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Omaha Police Investigating the Burglary of Two Pharmacies

pharmacy-robberyOmaha police say they’re looking for two men who broke into two Omaha pharmacies using a sledgehammer, then stole prescription drugs.

Police say officers responded to an intrusion alarm around 1 a.m. Thursday at a Walgreens in northwest Omaha. Officers arrived to find the glass of the pharmacy’s drive-up window shattered. Police found a similar scene two hours later when responding to an intrusion alarm at another nearby Walgreens.

Police say security video shows that two men used a sledgehammer to break into both pharmacies and steal medication.

Police did not say what prescription drugs or how much were stolen.

Details Continue to Emerge in the Colorado Theater Massacre

SOURCE: cfnews13.com

(AP)-A psychiatrist who treated James Holmes told campus police a month before the Colorado theater attack that Holmes had homicidal thoughts and was a danger to the public, according to documents released Thursday.

Dr. Lynne Fenton, a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado, Denver, told police in June that the shooting suspect also threatened and intimidated her. It was more than a month before the July 20 attack at a movie theater that killed 12 and injured 70.

In the days after the attack, campus police said they had never had contact with Holmes, who was a graduate student at the university.

But campus police Officer Lynn Whitten told investigators after the shooting that Fenton had contacted her. Whitten said Fenton was following her legal requirement to report threats to authorities, according to a search warrant affidavit.

“Dr. Fenton advised that through her contact with James Holmes she was reporting, per her requirement, his danger to the public due to homicidal statements he had made,” the affidavit said.

Whitten added that Fenton said she began to receive threatening text messages from Holmes after he stopped seeing her for counseling, the documents said.

Whitten did not immediately respond to messages left at her home and office. University spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said she could not comment because the school had not reviewed the court records.

The documents previously were sealed, but the new judge overseeing the case ordered them released Thursday after requests from media organizations including The Associated Press.

Holmes last week offered to plead guilty in the attacks. Prosecutors rejected that offer and announced Monday they would seek the death penalty.

The document that includes the information on the psychiatrist was filed to obtain the contents of a package Holmes sent to her before the attack. That package included a notebook that the newly released documents describe as like a “journal.”

The package was dated July 12 — eight days before the massacre — but was found four days after the attack, in the university mail room. It included a sticky note with an “infinity design” and burnt $20 bills.

In court, prosecutors suggested Holmes was angry at the failure of a once promising academic career, and had stockpiled weapons, ammunition, tear gas grenades and body armor as his research deteriorated and professors urged him to get into another profession. Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Pearson said Holmes failed a key oral exam in June, was banned from campus and began to voluntarily withdraw from the school.

The newly released records describe Holmes’ behavior after police found him, still clad in ballistic gear, leaving the theater after the massacre. After he was arrested, one officer asked Holmes if anyone was with him.

Holmes replied: “It’s just me.”

He also warned detectives that he had booby-trapped his apartment. It took days before authorities could disarm the traps and enter Holmes’ apartment. When police took Holmes to the station and told him of his rights to an attorney, he asked for one, according to court records. That ended their interview with him.

The documents — including arrest and search warrant affidavits — were unsealed by the new judge in the case. District Judge Carlos Samour took over this week after the previous judge, who had sealed the documents, removed himself.

Judge William Sylvester handed off to Samour on Monday, saying prosecutors’ decision to seek the death penalty against Holmes meant the case would take up so much time that he couldn’t carry out his administrative duties as chief judge of a busy four-county district.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys had raised concerns about releasing the documents. Prosecutors said they were worried about the privacy of victims and witnesses if the records were released. Attorneys for Holmes said they didn’t want to hurt his chances for a fair trial.

Sylvester had said he was reluctant to release the documents before the preliminary hearing, when prosecutors laid out evidence on whether Holmes could be brought to trial. That hearing was held in January, with investigators giving the names and injuries of every theater victim in graphic detail.

Witnesses testified that Holmes spent weeks amassing an arsenal and planning the attack. They said he set up an elaborate booby trap in his apartment designed to explode at the same time as the theater attack occurred miles away.

Media organizations said there has been a “wealth of information already made public in the proceedings thus far.” They argued there was no basis for the documents to remain sealed.

After the preliminary hearing, Samour said lawyers failed to show that releasing the records would cause any harm, or that keeping the documents sealed would prevent any harm.

NE Bill Addresses Costs in Animal Abuse Cases

Senator Ken Schilz
Senator Ken Schilz

Owners of livestock that are seized in abuse or neglect cases could be ordered to pay for the care of their animals, under a bill that won first-round approval from Nebraska lawmakers.

Senators voted 34-1 on Thursday to advance the measure.

Sen. Ken Schilz of Ogallala says the bill would prevent law enforcement agencies or other care-takers from having to shoulder the cost of food and medical care of seized animals.

