(AP) — Pavement work is expected to hamper traffic on the Interstate 180 spur into downtown Lincoln.
The work is scheduled to begin Thursday and last just one night.
Starting at 6 p.m., I-180 will be closed in both directions for a two-mile stretch north of Cornhusker Highway. The spur is expected to be reopened by 6 a.m. Friday.
Message signs will be employed.
(AP) — A 25-year-old Omaha man is scheduled to be sentenced next month for stabbing two men outside a neighborhood house party in Lincoln.
Online court records say Joshua Ballew was convicted on Friday of four counts of assault and two weapons counts. His sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 11. An Aug. 21 hearing is scheduled to determine whether Ballew will be sentenced as a habitual criminal.
Records say Tyler Waddell and Marshall Mock were stabbed around 2 a.m. on March 10, 2012, after a fight broke out in front of a house. The two identified Ballew as their assailant. Ballew’s attorney said the men were wrong, because Ballew was trying to break up the fight.
(AP) — A judge in eastern Tennessee has changed a 7-month-old boy’s first name to Martin from “Messiah.”
Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered the name change last week, saying Messiah is a title that has been earned by one person “and that one person is Jesus Christ.”
The parents were in court because they could not agree on the child’s last name. When the judge heard his first name, she ordered it changed, so the baby was “Martin DeShawn McCullough.”
That name includes both parents’ last name.
The boy’s mother, Jaleesa Martin, says she will appeal. She says Messiah is unique.
Messiah was No. 4 among the fastest-rising baby names in 2012, according to the Social Security Administration’s annual list of popular baby names.
(AP) — The Air Force Academy has its first female superintendent.
Maj. Gen. Michelle Johnson formally took over the academy’s top job Monday with pomp and circumstance but little fuss about the milestone. She’s the first woman to be superintendent at any of the three best-known academies, Army, Navy and Air Force.
Much of the ceremony was focused on the man Johnson is replacing, retiring Lt. Gen. Michael Gould.
Johnson says her appointment is an example of the nation’s willingness to give everyone a chance, but she said she’s not going to dwell on its significance.
She’s a 1981 graduate of the academy, where she was the first female cadet wing commander and first female Rhodes scholar.
(AP) — A convicted sex offender has been arrested in Omaha, accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl.
Douglas County Jail records say 41-year-old Charles Hardymartin was arrested Saturday night and remained in custody Monday. He faces sex assault and other charges, including one alleging a sex registry violation. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.
Nebraska Sex Offender Registry records say Hardymartin had been sentenced in June 2009 to four to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a child. He was released from prison on Jan. 7, 2011.
(AP) — The Missouri State Fair has permanently banned a rodeo clown whose imitation of President Barack Obama has been widely criticized as disrespectful.
Fair officials said Monday that the rodeo clown has been barred from ever performing at the fair again. They are also reviewing whether to take any actions against the contractor responsible for Saturday’s rodeo.
During the event, a clown wore a mask of Obama and asked the spectators if they wanted to see “Obama run down by a bull.” Many in the audience responded enthusiastically.
But the act was criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike after video and photos of the event were posted online.
Some Democratic Missouri lawmakers are suggesting that the state should reconsider its annual funding for the fair in Sedalia.
(AP) — Authorities say a 33-year-old woman died after a car she was in rammed a tree in western Grand Island.
The Grand Island Independent says (https://bit.ly/17IMVff) the accident occurred a little before 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Grand Island Police Sgt. Todd Dvorak (deh-VOR’-ak) says the car was headed east on West Old Highway 30 when it left the roadway, went into a ditch and struck the tree.
The woman, who was a passenger in the car, was identified as Jamie Sandante, of Grand Island. She was declared dead at the scene.
The driver was identified as 29-year-old Johnny Alvarez.
He was flown to a Lincoln hospital and was in serious condition Monday.
(AP) — Police say an argument that broke out while a group of men were slaughtering hogs ended with a Grand Island man being shot in the leg.
Police were called to a disturbance Saturday evening and found 43-year-old Michel Garcia-Rivera with what appeared to be a cut to his leg.
The Grand Island man was taken to a hospital and the wound was found to have been caused by a gunshot.
Police charged 35-year-old Louis Motola Palaco with second-degree assault and using a weapon to commit a felony. He was held in the Hall County Jail.
Capt. Dean Elliot says the shooting occurred when an argument broke out while a group of men were slaughtering hogs, but he didn’t offer further details.
(AP) — An eastern Nebraska man has been accused of boating while under the influence in connection with a tubing accident that injured his wife and two others.
45-year-old David Stander was arrested Sunday night following the accident at a private lake in Sarpy County.
Authorities say Stander was driving a jet boat that was pulling a tube with three adults when the tube hit a wake. One rider was thrown from the tube and struck the other two riders in the process.
The tube passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Stander was arrested on suspicion of boating under the influence. Court records do not list an attorney.
(AP) — Authorities say a 33-year-old woman died after a car she was in rammed a tree in western Grand Island.
The accident occurred a little before 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Grand Island Police Sgt. Todd Dvorak says the car was headed east on West Old Highway 30 when it left the roadway, went into a ditch and struck the tree.
The woman was a passenger in the car. She was declared dead at the scene. The driver was flown to a Lincoln hospital. Their names haven’t been released.
