LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lincoln City Council has voted to remove drivers for ride-hailing companies from city requirements that taxi drivers must meet.
The council voted 5-1 Monday to remove Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing company drivers from city oversight. The city will continue to do background checks on taxi drivers, require physicals and test the drivers’ knowledge of Lincoln.
The state Public Service Commission requires ride-sharing companies to do background checks on their drivers. The commission audits those companies.
Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister had supported removing ride-hailing company drivers from city oversight, citing the cost of doing background checks on hundreds of drivers. Taxi company owners wanted the city to continue to background checks on their drivers and wanted the same rules for ride-hailing company drivers.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s inspector general for corrections is questioning prison workers’ response to a fire started by an inmate.
Inspector General Doug Koebernick said in a recent report that workers at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution were less than responsive or timely in addressing the inmate’s suspicious behavior and the fire in May.
The report says the inmate was roaming a hallway while another inmate helped him light piles of paper on fire. Koebernick says prison workers only watched when the fire started and then attempted to put it out by spraying a fire extinguisher under a door.
The correctional services director says staff provided timely medical care. He says the delay was primarily the result of miscommunication about who was responding to the fire.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Latest on the case of a Nebraska man charged with assisting in his girlfriend’s suicide (all times local):
1 p.m.
A friend of a Florida woman who flew to Nebraska to kill herself says the woman never mentioned to him that she had been diagnosed with cancer.
Kenny Johnson, of Orange City, Florida, said Tuesday that 38-year-old Alicia Wilemon-Sullivan was a hard-working single mom who only ever mentioned pain in her feet.
Johnson says Wilemon-Sullivan texted him on July 31 to tell him she was going on vacation and needed him to watch her children until Aug. 3. He says he met her at the airport and she gave him $200 and her truck keys.
He says she was “bawling” and told him it was because she was going to miss her children. Three of the four still lived with her.
Authorities say she killed herself in a wooded area near Weeping Water, Nebraska, on Aug. 1. Her boyfriend Matthew Stubbendieck told investigators she had told him she had late-stage cancer.
He is charged with helping her kill herself.
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12:50 p.m.
An investigator says a Nebraska man accused of helping his Florida girlfriend kill herself was “pretty convincing in his interviews” that he believed she had cancer of the lymph nodes.
Lt. Larry Burke of the Cass County sheriff’s office said Tuesday that Matthew J. Stubbendieck appears to have accepted 38-year-old Alicia Wilemon-Sullivan’s word that she had late-stage cancer. But he says the 41-year-old Stubbendieck never contacted the authorities while he and his girlfriend were planning her death.
Burke says authorities don’t believe the Orange City, Florida, woman had cancer because an autopsy found no tumors. The cause of death was undetermined, but the autopsy found no sign of blunt force trauma and concluded that cuts on her forearms and wrists appeared to be self-inflicted.
Wilemon-Sullivan also had alcohol, painkillers and cold medicine in her system.
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7:50 a.m.
Investigators say a Nebraska man facing an assisted suicide charge in his Florida girlfriend’s death said he believed she had stage-four cancer, but an autopsy didn’t find any tumors.
Cass County sheriff’s deputies charged 41-year-old Matthew J. Stubbendieck, of Weeping Water, last week in the death of 38-year-old Alicia Wilemon-Sullivan of Orange City, Florida.
Authorities said Stubbendieck reported that Wilemon-Sullivan had killed herself and led them to her body Aug. 5 in a wooded area near Weeping Water, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Omaha. They said the couple arranged for Wilemon-Sullivan to fly to Nebraska from her home near Orlando to kill herself on Aug. 1.
Investigators say Stubbendieck believed his girlfriend had stage-four cancer in the lymph nodes of her neck, armpit and stomach. But an autopsy didn’t find any cancerous masses or tumors.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A murder charge has been filed in the case of a missing Peru State College student who disappeared nearly seven years ago.
The Nebraska Attorney General’s office says that 36-year-old Joshua Keadle has been charged with first-degree murder, accused of killing 19-year-old Tyler “Ty” Thomas.
Thomas disappeared in the early morning hours of Dec. 3, 2010, after leaving a party near the southeast Nebraska campus. Authorities say Keadle, a fellow student, told them he and Thomas had sex in his vehicle that night, and Keadle later told investigators Thomas threatened to report he had raped her.
The state issued a death certificate for Thomas in 2013, even though her body has not been found. The attorney general’s office declined to comment on whether Thomas’ remains or any new evidence had been found.
Keadle is currently serving 15 to 20 years for the 2008 rape of a 15-year-old girl.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Cheating by more than a dozen freshman cadets on a test and alleged misconduct by members of the lacrosse team are under separate investigations at the Air Force Academy.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports the academy says 13 freshmen were accused of cheating on a test of basic Air Force knowledge. The test includes simple questions, some asking cadets to recite quotes and name key military leaders.
Academy spokesman Lt. Col. Allen Herritage said Monday the test consists of questions related to “military history, rank structure and other general knowledge.”
Herritage went on to say he couldn’t divulge any further details because the investigation is ongoing.
Herritage also wouldn’t divulge more information on the investigation into the lacrosse team, but he did confirm an investigation into the team indeed was underway.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 44-year-old Lincoln man has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for arranging to meet with a prostitute he believed was 15 years old.
44-year-old Nathan Meister was sentenced Tuesday in Lancaster County District Court after pleading guilty to attempted child enticement.
Meister had sought a two to four-year sentence, saying he was seeking treatment. But the judge said Meister was already a registered sex offender for a similar offense in Nebraska — actions that got him dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 2009.
Police say Meister tried to meet with a girl who was actually an undercover officer in September 2016.
PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — An eastern Nebraska man won’t be prosecuted for the shooting death of his wife.
Authorities say 72-year-old Dennis Teague was cleaning his .22-caliber pistol Thursday afternoon at their Sarpy County home when the gun fired. The bullet struck his wife, 68-year-old Afton Teague, in the head. She was pronounced dead at an Omaha hospital.
Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said in a news release Tuesday evening that an investigation showed neither the intent to shoot nor reckless disregard on the part of Dennis Teague.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Doane University board of trustees says it’s standing firmly behind the school’s president, who’s under fire from some teachers.
The teachers have asked the full faculty council for a no-confidence vote on President Jacques Carter, who’s in his seventh year leading the liberal arts college in Crete. Among their criticisms in a letter to the council, they say Carter has failed to follow through on strategic initiatives and has mismanaged personnel.
On Friday the trustees endorsed the direction of the institution and stated their continued support of Carter. A board resolution also criticized the teachers’ letter to the council, saying it contained inaccurate statements about Carter and the university.
Faculty leaders say the council has not yet moved toward scheduling a no-confidence vote.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a fire has heavily damaged an apartment building in northern Lincoln.
The blaze at the Black Sand Apartment Homes was reported around 5 a.m. Wednesday and more than a dozen firetrucks eventually were dispatched as flames leaped from the roof.
No injuries have been reported.
The fire was brought under control by 6:15 a.m. The fire cause is being investigated.
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling about 1.3 million 2015-17 F-150 and 2017 Super Duty vehicles in North America because of potential door problems.
The company said Wednesday that in some vehicles a frozen door latch or bent or kinked actuation cable may cause a door to not open or close. If consumers are able to open and close such doors, the door may appear closed, but the latch may not fully engage, increasing the risk for a possible injury.
Ford said it’s not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue.
The company’s dealers will install water shields over door latches and inspect and repair door latch actuation cables if necessary free of charge to customers.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lincoln City Council has voted to remove drivers for ride-hailing companies from city requirements that taxi drivers must meet.
