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Cops: Twins, 9, Left Mostly Alone for Months, Parents Abroad

police-lights-redMANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Police in New Hampshire say 9-year-old twins were left mostly on their own for four months while their parents went to Nigeria.

Manchester police say the parents had asked an uncle to care for the boys, and he would stop by every couple of days to drop off food. But police say when they intervened in November, they found no edible food in the refrigerator and only ramen noodles in a cabinet.

The uncle, Giobari Atura (jee-oh-BAHR’-ee ah-TOO’-ruh), was charged with neglect.

The boys’ parents went overseas in July. They were due to return in August but said illness and passport problems delayed them.

The boys are in foster care.

Atura is free on $500 bail. His phone number isn’t listed. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Obama Visits GOP Strongholds Idaho, Kansas

obama-fundraiserLAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — President Barack Obama likes to say there are no red states or blue states, just the United States of America. Yet his first two stops on the traditional post-State of the Union tour were in Republican “red” states.

The White House says this is not a coincidence.

Spokesman Josh Earnest says Idaho, where Obama stopped Wednesday, is a good example of a state that’s investing in programs to help people get the skills and training they need to get a good middle-class job.

Obama has emphasized skilled training throughout his presidency.

Earnest notes that the political leadership in Idaho and in Kansas, Obama’s stop on Thursday, is Republican.

He says Obama wanted to visit both states to show that Republican support exists for the types of programs the president supports.

People Not Vaccinated for Measles Urged to Avoid Disneyland

disneylandLOS ANGELES (AP) — California public health officials say unvaccinated people and children too young to be immunized against measles should avoid Disneyland after new infections were linked to the theme park.

The cases are the latest in an outbreak that began in late December that has sickened 59 people in the state.

Eight others in four U.S. states and Mexico have also fallen ill after visiting Disney parks.

The new advice came after health officials reported new cases linked to Disney in January. A total of 42 cases have been traced to the parks in Orange County.

Most of those affected had not been vaccinated against measles, a highly contagious illness that can be easily spread through the air.

Though the virus has been eradicated in the U.S. since 2000, it can still enter the country through an infected traveler.

Lincoln Man Gets Prison After Hiding Meth in Underwear

METHLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man has been sentenced to seven to 13 years in prison after being caught with meth hidden in his underwear.

31-year-old Ramon Escamilla pleaded no contest Tuesday to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Escamilla was arrested Sept. 19, 2013.

Court records say Escamilla told police he had marijuana in his shoe, pills in the dashboard of his car and meth in his house. Police say they found 46.7 grams of methamphetamine, and jailers say they found 12.1 more grams hidden in his underwear when he was booked into prison on the charge.

Escamilla has already served 487 days of his sentence. An attorney for Escamilla could not be located.

Reports: Google Planning to Sell Wireless Phone Plans

googleSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is planning to sell wireless phone service directly to customers using the networks of Sprint and T-Mobile.

That’s according to reports Wednesday in the technology news site The Information and The Wall Street Journal. They cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Representatives from Google Inc., Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. declined to comment on the reports.

According to the Journal, Google will resell service on the Sprint and T-Mobile networks. It said it wasn’t clear how widely Google, which is based in Mountain View, California, plans to offer the service, what it will cost or when it will launch.

Google is looking for ways to get more people online to do searches and watch YouTube videos, which could be accomplished by offering more affordable wireless data plans.

Officials: Measles Patient Spent Time in Omaha, Blair

Medical-ChartOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Health officials say a person who recently spent time in Omaha and Blair has been diagnosed with a confirmed case of measles.

The Douglas County Health Department issued a health alert Wednesday after the infected person visited several public locations, including the Omaha Children’s Museum, a church near Blair and a physician’s office.

Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that spreads through the air through breathing, coughing or sneezing. Officials say any person exposed to it who has not been vaccinated is likely to contract the disease.

Officials have also urged anyone born in or after 1957 who may have been in the diagnosed patient’s vicinity to check vaccine records. They say those who haven’t received two measles vaccine doses should contact their doctors immediately.

Nebraska Man Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting 6-Year-Old

sex-offendersBEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — A southeastern Nebraska man charged with sexually assaulting a 6-year-old child has pleaded guilty in an effort to avoid conviction of more serious charges.

40-year-old Jason R. Schriner, of Beatrice, submitted two Alford guilty pleas Wednesday to reduce his charges to third-degree sexual assault of a child. He was initially charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child, a felony punishable by up to life imprisonment.

In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him at trial.

Court documents show the young girl says was assaulted by Schriner several times. An attorney for Schriner did not immediately respond to a message for comment.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 18.

Nebraskan Accused of Forcing Woman to Sign ‘Slave Contract’

Nicholas Talbot
Nicholas Talbot

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has told police she was forced to sign a “slave contract” that obligated her to endure her boyfriend’s sexual and physical abuse.

On Tuesday authorities charged 35-year-old Nicholas Talbot with domestic abuse. Online court records don’t list an attorney for the Lincoln man. Nebraska’s Sex Offender Registry says Talbot was convicted in 1999 of sexually assaulting a minor.

A Lincoln police officer says in a court affidavit that Talbot forced the 32-year-old woman to sign what Talbot had titled “Slave Contract,” saying her only rights were what “the master gave her.” The affidavit says the woman told her pastor and another woman about Talbot’s abuse and showed them several wounds.

She says Talbot used a marker to write “PROPERTY OF NICK” on her left arm

Passenger Pleads Guilty for Causing Plane to Divert to Omaha

gavel-and-scaleOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A passenger who tried to open an airplane door and caused it to divert to Omaha has pleaded guilty for his interaction with a flight attendant.

24-year-old Joshua Suggs, of Chicago, pleaded guilty Wednesday to assaulting, intimidating or interfering with a flight crew member. Suggs was arrested in April after trying to open a door of a plane bound for Sacramento, California. After the incident, the pilot opted to land in Omaha.

James Martin Davis, Suggs’ defense attorney, says his client experienced a psychotic episode during the flight.

A sentencing hearing for Suggs has been set for April.

Ex-Nebraska Deputy Gets Probation in Staged Shooting

Joshua Nincehelser
Joshua Nincehelser

FALLS CITY, Neb. (AP) — An ex-sheriff’s deputy in Nebraska has been sentenced to three years of probation after accidentally shooting himself and then trying to make it look like he’d been the victim of a crime.

Twenty-six-year-old Joshua Nincehelser was sentenced Tuesday. He pleaded no contest in November to felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor false reporting.

Nincehelser told authorities in June that he was shot by a driver he had pulled over near Humboldt, but authorities determined he lied. Nincehelser eventually admitted to investigators that he accidentally shot himself, and then shot at his cruiser to make his story look real.

He was later fired from the Richardson County Sheriff’s Department.

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