GERING, Neb. (AP) – School officials say two students at Gering High School have been disciplined after an alcohol issue led to the discovery of a gun in a car on school property.
One student was expelled for a year and the other was suspended for 10 days. Principal Eldon Hubbard says the incident began Monday after an assistant principal smelled alcohol on one of the students while talking to him after lunch. An investigation led to another student who Hubbard says was under the influence.

Gering police were called. Hubbard says during a search for alcohol in one of the student’s car, officials found a handgun behind the seat.

NEW YORK (AP) – A new government report shows the number of overdose deaths from powerful painkillers have more than tripled over a decade.
Prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and methadone contributed to the deaths of nearly 15,000 people in 2008. That’s more than three times the 4,000 deaths in 1999.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 5 percent of Americans ages 12 and older say they’ve abused prescription painkillers. The highest rate of abuse was reported in Oklahoma while the lowest was in Nebraska and Iowa.

Fatal overdoses were more likely in men and middle-aged adults.

The report was released Tuesday by the CDC.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A federal appeals court has rejected a request from Nebraska death row inmate John Lotter for a rehearing in a triple murder that inspired the 1999 film “Boys Don’t Cry.”
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Lotter’s request on Monday.

Lotter and co-defendant Thomas Nissen were convicted in the 1993 slayings of Teena Brandon, Lisa Lambert and Philip DeVine at a rural Falls City farmhouse.

Lotter has maintained his innocence.

In split decision in August, a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit rejected Lotter’s attempt to appeal his conviction. He filed a petition for the panel to rehear the case or for the full court to consider it. The request was denied.

 

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) – Crews are cleaning a Hastings elementary school after more than 80 students came down with flu symptoms. Alcott Elementary School principal Lawrence Tunks says that 87 students were either absent Friday or left early after becoming ill. Four teachers were also out sick. The student population at the school is about 300, so the number of illnesses was almost 30 percent of students. Tunks says maintenance crews are working over the weekend to scrub desk, doorknobs and handrails. He says he hopes the illness will have run its course by Monday.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) – A 21-year-old Omaha man has made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to four charges.
Tyrell Lyle made his pleas Wednesday to three counts of robbery and one firearms charge. In exchange for the pleas, prosecutors dropped charges of attempted second-degree murder, use of a deadly weapon and two counts of terroristic threats.
Hastings authorities say Lyle and his cousin, Andrew Lyle, of Hastings, robbed two men on May 9 as they tried to make a night deposit at the Five Points Bank branch. Authorities say that on the same night, the cousins entered a Hastings home, demanded money from the residents and fired shots at one of the residents when he ran.
Andrew Lyle pleaded not guilty on Sept. 12 and is scheduled for trial in January.