GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Police say a Nebraska woman was injured after her son accidently pinned her against a church with their family’s truck.
43-year-old Maria Atjun was taken to an area hospital Sunday night and released. Sgt. Todd Dvorak says she suffered injuries to her legs and torso.
Dvorak says her 13-year-old sun started the truck while it was in gear and it drove forward, pinning Atjun. He says people at the church pushed the truck off of the woman before first responders arrived.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials in Seward County plan to break ground on a new justice center as early as April and move into the planned $12 million building by fall 2016.
The 44,000-square-foot building will go up next to the Seward County Jail, which will be demolished to make way for a parking lot.
The new building will consolidate several county offices under a single roof, including the jail, sheriff’s office, courts, county attorney’s office, emergency dispatch center, probation offices and public defender.
Seward County Sheriff Joe Yocum says the three-floor building will offer benefits in security, compliance, and increase the number of jail beds to alleviate the rising cost of housing prisoners out of county.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of a man who disappeared in a western Iowa lake after a weekend canoe accident.
The man’s body was found shortly after 11 a.m. Monday. He had been missing since the canoe he and another man were in capsized in Lake Manawa near Council Bluffs Sunday afternoon.
The second boater, 36-year-old Benjamin Ferguson, was able to swim to shore and call for help. He was taken to a Council Bluffs hospital for treatment of hypothermia, but he is expected to recover.
Rescuers searched the lake for several hours Sunday before suspending the effort at nightfall.
The name of the man who died wasn’t immediately released Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Merriam-Webster’s has picked its 2014 word of the year.
The word is “culture.”
The selection was based on significant increases in lookups this year over last year on Merriam-Webster.com, along with spikes of concentrated interest.
Oxford Dictionaries’ chose “vape,” which comes from the electronic cigarettes.
And Dictionary.com picked “exposure,” during a time of tragedy and fear due to Ebola.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Florida state troopers say one person is dead after a crash involving two cars and a bus near a Walt Disney World resort.
Sgt. Kim Montes of the Florida Highway Patrol says a car ran a red light early Monday and drove into the path of a Disney bus carrying about 20 passengers. The impact spun the car into another car alongside the bus.
The 29-year-old driver of the first car died at a hospital. She was identified as a woman from nearby Windermere. Her name was not released, pending notification of her family.
Montes says no one from the bus or second car was injured.
The crash occurred near Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
A message left early Monday for a Disney public information officer was not immediately returned.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities say a wounded security guard shot back and killed a public transit passenger who opened fire when he was kicked off a bus on the Las Vegas Strip.
Police say the shooting happened a little before 2 a.m. Monday in the heart of the tourist district. Part of the Strip has been closed to traffic.
Investigators say a security officer contracted by the Regional Transportation Commission told a passenger to get off the bus because of a disturbance.
Police say the man then pulled a handgun and shot the security officer multiple times.
The officer fired back, fatally wounding the suspect.
The guard was taken to a hospital. Lt. Dennis O’Brien says the guard is in stable condition with injuries that are not life-threatening.
HARPER, Kan. (AP) — Kansas weather is often unpredictable but Sunday was a particularly odd day in the state.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings Sunday evening in Harper, Kingman and Reno counties in south-central Kansas. A tornado briefly touched down about five miles northeast of Harper but no injuries or serious damage was reported.
Later Sunday evening, snow began falling in Cheyenne County in far northwest Kansas.
Much of the rest of the state experienced rain and misty conditions.
Meteorologist Chris Jakub told The Wichita Eagle (https://bit.ly/12TOqMc ) the unusual weather occurred when warm and moist conditions met a strong upper-level system. He said the mix of weather was unusual for mid-December in Kansas.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The time and date aligned for a baby girl born in Montana, and the infant’s weight came close to making the event even more unique.
Quincy Kessler was born at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings at 10:11 a.m. on 12/13/14.
Even more remarkable, her birth weight, at 7.84 pounds, almost aligned with the other numbers. A fraction of an ounce more, and she would have weighed 7.89 pounds.
The baby is the second daughter born to Trenton and Melida Kessler.
Melida Kessler said nurses in the hospital room noted around 10:05 a.m. that the 10:11 time might work out.
At that point, she says she started to push and Quincy came out at 10:11.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Long depicted as the rootin’-tootin’ capital of American gun culture, Texas is one of the few states with an outright ban on the open carry of handguns.
That could change next year, with an expected push for expanding gun rights from the Republican-dominated Legislature.
At least six bills have already been filed for the session that starts in January. Gov.-elect Greg Abbott has already pledged to sign one into law if sent to his desk.
Texas allows concealed handguns and public display of long guns, such as rifles and shotguns. But it still insists handguns be kept out of sight.
There are no guarantees open carry will pass. Bills to allow concealed handguns on college campus were filed in recent years but were derailed by universities and law enforcement.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Seven years after $7 million was donated for a new ice skating rink in Lincoln, the project is finally getting started.
City officials and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln broke ground on the project near the Haymarket Park baseball stadium Saturday.
The $11 million ice rink that former state auditor John Breslow donated money for will be shared by UNL and the city.
Breslow says he thinks the rink is something everyone will be able to be proud of.
The project was delayed while university and city officials focused on finishing the Pinnacle Bank arena for basketball and events.
The rink will be used for recreational skating and UNL intramural sports.
