OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former doctor charged with killing four people with ties to an Omaha medical school in separate attacks in 2008 and 2013 is seeking separate trials for the killings.

Attorneys for Anthony Garcia will ask a Douglas County District judge on Monday to order separate trials in the March 2008 slayings of Dr. William Hunter’s 11-year-old son and the family’s housekeeper and the May 2013 killings of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary.

Defense attorneys Bob and Alison Motta of Chicago argue that trying the cases together could unfairly sway jurors.

But a major piece of prosecutors’ case is that Garcia was motivated by revenge for being fired from Creighton’s pathology department in 2001 by Roger Brumback and William Hunter.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Police in central Iowa are investigating the shooting of a Nebraska man in the leg.

29-year-old Alex Clayton, of Omaha, Nebraska, suffered injuries not expected to be life-threatening in the Friday morning shooting.

Police Chief Kevin Doty says officers were called to Trinity Regional Medical Center around 12:30 a.m. Friday for a man being treated for a gunshot wound in the emergency room.

Doty says officers tried to speak with Clayton and witnesses and are tracking down leads in the case. No arrests have yet been reported.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Fort Dodge Police Department or Webster County Crime Stoppers.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha Public Schools and its teachers union have struck a deal for a new contract that would give teachers raises over the next three years and increase the starting salary for new teachers.

But, the deal would also require employees to pay more toward health care.

Megan Neiles-Brasch, the district’s attorney and chief negotiator, says the Omaha Education Association voted Friday to ratify the three-year contract. The union covers about 4,100 teachers.

Teachers will receive a 5.2 percent pay raise next year, a 2.7 percent raise for the 2016-17 school year and a 5.7 percent raise in 2017-18.

In return, employees will contribute 3 percent more toward health insurance for the first two years and 4 percent more in the contract’s third year.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s student military veteran population will soon have a center dedicated to supporting them with all aspects of university life.

UNL’s new Student Veterans Resource Center will open in the fall and be located in the Nebraska Union. Its mission will be to support student veterans’ transition to academic life and provide services related to them.

The center will provide academic and transition coaching and peer mentors to help student veterans in and out of the classroom. Darrell Everhart, a retired U.S. Navy captain, will be the center’s founding director. Everhart is an academic success coach at UNL and the adviser for the university’s Veteran Student Organization.

Last fall, UNL had more than 500 veterans or dependents enrolled who received Montgomery GI or Post-9/11 educational benefits.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A choir group for people with physical and cognitive disabilities has held its first performance on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus.

The Heartlight Choir made its public debut Thursday at the college’s Community Engagement Center. It’s the largest program organized by Gotta Be Me, a local nonprofit dedicated to the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Tiffany Clifton founded Gotta Be Me last November. She said the nonprofit’s purpose is to introduce the community to people with disabilities, as well as provide those people with activities.

The group has met every Monday for choir practice since its inception. Its members have varying degrees and types of disabilities, including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and verbal dysphasia.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court says a farmer who dug around for information on the landowning business of the judge hearing his lawsuit had no right to then expect the judge to excuse himself from the case.

The decision came in the case of Thomas Kalkowski, who sued a foundation from which he leased land over an irrigation issue.

While the lawsuit was pending, Kalkowski sought information from an official about property owned by the judge overseeing his case. The official, believing Kalkowski wanted to buy the property, contacted the judge.

Kalkowski then sought to have the judge removed, saying he should not have talked to the official, and that the judge’s leasing of land to a farmer was similar enough to Kalkowski’s situation as to create a conflict of interest.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 17-year-old Gretna boy has accepted responsibility for causing a three-vehicle collision that killed four people on Easter Sunday.

The boy admitted his role on Thursday in Douglas County Juvenile Court. He was charged with four counts of misdemeanor vehicular homicide. He’ll be sentenced next month. The Associated Press generally doesn’t name juveniles accused of crimes.

The accident occurred around 8:30 p.m. on April 5 northwest of Omaha. Authorities say the boy was driving a pickup north and didn’t halt at a stop sign at an intersection with Nebraska Highway 36. The pickup knocked an eastbound vehicle into oncoming traffic, where it was struck by a westbound vehicle. The four killed were in the eastbound and westbound vehicles.

The boy and his teenage passenger were hospitalized.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) — The Air Force says some air crew members were treated for smoke inhalation after their jet made an emergency stop on the runway before it could take off from a base near Omaha.

Offutt Air Force Base spokesman Delanie (duh-LAYE’-nee) Stafford said Friday that the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft was stopped around 6:30 p.m. Thursday before it could leave on a local training flight. He says none of the 27 on board suffered serious injuries.

Stafford says base firefighters put out the blaze inside the fuselage of the four-engine jet, which is configured for intelligence and reconnaissance missions. The fire cause and the extent of the repairs needed are being investigated.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police say a Lincoln man has been accused of breaking an officer’s them during a mental health check.

51-year-old Joseph Tyree was charged Tuesday with felony assault on an officer. He remained in jail on $5,000 bond as of Wednesday night.

The Lincoln Police Department says Officer Frank Foster arrived at Tyree’s home Monday after someone concerned about the man’s mental health requested a visit. He was outside his apartment when Foster arrived.

A police report says Tyree refused to talk to Foster and tried to go inside, but Foster grabbed him from behind to stop him. A physical altercation ensued, during which Foster reported pain in his right thumb.

Both men were treated at a hospital, and Tyree was arrested upon his release.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. (AP) — Police say a 14-year-old girl has been stabbed at a school in suburban Denver and a 14-year-old classmate has been detained.

Authorities say the girl was stabbed Thursday at Aspen Creek K-8 school in Broomfield and then airlifted to a hospital.

North Metro Fire Rescue spokeswoman Sara Farris wouldn’t comment on the extent of the girl’s injuries. She says the girl was airlifted because it was the quickest way to get her to a trauma unit, given traffic and other considerations.

Police say the attack appears to be an isolated incident and there’s no reason to believe there’s any additional threat to the school, where both teens are students.