OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha City Council has approved new rules aimed at aggressive panhandlers.

The council voted 7-0 Tuesday for the changes. They restrict aggressive panhandling, which includes approaching someone several times to ask for money or touching them without consent during the requests.

The American Civil Liberties Union had raised concerns about the old panhandling ordinance, which said anyone who wanted to solicit money — other than a religious organization or a charity — had to obtain written permission from the police chief.

The ACLU says it’s pleased the council has “amended city ordinances to comport with the First Amendment and to ensure the right of free speech extends to all Nebraskans — including those experiencing homelessness and who have been jailed simply for asking for help.”

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A 52-year-old Nebraska City man has been accused of starting fires at his residence and his mother’s home.

Brian Voyles has been charged with two counts of arson. Voyles’ attorney didn’t immediately return a message left Wednesday by The Associated Press, seeking comment on the allegations against Voyles.

Firefighters were able to put out both fires on Dec. 3.

Police say in court records that Voyles had singed hair on his head and face when taken into custody. No injuries have been reported to others.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Booming development in downtown Omaha has the potential to bring five new parking garages to the area.

Downtown organizations and businesses say their employees and customers expect them to provide ample parking nearby. But Mayor Jean Stothert and city planners say garages that might appear necessary now will seem redundant in the future.

So city leaders must decide whether to offer people abundant downtown parking or save that land for development.

City planning consultant Steve Jensen said Omaha’s solution will help establish the downtown of Omaha’s future. Jensen says most people want a downtown to be active, interesting, exciting and fun, with lots of places to go. He says taking up too much space for parking garages risks choking off other development.

OMAHA, Neb.— A Douglas County judge has found enough evidence for an Omaha man accused of kidnapping his son to stand trial.

26-year-old Elwin E. Brown faces charges of kidnapping, child abuse and false imprisonment. He’s also charged with two counts of violating a protection order granted to Abbilyn Walgrave and their 2-year-old son.

Brown is accused of taking his son from a car driven by Walgrave in a grocery store parking lot on Nov. 3. The uninjured child was dropped off at his great-grandmother’s house about five hours later.

Police reviewed surveillance video, and Detective Jeff Shelbourn said he was able to identify Brown taking the child from the car.

Brown is being held on $400,000 bail.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of an inmate accused of attacking a prison caseworker with the worker’s own pepper spray — despite the prison’s destruction of both the spray and surveillance video of the attack before trial.

The appeals court said Tuesday there was no evidence authorities acted in bad faith in destroying the pepper spray canister or erasing the video, noting witness testimony backed authorities’ account and that the defense attorney didn’t properly object to state witness testimony.

Bradley Simmons was convicted earlier this year of second-degree assault of an officer and sentenced to three more years. He was already serving 50 years for attempted murder and other counts for the 2000 shooting an Omaha police officer during a botched bank robbery.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a minigrant from the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation will be used to buy video and audio recording equipment so Success Academy students can interview veterans.

Two teachers at Grand Island High School received the $590 grant Monday afternoon. The Success Academy is an alternative education program for students in grades six through 12. Success Academy students take a mix of mandatory core classes and elective classes.

Teacher Laurie Clark says interviewing veterans will be offered as an elective.

Success Academy students who interview veterans will be doing so as part of The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center, through the Library of Congress. Completed interviews will be filed with the Library of Congress.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Chicago man’s lawsuit says an Omaha school district should not be using the name “Singsation” for an annual swing choir competition.

Willie Wilson’s lawyers filed a trademark infringement lawsuit on Dec. 3 in Nebraska’s U.S. District Court against the Millard School District, which covers parts of western Omaha. Wilson says that since 1989 he has produced a gospel music TV show called “Singsation” and owns the brand name. The lawsuit accuses the district of trying to pass off the district’s “goods and services as those of Willie Wilson.”

School district attorney Duncan Young says he’s evaluating the complaint. Young says he told Wilson’s attorneys before the lawsuit was filed that the district would not use any logos that “even slightly resemble” Wilson’s logo.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 23-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting a woman and her 2-year-old daughter and wounding three more women has turned himself in.

Police say Dontevous (dahn-TAYE’-vuhs) Loyd surrendered at the Douglas County Jail a little before 6 a.m. Tuesday.

The five people were shot around 11 p.m. Sunday at an apartment in northwest Omaha. Authorities say 2-year-old Kenacia Amerson-Straughn and 22-year-old Destacia Straughn were pronounced dead at the scene. Eighteen-year-old Jamie Latner, 21-year-old Larrion Williams and 22-year-old Kachelle Roby were taken to Omaha hospitals for treatment.

Loyd was being sought on a warrant that lists two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and six weapons counts. It’s unclear whether Loyd has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that six people wrongly convicted in a 1985 slaying of a woman in southeast Nebraska should have a chance to argue that the officials who prosecuted them acted improperly.

Monday’s ruling from the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived the group’s complaint against Gage County and the officials who built the case against the six in the 1985 killing of Helen Wilson in Beatrice.

The initial trial in the lawsuit ended in mistrial in January.

The wrongly convicted individuals — known as the Beatrice Six — served a combined 77 years in prison before DNA testing cleared them in 2008.

The individuals have argued that Gage County investigators recklessly strove to close the case despite contradictory evidence, rather than seek justice.

 

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Nebraska woman accused of visiting hundreds of medical facilities around the country to obtain unnecessary prescription drugs with her Medicare benefits has pleaded guilty to fraud.

Lowie Norma Christie entered the plea in federal court in Fargo on Monday. She faces up to 10 years in prison and also has agreed to pay more than $107,000 in restitution.

In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors dropped five other counts against her. She’s to be sentenced on March 23.

Authorities say Christie caused about 1,830 claims to be submitted to Medicare for prescription drugs between January 2007 and July 2013. She was accused of obtaining prescriptions at four hospitals in North Dakota.