(AP) — Firefighters from at least three departments have battled a house fire in eastern Nebraska.
The fire was reported about 6 p.m. Sunday. It was at a house that sits a few miles southeast of Cedar Bluffs in Saunders County, near U.S. Highway 77.
No injuries have been reported.
(AP) — Amazon says it is teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver packages on Sundays.
The Seattle company says Sunday delivery will be available to customers in the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas at first. Amazon and the Postal Service plan to roll out service to “a large portion of the U.S. population” next year, including Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Phoenix.
Amazon expects Sunday delivery to be popular with members of its Prime service, which costs $79 a year and comes with free two-day shipping on many items on the site as well as access to Amazon’s TV and movie streaming service. But Sunday delivery will be available to all Amazon customers.
Shares of Amazon climbed $1.69 to $52 in morning trading.
(AP) — Seventy-two Nebraskans who were awarded the Medal of Honor are getting new recognition at the State Capitol.
Military leaders and Gov. Dave Heineman unveiled a new plaque on Monday that will be displayed in the Memorial Hall, on the Capitol’s 14th floor. The cast bronze plaque lists the names of each Nebraskan who has received the nation’s highest award for military service.
Nearly 3,500 Americans have earned the medal. In Nebraska, two-thirds of the recipients were awarded for service during the Civil War or the Indian Wars.
Two Nebraskans received it for service in World War I, 10 were awarded during World War II, two were awarded during the Korean War and seven received the honor during the Vietnam War. One was awarded for action in Somalia in 1993.
(AP) — A 39-year-old woman has given up rights to her newborn daughter, who was taken away by a Nebraska child worker because the woman had helped kill her toddler son 15 years ago.
Francisca Campbell delivered her daughter, Nevaeh, on July 23. The next day a state worker took away the child. The agency didn’t cite any new danger posed by Campbell, but the worker said in an affidavit that Campbell shirked responsibility for her earlier crime.
Court records say Campbell was convicted under the name Francisca Pleines of conspiracy to commit child abuse resulting in death. She served 12 years in prison. Her boyfriend at the time struck the fatal blows in October 1998, a day after she kicked and punched her son.
(AP) — Authorities are investigating a two-vehicle collision in eastern Nebraska that killed two people and injured four others.
The Dodge County Sheriff’s office says the crash happened around 11:15 p.m. Saturday on Highway 30 about a mile west of Fremont.
A westbound 1995 Toyota 4Runner crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix.
The Toyota’s driver and a passenger in the Pontiac died at the scene.
A passenger in the Toyota was taken to a Fremont hospital and later transferred to a trauma hospital in Omaha.
The driver of the Pontiac and two other passengers were taken to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.
The names of everyone involved in the crash weren’t immediately released.
(AP) — A shooting near the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s main campus prompted a brief alert to students, but police quickly arrested a suspect.
Police say a 26-year-old homeless man shot a relative in the leg outside an apartment that’s near UNL’s city campus on Sunday morning.
Police say the homeless man was arguing over money with his 45-year-old relative before the shooting around 8:30 a.m.
University officials sent a campus alert about the shooting after the suspect fled in a white SUV.
Police arrested the man around 11 a.m.
The shooting victim is expected to recover from his injuries.
(AP) — The 63-year-old homeless man critically hurt in a Lincoln car accident has been identified, and the driver is awaiting his initial court appearance.
Police say Marvin Archer was hurt Friday night as he crossed O Street a few blocks west of downtown.
Archer remained in critical condition on Sunday at a Lincoln hospital.
The driver of the car that hit Archer, 25-year-old Grant Siggins, was arrested. Police say Siggins is suspected of driving under the influence and refusing to take a breathalyzer test.
(AP) — The number of mental health issues Lincoln Police are dealing with is increasing significantly.
The number of mental health calls police handled grew 80 percent from 1,276 in 2001 to 2,294 last year.
Lincoln Public Safety Director Tom Casady says the dramatic increase in calls, which doesn’t include suicides or attempted suicides, is troubling.
Casady says he wonders if the statistics suggest mental health services in the community are failing to meet residents’ needs.
Casady says most of these mental health problems could be better treated by outpatient care instead of police.
(AP) — An Iowa man is maintaining his innocence in a fatal shooting, but he has pleaded guilty to a gun charge.
Authorities say 35-year-old Fernando Jaimes-Martinez pleaded guilty Friday to being a felon in possession of a firearm because he has two Nebraska felony convictions on his record. Jaimes-Martinez faces three to 15 years in prison and deportation for that.
Jaimes-Martinez is scheduled to go to trial this week on a first-degree murder charge. He is accused of firing a gun into a crowd on Sept. 22, 2012, and killing 27-year-old Karla Gonzalez.
Earlier, Jaimes-Martinez refused to plead guilty to the killing as part of a plea agreement.
The murder trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. If convicted, Jaimes-Martinez would face a sentence of life in prison.
(AP) — Lincoln police say a 20-year-old man attacked a relative with a crowbar because she’s gay, and investigators are treating the attack as a hate crime.
Police on Friday arrested Ahmed Mohammed Tuma on suspicion of attempted assault, criminal mischief and making terroristic threats. The counts carry a hate crime enhancement.
Police say Tuma and a friend decided to confront the woman about being engaged to another woman. Police say Tuma tried to hit the woman with a crowbar as she got out of her car.
She retreated to the car and locked the door, and police say Tuma smashed her window and windshield, then rammed her car with his pickup.
Police say Tuma indicated that he believes the woman disgraced his family.
