OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say two firefighters have been injured while battling a blaze at a house just north of Omaha.
The fire was reported at 1:20 a.m. Thursday in the Ponca Hills area, east of U.S. Highway 75.
The occupants escaped without harm. The two firefighters were taken to an Omaha hospital.
The fire cause is being investigated. Officials suspect the blaze began in a pickup before spreading to a garage and then the house.
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Lincoln – The University of Nebraska Department of Athletics announced several initiatives Wednesday to honor the legacy of Husker football player Sam Foltz, who was tragically killed in a car accident last month. Continue reading “Nebraska Announces Initiatives to Honor Sam Foltz”
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming man previously convicted of sexually assaulting a child has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison after authorities seized the largest collection of child pornography in the U.S.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Internet Crimes Against Children Association say the sexually explicit images and videos of kids made up the biggest cache ever found in the country.
63-year-old Richard Person on Tuesday received a term of 19 years and seven months for possession of child pornography.
His attorney argued for 14 years, saying Person cooperated with investigators and knew his behavior was wrong. In court, Person said, “I’m very sorry to all the people I let down.”
Person had served eight years for a 2001 conviction of sexually assaulting a child.
LA VISTA, Neb. (AP) — Friends have gathered to remember a former classmate who was killed after being hit by a train in La Vista.
Nineteen-year-old Nicholas Wilson and 18-year-old Dillon McHenry were hit by a BNSF Railway train while walking along the tracks over the Papio Creek around 8:40 p.m. Monday.
Their friend, 18-year-old Edward Zielinski, says he and the two men were on the tracks when they saw the train. Zielinski jumped into the water below, but the other two men went off the bridge after the train hit them.
Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene. McHenry was taken to a local hospital and is now in fair condition.
An investigation shows the train didn’t blow its whistle. La Vista police are reviewing video from the train’s camera.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says a routine traffic stop on Interstate 80 near Lincoln turned up close to 50 pounds of marijuana in a pickup.
The sheriff’s office says the stop occurred around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, and deputies conducted a probable-cause search. Deputies say they found 49 one-pound bags of marijuana packed into totes in the bed of the pickup. Authorities estimate the street value of the marijuana at $250,000.
The search also turned up hash oils and a handgun.
Two men in the truck were arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana with intent to deliver and other counts.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 30-year-old Lincoln man has been sentenced to two years in prison for arranging to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex in a grocery store parking lot last November.
Anthony Dyer was sentenced Tuesday in Lancaster County District Court. In June, he pleaded no contest to a charge of enticement by an electronic device.
Prosecutors say Dyer exchanged sexually explicit text messages in November with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but was actually an undercover deputy sheriff posing as a young girl. Prosecutors say Dyer arranged for them to meet for sex in Fallbrook. Dyer was arrested when he showed up.
LA VISTA, Neb. (AP) — Federal safety regulators are proposing $70,000 in penalties against an Omaha-area builder for safety violations.
The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a news release Tuesday that it is proposing the penalties against R&M Equipt LLC, of La Vista. The agency says citations were issued last week after inspectors saw four of the company’s employees working on Feb. 5 at heights greater than 10 feet without adequate fall protection.
Company owner Matt Myers said Wednesday that the work violations were immediately rectified and that he and his company are working with OSHA on resolving the complaint.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new Nebraska audit has uncovered serious flaws in the operations of a state agency that’s key to the governor’s goal of growing Nebraska’s economy.
The audit, released Tuesday, says the Department of Economic Development spent millions of dollars on grants and contracts during 2015 without adequate documentation or monitoring. State Auditor Charlie Janssen couldn’t confirm the money was used for appropriate reasons.
The audit also questions a more than $14,000 payment made in October as part of a settlement agreement with Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, who became the agency’s director in February 2015 but was fired by Gov. Pete Ricketts in October.
Nebraska Department of Administrative Services attorneys say Hicks-Sorensen agreed to resign and waive all claims against the department in exchange for the payment.
Agency officials say they’ll fully consider the finding and make appropriate reforms.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former village board chairman has been sentenced to prison for trying to arrange sex with a 15-year-old girl in Lincoln.
Court records say 56-year-old Steven Klingelhoefer was sentenced Tuesday to 20 to 22 years in prison. He’d pleaded guilty to enticement with an electronic communication device and to possession of child pornography. He entered the pleas after prosecutors lowered the enticement charge.
He resigned in November as chairman of the Amherst Village Board in Buffalo County.
Prosecutors say Klingelhoefer tried to arrange a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl in Lincoln, where he was arrested Nov. 20. Authorities say the person he was exchanging emails and text messages with was actually an undercover officer working for the Nebraska attorney general’s office.
