OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new federal lawsuit has accused the Nebraska State Patrol of forcing female recruits to submit to invasive, medically unnecessary pelvic exams before they can be hired.

State Trooper Brienne Splittgerber filed the lawsuit Tuesday against the patrol, the state and various other people, accusing them of creating a hostile work environment for women.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, saying women recruits for years have been required to undress from the waist down for a vaginal and rectal exam. The lawsuit says Splittgerber was told the exam was required to check for hernias, but male recruits were generally not required to undress or undergo such invasive exams.

The lawsuit says Splittgerber sued after her complaints about the exams went unanswered or investigated by officials.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s only provider of individual health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act wants to raise its monthly rates by an average of nearly 17 percent, and some rates could increase by more than 50 percent.

Minneapolis-based Medica unveiled its proposed rates Tuesday. The company says a corresponding increase in federal subsidies would protect roughly 80 percent of consumers in the Nebraska market from having to pay more.

The company outlined scenarios in which consumers in Omaha could see their rates increase by 57 percent, before accounting for subsidies. With subsidies, the increases would be much smaller for those who have to pay more.

In Lincoln, some consumers could see increases of about 10 percent before accounting for subsidies.

The Nebraska Department of Insurance says the rates are not final.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State agencies are making special preparations for the solar eclipse that’s expected draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to Nebraska.

Gov. Pete Ricketts outlined the plans Monday with officials from the state’s parks, tourism, transportation, law enforcement and emergency management agencies.

Officials estimate Nebraska will see between 100,000 and 400,000 visitors because it’s a prime location to view the Aug. 21 eclipse. A large swath of the state will experience a total eclipse, in which the moon completely obscures the sun’s light for a few minutes.

The Nebraska State Patrol and Department of Transportation are bracing for a large increase in road traffic. The transportation department plans to temporarily reduce the number of construction and maintenance projects scheduled for that day.

Tourism officials are working with cities on viewing parties.

FUNK, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a woman whose body was found in a southern Nebraska cornfield.

Phelps County Attorney Michael Henry said in a news release Monday that the woman had been identified as 51-year-old Cynthia Lammers, who lived in Kearney. A final determination on the cause of her death awaits final autopsy results.

Phelps County Sheriff Gene Samuelson has said an agronomist found the body July 11, just north of Funk. Samuelson said it appeared the body had been there about a week.

No arrests have been reported in the homicide investigation.

Lincoln – Just as families are gearing up for the start of school, the Department of Health and Human Services this week also is preparing orders to make monthly deliveries of more than 4,900 tons of food to about 425 Nebraska schools and child care programs through its Food Distribution Program.

DHHS’ Children and Family Division distributes U.S. Department of Agriculture foods donated to schools and child cares across the state. U.S.D.A. supports domestic agriculture by purchasing surplus commodities, and provides it in support of the agency’s child nutrition programs.

“As the distributors of U.S.D.A. food to our state’s young people, we’re glad to coordinate deliveries so our students receive nutritionally rich foods to help them excel at school,” said DHHS CEO Courtney Phillips. “Along with our support of Nebraska citizens through other programs, the Food Distribution Program complements our mission to help people live better lives.”

Students will be glad to note that their three favorites – cups of strawberry, applesauce and diced peaches – once again will be available this year. Favorite main course meals like whole grain breaded chicken nuggets and patties also will be served. New additions to the menu will be pulled pork and tuna.

In all, DHHS offers 160 different U.S.D.A.-donated foods. Last school year, DHHS distributed 374,581 cases of American grown or produced food worth more than $10 million to Nebraska schools and child cares. The no-cost food comprises 15-20 percent of the food they will serve.

Besides those savings, DHHS applied for and received funds from U.S.D.A.’s State Administrative Expenses for Child Nutrition to pay nearly all transportation and warehousing costs, saving schools and child care programs more than $1 million. The Food and Distribution Program contracts for warehouse and delivery services and pays the contractor with the funds.

Additional savings will be achieved with DHHS coordinating the direct shipment of about 80,000 cases of U.S.D.A. food to larger school districts. That move will avoid state transportation and warehousing costs, and savings are expected to exceed $300,000.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Police in central Nebraska say a Kearney teen suspected of shooting into a crowd of teens at the Buffalo County Fair has been arrested.

