We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Public Service Commission Gives Warning to Neb. Ridesharing Companies

uber ridesharing(AP) — The Public Service Commission has sent warnings to two ridesharing companies that they need the commission’s permission to offer services in Nebraska.

On Monday the commission issued letters to Lyft and Uber, two San Francisco companies that use smartphone applications to link motorists and people who would pay for rides. Passengers pay through the app and can even tip electronically.

Uber operates in more than 70 cities around the world. Lyft, which is known for pink mustaches on front bumpers, does business in more than 20 U.S. cities.

Commission director Mark Breiner said during a hearing Tuesday that the companies have advertised on Facebook and Craigslist for drivers in Omaha, Lincoln and Columbus. The commission didn’t take any action at the hearing, and company representatives didn’t appear.

Iowan Who Made Bomb Threats in Nebraska Sentenced

gavel-and-scale(AP) — An Iowa man who mailed bomb threats to the FBI office in Omaha has been sentenced to time served.

Thirty-year-old Matthew Fell, of Waterloo, Iowa, was sentenced on Wednesday in Lincoln by Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf (kuhpf). Fell had pleaded guilty to making a false threat. Fell has been behind bars for 15 months while awaiting final disposition of his case.

Court documents say postal workers at a Lincoln post office found an envelope in June 2012 that had “This is a Bomb!” written on it. There was no bomb in the envelope, but it did contain another envelope that was addressed to the FBI in Omaha. That envelope contained a piece of paper and a thumb drive. Omaha postal workers found a similar envelope a week later.

Omaha Man Gets Prison for Teen Sex Assaults

sex-offenders(AP) — A 41-year-old Omaha man who sexually assaulted a teenager has been given 30 to 35 years in prison.

Ross Ohrt was sentenced on Wednesday. He’d pleaded no contest and was convicted of sexually assaulting a child and visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct.

Authorities say Ohrt had known the girl for several years and had worked out a barter system with her. He awarded her points toward gifts in exchange for her performing sexual acts or sending him explicit photos.

FDA Proposes Extending Its Oversight Tobacco

fda(AP) — The federal government wants to extend its oversight of tobacco to include cigars, hookah, nicotine gels, pipe tobacco and dissolvable tobacco products.

The Food and Drug Administration proposal being issued Thursday would ban sales to minors and require approval for new products and health warning labels.

Companies also would be required to register their products with the agency and disclose ingredients, among other things.

Once finalized, the agency could propose additional restrictions on the products, such as flavor bans or marketing restrictions.

Officials also are seeking public comment on whether the agency should treat premium, handmade cigars differently than machine-made cigars.

A 2009 law that gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco but so far have only focused on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products outlined in that law.

Man Charged with Killing Roommates at Houston Nursing Home

Guillermo Correa
Guillermo Correa

(AP) — Authorities have filed a capital murder charge against a Houston nursing home resident accused of using the armrest of his wheelchair to beat two of his roommates to death.

Guillermo Correa was in custody after being formally charged Wednesday.

Houston police spokesman Victor Senties says employees at the Lexington Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center told investigators the 56-year-old Correa got into a fight with his roommates Tuesday evening.

Senties says exactly what sparked the fight is still unknown.

Irma Chavez, the daughter of 77-year-old Antonio Acosta, one of the victims, said her father had complained about Correa repeatedly, including earlier Tuesday.

Plano, Texas-based Pinnacle Health Facilities, listed in state records as the nursing home’s owner, did not immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment.

Topeka Man Pleads Guilty to 2013 Homicide

Michael-Engstrom(AP) — A Kansas man already sentenced to more than 80 years in prison in Nebraska has admitted killing one person and wounding another in Topeka.

Thirty-four-year-old Michael Dean Engstrom and his wife, Jamie Engstrom, were captured in southeast Nebraska in February 2013, one day after the Topeka shootings.

Michael Engstrom pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. The charges stemmed from the fatal shooting of Ricky Mitchell and the wounding of his fiancee, Bridget Gakle.

Engstrom admitted opening fire while trying to rob the pair of money and methamphetamine.

The Engstroms then drove into Nebraska, where Michael Engstrom robbed a Pawnee City convenience store. He pleaded no contest last year to firing at law enforcement officers during the chase that followed.

Report Blames Pilot for Fatal Nebraska Plane Crash

plane-crash(AP) — Federal investigators blame the pilot for the crash of a small plane nearly a year ago in northeast Nebraska.

The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled out mechanical problems for the April 27, 2013, crash about two miles southeast of Norfolk. The pilot, 26-year-old Dale Butler, and passenger, 24-year-old Amy Brobst, of Fort Collins, Colo., were killed.

The board report says the accident was caused by Butler’s decision “to fly at a low altitude and his subsequent failure to see and avoid power lines.” The report says the pilot might not have seen the lower power lines the plane struck because he may have been focused on a set of high tension power lines about a half-mile from the crash site.

Rail Safety Effort Marred by Squabbling

train(AP) — A series of fiery train crashes spurred a push by government and industry to make safer tank cars used to ship crude oil and ethanol. But the effort is bogging down in squabbling and finger-pointing.

A spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute says the railroad industry won’t share data behind their recommendations to make the cars safer. He says the oil industry wants a “comprehensive examination” of proposed changes.

But the Transportation Department says it’s the oil industry that won’t share its data on the dangers of the oil being shipped. The department is drafting regulations aimed at making the cars less likely to spill their contents in the event of a crash.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman says it’s time for a referee to step in.

Woman Gets Prison for Stealing from Lincoln Hotel

Margaret Faye Jones
Margaret Faye Jones

(AP) — A 60-year-old woman has been sentenced to several years in prison for embezzling more than $100,000 from a Lincoln hotel she once managed.

Margaret Faye Jones was sentenced Wednesday in Lancaster County to six to eight years in prison. She previously pleaded no contest to theft by unlawful taking.

Jones was the manager at a Quality Inn for nearly two years. Corporate administrators say an audit revealed that she took $102,000 more than she deposited between August 2011 and April 2013.

Jones later argued that she stole about $16,000, not $102,000.

Heineman Touts Nebraska Jobs for Veterans

American_flag(AP) — Gov. Dave Heineman is hoping to lure military veterans to Nebraska with a campaign touting good jobs for vets.

“The Good Life for Veterans” campaign seeks to attract military veterans and their families from other states to Nebraska. The initiative is a partnership between state government, business and veterans groups including the Nebraska Department of Labor, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, private business employers and others.

Nebraska employers and other representatives are attending a series of military career fairs in several states, including Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado.

The initiative began after a Nebraska Chamber poll found that more than half of nearly 450 private business respondents had experienced difficulty hiring qualified employees during the past year.

Nebraska’s unemployment rate is among the lowest in the nation.

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File