 63-year-old Dennis Stenner also was sentenced Wednesday to 20 hours of community service. He’d pleaded no contest to assault.

Cellphone video recorded by a Bellevue sanitation worker shows Stenner behind the wheel of his sport utility vehicle last October and blocking a garbage truck on a Bellevue street. Witnesses say he was angry because the garbage truck was blocking a street.

Authorities say sanitation worker Jesse Witzke got out of the garbage truck and asked Stenner to move. The video shows Stenner briefly backing up the SUV, then lurching forward and hitting Witzke. Witzke suffered only minor injuries.

Mother sues Omaha over son’s stun gun death

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A mother has sued Omaha police over the death of her son who investigators say was shocked at least a dozen times with a stun gun and punched repeatedly while in custody.

U.S. District Court records say Renita Chalepah filed the wrongful death action Monday. It alleges that police used excessive force in illegally detaining her son Zachary Bearheels and didn’t get him proper treatment for his mental illness.

Omaha City Attorney Paul Kratz said Wednesday that the lawsuit was expected and that his office plans “on vigorously defending the city.”

Police video of the June 5, 2017, incident shows an officer using the stun gun on the 29-year-old Bearheels and another officer punching Bearheels outside an Omaha convenience store after Bearheels was on the ground.

Nebraska county attorney wants to hire daughter

MCCOOK, Neb. (AP) — A county attorney in southern Nebraska wants to hire another part-time deputy attorney and is asking commissioners to allow his daughter to fill the role.

Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood made the request when submitting his proposed 2018-19 budget, which includes a budget increase of $19,020 that would be designated for the salary of a new deputy attorney. Wood told county commissioners that his daughter, Emily Wood, would be able to start Oct. 1 if she passes the bar exam, the McCook Daily Gazette reported.

Paul Wood said a second deputy attorney could help take over litigating unpaid patient bills for the county-owned nursing home, which is currently outsourced. The position could also help manage the workload for the county’s juvenile diversion program amid increases in felonies, particularly methamphetamine violations, he said.

County employee policy doesn’t allow a department head to supervise immediate family, but Paul Wood said state statute allows it with commissioners’ approval and proper disclosure.

Commissioner Steve Downer said it would be beneficial to have the county attorney’s office handle all of the county’s litigation, instead of contracting out some of the work.

“We’ll get comments about hiring a family member,” he said.

Commissioner Jacque Riener suggested that the county’s policy regarding hiring immediate family may need to be rewritten. She said the policy should include a caveat for a professional position since there’s a scarcity of willing and qualified applicants.

Commissioners will decide on the budget and new role next week.

The $19,020 proposed salary for the part-time position accounts for nine months, with a start date this fall. The position’s salary for a full year would be $24,000.

Report: Weak farm economy leading to fewer farm loans

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — More farm loan applications are being rejected in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states in reaction to weak farm commodity prices and income.

The latest Rural Mainstreet survey says nearly one-third of bank CEOs reported rejecting a higher percentage of farm loans, while nearly 55 percent indicated their banks had raised collateral requirements in the face of weak farm prices and income.

The region’s economic index rose to 54.8 in August from 53.8 in July. That score still suggests growth because it is above 50, while any score below 50 indicates a shrinking economy.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the recent trade disputes have weakened “already anemic grain prices.”

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

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