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Residents Rescued from Omaha Apartment Fire

fire-graphic(AP) — Up to two dozen residents trapped briefly on their Omaha apartment balconies by fire are now safe.

The residents were rescued by firefighters Thursday evening after the fire broke out in the south-central Omaha neighborhood.

Kevon Moss, who lives in a first-floor apartment, said he heard screaming and shuffling above him. He says he went outside and saw a woman on her balcony who said she was trapped. Moss says the woman dropped her young son, whom Moss caught.

Authorities say the fire was caused when a couch was set ablaze. Three children suffered smoke inhalation from the fire, but they were not seriously injured.

African Lion Cubs at Henry Doorly Zoo Sent to New Homes

henry-doorly-zoo(AP) — Officials at Omaha’s zoo have moved four African lion cubs to other facilities around the country.

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium says three female cubs named Zuri, Kya and Leela were sent to Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, Florida. Male cub Taj is being sent to the Alexandria Zoological Park in Alexandria, Louisiana.

The fifth cub, a male named Josiri, hasn’t been placed yet.

The cubs were born in late 2012 and were later on display at the facility’s Cat Complex. Zoo officials engaged the public through social media to help name them.

CDC Confirms First Case of MERS Virus in US

cdc(AP) — Health officials say a deadly virus from the Middle East has turned up for the first time in the U.S.

No details about the case have been released. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention planned a Friday afternoon briefing about the case.

The CDC says it is investigating along with health officials in Indiana.

Middle East respiratory syndrome — or MERS — first surfaced two years ago. Since then, at least 400 cases of the respiratory illness have been reported, and more than 100 people have died.

Saudi Arabia was been the center of the outbreak. All the victims have had ties to the Middle East or to someone who traveled there.

The virus has been found in camels, but officials don’t know how it is spreading to humans.

Cops: High Driver Calls 911 to Report Hit-and-Run

odd-news(AP) — State police in New York say an Albany man was high on drugs when he called 911 to report that his vehicle had been sideswiped on a highway. Troopers say the other driver was drunk.

Police say 38-year-old Malcolm Sidbury was driving south on the Taconic Parkway in Columbia County on Wednesday when he told dispatchers his car had been hit by another vehicle that didn’t stop.

Troopers spotted the vehicles and stopped both. They determined Sidbury was driving while impaired by drugs and that the other driver, 57-year-old Thomas Robbins, of Poughkeepsie, was driving while intoxicated. Police say Robbins’ blood-alcohol content was .25 percent, more than three times the legal limit.

Both men were issued tickets. The district attorney’s office said it doesn’t have attorney information for either man.

cadillac(AP) — General Motors is recalling more than 50,000 luxury SUVs to fix a computer error that can delay acceleration for three or four seconds.

The recall affects some Cadillac SRX SUVs from the 2013 model year with 3.6-Liter V6 engines.

GM says in documents filed with U.S. safety regulators that the problem happens when the transmission shifts from first to second gear and the driver brakes the vehicle to under 5 miles per hour. The company says a lag in acceleration can increase the risk of a crash.

GM dealers will update the transmission control computer at no cost to customers. No date has been set yet for the recall to begin.

GM has recalled about 7 million vehicles since February, including 2.6 million for a deadly ignition switch problem.

Police Arrest 3 in Omaha Shooting

handcuffs(AP) — Police have arrested three people in connection with the shooting of a 16-year-old girl in Omaha.

The Omaha Police Department said Thursday the arrests were directly linked to the early Tuesday shooting of Lashana Westbrook outside a convenience store. Lashana remains hospitalized with a serious injury.

Police identified the suspects as 20-year-old Brianna Tilmon; 19-year-old Talequa Marion; and 17-year-old Khaila Dailey. Khaila is being charged as an adult.

All three suspects have been booked into jail. A fourth suspect, 20-year-old Montel Wood, remains at large. Police say Wood’s actions directly caused Lashana’s injuries, but they did not elaborate. He faces an attempted first-degree murder charge.

Court records do not list attorneys.

2 Sentenced in Columbus Stabbing Death

(AP) — Two people have been sentenced to decades in prison in connection with the stabbing death of a Columbus man.

Attorney General Jon Bruning said Thursday that Kimberly Henderson received a 50- to 60-year sentence in the death of 51-year-old Steven Jorgensen. Quentin Critser was given a 35- to 45-year sentence.

Henderson pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder. Critser pleaded guilty to the same charge in December.

Prosecutors say Jorgensen was stabbed to death in his home in May 2013 after trying to defend himself from being robbed.

A third person, Eric Henry, was found guilty in April of first-degree murder and other charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20.

Homeland Security Arrests Over 600 Gang Members

Homeland-Security(AP) — The Homeland Security Department has arrested more than 600 suspected gang members in a monthlong national crackdown on street gangs.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made the arrests in 179 cities over the last month. ICE says nearly three-quarters of the suspected gang members belong to the Surenos (soo-RAYN’-yohs), or Sur 13 (soor tray-say), street gang. The name loosely translates to southerners.

ICE says 525 suspected gang members face a variety of state or federal charges. It says 113 others are facing administrative immigration charges.

The monthlong roundup is the latest in a series of nationwide crackdowns on street gangs that started in 2005. ICE says agents have made more than 33,000 arrests since then.

Mom to Stand Trial in Death of 21-Pound Teen

Jessica Jensen
Jessica Jensen

(AP) — A judge says a North Dakota woman will stand trial for murder after her 13-year-old son died weighing just 21 pounds.

Jessica Jensen’s attorney argued at a preliminary hearing Thursday that the teenager died of an untreated disease, not deliberate starvation.

Judge Gary Lee said that argument was a matter of semantics and that the state had more than met the burden of proof to try the 35-year-old mother.

Detective Laura Forbes testified Thursday that Jensen’s mother believed Jensen did not want her son. Forbes said Jensen told her she had previously locked her son in a room in her home. Forbes said the room had boarded up windows, was filled with trash and smelled like urine and feces.

A pre-trial conference is set for September.

Utah Girl, 10, Hit by Bus in Critical Condition

ambulance(AP) — A 10-year-old girl remains in critical condition after she was struck by a school bus in her suburban Salt Lake City neighborhood.

South Jordan Police Sgt. Sam Winkler said the girl was “still extremely critical” Thursday afternoon, but he did not release further details.

He says the girl had just gotten off her bus Wednesday afternoon and was crossing the street when she was struck by a second bus.

She was taken to a nearby hospital then flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where she underwent surgery and remains in critical condition with head injuries.

Winkler says the second bus driver didn’t see the girl. The accident remains under investigation.

Police earlier reported the girl is 8 years old but later confirmed she is 10.

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