LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man serving life in prison for a deadly 2009 shooting at an Omaha convenience store has lost his appeal.
The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday rejected his argument that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction.
A Douglas County jury last year found 26-year-old Akeem Jones guilty of first-degree murder for the death of 22-year-old Gary Holmes in a north Omaha convenience store. Police say the shooting also left Holmes’ cousin, Rodney Smith, paralyzed.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say firefighters and a canoeist have rescued a fisherman whose boat went down in a south-central Nebraska lake.
Grand Island firefighters were called for help from Mormon Island State Recreation Area around 9:15 p.m. Thursday. The call came from a man who’d been in the boat but made it to shore. He feared the two men with him had drowned.
By the time firefighters arrived with their rescue craft, another of the men reached safety ashore. The third man was still in the water, though, clinging to the almost completely submerged fishing boat.
A man in a canoe met the firefighters’ craft, and they helped the man into the craft so he could be taken to the shore and to a hospital.
The men’s names haven’t been released.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man has died after he was shot at a residence in north Omaha.
Police say officers were sent to the residence a little after 3 a.m. Thursday. They found the wounded man, and he was taken to Nebraska Medical Center. Police say he died there.
Police have identified him as 29-year-old Brandon Mutum.
Homicide investigators have been assigned to the case. No arrests have been reported.
PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A subdivision surrounding the stadium that hosts Omaha’s minor league baseball games is filing for bankruptcy after falling in over $12.8 million in debt.
Sanitary and Improvement District No. 290 filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy April 14 after debt built up from building roads, sewers and other infrastructure for the land surrounding Papillion’s Werner Park.
Chapter 9 is the portion of the federal bankruptcy code allowing government entities such as the suburb development to seek reorganization of their finances under court supervision.
Martie Cordaro, president of the Omaha Storm Chasers, says the bankruptcy won’t affect the baseball team’s success and high attendance rate at Werner Park.
Papillion City Administrator Dan Hoins says the city still plans to eventually make the area an entertainment district.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 4/20 marijuana celebrations (all times local):
12:35 p.m.
Seven pro-pot activists have been arrested by U.S. Capitol police while handing out free joints to congressional staffers and people who work on Capitol Hill.
The demonstration Thursday was intended as a protest against federal interference with states that have legal pot.
Possession of up to 2 ounces of pot is legal in the District of Columbia, and the demonstration was held on city land rather than federal property in an attempt to comply with the law.
But in a statement, police say they invoked federal law in making the arrests.
Police say a man and two women were charged with possession with intent to distribute, while four women were charged with simple possession.
One of the organizers, Nicholas Schiller, says police “decided to play politics” with the demonstration.
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10:50 a.m.
Colorado lawmakers have rejected a last-minute proposal to ban marijuana churches where users can congregate inside and smoke pot.
The House vote came Thursday on the 4/20 holiday after it debated whether to try stamping out attempts to use religious freedoms to open places where marijuana users can gather.
Opponents from both parties said telling churches how to worship is a “slippery slope.”
The International Church of Cannabis was set to open Thursday in a century-old building in a tony Denver neighborhood.
The former Mount Calvary Apostolic Church has traditional church features outside and psychedelic paintings inside.
It’s illegal in Colorado to consume marijuana indoors in places considered public.
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10:10 a.m.
From Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to Hippie Hill in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, marijuana enthusiasts are observing their 4/20 holiday with public smoke-outs, parties and, yes, great deals on weed.
The annual celebration of cannabis culture is providing activists an opportunity to reflect on how far they’ve come, with the recreational use of marijuana legal now in eight states and the nation’s capital — but also on the national political tone, with Trump administration officials reprising talking points from the heyday of the war on drugs.
Advocates planned to hand out free joints to Congressional staffers Thursday afternoon. In California, which voted to legalize marijuana last fall, tens of thousands were expected at events ranging from marijuana cooking classes to the annual bacchanal in Golden Gate Park.
Pot shops in some legal marijuana states are offering discounts.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Weather forecasters are warning of possible severe weather — including large hail, high winds and even tornadoes — for sections of eastern Nebraska and much of Iowa.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, says severe thunderstorms are expected from midafternoon Wednesday in eastern Nebraska into the early hours of Thursday as they move east over Iowa and into Illinois.
Center meteorologist Ariel Cohen says the greatest risk for severe weather includes areas around Lincoln and Omaha in Nebraska and Des Moines and Waterloo in Iowa.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha police chief and Douglas County prosecutors say an officer was justified in shooting an unarmed man who reached into his waistband and then simulated bringing a gun to bear on the officer.
Dillon Trejo was hospitalized Monday afternoon after being shot by Officer Brooks Riley, a seven-year veteran.
The events began when a man robbed a convenience store and then drove about two miles away to steal a pickup truck. A subsequent chase ended when the pickup stopped and the driver — now identified as Trejo — got out to flee.
Police say Riley fired twice when Trejo turned, reached into his waistband and simulated raising a handgun and pointing it at the officer.
Chief Todd Schmaderer (SHMAH’-dur) said Tuesday that Riley acted in a reasonable manner.
SCHUYLER, Neb. (AP) — A man with a history of drunken driving has been charged with manslaughter and drunken driving in the crash death of a 15-year-old girl in Schuyler.
23-year-old Angel Lopez is accused of driving drunk during a brief police chase June 15 and then ramming into a tree in Schuyler, fatally injuring Isabella Brandt.
Online jail records say Lopez remained in custody Tuesday, pending $500,000 bail. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press. Lopez’s next court appearance is set for April 25.
Court records say Lopez was convicted of driving under the influence three months ago in Platte County and convicted of reckless driving in 2014.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police have issued an arrest warrant for a man in the fatal shooting death of another man in an apartment complex parking lot.
The warrant charges 30-year-old Antoine Johnson, of Omaha, with second-degree murder and a weapons count in the Easter death of 29-year-old Trent Stutheit.
Police say officers sent to investigate reports of gunshots found Stutheit around 8:05 p.m. Sunday. He was taken to Creighton University Medical Center, where he died.
Police said Tuesday that Johnson should be considered armed and dangerous.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 27-year-old Lincoln woman is recovering falling and accidentally stabbing herself in the abdomen with a butcher knife.
Police say the woman was walking in her kitchen while carrying the knife. Officer Katie Flood says she slipped on some water, fell and stabbed herself.
Flood says another woman in the house came to the stabbed woman’s aid when she heard her screaming.
The woman was taken to the hospital with injuries not considered to be life-threatening.
