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Woman Falls from Omaha Bridge Following Crash

omaha-police(AP) — Omaha police say a woman has been hospitalized after she fell from an interstate bridge following a vehicle crash.

Omaha police spokesman James Shade says the woman fell following a traffic accident Tuesday near the intersection of the northbound Kennedy Freeway and westbound Interstate 80. Police say the woman’s car struck a guard rail.

Shade says the woman then ran about 50 feet before the fall. Authorities are still investigating whether the fall was intentional.

Shade says the woman was taken to a local hospital in serious to critical condition. Her name has not been released.

Authorities have not released additional details about the incident. There are no reports of other injuries.

Ex-Omaha Cop Pleads Guilty in Database Case

dept.-of-justice(AP) — A former Omaha police detective has pleaded guilty to selling information from a law enforcement database.

Federal prosecutors say 37-year-old Kevin Cave, of Bellevue, entered his plea Tuesday to one count of exceeding authorized access to a protected computer for private financial gain. The charge carries a maximum prison term of five years. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 15.

Prosecutors say that starting in 2010 and ending in August 2012, Cave provided addresses and other information from unauthorized searches of the Nebraska Criminal Justice Information System. Prosecutors say Cave received at least $16,050 from vehicle dealerships seeking information so they could find and repossess vehicles.

Regulators to Discuss Future of Nebraska Nuclear Plant

ft-calhoun-nuclear-plant(AP) — Federal regulators want to know what the owners of the idle Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant will do to improve the plant if they get permission to restart it.

Omaha Public Power District officials will meet with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s staff in Texas Tuesday afternoon to discuss the future of the plant about 20 miles north of Omaha.

Having a plan to keep the power plant running smoothly is one of the things OPPD must do before restarting Fort Calhoun.

OPPD is also working to address more than a dozen other things that must be done before the plant can resume operations.

Regulators have kept the plant closed since April 2011 to address safety and security concerns discovered after a small fire and massive flooding along the Missouri River.

Minnesota Woman Beats Boyfriend to Death, Hides Body in Freezer

crime-scene(AP) — Prosecutors say a Minnesota woman beat her boyfriend to death, taped his body up in plastic and hid it in a freezer because he was trying to break up with her.

Jetaun Wheeler is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of the 58-year-old man at their Shorewood home. Authorities have not named the victim.

A criminal complaint says the 29-year-old Wheeler told investigators the man had taken the bus back to Chicago. Detectives say when they searched the couple’s house Aug. 21, they found bloody carpet under Wheeler’s mattress. Blood spatter led them to the garage where they found the body in the freezer.

Authorities are searching for Wheeler’s three children, aged 10, 8 and 7.

Shorewood is 18 miles west of Twin Cities.

Tennessee Woman Gets 5 to 10 Years for Lincoln Bank Robbery

Nickie Watson
Nickie Watson

(AP) — A 30-year-old Tennessee woman convicted of attempted bank robbery has been given five to 10 years in a Nebraska prison.

Online court records say Nickie Watson, of Hendersonville, Tenn., had pleaded no contest. She was sentenced last week.

Prosecutors say Nickie Watson and her husband, 35-year-old Michael Watson, had robbed a U.S. Bank branch in Lincoln on Jan. 22, 2009. After an arrest later for a Mississippi robbery, Michael Watson confessed to robbing 12 banks in 11 states.

In the Lincoln case, police say Nickie Watson drove the getaway vehicle after Michael Watson left the bank with nearly $3,400. No one was injured.

Last month Michael Watson also was sentenced to five to 10 years in Nebraska custody.

Texas Boy Infected by Rare Amoeba on Ventilator

Zachary Reyna
Zachary Reyna

(AP) — Family members of a 12-year-old Florida boy who was infected by a rare and deadly amoeba say they’re trusting in God despite being told by doctors that the boy’s brain isn’t showing any activity.

In a Facebook posting Sunday, Zachary Reyna’s family said they respect the doctor’s protocol but we “believe God will step in on his time irregardless of what has been said.”

Reyna was infected while knee boarding with friends in a ditch near his family’s LaBelle home Aug. 3.

His uncle, Homer Villarreal, says doctors warned the boy had extensive brain damage. He says Reyna’s parents planned to take him off the ventilator and donate his organs. But it’s unclear whether they’ve done so.

A spokeswoman for Miami Children’s Hospital says there was no update Monday.

21 Measles Cases Linked to Mega-Church in Texas

(Facebook Photo)
(Facebook Photo)

(AP) — At least 21 cases of the measles have been linked to a North Texas mega-church where an official says they have been trying to contain the outbreak by hosting vaccination clinics.

In a recent sermon posted online, senior pastor Terri Pearsons encouraged those who haven’t been vaccinated to do so, while also noting if they think they’ve “got this covered in your household by faith” not to do it.

The outbreak started when a person who contracted the measles overseas visited Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, located about 20 miles north of Fort Worth, Texas.

Officials with area health departments said Monday that those affected by the outbreak range in age from 4-months to 44-years-old. All of the school-aged children with the measles were homeschooled.

Man Convicted of Killing Nebraska Family Avoids Death Penalty

Jose Oliveira-Coutinho
Jose Oliveira-Coutinho

(AP) — A man convicted of killing a husband and wife and their 7-year-old son will avoid the death penalty.

A panel of three judges decided Monday 38-year-old Jose Oliveira-Coutinho should be sentenced to life in prison for his role in the slayings.

Oliveira-Coutinho was one of three Brazilian men charged with killing Vanderlei Szczepanik, his wife, Jacqueline, and their son, Christopher. Oliveira-Coutinho was convicted last year of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of theft.

The family was last seen in December 2009.

Prosecutors have said Oliveira-Coutinho and two other Brazilians — Valdeir Goncalves-Santos and Elias Lourenco-Batista — beat Vanderlei Szczepanik to death and hanged his wife and son before throwing the bodies in the Missouri River.

The boy’s body was recovered in 2011.

Officials Identify Body Pulled from Eastern Nebraska Lake

dodge-county-sheriff(AP) — Officials have released the name of a 24-year-old man whose body was recovered from an eastern Nebraska lake.

The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Samuel Hernandez-Lopez, of Schuyler.

Authorities were called to Victory Lake at the Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area a little before 6 p.m. Sunday.

Witnesses say the man had gone into the water with some other people and was about 30 feet from shore when he went under. Dodge County Sheriff Steve Hespen says the people he was with tried to find him and then called 911.

The Fremont dive team recovered the body in 10-12 feet of water around 6:30 p.m.

Same-Sex Couples to Sue Nebraska to Become Foster Parents

ACLU(AP) — Three same-sex couples plan to sue Nebraska because they say the state won’t allow them to become foster parents.

The American Civil Liberties Union plans to hold a news conference Tuesday morning to discuss the lawsuit it plans to file on behalf of the gay and lesbian couples.

Tyler Richard with ACLU Nebraska declined to discuss details of the case before the news conference.

Officials with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services didn’t immediately respond Monday to questions about foster care rules.

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