GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Grand Island has been preparing to cut in half its discharge of chloride from the city wastewater treatment plant, anticipating a state regulation that will take effect next year.

The city will have 4½ years to comply with the tougher rule.

The state is following national water quality regulations, and there is concern that high chloride, or salt, levels kill water fleas and flathead minnows, which are food for many fish species.

The city can’t access enough water to dilute the salt level in its discharge, because there isn’t enough water flowing by in the Platte River all through the year. So the city is working with the JBS beef plant and other industrial customers to reduce the salt content of their wastewater.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 29-year-old woman has died after her car rammed into a power pole in southwest Omaha.

Witnesses told officers that the car had been moving erratically before the accident occurred around 6:15 p.m. Saturday.

Police say Ashley Carter, of La Vista, was pronounced dead later at an Omaha hospital.

The accident cause is being investigated.

ELMWOOD, Neb. (AP) — Two people were killed when a car rammed into the rear of another near Elmwood in southeast Nebraska.

The accident occurred a little before 7:30 p.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 34, about a mile and a half southeast of Elmwood.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that a westbound car driven by 25-year-old Edward Koch, of Quincy, Illinois, struck the rear of the other car, which was driven by 23-year-old Matthew Kirchhoff, of Weeping Water.

The Sheriff’s Office says Kirchhoff and his passenger, 22-year-old Emily Widger, of Lincoln, were pronounced dead at the scene. Koch was taken to a Lincoln hospital.

The crash is being investigated.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man has been given up to seven years in prison for stabbing his brother in January.

Lancaster County District Judge Jodi Nelson called 28-year-old Steven E. Caldwell dangerous before sentencing him on Monday to three to seven years in prison. He was given credit for more than 240 days served.

Caldwell pleaded no contest to attempted second-degree assault and felony child abuse in connection to his brother’s stabbing on Jan. 17. His brother’s son was also present during the attack.

Court records say Caldwell told authorities he was drunk when he got into a physical fight with his brother and stabbed him in the stomach with a kitchen knife. His brother survived.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha organizers say they fell far short of setting a record for the world’s largest spaghetti feed.

Sunday’s event was organized by an Omaha nonprofit, We Are the Power of O.NE. Its goal was to serve 20,000 spaghetti dinners in four hours at the Omaha Public Schools’ seven high schools and several other spots in the area, including across the Missouri River at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The group said serving 17,000 would break a world record. But Sunday’s volunteers served only around 5,100 dinners. The group also took 1,400 dinners to homeless shelters.

Organizer Lin Leahy says the event was held to raise awareness of hunger in the Omaha area. The dinners were free, although donations for the Food Bank for the Heartland were encouraged.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nuclear regulators plan to offer the public an update on the performance of a Nebraska nuclear plant since it restarted last year after a prolonged outage.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to discuss a recent inspection of the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant in Omaha on Thursday evening.

Fort Calhoun, which sits about 20 miles north of Omaha, was shut down from April 2011 until December.

It initially shut down for routine maintenance, but significant flooding in 2011, a small fire and a series of safety violations forced it to remain closed for nearly three years.

Omaha Public Power District must demonstrate Fort Calhoun can operate safely before regulators will ease its inspections.

The meeting will run from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday at the Omaha Marriot at 10220 Regency Circle.

 

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense lawyers in the Colorado theater shootings case say witnesses would be vulnerable to harassment and threats if cameras are allowed in court during the trial.

At a hearing Monday, news media attorneys responded there was no evidence that courtroom cameras would make the scrutiny any more intense than it will be anyway because of interest in the case.

The judge says he’ll rule next week.

James Holmes is scheduled to go on trial in December on charges of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the 2012 attack at a Denver-area theater.

He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple charges of murder and attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Media organizations including The Associated Press want to have TV and still cameras in the courtroom.

PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. (AP) — A 38-year-old man from Murray has died in a rollover crash on the south side of Plattsmouth.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says the accident happened a little before 6:20 a.m. Saturday on Chicago Avenue. Investigators say a car driven by Kevin Light was headed north when it failed to negotiate a curve. The office says the car went out of control, veering to the east side of the roadway and rolling over.

Light was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say the car was going too fast for safety in the heavy rain.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln officials want to renovate the Pinewood Bowl to make the amphitheater more appealing to big name acts.

The city wants to renovate the facility, built in 1947, by expanding the backstage area and parking and replacing the aging roof and main ticket office.

City Parks and Recreation Department Director Lynn Johnson says bands such as Boston and the Doobie Brothers have enjoyed performing in the three summers since big name acts returned to the venue. But their production staffs have had a hard time getting tour buses and equipment down a single-lane gravel road to the backstage area. Once there, they must deal with limited space.

The general manager of promoter SMG-Lincoln says the lack of backstage facilities has limited the type of acts the venue can attract.