YORK, Neb. (AP) – Voters have recalled York County Attorney Bill Sutter.
Sutter lost by an overwhelming majority Tuesday, with 1,592 supporting the recall and 263 opposed.
Sutter had been county attorney since April 2010.
After the county’s canvassing board verifies the results Wednesday, Sutter will no longer hold his position.
A special election was ordered after complaints from Sutter’s staff prompted two county commissioners to file paperwork to recall him.
Sutter was accused of demonstrating inappropriate behavior and not adequately performing the duties of the office. He denies the allegations and rejected calls to resign.

 

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a vehicle has hit the boyhood home of Johnny Carson in Norfolk.
An SUV plowed into the front of the one-story home Tuesday afternoon.
Norfolk Police Capt. Leon Chapman says the vehicle caused extensive damage to the porch, which collapsed. The vehicle ended up in the entryway.
There were no serious injuries.
Carson, the longtime TV talk-show host of “The Tonight Show,” was born in Corning, Iowa, in 1925. Carson’s family moved to Norfolk when he was 8, and he graduated from Norfolk High School. Carson died in 2005.
His boyhood home has had several owners over the years.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Gov. Dave Heineman says he’s concerned about the potential cost of new recommendations that seek to overhaul Nebraska’s troubled child welfare system.
The Republican governor told reporters Tuesday that lawmakers have not yet indicated how they plan to pay for the recommendations, which include the creation of a new state department and reclaiming case management from private contractors.
His comments came in response to an 18-point report released last week by the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.
The report reflected complaints about Nebraska’s child welfare system and a privatization effort that began in 2009. Critics say the reform effort has been plagued by higher-than-expected costs and poor planning.
Heineman says he still needs to discuss the report with lawmakers, services providers and other stakeholders.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in November.
In a report released Tuesday, the Nebraska Labor Department said the drop was a tenth of a point from the 4.2 percent in October.
The rate remained was less than half the preliminary national rate of 8.6 percent for November.
Both the Nebraska and national unemployment rates were lower than a year ago, when the state rate was 4.4 percent and the national rate was 9.8 percent.

 

HARTINGTON, Neb. (AP) – A 37-year-old man has been convicted of sex assault and incest in northeast Nebraska’s Cedar County.
A news release from the office of Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning says the man was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and two counts of incest. Sentencing has been set for Feb. 13. The maximum prison penalties for the four felony counts add up to 140 years.
Prosecutors say the man began assaulting the girl when she was 6 years old.
The Associated Press is not using the man’s name, to protect the privacy of his victim.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A resident at the Beatrice State Developmental Center has been jailed in Lincoln, accused of using a pen to stab a woman.
20-year-old Joshua Talbot was in Lincoln for an appointment on Friday. He’d been driven from Beatrice by two supervisors. When the three stopped at a gas station, Talbot escaped.
Lincoln police spokeswoman Katie Flood says Talbot entered an office nearby and went to the second floor, where he used a pen to stab a female employee twice in the neck. The woman’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.
A Lancaster County jailer said Talbot remained in custody on Tuesday. Online court records don’t list Talbot’s attorney.
The Beatrice center specializes in the residential treatment of people with various developmental disabilities.

 

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (North Platte Post)- A traffic stop for speeding landed an Arizona man in the Hall County Jail, after a trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol seized 99 lbs of marijuana from the trunk of his car.

Just before 8:00 p.m., on Friday, Dec. 16, a trooper stopped an eastbound 2008 Chevy Malibu for speeding on Interstate 80 near Alda in Hall County. An NSP canine alerted to the odor of marijuana coming from the rear of the vehicle. A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of 99 lbs of wrapped baled marijuana from the car’s trunk.

The driver and lone occupant of the car, William R. Reid, 75, Mesa, AZ, was arrested and lodged in the Hall County Jail on a charge of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.