The 16-year-old boy is accused of shooting a handgun into the ground near the crowd of about 10 young adults around 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

Police investigator Doug McCarty says the incident happened as a fight seemed to be starting between some of the teens. No one was injured.

The teen was arrested on suspicion of attempted felony first-degree assault and weapons counts. He is being held at the Northeast Nebraska Juvenile Services Center in Madison until a hearing is scheduled.

MCCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska pheasant farmer plans to hatch 350,000 birds at his farm this year to supply hunting preserves around the Plains and Midwest.

90 percent of Dustin Chrisman’s birds at Double Barrel Game Farm are expected to be pheasants, but he also hatches some chukars and bobwhite quail.

Family friend Les Brozovsky sparked Chrisman’s interest in hatching when he was just a second-grade student. Chrisman would work for Brozovsky after school, collecting and washing eggs and cleaning incubators.

Before Brozovsky died just a few years later, he gave Chrisman a Sears-Roebuck incubator that was about the size of a small dresser and capable of holding about 300 eggs.

Now, Chrisman uses five climate-controlled incubators, each one capable of holding more than 21,500 eggs.

A juvenile is facing numerous felony charges after he allegedly discharged a gun at the Buffalo County Fair.

At approximately 10:25 p.m., July 27, 2017, Kearney Police officers responded to a unit call for a victim of a gunshot wound at the Buffalo County Fair.

Officers took a 16-year-old Kearney teen into custody after it was determined that he had allegedly fired a shot during a dispute just off the Midway portion of the Fairgrounds. The juvenile had been detained by carnival employees and Fairground security officers prior to KPD’s arrival.

It was determined that a single shot had been fired from a small caliber handgun and fortunately no one was struck by the bullet. The suspect has been placed in a secure juvenile detention facility. Pending preliminary charges are attempted first-degree assault, use of a weapon to commit a felony, terroristic threats, possession of a handgun by a minor, carrying a concealed weapon and discharge of a firearm in city limits.

The charges may change as the incident is still being investigated.

At approximately 9:20 p.m., July 27, 2017, Kearney Police Officers, Kearney Volunteer Fire Department, and Good Samaritan Paramedics were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident with injuries, in the 5100 block of 2nd Avenue, Kearney, NE.

Investigation at the scene revealed that a full-sized pickup was being driven northbound on 2nd Avenue, by a 61-year-old Buffalo County man.

The pickup struck a sign in the median at 50th Street and 2nd Avenue, near the entrance to the Kearney Hilltop Mall, before crossing into the southbound lanes of 2nd Avenue.  The truck continued to travel in a north-northwest direction before going over the west curb near Culvers.  The pickup struck a tree and then collided with two parked vehicles in the Culver’s parking lot. It continued north before colliding with the southeast corner of the Verizon store, located at 5110 2nd Avenue, where it came to rest.

The driver of the pickup was transported to CHI Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney where he was later pronounced dead. The accident is being investigated by members of the Kearney Police Department and Buffalo County Sheriff’s Department Fatality Accident Investigation Team (F.A.I.T.).

Names are not being released at this time, pending notification of kin.  An autopsy has been ordered by the Buffalo County Attorney’s Office.

 

A Hershey man is facing felony child abuse charges after his daughter was severely burned by boiling water.

According to a statement from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, deputies learned that, on July 24, a five-year-old girl had been severely burned at a residence in Hershey.

The sheriff’s office investigated and learned that the girl’s father, 32-year-old Travis Cooley, had been using boiling water in an attempt to remove coloring from her hair.

Cooley told deputies that the girl had dyed her hair with Kool Aid and he had searched the internet for ways to remove it. His search reportedly revealed that this could be accomplished using boiling water and baking soda.

As Cooley was going through the process, he said the boiling water spilled on the girls arm and back causing severe burns.

Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says the girl was transported to Great Plains Health and then to St. Elizabeth’s Burn Center in Lincoln. Officials say she suffered burns to 20 percent of her body.

Upon her release from St. Elizabeth’s, the girl was interviewed at the Bridge of Hope Child Advocacy Center, in North Platte.

On July 27, after further investigation, deputies determined that there was probable cause to arrest Cooley and charge him with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury through negligence, a felony.

Cooley was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.