HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after the body of a man was found just outside of Hastings.
The Hastings Tribune reports that the body — believed to be that of a middle-aged man — was found around noon Monday by a groundskeeper who was mowing at the Motorsport Park Hastings.
Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Reed says officials are looking into whether the remains belong to a man who was reported missing in October. Reed says an autopsy will be conducted Wednesday in Omaha.
Reed says there are no obvious signs of foul play, but investigators aren’t ruling anything out and are collecting evidence for possible use later.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will allow year-round sales of renewable fuel with blends of 15 percent ethanol as part of an emerging deal to make changes to the federal ethanol mandate.
Republican senators and the White House announced the deal Tuesday after a closed-door meeting, the latest in a series of White House sessions on ethanol.
The Environmental Protection Agency currently bans the 15-percent blend, called E15, during the summer because of concerns that it contributes to smog on hot days. Gasoline typically contains 10 percent ethanol. Farm-state lawmakers have pushed for greater sales of the higher ethanol blend to boost demand for the corn-based fuel.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley called the agreement good news for farmers and drivers alike, saying it would increase ethanol production and consumer choice at the pump.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the deal will save the jobs of thousands of blue-collar workers at refineries in Texas, Pennsylvania and other states.
“Terrific final decision from @POTUS meeting,” Cruz tweeted. “This is a WIN-WIN for everyone.”
The decision allowing E15 to be sold year-round will provide “relief to refiners” and “protect our hardworking farmers and refinery workers,” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said. “The president is satisfied with the attention and care that all parties devoted to this issue.”
Trump met Tuesday with Grassley, Cruz, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, as well as EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
The EPA oversees the decade-old Renewable Fuel Standard, commonly known as the ethanol mandate, which sets out how much corn-based ethanol and other renewable fuels refiners must blend into gasoline. The program’s intent was to address global warming, reduce dependence on foreign oil and bolster the rural economy by requiring a steady increase in renewable fuels over time.
The mandate has not worked as intended, and production levels of renewable fuels, mostly ethanol, routinely fail to reach minimum thresholds set in law.
Environmental groups criticized the deal, saying it would worsen air pollution during summer months.
“Waiving clean-air standards at the behest of one favored industry would not only set a precedent for bad policy, it could cost lives,” a coalition of environmental groups said in a statement.
Ernst said allowing year-round sale of E15 “will drive up domestic ethanol production and consumption” while helping to “maintain already low prices” for fuel credits that oil refiners must buy if they can’t blend ethanol into their fuels.
She and Grassley also said they were encouraged that the Trump administration will take a closer look at “hardship” waivers that have been granted to small refineries, a practice they say has hurt biofuels and undermined the RFS.
The EPA has reportedly granted a waiver to a refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former Trump adviser, as well as other small refineries. The agency has not disclosed which refineries received the waivers, saying it did not want to reveal private business information.
Cruz said the president also agreed to consider his proposal to include fuel credits for ethanol that is produced domestically and exported. The proposal is meant to make it easier for the industry to meet annual sales volumes required under the renewable-fuel mandate.
“This is good for farmers, refiners and America,” Cruz said in a statement.
But the Renewable Fuels Association, an industry group, said allowing exports to qualify for RFS compliance could dramatically reduce domestic demand and result in retaliatory trade barriers from countries that import U.S. ethanol.
The group’s president, Bob Dinneen, called the export idea a “disgrace” and said ethanol producers and farmers would bear the brunt of any retaliatory tariffs.
BATTLE CREEK, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man who died on a northeast Nebraska farm was accidentally electrocuted.
The accident Friday near Battle Creek killed 54-year-old Greg Weidner, who lived in Madison.
Madison County Attorney Joe Smith told the Norfolk Daily News that Weidner was injured while working on an irrigation pivot well. No autopsy was ordered.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve arrested a suspect in the 2008 fatal shooting of a man at a north Omaha barbershop.
The Omaha Police Department cold case squad arrested 31-year-old Richodd Mackins on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder. He was booked Monday into Douglas County Jail. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.
Police say 23-year-old Marcus Johnson was shot the morning of Sept. 25, 2008. He left the barbershop and flagged down some help, but he died later at a hospital.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police have arrested four teens in the city’s first killing of the year.
Anthony Young III, 18, has been charged with being an accessory in the March 26 shooting death of Edgar Union Jr., 22. Young is the oldest person to be arrested in the case.
Two 17-year-olds face similar charges as Young for the case, though they haven’t been ruled adults or juveniles for prosecution.
A shooting suspect in the killing appeared in adult court last week. The teen, 16, is the youngest person accused in a Lincoln homicide since the 1980s, according to police.
Police said the case stands out due to the number of young people involved.
“The majority are still school-age with so much life in front of them,” Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister said.
Nebraska prosecutors consider many factors when determining whether to charge a minor as an adult, including the motive, past criminal history and public safety concerns.
