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Woman Bitten by Black Rhino at Denver Zoo

black-rhino(AP) — The Denver Zoo has indefinitely suspended a program that let visitors pay to touch and feed a rhino after a black rhinoceros bit a woman’s finger.

The zoo says the woman was taken to a hospital Wednesday after Mshindi the rhino bit her finger while she was feeding it. The woman’s condition wasn’t disclosed.

Zoo officials called the incident a “terrible accident” and said they don’t think the rhino was trying to harm her.

The zoo this year started offering a rhino “meet and greet” in which visitors who paid an extra $60 were offered a chance to touch and feed a rhino. Other zoos have had similar programs.

The Denver Zoo says it will report the accident to its accrediting agency, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Peru State Seeks Dismissal of Lawsuit by Missing Student’s Mother

Tyler "Ty" Thomas
Tyler “Ty” Thomas

(AP) — The Nebraska State Colleges’ board of trustees is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the mother of a Peru State College student who disappeared nearly three years ago.

Attorneys filed the motion earlier this month in the lawsuit filed by LaTanya Thomas.

Thomas alleges that the college and other officials failed to protect her daughter, Tyler “Ty” Thomas, from fellow student Joshua Keadle. Keadle is in prison for sexual assault in a separate case.

LaTanya Thomas alleges that Keadle murdered her daughter in December 2010. Her body has never been found. Authorities say they believe Keadle was the last person to see Ty Thomas alive.

A judge previously signed an order dismissing Peru State College, the state of Nebraska, and local officials as defendants in the lawsuit.

Omaha Woman Gets Probation for Forged Checks

forgery(AP) — An Omaha woman has been given five years of probation and an order to pay restitution on forged payroll checks.

Federal prosecutors say 39-year-old Tara Heitkamp was sentenced on Monday for making and possessing a forged security.

Prosecutors say Heitkamp was a bookkeeper at a real estate management company when she embezzled nearly $28,600. Prosecutors say she used a signature stamp to sign extra, unauthorized payroll checks to herself from 2007 through 2010.

Grand Island Approves $5K for Veterans Home Legal Fight

NE-Veterans-Home(AP) — The Grand Island council has approved a $5,000 contribution to a legal fight fund for keeping a veterans home in the south-central Nebraska community.

The City Council voted 9-0 Tuesday night to approve the expenditure. The money will join the $5,000 pledged by Hall County and the $2,500 promised by both the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp. and the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce.

The $15,000 will be used to determine how Grand Island could challenge the state decision to build a replacement home in Kearney, which Gov. Dave Heineman announced on July 12. The Grand Island Veterans Home has been part of the community since the Soldiers and Sailors Home opened in 1888.

Judge Defends 30 Day Sentence for Girl’s Rape

gavel-and-scale(AP) — A Montana judge who sentenced a former teacher to 30 days for raping a 14-year-old girl is standing by his comments that the girl was older than her “chronological age” when it came to sexual matters.

But District Judge G. Todd Baugh says that doesn’t make 54-year-old Stacey Rambold’s actions any less of a crime. The girl killed herself in February 2010 while the case was pending.

In handing down the sentence Monday, Baugh said the girl was “older than her chronological age” and “as much in control of the situation” as the teacher.

Baugh said a 14-year-old girl can’t consent, but this situation was not a “forcible beat-up rape.”

He says the girl’s death also complicated the county attorney’s case.

Omaha Man Gets 63 Months for Robbing Bank

Jesus Robles
Jesus Robles

(AP) — Authorities say a 49-year-old man has been given 63 months in prison for robbing a bank branch in southeast Omaha.

Federal prosecutors say Jesus Robles, of Omaha, must serve three years of supervised release after he leaves prison.

Robles was convicted of robbing a Wells Fargo Bank branch on Aug. 13, 2012. No one was injured.

Robles had escaped with $297 of the bank’s money, but Omaha officers soon found him hiding in some bushes a couple of blocks away.

Nebraskan Claims Faulty Wal-Mart Bag Led to Wife’s Death

walmart(AP) — An eastern Nebraska man has sued Wal-Mart, saying the failure of an overfilled plastic shopping bag led to the death of his wife.

The Sarpy County lawsuit filed William Freis, of Plattsmouth, has been moved to U.S. District Court in Omaha.

The lawsuit says the bag failed on April 16, 2010, outside a Wal-Mart store in Bellevue. A can inside fell onto the right big toe of Freis’ wife, Lynette, breaking and cutting it. The lawsuit says the injuries led to an infection that spread through her body “and ultimately resulted in her death on March 12, 2011.”

The lawsuit seeks more than $656,000.

A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to directly comment on the lawsuit’s allegations.

Waverly Boy, 15, Killed in Crash

lancaster-county-sheriff(AP) — A 15-year-old boy has been killed in the crash of a car full of teenagers in southeast Nebraska.

Lancaster County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Houchin (HOW’-chihn) says the accident occurred a little after 7 p.m. Tuesday on a county road just north of Waverly. Houchin says six teenagers were in the car driven by a 15-year-old girl. He says she lost control of it on the gravel road. The car rolled at least twice and landed on its wheels in a ditch next to a cornfield.

Two of the six were ejected, including the boy who died. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office identified him as Taylon Artman, of Eagle. The names of the others involved haven’t been released.

Houchin says none of the other teens’ injuries was considered life-threatening.

Official Says Real Textbooks Preferred Over Digital in Nebraska

UNL(AP) — The digital age has brought e-books to the masses, but a Nebraska college bookstore executive says most students still prefer real books from real paper.

John Parish is regional manager for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bookstore’s parent company, Follett Higher Education Group, and he says most students would rather buy or rent real textbooks than acquire digital copies.

Parish says the UNL Bookstore provides an online service for textbooks and related videos and animated graphics.

He said the store’s most popular option is Rent-A-Text, which can save students at least half the price of a new book. He says the students can still highlight the book text and write notes on its pages, but the book must be returned by the end of the semester.

Blast Rocks Grand Island Semitrailer Facility

grand-island-fire-department(AP) — No injuries have been reported after explosions rocked a bay at a truck trailer sales and repair facility in Grand Island.

Firefighters were dispatched around 4:45 p.m. Monday to Bosselman Tank & Trailer.

Grand Island Fire Chief Tim Hiemer says the first explosion probably occurred after the pressure relief system failed on a tanker that was in the bay where the fire broke out. He says the other blasts probably were tires exploding on the tanker.

Hiemer says the tanker had just fuel residue and fumes inside. The explosions and fire were contained to the bay.

The fire cause is being investigated.

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