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Girls who fled state treatment center in Geneva are captured

DHHSGENEVA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve captured all 11 girls who escaped from the state’s Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Geneva.

The Nebraska Health and Human Services Department said Tuesday night that two girls left the grounds around 5:30 p.m. The department says a fire alarm was pulled around 7:30 p.m., which unlocked doors in a cottage and allowed nine more girls to flee the campus.

The department said Wednesday morning that all the girls were back in custody and returned to the Fillmore County facility by 2 a.m. Wednesday.

The department says an investigation will be undertaken to find out what policies or procedures should be changed to prevent future escapes.

Grand Island mom who wouldn’t let daughter’s fight end charged with abuse

gavel-and-scaleGRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have charged a Grand Island woman for not letting someone stop a fight between her teenage daughter and another girl.

Court records say the 36-year-old woman is charged with felony intentional child abuse. The Associated Press is not naming her in order to preserve the privacy of her daughter. The AP generally doesn’t name juveniles accused of crimes.

Authorities say the woman’s 15-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old girl had agreed to fight each other. The older girl got the upper hand and began choking her opponent. Police say the woman wouldn’t let a bystander pull the girls apart or stop her daughter from choking the other girl.

Police say the 15-year-old will be charged with strangulation. The younger girl will be charged with mutual consent assault.

Man fired at Nebraska trooper during chase, authorities say

state-patrol-logoOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve arrested a man who fired at a Nebraska state trooper during a chase.

The chase began early Tuesday morning in Valley and ended when the man’s car went into a ditch. The man took off running but was captured with the help of a police dog.

The man was taken to an Omaha hospital for treatment of his injuries. His name hasn’t been released.

The trooper was not hit by the man’s gunshots. The trooper’s name hasn’t been released either.

Man hospitalized after pickup lands in Nebraska creek

Saunders-County-SheriffVALPARAISO, Neb. (AP) — A man has been hospitalized after he was found in a creek where his pickup truck crashed in eastern Nebraska.

The Saunders County Sheriff’s Office says a passer-by spotted the truck around 9 a.m. Monday. Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Thorson says the man was found lying mostly in the creek water and likely had been for several hours.

The truck had crashed off Nebraska Highway 79 about a mile south of Valparaiso and was lodged in a creek bank.

The man’s name hasn’t been released.

Megabus.com resuming Nebraska-to-Chicago service

megabusOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — New Jersey-based megabus.com says it will resume service from Nebraska through Iowa to Chicago.

Megabus.com said in a news release Tuesday that the service will begin March 1, with one bus daily in both directions and additional service on weekends and holidays as needed.

The buses will serve Lincoln and Omaha in Nebraska, stop in Des Moines and Iowa City/Coralville in Iowa and Moline and Chicago in Illinois. The service to Lincoln and Moline is new.

The company says Windstar Lines will provide buses and megabus.com will manage ticket sales and customer services.

Megabus.com is based in Elizabeth, New Jersey. It announced in November that it was ending the service because low gas prices had reduced demand for service.

Man killed when semi rammed into his car, Fremont police say

fremont-policeFREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 23-year-old car driver has died in a collision with a semitrailer on the west side of Fremont.

The accident occurred around 4:20 a.m. Monday. Police say a westbound car turned north onto U.S. Highway 30 and was struck by the northbound truck.

Police say the car driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His name isn’t being released until his family is notified about his death. The truck driver was identified as 62-year-old Louis Dohmen, of Columbus. He was treated at Fremont Health Medical Center and released.

The collision is being investigated.

Man hospitalized after house fire in northeast Omaha

OMAHA-FIRE-AND-RESCUE-BADGEOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man was hospitalized after a fire at a house in northeast Omaha.

Firefighters who were sent to the house around 1:30 p.m. Sunday found a small blaze in a bedroom, which they soon extinguished.

The man had already escaped. He was taken to a hospital to be checked for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters suspect the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction.

People boxed in erratically driven pickup, Cass County authorities say

cass county sheriffLOUISVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say some people and their vehicles boxed in an erratically driven pickup truck and forced it to stop until deputies could arrive in Southeast Nebraska.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release posted Monday that several people called 911 around 8:50 a.m. Saturday after seeing the pickup run through a ditch while exiting Louisville (LOO’-ihs-vihl) State Recreation Area and onto Nebraska Highway 50 while towing a trailer.

More people called 911 to report the southbound pickup and trailer had drifted into the northbound lanes. The Sheriff’s Office reports that some people then somehow boxed in the pickup and trailer and forced it to stop near Manley.

Deputies soon arrived and arrested the pickup driver on suspicion of several crimes, including driving under the influence of drugs.

Historic theater in downtown Norfolk goes up for sale

for-saleNORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — The historic Grand Theatre in downtown Norfolk is up for sale, bringing disappointment to many who tried to restore the landmark for the past 12 years.

The property is listed for $200,000.

The former theater building was built in 1920. It became the Rialto in 1940. Then it became the smaller divided Cinema theaters in the 1970s before it eventually closed.

Businessman J. Paul McIntosh donated the property in 2005 to the Norfolk Community Theater, which tried to obtain money to renovate the structure was but unable to raise the millions needed to make necessary improvements to the interior.

The landmark was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Easier citizenship path sought for slain officers’ spouses

Officer Kerrie Orozco
Officer Kerrie Orozco

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska says he will re-introduce a measure aimed at helping secure citizenship for the widower of an Omaha police officer killed in the line of duty nearly two years ago.

The measure, first introduced by former Nebraska Congressman Brad Ashford and dubbed the Kerrie Orozco Act, would expedite the citizenship process for spouses of first responders who are killed on the job.

Bacon, a Republican, defeated Ashford, a Democrat, in November in the race to represent the state’s 2nd congressional district, which encompasses the Omaha area.

Kerrie Orozco was fatally shot in May 2015 while trying to make an arrest. Her husband, Hector Orozco, is now a single father to three children, including the one Kerrie Orozco delivered only three months before her death.

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