Union’s mother, Monica Brown, said she hopes the shooting suspect is asked to stand trial as an adult “because that’s what he deserves.”
The suspect faces Class 1 felony charges of second-degree murder and gun possession.
Investigators are trying to determine the motive and timeline of events leading up to the shooting, Bliemeister said.
Police know there was a fight at Lincoln Southeast High School involving Union’s associates the day of the shooting, according to Bliemeister. The shooting suspect and one of the 17-year-old accused accomplices were seen leaving the school that afternoon.
The shooting suspect knew Union, and both belonged to feuding gangs, Bliemeister said.
A confrontation involving more than 20 people from different Lincoln gangs occurred that afternoon, ending with a shot fired.
Union died on the porch of a home in the area, according to police.
The shooting suspect is being held at the Lancaster County juvenile detention center on a $1 million bond. The teen suspect’s attorney, Mark Rappl, said they’re exploring options, including asking to transfer the case to juvenile court.
MILFORD, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say four people killed in a crash on Interstate 80 in Nebraska were from eastern Iowa.
The victims were identified Monday as 49-year-old Susan Selser, 20-year-old Cody Richardson, 20-year-old Troy Wanzek and 19-year-old Cole Austin, all of Clinton, Iowa.
Authorities say 20-year-old Madison Selser-Smith, of Clinton, was driving westbound in a 2005 Chevy Equinox when she hit rumble bars on the north shoulder, overcorrected, crossed the center median and entered the eastbound lanes. The car was then struck by a 2010 Buick Lacerne driven by 75-year-old Anna Richert, of rural Gresham, Nebraska.
Selser-Smith and Richert were flown to a Lincoln hospital with life-threatening injuries. Authorities say Richert, Selser and Selser-Smith were wearing seat belts. Richardson, Wanzek and Austin were not, and were ejected from the car’s back seats.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a semitrailer struck and killed a pedestrian along Interstate 680 on the north side of Omaha.
The trucker called 911 around 4:40 a.m. Monday to report the accident.
Traffic was routed off the westbound lanes as authorities investigated.
Omaha police identified the pedestrian as 25-year-old Zachary C.L. Crinklaw of Omaha. The trucker driver was 52-year-old Michael J. Stone, of Rockwell City, Iowa.
Police say the truck hit Crinklaw when he walked from the shoulder and into a freeway lane.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man has died nearly nine months after an explosion ripped through the Lincoln home he shared with his wife, who also has died.
Lincoln police say 66-year-old Jim Jasa died in hospice care Wednesday. Officer Angela Sands said Friday that the death certificate says Jasa died of natural causes, but doctors have said he died of his blast injuries.
Jeanne Jasa died Aug. 29, more than two weeks after the Aug. 14 rocked their southeast Lincoln neighborhood.
Investigators say natural gas filled the home and was ignited from inside, but they have not been able to determine whether any crime was involved. Sands says investigators were unable to interview Jim Jasa before he died.
UNADILLA, Neb. (AP) — A man who was imprisoned for neglecting his livestock has been charged in a new case after animal carcasses were found on his southeast Nebraska property.
John Maahs, 67, faces 10 felony animal cruelty and neglect charges after dead pigs and goats were found on his Otoe County farm.
Maahs was convicted of the same charges in 2011 after deputies found about 1,000 dead hogs on the property. Maahs served more than a year in prison for that case and paid more than $50,000 in fines and cleanup costs, said Otoe County Attorney David Partsch.
“He really didn’t have an excuse,” Partsch said. “He said he just got lazy.”
Police made periodic visits to Maahs’ farm after he was released in 2013. But police determined that all animals appeared healthy during the check-ins, Holland said. Police were tipped off last month by a motorist who returned one of Maahs’ goats that fled its pen.
Chief Deputy Mike Holland called the more than 40 dead pigs and 15 dead goats found a “disgusting scene.” Police found live hogs feeding on dead hogs.
Animals were locked inside buildings without food or water despite deputies finding plenty of feed sacks on the farm, Holland said.
“Where the carcasses were as far as decomposition, it looks to me it’s probably something that’s been going on the last six months,” Holland said.
A judge ordered Thursday that the surviving animals be forfeited to the sheriff’s office. The livestock will likely be sold at an auction to help cover cleanup costs, Partsch said.
Maahs didn’t return a request for comment and doesn’t appear to have an attorney. He’s scheduled to appear in court May 21. He faces 20 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.
Maahs could also be prohibited from owning animals again.
“He obviously didn’t change his behaviors,” Partsch said. “So we’ll be seeking every remedy possible to ensure he doesn’t have the opportunity to do this again.”
HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after the body of a man was found just outside of Hastings.
BATTLE CREEK, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man who died on a northeast Nebraska farm was accidentally electrocuted.
