OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific Railroad says the extreme cold, drifting snow and gusting winds are affecting its Midwest network.
The Omaha-based railroad said Monday that main line and switching operations are being slowed.
The railroad says customers can expect delays of as long as 48 hours for traffic moving through Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union says a lawsuit has been filed against Omaha police over excessive force.
The ACLU of Nebraska said the lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha on behalf of Octavius Johnson and four members of his family. The lawsuit alleges illegal search and seizure and says the family was never compensated for property damage or medical expenses.
Police spokesman Aaron Thompson says he couldn’t immediately comment on the lawsuit.
The case stems from the March 21 arrest of three brothers, including Johnson. A recording by a neighbor shows Johnson being thrown to the ground and punched several times by Omaha officer Bradley Canterbury.
Canterbury and three officers involved were fired, and two were charged with criminal violations. Canterbury was not charged.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An attorney for a professional mixed martial artist who deputies say killed a man suspected of breaking into his New Mexico home says his client is no longer cooperating with authorities.
C.J. McElhinney said Monday that Joseph Torrez is at “beginning of a very long fight” and he fears the 27-year-old still may face charges even though he was protecting his family.
Dona Ana County sheriff’s officials say 25-year-old Sal Garces died last week from stab wounds after he and three other men broke into Torrez’s mobile home north of Las Cruces.
Deputies say Torrez, his fiancee and a toddler were home at the time.
McElhinney says Torrez fought off the intruders and one “suffered serious facial injuries.”
Two men are facing charges.
According to Tapology.com, Torrez is a lightweight fighter with a 1-5 professional record.
(AP) — Firefighters from several cities and towns have responded to a call from Syracuse to help battle a blaze at an old church.
The fire was reported a little after 6:30 p.m. Sunday, when some Boy Scouts entered the United Methodist Church for a meeting. Fire Chief Bruce Neemann says no one was injured.
The flames consumed a large section of the roof, and at least one church wall had collapsed. The fire cause is being investigated.
Syracuse is a city of more than 1,900 people that sits about 25 miles southeast of Lincoln.
(AP) — Many school districts in Iowa and Nebraska will remain closed Monday because of the dangerously cold weather.
Wind chills as cold as 55 degrees below zero are expected in parts of Iowa Monday morning, and Nebraska could see wind chills of 40 degrees below zero.
Many school officials decided that would be too cold to have students standing outside waiting for buses, so they cancelled.
The list of closings includes Des Moines, Iowa, schools, and most districts in Lincoln and Omaha, Neb.
Des Moines school spokesman Phil Roeder says the last time the district cancelled classes for cold temperatures alone was in January 2009.
Lincoln superintendent Steve Joel says student safety had to come first. He says temperatures this cold are rare in Lincoln.
Stay up to date on area school closings and cancellations here.
(AP) — A small Nebraska town enjoyed a free country music concert this weekend because Pepsi wanted a location halfway between New York City and Los Angeles.
Country star Lee Brice performed about ten songs in the streets of Milligan, Neb., Saturday, and the concert was followed by fireworks.
The concert also featured York High School’s marching band dressed in white Pepsi Hype Squad uniforms.
Pepsi staged the event to promote the Super Bowl halftime show it is sponsoring. Several other concerts are planned over the next month.
The concert helped boost’s the town’s population from a little over 200 to about 5,000 for the night.
(AP) — A 61-year-old Lincoln woman is in critical condition one day after a firefighter pulled her from her smoke-filled home.
Sharon Buss was taken to a Lincoln hospital on Thursday.
A police officer was sent to the house shortly before 8:30 p.m. and heard a woman yelling from inside. Authorities say the officer didn’t have protective gear and the smoke was too thick for him to enter the home, so he called firefighters.
Firefighters found a fire in the basement that had been mostly extinguished by a sprinkler system. They found Buss unresponsive in a hallway and a dead dog under a chair in the basement.
City Fire Inspector Rick Campos estimates that the fire, heat and smoke damage totals about $30,000.
(AP) — A Nebraska waitress received far more than just a tip when she served two inquisitive customers last week.
Abigail Sailors was given a $5,000 college tuition check and $1,000 for personal use, on top of a $100 tip that she split with another server.
The men walked into a Lincoln Cracker Barrel restaurant on Thursday and asked the 18-year-old about her life. Sailors told them about her mother’s brain injury, her youth spent in foster homes and her efforts to put herself through Trinity Bible College in North Dakota. But she says she still felt blessed.
When the men were finished eating, one of them opened his checkbook. Sailors says she thanked the men, and they replied: “Thank God.”
(AP) — Authorities say a 34-year-old man was killed in a car crash in eastern Nebraska.
The Saunders County Sheriff’s office says the man ran a stop sign at Highway 66 while driving northbound on County Road 17, about two miles south of Wahoo. The driver’s Toyota Camry collided with an eastbound semi driven by a 50-year-old woman from Casey, Iowa.
The Camry was dragged several hundred feet east before the vehicles came to a stop. The male driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Both drivers were wearing seat belts, and authorities say alcohol was not a factor in the crash.
Authorities did not identify the male driver, but they say he had recently moved to the Wahoo area. A phone message left with the sheriff’s office was not immediately returned.
(AP) — Lincoln police are investigating the death of an elderly woman who was run over by a car in a grocery store parking lot.
The Lincoln Police Department says the accident happened Friday afternoon outside a Hy-Vee on the city’s south side.
Another elderly woman in a Ford Fusion appears to have rapidly accelerated while backing out of a parking spot. Police are investigating whether the victim was in a motorized grocery cart at the time of the accident.
The names of the victim and the driver have not been released.
