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Police: Woman killed in single-car crash in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police say a woman has died following a crash in north Lincoln.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the crash happened around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, when a car left 27th Street and hit a tree. Police say the 22-year-old female driver and a 20-year-old woman who was a passenger both suffered serious injuries and were taken to a local hospital, where the 20-year-old died.

Police have not released the names of either woman.

The crash closed 27th Street for several hours. Police continue to investigate.

Illinois woman dies in freeway crash near Grand Island

GRAND ISLAND, Nebraska (AP) — Police say a single-car crash on Interstate 80 near Grand Island has killed an Illinois woman.

The Nebraska State Patrol says the crash happened just after 7 a.m. Friday when a car drove into a ditch near an exit. The driver apparently over-corrected and the vehicle rolled twice, throwing a passenger from the vehicle.

The passenger, 27-year-old Allyssa Wiebel, of Bartlett, Illinois, was taken to a Grand Island hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The 20-year-old driver, Tony Trujillo, of Cicero, Illinois, and an 18-year-old passenger, who wasn’t identified, were taken to a hospital for minor injuries.

Police are investigating the crash.

Official says 14-year-old girl died in crash of stolen car

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln school administrator says a 14-year-old girl has died in an early morning crash of a stolen car.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports the crash happened just after 4 a.m. Friday when a car rammed into a pole in northeast Lincoln, killing the driver.

Later Friday, Lincoln High School Principal Mark Larson sent a letter to parents identifying the driver as 14-year-old Kaydance Potter, a ninth grader at the school.

Officials made a crisis response team available to students Friday, and the team planned to return to the school Monday.

The car is believed to have been stolen April 15 from a driveway in southeast Lincoln.

Leaders of 4 states hit by flooding meet again with Corps

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The leaders of several Midwest states hit recently by flooding along the Missouri River said Friday they’ve received assurances from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the states will “have a seat at the table” when it comes to river management decisions.

“That was crystal clear when we left that table, that the states were going to have some say in how the river is managed,” said Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson immediately after leaving a meeting with Corps officials in the western Iowa city of Council Bluffs. Parson was joined by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, both Republicans, and Kansas Democratic Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers. It was the second such meeting since last month’s flooding that devastated farms and communities and ripped apart roads and bridges, causing more than an estimated $3 billion in damage.

Ricketts said the four states are considering pushing for formation of a Missouri River management group — similar to the Mississippi River Commission — that would include representatives from the states.

“We’re going to work together and pull together as four states … to be able to change the way the river is controlled,” he said.

The Mississippi River Commission was formed 140 years ago to recommend policy regarding flood control, navigation and environmental projects on the Mississippi River. Its membership consists of three Corps officers, a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and three civilians, two of whom must be civil engineers. The U.S. president appoints the commission’s members.

“We along the Missouri River don’t have that,” Ricketts said. “I think it’s something we should look at.”

The state leaders also received an update Friday from the Corps on the progress of repairing the largest levee breaches along the river, most of which occurred in southwestern Iowa. Reynolds said repair contracts for three of the four largest breaches have already been awarded and that some of the repairs could be finished as early as July.

The Corps announced Friday that it awarded a $6 million contract to repair a 1,200-foot breach on the levee south of Highway 34 in Mills County, Iowa. The initial repair will provide flood protection to areas behind the levee, including work to repair Highway 34 and Interstate 29, both of which were heavily damaged by the flooding and remain closed.

The Corps expects that repair to be finished within 45 days of the work beginning.

State to find home for newborns left at Kearney hospital

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — State officials want to find a home for twin baby boys left at a Kearney hospital.

A judge this week formally turned over the twins to the state Health and Human Services Department, ruling that returning the boys to their parents would be contrary to the boys’ welfare.

The department had placed the boys with foster parents. The twins were born Feb. 2 and left at CHI Good Samaritan hospital. Police say the mother had provided false information to the hospital.

The state’s safe haven law says parents won’t be prosecuted if they turn over children 30 days old or younger at a hospital.

6-year-old boy dies from injuries in Kansas ATV crash

LONGTON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say one of two brothers hurt in an all-terrain vehicle crash in rural southeast Kansas has died from his injuries.

Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Rick Wingate identified the boy as 6-year-old Owen Cannon, of Longton. His 9-year-old brother was driving the ATV when it crashed into a pickup truck on April 18 while cresting a hill on an Elk County gravel road.

Both boys were flown away from the wreck. The truck driver wasn’t hurt. A GoFundMe says the older boy had a broken leg, while Owen had swelling on his brain and cracked vertebrae in his neck.

Wingate says the investigation is ongoing.

Former officer pleads not guilty in child sex assault case

Austin Williams

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A former Fremont police officer accused of sexually assaulting a child has pleaded not guilty.Dodge County District Court records say 33-year-old Austin Williams entered the pleas Thursday to two counts of sexual assault of a child and to related charges. A trial date wasn’t set. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26.

Officials say an investigation into Williams began last summer when the patrol was notified by an advocacy center of a potential sexual assault.

At the time of the investigation, Williams was an officer with the Fremont Police Department, but the patrol says his employment there has ended.

Lincoln police say woman killed in crash of stolen car

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a woman died when the car she was driving rammed into a pole in northeast Lincoln.

Firefighters responding to a 911 report found the crash scene around 4:15 a.m. Friday. Lincoln Police Capt. Ben Kopsa says the eastbound car went out of control and ran off the roadway before striking the pole. Police suspect speeding is a factor in the crash.

The woman’s name hasn’t been released.

The car is believed to have been stolen April 15 from a driveway in southeast Lincoln.

Nebraska must give lethal injection info to Arkansas lawyers

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska must turn over information to Arkansas death row inmates’ attorneys about where it acquired a drug that was used in a recent lethal injection.

A federal appellate court denied a motion Tuesday that would’ve given Nebraska a reprieve from carrying out the request.

Quinn Eaton is an attorney for the Arkansas inmates. Eaton told the court that information about where Nebraska’s prison system obtained fentanyl for an execution last summer is central to a federal civil rights trial in Arkansas.

He said the documents are relevant to their argument that Arkansas’ use of the drug midazolam in executions is inhumane. They have to show there’s an available alternative to reduce the risk of severe pain.

Nebraska has repeatedly refused to disclose the information.

Police release name of Grand Island homicide victim

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – Grand Island police have released the name of a 32-year-old homicide victim.

The department identified the man Friday as Vincent Arrellano Jr., who lived in Grand Island. The department said it couldn’t yet release any other information.

Police reported Thursday that officers sent around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday to check a disturbance call in northeast Grand Island found the man later identified as Arrellano suffering from several gunshot wounds. Police say he died around 11:45 p.m. at a local hospital.

No arrests have been reported.

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