OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has allowed Nebraska’s gay marriage ban to stay in place, putting a federal judge’s ruling striking down the ban on hold.
The decision by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means that Nebraska’s ban will continue to be recognized until an appeal in the case is decided. Had the appeals court ruled in favor of the lower court, Nebraska would have been ordered to recognize gay marriages and civil unions starting Monday.
The appeals court decision came days after Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson filed a motion to keep U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon’s ruling striking down Nebraska’s ban from taking effect next week.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska is drawing strong support from people with debilitating medical conditions and opposition from the state’s top law enforcement official.
Both sides will square off Friday in a legislative hearing. The bill by Sen. Tommy Garrett of Bellevue would allow marijuana to treat certain seizures, disease symptoms and other medical ailments.
Garrett says the bill would help alleviate suffering for a narrowly tailored range of medical problems, and would allow the state to regulate it.
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson opposes the bill, saying such policies should be decided on concrete medical evidence rather than anecdotes. Peterson says he’s concerned that people aren’t carefully considering the potential health effects on youths.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill to repeal Nebraska’s mandatory helmet law for motorcyclists will be debated by the full Legislature.
The eight-member Transportation and Telecommunications committee voted 6-2 on Thursday to advance the measure by Sen. Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins.
Committee members added an amendment that would still require riders younger than 21 to wear helmets.
Lawmakers have tried to repeal the 1989 helmet law since it was went into effect, saying motorcyclists have a right to choose on matters of personal safety.
A similar measure advanced to first-round debate last year, but failed to gain enough votes to break a filibuster.
Bloomfield has designated the measure his priority bill, increasing the odds that lawmakers debate it this year.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska legislative committee has rejected a bill that would have required seatbelts in public school buses.
The eight-member committee voted 4-4 on Thursday, just one vote short of the majority needed to advance the bill to full legislative debate.
The measure by Sen. Robert Hilkemann of Omaha would have authorized buses purchased after Jan. 1, 2016, to come equipped with lap-shoulder belts.
Committee members in opposition say nationally recognized organizations have not proven that seat belts increase child safety on buses. The requirement would have cost Nebraska public school districts between $8,000 and $15,000 per bus.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A pet industry trade group says Americans spent $58 billion on their pets in 2014.
The American Pet Products Association says that includes $22 billion for food, $15 billion for veterinary care and $14 billion for supplies such as bowls and beds and medicines for fleas and ticks.
The fastest growing category was “other services,” which includes grooming, boarding, walking, training, daycare and even trips to the spa, where pets can get facials and massages.
The only category that decreased was sales of animals themselves. Association President and CEO Bob Vetere says the 2 percent drop was likely caused by many reasons, including strong adoption of pets at shelters and rescues and bans on dogs from puppy mills in several cities.
DENVER (AP) — Ten sheriffs from three different states are suing Colorado for legalizing marijuana.
The sheriffs are from Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. They say in a lawsuit filed Thursday that Colorado’s 2012 marijuana legalization vote violates federal law and shouldn’t be permitted.
The sheriffs were joined by county attorneys from Kansas and Nebraska. They are asking a U.S. District Court in Denver to nullify the marijuana amendment to Colorado’s constitution.
The lawsuit is the latest legal challenge to legal weed. Separately, Nebraska and Oklahoma have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down marijuana legalization in Colorado. The Supreme Court hasn’t said yet whether it will hear that case.
And a group of Colorado citizens have filed their own federal challenge, saying marijuana reduces property values.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry says it appears the congressman’s opposition to abortion motivated someone to send a so-called glitter bomb to his Lincoln office.
She says no one was hurt in the Wednesday prank, except some staffers now have sparkles on their clothes. The glitter-filled envelope was reported to Lincoln police, the U.S. postal inspector and the FBI.
A note was included in the envelope that read: “Congrats, you’ve earned this for trying to deny women their right to choice. Mind your own uterus.”
Lincoln police say the letter doesn’t appear threatening, but investigators will analyze it for fingerprints.
Fortenberry recently supported a House of Representatives effort to prohibit federal funding for abortions. He said people are free to disagree with him.
A North Platte man is facing a felony firearms charge after allegedly making delusional claims to police.
Just after midnight on March 5, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to a residence in the 900 block of West 11th Street.
According to Officer Rodney Brown, this was the fourth time in three days that officers had responded to the residence.
Brown said the resident, 36-year-old Joshua Crewdson, reported that there were children inside and outside of his residence, and there was also a group of bikers that were threatening him.
Responding officers found no one on the property during this call or the previous calls.
While inside the home, officers observed a loaded Winchester model 70-7 mm rifle.
Brown said Crewdson is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing firearms.
As a result, Crewdson was placed under arrest and charged with being a felony in possession of a firearm.
Brown said it is not believed that Crewdson was under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs.
A 34-year-old North Platte man is facing multiple felony charges after he and some cohorts allegedly assaulted a man with a baseball bat.
At around 6:45 p.m., on March 3, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to a residence in the 2200 block of East D Street on the report of an assault.
A 54-year-old male alleged that four subjects had burst into his bedroom and began punching him and striking him with a baseball bat.
Witnesses told officers that all four subjects had fled the scene and the victim was being transported to Great Plains Health for treatment.
According to Officer Rodney Brown, the victim told officers that Justin Martino, his 35-year-old brother Joseph, 32-year-old Kenneth Degeler and an unidentified man entered the bedroom and immediately began beating him.
The man’s wife had removed their daughter from the room just prior to the men barging in.
Brown said there were also others inside the residence at the time of the assault, including a 31-year-old female and two male children, ages eight and two.
Following further investigation, officers determined that there was probable cause to arrest the four men, and charge them with felony assault and child abuse.
On the morning of March 4, Justin Martino contacted the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and turned himself in.
He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony 1st degree assault, use of a weapon to commit a felony and two counts of child abuse.
Brown said the investigation into the other three suspects is ongoing.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has allowed Nebraska’s gay marriage ban to stay in place, putting a federal judge’s ruling striking down the ban on hold.
