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Teacher Suspended After Showing ‘Fifty Shades’ to Students

fifty-shades-of-greyROMNEY, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia teacher has been suspended without pay for showing part of the erotic movie “Fifty Shades of Grey” to students as a reward for good work.

The county school board unanimously voted this week to suspend Hampshire High School health occupations instructor Kristie Long for the rest of the school year.

The newspaper says students asked Long to show the movie and one brought the DVD to school last week. An assistant principal shut down the movie after 10 minutes after being alerted about it by another adult.

Long told school officials she didn’t know what the movie was about.

The first movie opened this year on Valentine’s Day weekend and became one of the biggest R-rated openings ever.

Rural Nebraska Schoolhouse Closing After 45 Years

burwell-neBURWELL, Neb. (AP) — A rural one-room schoolhouse in Nebraska is set to close after 45 years.

The District 70 School in Garfield County will close Wednesday. The Burwell Public Schools board decided in January to close the school at the end of this school year.

District 70 was created in 1970 after four other rural schools were consolidated. Over the years, the school shrank to one teacher, a paraeducator and five students in grades four through six.

Two of the students will travel to Burwell to attend school next year, prompting parents to send their siblings as well. This partly contributed to the board decision to close the school.

Georgia Teacher Accused of Letting Students Have Sex

schoolSTONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) — An Atlanta-area teacher has been arrested after a parent complained he allowed middle school students to have sex in a storage unit in his classroom.

Multiple news outlets report 25-year-old Quentin Wright, a math teacher at The Champion School in Stone Mountain, was taken into custody Tuesday. He has been charged with four misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

An arrest warrant says Wright arranged times with students when the classroom would be empty and gave them condoms.

The investigation began after a mother said she found text messages between Wright and her son.

A DeKalb County Schools spokesman says they are cooperating with the District Attorney’s Office and Wright has been removed from the classroom.

It is unclear if he has a lawyer.

Authorities Say Hash Oil Linked to Omaha House Explosion

omaha-policeOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say hash oil was being manufactured inside a house in Omaha shortly before a reported explosion that injured two people.

The Omaha Police Department says officers received a radio call Tuesday afternoon about an explosion at the house, located in a neighborhood on the north side of the city.

Police say a preliminary investigation determined hash oil was being manufactured in the home prior to the explosion. The explosion was caused by fire and toxic fumes.

Two people received minor burns and were transported to a nearby hospital. Additional information about their injuries was unavailable.

Police say the investigation is ongoing and charges are pending.

Police: Lincoln Woman Used Pry Bar on Husband Over Snoring

lincoln-policeLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Lincoln woman hit her boyfriend with a pry bar because she was angry about his snoring.

Lincoln police say 45-year-old Elizabeth Ellen Hogrefe hit the 58-year-old man early Monday while the couple stayed at a motel. The man told police he woke up in the motel room to Hogrefe yelling at him and hitting him in the back with a steel pry bar.

The man stumbled out of the room and someone called authorities. A police spokeswoman says he was found later at a nearby convenience store with injuries consistent with being hit with a pry bar.

Hogrefe was placed into custody. She faces a misdemeanor domestic assault charge. Court records do not list an attorney.

Nebraska Man’s Claims That Insurer Responsible for Crash Costs Rejected

ne-court-of-appealsOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has rejected a man’s claim that his auto insurance company should pay his costs in a wrongful death case because it didn’t push him to have more coverage.

Investigators say Dennis Rath was driving recklessly on Sept. 10, 2010, when he caused a crash that killed 51-year-old Dana Peterson.

A settlement with Peterson’s estate saw Rath’s insurance carrier, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., pay his policy limit of $50,000, and Rath personally pay $25,000.

Rath then sued State Farm and an insurance agent to recover the $25,000 and attorneys fees, arguing that they should have pressed him to carry more than $50,000 coverage for bodily injury liability.

But the appeals court on Tuesday said they had no duty to dictate liability coverage to Rath.

Sioux Falls Toddler Survives 27-Foot Fall from Window

ambulance-lightsSIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Sioux Falls police say no criminal charges are expected after a 2-year-old boy fell from a third-floor apartment window.

Police spokesman Sam Clemens says the boy climbed onto a table, crawled out the window and onto a ledge before falling 27 feet to the ground on Saturday.

The boy was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

Clemens says the boy’s mother was in another area of the apartment, and had left the boy to watch TV with his older siblings, ages 3, 4 and 6. Clemens says there was a screen on the window, but that the incident serves as a reminder for parents to make sure windows are safe for small children.

Demolition to Start on Old Columbus Train Depot

Union-PacificCOLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Demolition work is set to begin this week on the old Union Pacific depot in Columbus.

A Union Pacific official says crews will begin removing pieces from the building’s interior Wednesday before the depot ultimately is razed. He said total demolition of the structure likely will take weeks to finish.

Union Pacific asked the city if it wanted to purchase the building estimated to be more than 100 years old before tearing it down.

But a city administrator said saving the depot would be too costly because it couldn’t remain at its current location due to its close proximity to the railroad tracks. The projected price tag to relocate the building was $750,000.

Union Pacific moved into a new depot in Columbus earlier this year.

Disney World Tells Riders to Stop Using Selfie Sticks

disney-worldORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney World is looking to crack down on guests who use selfie sticks on rides at the park.

A spokesman said Monday guests can bring selfie sticks on the rides but must securely store them.

Disney policy forbids visitors from using the sticks, which can be used to extend cameras out up to 3 feet. One ride, Thunder Mountain, has had a number of incidents in which the ride had to be stopped because of selfie-stick use.

On Friday, Disney World workers posted a “No Selfie Sticks” sign at the Magic Kingdom’s Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Hall County to Consider Cremation-Only Service

odd-newsGRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Hall County supervisors are set to vote on providing cremation-only services for people who die in the county and are indigent.

The supervisors will vote on the proposal for cremation-only services, which cost less than a basic burial, on Tuesday.

Hall County has been paying funeral homes over $1,000 per indigent funeral since 1986. The county will also consider raising the 29-year-old reimbursement rate from $1,470 to $1,750

The county also plans to abandon a long-standing practice of burying remains and cremated remains.

According to claims data from the Hall County Clerk’s Office, the county has been averaging about 22 indigent funerals costing about $40,000 a year.

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