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Salvation Army to Host BaconFest Omaha

salvation-armyOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Salvation Army will host its second BaconFest Omaha next month at its Kroc Center in southeast Omaha.

The Sept. 7 afternoon festival is a fundraiser for the Kroc Center’s mission and activities. Funds raised from BaconFest Omaha will support Kroc Center programming and membership.

Activities include a Omaha area bands, vendor booths, a children’s play area and, of course, a cooking competition using bacon as a key ingredient. Each paid admission receives an all-day pass to the Kroc Center and $5 of “Bacon Bucks” vouchers to be used in voting for their favorite Farmland bacon cook-off creation.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $5 for children ages 5-17. Children 4 and under get in free.

Ex-Omaha Banker Banned from Banking

fdicLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Federal officials have banned a former president of Omaha State Bank from banking indefinitely.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says Michael Dahir, who served as the bank’s president and CEO from 1988 until 2012, breached his fiduciary duty to the bank and caused it to incur losses.

The FDIC hit the bank with a consent order in March 2012, after finding 20 areas in which it said the bank needed to improve management and/or supervision. The bank later merged with another Omaha bank, Centennial to form Core Bank.

In its order released Friday, the FDIC also ordered Dahir to pay a civil penalty of $70,000.

Dahir agreed to both the ban and the fine without admitting any wrongdoing.

Pretrial Hearing in Nebraska Murder Case Postponed

gavel-morePIERCE, Neb. (AP) — A Columbus man accused of killing a Norfolk teenager in 2011 has waived his right to a speedy trial in requesting that his pretrial hearing be pushed back to late October.

A public defender for 23-year-old Daniel Hofmann on Thursday requested a continuance to give her time to work with an expert in Lincoln.

Hofmann’s hearing is now set for Oct. 30, and his trial pushed back to Dec. 1.

Hofmann has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, making terroristic threats, using a weapon and tampering with evidence in the death of 18-year-old Wesley Kuester of Norfolk.

Prosecutors believe Hofmann shot Kuester with a shotgun in April 2011 while visiting friends in Pierce.

Comedian Tracy Morgan Still Struggling After Crash

tracy-morgan-fixedTRENTON, N.J. (AP) — An attorney for Tracy Morgan says the former “Saturday Night Live” actor is having a tough time recovering from a June accident on the New Jersey Turnpike that left a fellow comedian dead.

Attorney Benedict Morelli said  that Morgan relies on a wheelchair and it may be months before he can fully walk again. Morelli says Morgan appears to be making progress, but it will be a month before he is assessed “cognitively.”

Morgan broke his leg, nose and several ribs in a six-car accident involving his limo bus, and comedian James McNair was killed. The bus was struck by a Wal-Mart truck.

The truck driver has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide and assault by auto.

Morgan accused Wal-Mart of negligence in a federal lawsuit.

Talking Bird Helped Break School Abduction Case

odd-newsPHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia detective has testified about a foul-mouthed bird that helped lead police to the woman charged with abducting a 5-year-old from school.

The girl said she heard a talking bird during the 19 hours she spent blindfolded in a house where she was sexually assaulted.

She also glimpsed the back of the west Philadelphia house before she was abandoned at a park.

Detective Daniel O’Malley testified Friday that he focused on the bird as he worked the case in January 2013.

He said a tip led him to the house where 19-year-old Christina Regusters lived with a loud macaw who cussed out investigators.

Regusters knew the girl from an after-school program where she worked.

Her lawyer has argued that police have the wrong suspect. Regusters’ trial resumes next week.

Nebraska Tribe Agrees to Settlement on Utilities

omaha-tribe-of-nebraskaMACY, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and its utilities commission have reached a settlement with the federal government to improve the tribe’s drinking and wastewater systems as well as its trash collection program.

The settlement, announced Friday, requires the tribe to implement utilities improvements valued at about $1 million. They would also pay a civil penalty of $2,000.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims the tribe violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean Water Act. The settlement resolves those claims.

The settlement is in the form of a judicial consent decree filed with the U.S. District Court of Nebraska. It addresses utilities serving the communities of Macy and Walthill, located on the Omaha Reservation.

Air Force Academy on Al-Qaida List of Targets

air-forceCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — An English-language al-Qaida publication that promotes “lone-wolf” terrorist attacks includes the Air Force Academy in Colorado on a list of possible terrorism targets.

The list in the online magazine al-Malahem also includes casinos and night clubs in Las Vegas, Times Square and Britain’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as well as “tourist resorts where Israelis, Britons or Americans stay.”

Academy officials say they’re aware that the school is mentioned in the magazine and remain vigilant and aware of existing and emerging threats.

Experimental Ebola Drug Heals All Monkeys in Study

ebola(AP)–An experimental Ebola drug healed all 18 monkeys infected with the deadly virus in a study, boosting hopes that the treatment might help fight the outbreak raging through West Africa.

Scientists gave the drug, called ZMapp, three to five days after infecting the monkeys in the lab. Most were showing symptoms by then, and all completely recovered.

Three other infected monkeys not given the drug died.

Seven people were given ZMapp in the current outbreak and two have died, but doctors say there is no way to know if ZMapp helped. The very small supply is now gone and it will take several months to make enough to start studies in people.

The study was published online Friday by the journal Nature.

Omaha School Board Puts $421 Million Bond Measure on Ballot

omaha-psOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha school board has placed a $421 million bond measure on the November ballot to repair old schools and eventually build more schools where student enrollment is increasing.

The board unanimously voted Thursday to put the issue on the November general election ballot. If the measure passes, it would raise property taxes in the school district by $90 on a home valued at $150,000.

Board members also say if the measure passes in November, they plan to put another bond issue of $377 million forward in May 2017. It’s part of a two-pronged plan to spread proposed construction costs.

The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce’s board chairman has endorsed the measure. He says updating the schools aligns with the organization’s efforts toward growing the city.

Norfolk Companies Paying Pesticide Penalties

epaNORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — Two related companies in Norfolk have settled allegations regarding the production and sale of what federal regulators say are unregistered and misbranded pesticides.

The Environmental Protection Agency says Customer Feed Services Corp. and Earthworks Health will pay civil penalties totaling more than $74,500. The EPA says it learned after a 2011 state inspection that the companies were selling or producing diatomaceous earth and copper sulfate products. The EPA says such products have to be registered with the EPA and must be properly labeled to avoid causing unintentional harm to people or the environment.

Company owner Larry Smith said Friday the EPA has very strict regulations about what can be said in distributing these products, and “we omitted some of this terminology in the distribution of these safe and natural products.”

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