OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new survey of bankers suggests the economy is slowing down in rural areas of 10 Midwest and Western states because of drought conditions.
The overall economic index dropped into negative territory at 47.9 in June from May’s 56.7. Any score below 50 on the index, which ranges from 1 to 100, suggests contraction in the months ahead.
The survey covers parts of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. It focuses on communities with 1,300 residents, on average.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the drought is hard on farmers, livestock producers and ethanol plants in the region.
The confidence index collapsed to 40.9 in June from May’s strong 58.5. That suggests bankers aren’t confident in the economy over the next six months.
A Photo has been released of the Colorado shooter James Holmes found on The Denver Channel’s Twitter Page,
(UPDATE:) The name of the shooter is James Holmes, 24, of Colorado.
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A gunman opened fire early Friday at a suburban Denver movie theater on the opening night of the latest Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises,” killing 12 people and injuring at least 50 others, authorities said.
SOURCE: cfnews13.com
The gunman, who is in custody, stood at the front of the theater and fired into the crowd about 12:30 a.m. MDT at a multiplex theater in a mall in Aurora.
“Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said at a news conference.
Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard, officials said.
Officers came running in and telling people to leave the theater, Salina Jordan told the Denver Post. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies.
Officers later found the gunman near a car behind the theater.
“A gas mask, rifle, handgun at least one additional weapon (were) found inside,” he said.
The suspect was taken into custody, but no name was released. Oates said there’s no evidence of any other attackers. There was also no immediate word of any motive.
The suspect spoke of “possible explosives in his residence. We are dealing with that potential threat,” Oates said
Police were at the Denver-area apartment and had evacuated other residents of the building. Oates did not say whether any explosives had been found.
He said police also checked for explosives in the parking lot and at the Century 16 theater and secured those areas.
Moviegoers spoke of their terror as violence erupted and people around them fell victim.
Bejamin Fernandez, 30, told the Post that he heard a series of explosions. He said that people ran from the theater and there were gunshots as police shouted “get down!”
Frenandez said he saw people falling, including one young girl.
Jordan told the paper that one girl was struck in cheek, others in stomach including a girl who looked to be around 9-years-old.
Jordan said it sounded like firecrackers until someone ran into Theater 8 yelling “they’re shooting out here!”
Hayden Miller said that he heard several shots.
“Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming,” he told the station.
Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw “people hunched over leaving theater.”
The police chief said 10 victims died at the theater and four at area hospitals.
At least 24 people were being treated at Denver area hospitals.
Eleven people were being treated at the Medical Center of Aurora for gunshots and ranged from minor to critical condition. Two others walked in to be treated for tear gas contamination.
Denver Health had seven victims — one in critical and the rest in fair condition.
The youngest victim reported was a 6-year-old being treated at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where a total of six victims were taken. Their condition wasn’t known.
Two people in critical condition were rushed to nearby Swedish Medical Center, spokeswoman Nicole Williams said.
Aurora is on Denver’s east side and is Colorado’s third-largest city with 327,000 residents. It is home to a large Defense Department satellite intelligence operation at Buckley Air Force Base, as well as The Children’s Hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital and a future Veterans Affairs hospital.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 56-year-old Omaha man has been convicted of using a telephone to make a bomb threat against a railroad yard in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
A news release from the Omaha office of U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says Ronald Martell has been sentenced to time served and ordered to pay restitution of more than $25,000 to Union Pacific Railroad.
Prosecutors say Martell called the Pottawattamie County, Iowa, 911 center on Jan. 6 and said he’d placed three bombs in the Union Pacific rail yard. He made a similar threat against the yard in a call on Jan. 14 to the Douglas County 911 center in Omaha.
Prosecutors say some people who worked in the yard were asked to listen to the 911 call recordings, and the workers recognized Martell’s voice.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a south-central Nebraska man is the state’s first reported human case of West Nile virus this season.
The Nebraska Health and Human Services Department says a man in his 70s in Hamilton County was hospitalized and has been released.
Officials urge people to take precautions, including using an insect repellant, wearing long sleeves and pants while outside, especially at dusk and dawn, and draining standing water where mosquitoes can breed.
West Nile virus has flu-like symptoms. Symptoms of the more serious West Nile encephalitis include inflammation of the brain and paralysis. The disease can be fatal.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Plattsmouth man who admitted in a 2003 outburst in court to killing his 4-year-old son has been granted a chance to challenge evidence that he says was planted.
On Thursday the Nebraska Supreme Court granted Ivan Henk a hearing on allegations that former Douglas County CSI director Dave Kofoed violated his civil rights as the crime lab investigated the death of Henk’s son, Brendan Gonzalez.
Henk is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in 2005.
In 2010, Kofoed was convicted of evidence tampering in an unrelated murder case.
Henk’s lawyer subsequently filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.
Kofoed’s attorney says his client never planted any evidence.
YORK, Neb. (AP) — A 19-year-old York woman has been given two years of probation for having sex with an underage boy.
Crystal Moul had been facing a felony charge of sexual assault of a minor when she made a deal with prosecutors. She pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Prosecutors say the incident occurred in November 2011. Under Nebraska law, people 19 and over cannot have sexual contact with people under 16.
Judge Alan Gless told Moul that he expected her to do well with probation.
He also told her that if she messed up, “you get to see me again, and you won’t like that at all.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The director of Nebraska’s insurance department is trying to assure lawmakers that the state has made progress in its efforts to comply with the federal health care law.
Bruce Ramge told a legislative panel Thursday that Nebraska is “on par” with other states in its plans to create a state-based marketplace where users can comparison shop for health insurance. Insurance officials say the state has contracted with a Chicago-based consulting firm to help design an exchange. The state must submit its plans to the federal government by Nov. 16.
One lawmaker voiced frustration that Gov. Dave Heineman’s administration was moving forward with a plan without more input from lawmakers. Columbus Sen. Paul Schumacher questioned whether Heineman has the authority to send a plan to federal authorities through an executive order.
YORK, Neb. (AP) — A York woman has told a judge that she spent all $1,400 she found in a wallet that had been left on a convenience store counter by another woman.
Marie Collins, of York, pleaded no contest to a felony theft charge earlier this week. Her sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 20.
Prosecutors say a woman told police she’d left her wallet at a local convenience store in May but learned that it was gone when she went to retrieve it.
Police watched security system recordings and saw the woman leave her wallet on the store counter. The recordings later showed Collins at the counter, standing in a way that blocked the security camera. Police say that when Collins left the store, the wallet was gone.
BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by an Omaha-based company says Gage County still owes more than $59,000 for the new slate roof on the courthouse.
That Scott Enterprises Inc. says in its lawsuit that original contract was for more than $392,000. But the lawsuit says that over the 20-month work period in 2009 and 2010, the county initiated 12 change orders that the company says raised the project cost to nearly $520,000.
The county has paid nearly $460,700.
Gage County Chief Deputy Attorney Rick Schreiner says the county disagreed with the way some of the work was performed and adjusted its payments accordingly.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two lawyers who helped a Nebraska woman injured in a car accident win a $22.5 million settlement from General Motors in 2006 are fighting over how to divide the fees.
The dispute between former Lincoln lawyer Dan McCord and Los Angeles attorney Michael J. Piuze is back in court this week.
Lancaster County jury is listening to the dispute over $11.25 million in legal fees.
McCord says he should have been paid $562,500 more than the $2.25 million he was paid for his work on the case because he was supposed to receive 25 percent of the fee.
The two men represented Penny Shipler who was paralyzed from the mid-chest down after an accident when she was riding in a Chevrolet Blazer.
