A 16-year-old who fled the county courthouse in Beatrice has been captured.
Officials say the boy had just been sentenced and was in handcuffs when he got away from a Gage County deputy and ran out of the courthouse about 2 p.m. Thursday.
Three nearby schools were locked down as a precaution during the search.
Officers using a police dog found the boy about two hours later, hiding in a garage off an alley. He didn’t resist officers when he was taken into custody.
U.S. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota will campaign for fellow Republican Deb Fischer, who is seeking Nebraska’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Thune will appear Saturday in Lincoln with Fischer, who is seeking to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson. She’s up against former Nebraska governor and two-term U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey in the November election.
Thune briefly considered a run for the 2012 presidency and was mentioned for months before August as a possible vice presidential pick for Mitt Romney.
Thune will speak Saturday afternoon at Fischer’s campaign office in Lincoln.
So far, Bob Kerrey’s bid for a Senate comeback hasn’t been much of a comeback at all.
With a national pedigree, a measure of celebrity and a long relationship with Nebraska voters, Kerrey was supposed to give Democrats a real shot at holding on to the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Ben Nelson.
Instead, Kerrey trails badly in the polls as he heads into a pair of key debates. His opponent is previously little known GOP state Sen. Deb Fischer.
Democratic strategist Chris Lehane says Kerry’s facing a difficult environment because Nebraska’s a deeply Republican state. He says that any Democrat, no matter their name, would struggle to win in the state.
Omaha is scheduled to host a cyber-security summit next month aimed at businesses.
Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy will join federal, state and local officials at the industry event on Oct. 1. The conference marks the official kick-off of National Cyber Security Awareness Month.
The business summit will include sessions led by security and business experts from some of the nation’s leading companies.
The summit will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Scott Conference Center. Registration is available online athttp://ncsamkickoff.eventbrite.com/ .
Nebraska’s online auction of unclaimed property left in safe deposit boxes has brought in nearly $15,000.
State Treasurer Don Stenberg says of 117 lots put up for auction eBay, 102 sold for a total of $14,913. The lots included coins, jewelry, collectible sports cards and other items.
Stenberg says banks hold onto the items for five years before turning them over to the state, which then keeps them for another five years before holding an auction.
He says the property is put on the auction block only after various efforts to find the original owners have failed. Proceeds from the sale are recorded in the original owner’s name and are held indefinitely, or until it’s claimed.
Omaha police have identified the man found dead inside a burning garage last month, but they didn’t immediately release his name.
Police said Wednesday that the body firefighters found Aug. 30 after extinguishing the fire at an abandoned house belonged to a 58-year-old Omaha resident.
But police said they were still trying to notify the man’s family, so they didn’t release his name.
Police say the man’s body was burned beyond recognition. Homicide detectives are working with arson investigators in the case.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given Nebraska permission to blend aflatoxin-tainted corn from the 2012 harvest with other corn for animal feed.
The Nebraska Department of Agriculture had joined Iowa and other major corn-producing states in seeking exceptions to federal rules regarding aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are a group of chemicals produced by certain mold fungi on corn. They can occur more frequently during hot, dry summers.
Almost 70 percent of nearly 2,000 samples from the early stages of the Nebraska corn harvest tested positive for aflatoxins.
The agriculture departments say the blended corn is safe for animals. Corn with more than 20 parts per billion can’t be used for human consumption or as feed for dairy animals.
At a press conference in Lincoln today, Dr. Tom Osborne announced that effective January 1, 2013, he will retire as the athletic director at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Osborne said he will remain around in an unofficial capacity for six months following his retirement to help with the transition process for the new AD, who will be chosen by university chancellor Harvey Perlman. Osborne served as the athletic director for the last five years. During his tenure he oversaw expansion of Memorial Stadium, the beginning of construction on Pinnacle Bank Arena, and the hiring of head football coach Bo Pelini and head men’s basketball coach Tim Miles.
“It has been a pleasure and an honor to work in the Athletic Department for the past five years,” Osborne said. “I hope that there have been some good things that have been accomplished during that time. I appreciate Chancellor Perlman giving me this opportunity. I’ve had the privilege of working with some outstanding people in the Athletic Department and have confidence that the trajectory of the Athletic Department is very good.”
“It’s been a privilege to work with Tom,” University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman said. “The move into the Big Ten could not have happened without Tom’s support.
“He has made the facilities stronger and has expanded the department’s role in assisting students through the student life center. He has been instrumental in incorporating research facilities into the athletics complex that build on the department’s reputation for innovation. The university and the state of Nebraska are in his debt for the many contributions he has made to both over the course of his career.”
An old Fremont monument honoring frontier pioneers who made the trek west through Nebraska has been moved to a new home on the east side of town.
The monument was erected downtown more than 100 years ago by the Lewis-Clark Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The monument inscription says it “marks the overland emigrant trails through Fremont to Oregon, California, Utah and Colorado.”
The heavy stone marker was loaded onto a trailer Tuesday and hauled east to a new location in Johnson Park, which is situated near U.S. Highway 275.
A former York County weed superintendent has filed a complaint against the city of York, accusing the city of failing to mow its property.
In a letter to York County officials, Randy Campbell cites a law that requires landowners to mow between their property and all public roads at least twice a year. The complaint accuses the city of failing to mow at five different places.
York City Administrator Jack Vavra said Wednesday that he had not seen the complaint and was not aware of anyone contacting the city to complain about overgrown city rights of way before the complaint was filed.
Vavra says this year’s drought has kept weeds and grass from growing tall, so they are not obstructing the views of motorists