The bill would also let owners regain custody of their livestock if they meet conditions set by a judge. For instance, a judge could require owners to reduce the size of their herds to sustainable levels.

Owners could be reimbursed if a judge later finds no wrongdoing on their part.

NE Legislature Moves to Repeal Campaign Finance Law Deemed Unconstitutional

NE Legislature
NE Legislature

Lawmakers have moved to repeal a state campaign finance law after the Nebraska Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional last year.

Lawmakers voted 27-0 on Thursday to advance the repeal measure through the first of three readings.

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in August that Nebraska’s Campaign Finance Limitation Act was unconstitutional. The law was enacted in 1992 in an effort to create a level financial playing field in political campaigns.

Avery strongly supported the campaign finance law, but introduced the measure because the law had to be taken off the books.

The bill would also allow the state to buy computer software and equipment so campaigns can file their financial reports electronically with the state Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

Kansas Abortion Clinic Opens in Slain Docs Office

south-windA new clinic offering abortions and other women’s medical services has opened in the Wichita building where a slain Kansas abortion provider had practiced.

The South Wind Women’s Clinic saw its first patient Thursday nearly four years after Dr. George Tiller was gunned down in his church by an abortion opponent. The building was purchased by the abortion rights group Trust Women Foundation.

Group spokeswoman Kerry Townsend Jacob cited privacy rights in declining to say whether the first patient received an abortion.

No abortions have been performed openly in Wichita since the death of Tiller, who was one of the nation’s few doctors performing late-term abortions.

Three other Kansas clinics provide abortions but all are in the Kansas City area, about 200 miles from Wichita.

Second Missing Teen Rescued from California Forest

Nicolas Cendoya and Kyndall Jack
Nicolas Cendoya and Kyndall Jack

Search crews have rescued an 18-year-old woman who had been missing for days in a Southern California forest.

Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Jason Park says Kyndall Jack was rescued by a helicopter but he has no word on her condition.

Park says a rescuer suffered a head injury and is also being airlifted to a hospital.

Jack had been missing since Sunday after setting out on a hike with 19-year-old companion Nicolas Cendoya, who made a 911 call for help that night. He was found in very serious condition from dehydration Wednesday night.

Hospital officials say he’s doing better Thursday but his condition is still serious.

Film Critic Roger Ebert Dies at 70

roger-ebertThe Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that its film critic Roger Ebert has died. He was 70.

The paper says on its website the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic died Thursday.

Ebert was known for his thumbs-up, thumbs-down TV reviews that influenced moviegoers across the nation.

On Wednesday, he had announced on his blog that he was undergoing radiation treatment after a recurrence of cancer.

Ebert was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002 and later had surgery for cancer of the salivary gland. He lost his chin and his ability to speak. But he later resumed writing full-time and eventually even returned to television.

Ebert started as a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967. In 1975 he became the first movie reviewer to get the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.

Bellevue Woman Arrested for Stealing $150K from Children’s Soccer Club

michelle-williamson
Michelle Williamson

A 36-year-old Bellevue woman has been charged with stealing from her children’s youth soccer club after officials discovered more than $150,000 missing.

Michelle Williamson, who used to serve on the Phoenix Futbol Club’s board, was arrested Wednesday.

Williamson’s attorney, Don Schense, said she plans to plead not guilty.

The soccer club contacted police in January after a new treasurer performed an audit and discovered irregularities.

Club officials say the investigation won’t affect its operations, which includes about 300 players

Lincoln Man, 40, Gets Prison Time for Having Sex with 15-Year-Old Girl

 Muthna Almansori
Muthna Almansori

A burglary ended up costing a Lincoln man some prison time.

40-year-old Muthna Almansori reported to police that he lost several cellphones and a laptop computer to burglars who kicked in the door of his apartment in December 2011.

A 15-year-old girl later told officers that one of the phones contained naked pictures of her. She said Almansori had paid her to pose for the photos and have sex with him.

Almansori was charged with a felony sex assault of a minor and two misdemeanors. He denied the girl’s story, but later he made a plea deal for reduced charges.

On Wednesday Almansori was sentenced to a year in prison for negligent child abuse and six months to a year for assault.

 

Study Shows Many Young Women Live with Men Before Getting Married

wedding-ringsNearly half of young women say the first time they lived with a guy, they weren’t married.

That’s the finding of a government survey released Thursday.

The results are a marked changed from 1995 when only 34 percent said they moved in together. Now it is 48 percent. Back then, 39 percent said they married first, compared to 23 now.

Experts say the numbers show living together is increasing used as a testing ground for marriage. About 40 percent of the women who lived with a guy went on to marry him within 3 years.

The survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention questioned more than 12,000 women younger than 45 from 2006 to 2010.

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