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Kearney police officer to sit on rooftop for fundraiser

kearney-policeKEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A community service officer with the Kearney Police Department is planning to sit on Walmart rooftop this weekend until he raises at least $6,000 for the Nebraska Special Olympics.

35-year-old Seth VanHorn will live on the store’s roof starting at 3 p.m. Friday. VanHorn is raising money through the Cop on Top program. He has already raised $2,250 toward his goal.

Forecasters say there’s a 40 percent chance of snow before 1 p.m. on Saturday, with a north win of 20-25 mph and gusts as high as 35 mph.

Last year, VanHorn raised $7,821 in 26 hours. In the last seven years, he has raised more than $47,000 for the Nebraska Special Olympics.

Lincoln woman pleads no contest in child drowning case

Jacqueline Cooley
Jacqueline Cooley

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has pleaded no contest to a felony child abuse charge in the death of her 2-year-old stepson nearly a year ago.

29-year-old Jacqueline Cooley faces up to three years in prison and 18 months of post-release supervision when she is sentenced in February.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jeff Mathers says Cooley told police she left Jase Queen in the bathtub on Jan. 7 and left to get a towel. Mathers says when she came back 2-3 minutes later, he was face down and turning blue in about 10 inches of water.

Mathers says the boy’s grandmother told police he had survived a similar incident in November 2015, and Cooley told family members she had learned her lesson.

Omaha airport struggling to get word out on waiting lots

cellphoneOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s Eppley Airfield has installed two official cellphone waiting lots at a combined cost of $200,000, but word about the new lots has been slow to get out to the public.

A cell phone lot is a space where people wait to receive texts or calls from arriving passengers who are ready to be picked up along the airport terminal’s front drive.

Airport police Chief Tim Conahan says many people are still using old, nearby parking lots. Conahan says the name of the new lot may be part of the issue.

The new lots were announced in September along with other parking initiatives, including a new app that has a feature to help you find your vehicle if you return home and forget where you parked.

Lincoln hospital sued after girl dies of viral meningitis

lawsuit-settlementLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The parents of a 13-year-old Kansas girl who died of viral meningitis are suing a Lincoln hospital, alleging that doctors there were negligent when they treated her in 2014.

Terrisa and Scott Waters filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday in district court in Omaha. The lawsuit says their daughter, Brandi Waters, had complications during a surgery elsewhere to have a benign tumor near her pituitary gland removed. According to the lawsuit, those complications resulted in her being a quadriplegic.

Brandi was admitted to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in November 2014. The lawsuit says Brandi started hallucinating and became confused in December 2014, but doctors held off doing a procedure to look for signs of viral meningitis. She was treated with antiviral medications, but died later that month.

The hospital says it will investigate the allegations.

Nebraska unemployment rate for November rises slightly

unemploymentbennyLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says Nebraska’s unemployment rate rose to 3.4 percent in November, up a tenth of a point from the previous month.

The Nebraska Department of Labor said Friday that the preliminary rate was well below the preliminary national rate of 4.6 percent. The national rate dropped three-tenths of a point from October’s 4.9 percent.

The U.S. Labor Department says New Hampshire and South Dakota had the nation’s lowest unemployment rates, with each at 2.7 percent. Nebraska’s November rate came in ninth, behind Massachusetts, North Dakota, Hawaii, Utah, Colorado and Vermont.

Nebraska Labor Commissioner John Albin says that while the state’s rate rose in November, strong growth was seen in the state’s nonfarm employment sector.

7 arrested in connection with Lincoln man’s death

Jail-Bars-and-Cuffs_mediumLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have arrested seven people in connection with what is believed to be a drug-related homicide after police found a Lincoln man’s body in a car trunk.

Police identified the victim Friday as 41-year-old Jamie Watson.

Authorities have charged 32-year-old Jamez Henderson with second-degree murder. They also arrested 25-year-old Sidney Jackson, 31-year-old Juanita Lara and 27-year-old Stacey Bigelow on suspicion of aiding and abetting murder.

In addition, 22-year-old Brandi Bond, 19-year-old Ronald Auzenne and 19-year-old Ivon Butler were charged with accessory to a felony. Auzenne and Butler are from Arizona.

Police say they found Watson’s body in the trunk of a 1999 Buick Park Avenue with its engine running.

Online court records did not list attorneys for those arrested.

Lincoln woman dies from injuries after SUV crashes into tree

lincoln-fire-departmentLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has died from injuries sustained when her sports utility vehicle crashed into a tree.

Authorities say 28-year-old Tasha Clinkenbeard died Thursday after the crash around 2:30 p.m. Authorities say her red Ford Explorer struck a tree in the median while traveling eastbound.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue workers freed her from the SUV and took her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead from her injuries.

Authorities say they’re still investigating the crash, and an autopsy has been ordered. Authorities say Clinkenbeard was not wearing a seat belt.

Prisons head gets new license to import execution drugs

Scott Frakes
Scott Frakes

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s corrections director has renewed his department’s license to obtain foreign-made drugs, including those used in lethal injections.

Records show the Director Scott Frakes was issued a new license by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Nov. 21. Voters reinstated the death penalty earlier in the month after lawmakers abolished the punishment in May 2015.

The Department of Correctional Services has proposed to change the state’s current protocol with a new process that would allow drug suppliers to remain confidential. A public hearing on the proposal is set for Dec. 30 in Lincoln.

A spokeswoman says the department hasn’t attempted to import lethal injection drugs since executions were put on hold last year, and has no immediate plans to do so.

Person being questioned in death of man in Lexington earlier this week

police-lights-redLEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — A resident of a home on the property where a body was found earlier this week is being questioned by investigators about the death.

The person, who has not been named, was arrested Monday on drug charges. That came after officials say drugs were found in the home during the investigation into 37-year-old Jose Hernandez’s death.

Hernandez’s body was found Monday under palettes and fencing on the property about 2½ miles north of Lexington. Preliminary autopsy results show he died of blunt-force trauma and asphyxiation.

Simants again found to be mentally ill, danger to public

Erwin Charles Simants
Erwin Charles Simants

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A judge has again ordered a man who killed six members of a western Nebraska family more than 40 years ago to remain in state care.

Judge Donald Rowlands ruled Thursday at the annual competency hearing of Erwin Charles Simants that Simants is still mentally ill and a danger to the public. He will stay in the Lincoln Regional Center, where he’s been since being found not guilty of the killings by reason of insanity in 1979.

Prosecutors say Simants shot and killed Henry and Audrey Kellie, their son David and three of their grandchildren in 1975 at the Kellies’ Sutherland home.

Doctors have previously testified that Simants is no longer mentally ill.

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