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Lincoln residents discuss pros, cons of recycling ordinance

Mayor Chris Beutler
Mayor Chris Beutler

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln residents have gathered to discuss a proposal that would ban paper products from the city landfill.

Residents discussed Mayor Chris Beutler’s recycling plan during a three-hour public hearing Monday night.

The plan would allow business and homeowners to either take their paper products to the city’s free recycling sites or hire curbside recycling services. They city would ban corrugated cardboard from the landfill beginning in April 2017, restrict newspapers in 2018 and forbid other paper products in 2019.

The plan got passionate support from dozens of residents who believe recycling is an important moral duty that’ll promote a more livable environment. But it received equally passionate opposition from business owners who said it’ll raise housing costs for poor people and create a nightmare for landlords.

Iowa child sex trial delayed for former Nebraska jail worker

Shawn Beu
Shawn Beu

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa trial for a former Nebraska jail employee facing child sex and pornography charges has been delayed.

The Council Bluffs trial of Shawn Beu has been rescheduled to begin Oct. 18 at the request of prosecution and defense attorneys. The trial was supposed to begin Tuesday.

Beu has pleaded not guilty to Iowa charges of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a minor, and related crimes. He’s also been charged in federal court with child pornography possession.

Beu, who lives in Council Bluffs, was a corrections sergeant at the Douglas County Jail in Omaha when he was arrested in March.

Authorities identify 2 people killed in small plane crash

Saunders-County-SheriffLESHARA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have identified the two people who were killed in a weekend plane crash in eastern Nebraska

The Saunders County Sheriff’s office says 61-year-old Ron Panting of Papillion and 27-year-old Michael Trubilla both died in Sunday’s crash.

Trubilla was an Air Force Captain from Reading, Pennsylvania, who was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base. Panting was a flight instructor and a former chief of wing safety at Offutt Air Force Base.

The plane crashed in a soybean field near Leshara, Nebraska, around 3 p.m. Sunday. A witness reported hearing the engine sputter before the Beechcraft Baron crashed.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.

Police make arrest in May shooting death of Omaha man

omaha-policeOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say they’ve made an arrest in the May shooting death of a man on a north Omaha street.

Omaha police said Tuesday that officers arrested 47-year-old Doloma Curtis on suspicion of being an accessory to the killing of 40-year-old Carlos Alonzo. An arrest warrant has also been issued charging 26-year-old Rolander Brown with first-degree murder and a weapons count.

Police say officers found Carlos’ body around 2:30 a.m. on May 28 after being called to the area for a reported shooting.

More than 10 years earlier, Carlos had been acquitted of murder in the 2001 death of his girlfriend, 17-year-old Teresa Windham.

Man buried, killed in central Nebraska grain bin

polk-county-sheriffGRESHAM, Neb. (AP) — Central Nebraska authorities say a 72-year-old man trapped Tuesday inside a grain bin has died.

Polk County Sheriff Dwaine Ludwig said rescue crews were called to the scene north of Gresham early Tuesday morning after Gary Neujahr was buried in corn inside the bin.

Ludwig says Neujahr’s body was recovered around 10:20 a.m.

York Fire and Rescue, Gresham Fire and Rescue and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

Explosion levels a house in Omaha; 1 woman dies, others hurt

OMAHA-FIRE-AND-RESCUE-BADGEOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — One person died and at least two others were injured when an explosion leveled a house in Omaha.

The blast was reported in north-central Omaha around 12:15 p.m. Monday near 65th and Sprague streets.

Fire Battalion Chief Tim McCaw says paramedics took two women to an Omaha hospital, and fire officials say one later died.

A 14-year-old boy was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital privately.

Authorities didn’t release the names of those hurt and injured.

Nearby homes were moved off their foundations, and McCaw says the damaged home was reduced to its foundation.

McCaw says the explosion ruptured a gas line, but that wasn’t the source of the blast.

Fire officials say Omaha police homicide investigators have been called to the location, adding the move was “standard procedure.”

4 soldiers arrested in Colorado home invasion

armyCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Police say four Fort Carson soldiers have been arrested in connection with a home invasion involving a family they knew.

The soldiers, who range in age from 19 to 21, were arrested on suspicion of burglary, menacing and child abuse after turning themselves in Sunday night in Colorado Springs.

Police say a husband and wife and their two young children were at home when the four soldiers walked in, one carrying a handgun.

The family told police that the man threatened to shoot them and demanded property. When they refused, they said the soldiers left and told them they would return.

Fort Carson spokeswoman Dani Johnson says Army officials are cooperating with the police in their investigation.

Embattled board member says he won’t seek re-election

metro-community-college-updOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The embattled board chairman of an Omaha community college says he won’t resign but will not run for re-election in November.

Fred Conley repeated at a news conference Monday that he’s done nothing wrong.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development banned Conley from participating in federal contracts for three years because he failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest while serving on the Omaha Housing Authority board. He’s been under pressure to leave his Metropolitan Community College Board of Governors position, lest his continued presence jeopardize Metro’s federal funding. The college received $32.7 million in federal student aid in the 2014-15 school year.

Conley has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn the Housing Department’s action.

Lincoln mothers plan memorial for soldiers killed after 9/11

soldierLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two mothers who have lost children to war are working with the city of Lincoln to erect a memorial that honors Nebraska soldiers who’ve died after 9/11.

Maria Medrano-Nehls and Joyce Peck have teamed up with Lincoln Parks and Recreation to create the memorial, which will be placed in the Veterans Memorial Garden in Antelope Park.

The Veterans Memorial Garden board has approved the design. On black granite, the memorial will say “In honor of all Nebraska’s fallen soldiers post 9/11,” followed by “Never Forgotten.” Other details include a list of fallen soldiers, along with their rank and date of death.

It will cost about $22,000 in private donations to build the monument. The mothers hope to have the memorial completed next year.

Motorcyclist died in Omaha highway crash, authorities say

fatal-motorcycle-crashOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a motorcyclist has been killed in an Omaha highway crash.

The crash occurred around 2:20 a.m. Monday. Police say the motorcyclist was on a ramp from westbound Interstate 80 headed to U.S. Highway 75 south when he lost control of his bike.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name hasn’t been released.

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