LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska judge has declined a request to play jurors a video on implicit bias at an upcoming Lincoln trial for a black man accused of sexually assaulting a white woman.

Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte rejected a motion to show an 11-minute video for jurors to consider hidden biases they might bring into the courtroom.

Public Defender John Jorgensen had asked the court in May to consider playing the video. He says the jury-selection process can identify explicit bias but that implicit bias is more subtle.

Social scientists define implicit bias as unconscious personal attitudes people hold about race, gender, nationality and other characteristics.

Otte says jury instructions already warn jurors not to indulge speculation or allow sympathy or prejudice to influence them.

SCHUYLER, Neb. (AP) – Neighbors who don’t want a chicken feeding operation in their eastern Nebraska community have sued the Colfax County Board of Commissioners for approving a permit.

The lawsuit was filed June 19 against the board, commissioners and the two men who sought the permit, Thomas and Josh Faltys (FAHL’-tiss).

The nine plaintiffs seek no damages but do want a judge to overturn the commissioners’ May 22 permit approval for a maximum 380,000-chicken feeding operation. The plaintiffs say among their allegations that the operation “will cause great and irreparable harm because it will severely diminish their property rights.”

The operation would be erected southeast of Clarkson. Josh Faltys and his brother, Clint, want to contract with the planned Costco poultry plant in Fremont.

The county attorney and Josh Faltys didn’t immediately return calls Thursday from The Associated Press.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Police in an Omaha suburb have released the name of a man whose death is being investigated as a homicide.

Officers were dispatched around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday to a home on the north end of Bellevue to check a report about an unresponsive man. The officers found the man’s body inside his home.

Bellevue police said Wednesday the body’s been identified as that of 38-year-old Brent Quigley.

No arrests have been reported. Police have not said how he was killed.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An FBI agent said she felt demeaned by her Omaha boss after he allegedly ordered her to wear high heels and smile more often.

Georgia Scott filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department and the FBI, the Omaha World-Herald reported. She’s seeking unspecified damages for wages lost from what she calls a discriminatory demotion and transfer to the FBI’s San Antonio, Texas, division.

Huston Pullen, a spokesman for the Omaha FBI, declined to comment, saying it’s a personnel issue.

Scott has been working for the FBI since 1998. She was promoted in 2009 to a supervisory investigative specialist role in Omaha. She was the office’s only black female supervisor at the time, according to the lawsuit.

Scott received a new supervisor in 2011 who she alleges began undermining her authority, such as overriding her personnel decisions on scheduling and promotions.

Scott said she confronted her boss and other management officers in 2012 about feeling treated as a stereotypical “angry black female.”

After doing so, Scott alleges her boss ordered her to “pay more attention to her appearance,” including wearing more skirts, dresses and high heels. Her boss also created a “developmental plan” that required Scott to “smile occasionally,” moderate her volume and avoid cursing.

YORK, Neb. (AP) — A California couple have pleaded no contest to reduced charges for hauling marijuana through Nebraska that they said was intended for Christmas gifts.

80-year-old Patrick Jiron and his wife, 70-year-old Barbara Jiron, of Clearlake Oaks, California, each pleaded no contest Tuesday to a single count of possession of more than a pound of marijuana.

In exchange, prosecutors dropped other counts, including those for drug-dealing and tax stamp violation. The Jirons each face up to two years in prison when they’re sentenced in August.

When the Jirons were arrested Dec. 19, they said they didn’t know it was illegal to transport marijuana through Nebraska. They told authorities the 60 pounds of pot was intended as presents for family in Vermont and Massachusetts.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Fourteen students and a school bus driver escaped serious injury when a collision with a utility lift truck sent their bus through a fence and down a hill into an electrical substation area in northwest Omaha.

Police say the children, ages 5 to 8, and the bus driver were taken to hospitals as a precaution after the Wednesday afternoon crash.

The children attend Adams Elementary.

Witnesses say the bus driver managed to keep the bus upright and avoided colliding with high-voltage equipment.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating what they say is the suspicious death of a man on the north side of Bellevue.

Omaha station KETV reports that officers found the body in a home around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The man’s name and other details have not been released. No arrests have been reported.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska Natural Resources District is opening Omaha’s newest park and lake after spending nine years developing the $44 million project.

The Papio-Missouri River district will open Flanagan Lake on Wednesday. The area also includes 475 acres (192 hectares) of parkland, recreational trails and a flood-control reservoir.

The lake will reduce the floodplain and likely eliminate or reduce flood insurance rates for area homeowners.

The district broke ground on the project almost three years ago. It will turn the park and lake over to the City of Omaha to operate. The city named the recreation area after the Rev. Edward Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town.

The grand opening this week will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a contest with prizes.
tion from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln officials are inviting residents to help test out an all-electric, driverless shuttle bus for a pilot program that could bring more autonomous vehicle services to the city.

The public will have a chance to reserve a 15-minute ride on the bus starting Thursday. The shuttle will be conducting trial runs at the Nebraska Innovation Campus in

Lincoln until mid-July. The city will collect feedback on riders’ experience.

Lincoln was loaned the self-driving shuttle with a $100,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The city is participating in a challenge with the charity organization and could potentially acquire up to six shuttles for a 2019 pilot program.

Mayor Chris Beutler says the innovative technology can positively impact transportation by reducing costs, lessening traffic congestion and improving air quality.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A 24-year-old man has been convicted of murder in Grand Island.

A jury deliberated less than five hours Monday before finding Ahmed Said guilty of second-degree murder. Court records say he fatally beat 41-year-old Abdulma Khamis on April 12 last year at Pioneer Park.

A portion of the crime was captured on security video from a nearby car dealership.

Said is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 28.