NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A North Platte man charged with holding paramedics hostage and threatening to kill them has pleaded not guilty. 19-year-old Carlos Charging Elk allegedly lured paramedics to his home with a false 911 call in August. Police say he pulled a knife and held the paramedics hostage. He is charged with terroristic threats, false imprisonment and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. Trial is set for Dec. 6. Charging Elk is being held under $125,000 bond.
KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – Authorities in Buffalo County have
identified a Niobrara man who died after he was flipped into a
treatment pool at the Kearney wastewater treatment plant.
The Buffalo County attorney’s office issued a news release
Monday, identifying the man as 75-year-old William Aschoff.
Aschoff was operating a piece of equipment Friday when it
flipped into a treatment pool at the plant.
A dive team recovered his body later in the day.
An autopsy lists the preliminary cause of death as drowning.
The investigation is continuing.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska legislative panel is scheduled to examine simulcast horse racing. The Legislature’s General Affairs Committee will meet Friday to study the vitality, profits, earnings distribution and participation of the simulcasts since they were introduced in 1987. The panel wants to see if simulcast horse racing has benefited the state and the industry in general, why it was originally introduced, whether the number of live races has increased or decreased and other issues. The meeting will take place at the Capitol.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A state education official says demand for online distance learning courses in Nebraska schools could grow beyond what officials anticipate. Nebraska Department of Education liaison Brian Halstead testified Monday that a distance-learning incentive program launched in 2006 has worked well. Halstead told the Legislature’s Education Committee that the program will require continued partnership among educational service units, school districts, teachers and higher education officials. Several distance-learning experts told the Legislature’s Education Committee that the program has especially helped high-achieving students and those who struggle in a traditional learning environment. Officials say small, rural districts have turned to distance learning when schools lack resources. Halstead points to two aspects of Nebraska’s program that have helped it succeed: quality-control and accreditation requirements, and the use of certified teachers.
FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – The Fremont school district has banned the wearing of a necklace that looks like a rosary because they say it’s also being worn by gang members. Fremont Superintendent Steve Sexton says the policy is for student safety. He says school officials have received information from police that the rosary is being used as a symbol of gang affiliation.
Omaha Catholic Archdiocese Chancellor Rev. Joseph Taphorn says that’s disheartening and that Christians shouldn’t have to give up a symbol of their faith because others want to misuse it. Twelve-year-old Elizabeth Carey says she was told by her principal she couldn’t wear her necklace. Her parents say they are upset that their daughter was not being allowed to express her religious beliefs.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – The Judicial Nominating Commission has forwarded the names of two nominees to Gov. Dave Heineman for his consideration to fill an open judgeship in central Nebraska. The nominees are North Platte attorney Richard Birch and Lincoln County Attorney Rebecca Harling. They are seeking appointment as Nebraska’s 11th Judicial District judge to replace Judge John Murphy, who retired last month. The district consists of 17 central and western Nebraska counties and is based in North Platte. The governor’s office says Heineman will schedule interviews with nominees in the coming weeks.
KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska man who admitted being part of a violent Grand Island gang received a stern sentence for shoving a Buffalo County jail guard last fall. 24-year-old Eddy Cervantes was sentenced to 18-20 years in prison for the second-degree assault. Prosecutors say Cervantes pushed Sgt. Rosario Perez Nov. 26 while she was escorting another inmate. Perez hurt her back and bicep in the incident. Deputy Buffalo County Attorney Mike Mefferd argued for the tough sentence at Wednesday’s hearing because of Cervantes’ extensive criminal history that includes 40 entries on his adult record. Cervantes acknowledged being part of the East Side Locos gang in Grand Island that was the subject of a major federal raid last November.
COZAD, Neb. (AP) – A western Nebraska farmer whose tractor was struck by a train managed to survive the collision. Dawson County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Hudson said that the crash happened shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday evening. The farmer was trying to cross the tracks about three miles east of Cozad in his John Deere tractor while pulling a baler. The train hit the tractor. Hudson says the farmer suffered head injuries in the crash, but those are not believed to be life-threatening. The farmer’s name and condition were not immediately available Friday.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska man has been sentenced to five years’ probation for threatening federal officials overseeing his home mortgage. U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says Matt McDermott was sentenced Wednesday for one count of intimidating government employees. Prosecutors say the 38-year-old Kearney man became frustrated with the way his FHA loan was being serviced by a private company in 2008. McDermott tried contacting the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s national service center, but became frustrated with the response there. So McDermott sent two emails to HUD employees in October 2008 that included threats. McDermott told investigators he hopes the threats would help get his loan complaints resolved. As part of his probation, McDermott won’t be allowed to contact HUD officials directly unless his probation officer approves.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – New Census estimates show that Nebraska’s population grew at a faster rate than the total U.S. population for two years in a row between 2008 and 2010. Nebraska’s population grew nearly 1 percent to 1.83 million between July 2009 and July 2010. During that same span, the U.S. population posted its smallest growth since 1945 by increasing only 0.84 percent to 309.35 million. University of Nebraska at Omaha Census researcher David Drozd says this is the first time that Nebraska’s growth rate has exceeded the national one two years in a row. Drozd says Nebraska’s population growth rate improved partly because the state’s economy remained relatively strong while the nation was going through the worst recession since the Great Depression.
