(AP) — The longtime dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry is stepping down from his post this weekend.

John Reinhardt has served as dean for 13 years. His last day is Sunday.

UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer says Reinhardt led the College of Dentistry to new heights in education, research and outreach.

Reinhardt says he plans to assume faculty duties at UNMC.

Reinhardt says his tenure as dean has been long enough, noting the college surpassed its $12 million fundraising goal as part of the Campaign for Nebraska more than two years ahead of schedule.

(AP) — Boys Town has created a new book club designed to teach parenting strategies.

The club will meet at the Bellevue Welcome Center from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each week, starting July 10. The meetings will continue through Aug. 21. The program is intended for parents with children ages 5-15.

The weekly topics will include raising toddlers, bedtime problems, handing when daughter date, raising children with ADHD, bullying and dealing with a child’s anger. One event will give lessons for help raise happy, well-behaved children.

Cafe events cost $15, and snacks and beverages are provided. Parents can bring a lunch as well. Participants will receive a free book.

Registration is limited. Those interested in participating can call 402-498-1059.

 

(AP) — The Omaha City Council is looking for its next leader.

City Council President Pete Festersen says applications are now being accepted for the chief of staff position. Officials expect the job search to take about 90 days and a subcommittee will lead it.

Chief of Staff Warren Weaver announced his retirement in early June. He will leave the post on July 19.

Applications will be accepted through July 15. City Council member Jim Dowding will be interim chief of staff.

(AP) — A man suspected of stealing almost $10,000 in teeth-whitening strips, weight-loss pills, condoms, Rogaine and other products from Walgreen stores in Colorado has been arrested in Idaho.

Sheriff’s officials in Jefferson County, Colo., said Friday that 27-year-old Curtis M. Williams also is suspected in similar thefts in Utah, Minnesota, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska and Puerto Rico.

Authorities say a neatly groomed man wearing a sweater, tie and slacks would hide stolen goods in his coat, then buy a DVD before leaving the store as a cover for activating the door alarm.

Sheriff’s spokesman Mark Techmeyer says clerks at Walgreen stores nationwide were alerted to the suspect, and a Minnesota clerk who recognized him noted the license plate on his rental car. The suspect was arrested after arriving in Idaho.

He remains jailed Friday and it isn’t known if he has a lawyer.

 

 

(AP) — The sentencing hearing for an Omaha businessman convicted of embezzling money that was supposed to go to employees’ pension funds and insurance premiums has been pushed back to July.

Richard Odermatt’s sentencing had been set to take place this month, but has been postponed several times. It’s now set for July 30.

Odermatt, of Ashland, is the owner of Odermatt Floor Covering Inc. in Omaha.

Federal prosecutors say Odermatt withheld nearly $59,000 from employee paychecks between April 2009 and last July and used it for other things.

Odermatt pleaded guilty in February. He faces up to five years in prison when he’s sentenced.

(AP) — An Omaha man is scheduled to be sentenced in August for the crash deaths of two little girls.

Online court records say Christopher Phelps pleaded no contest earlier this week to two counts of motor vehicle homicide while drunk and will be sentenced on Aug. 27.

Police say Phelps acknowledged that he’d been drinking on Oct. 10, the day he got into an argument with Chanelle Torry. She asked him to take her and her three daughters home. He sped away from his home and soon lost control of his vehicle, which flipped over in a ravine.

Four-year-old Laela Torry-Tooley and 5-year-old Mela Skye Torry were thrown from the vehicle and killed. Their sister, Bri’Elle Torry, wasn’t hurt. Chanelle Torry suffered fractures.

(AP) — A 13-year-old North Texas boy faces a capital murder charge in the death of a 5-year-old boy hit in the head multiple times.

Fort Worth police say the teen was arrested Thursday in the death of Sida Osman. The teen’s name is being withheld because he’s a juvenile.

His case is in juvenile court. Because he is younger than 14, he is not eligible to stand trial as an adult in the case.

Police say the youngster’s body was discovered Wednesday afternoon, a day after he was reported missing by his family.

Sida’s body was found in the backyard of a vacant house about a block from the apartments where he lived.

Fort Worth police say the two had gone to the yard and the teen was irritated with Sida.

(AP) — NASA has launched a satellite on a mission to examine a little-studied region of the sun that it hopes will improve space weather prediction.

The Iris satellite rode into Earth orbit on a Pegasus rocket, which was air-launched over the Pacific Ocean Thursday evening. The airplane carrying the rocket and satellite took off around sunset from Vandenberg Air Force Base along California’s central coast.

Mission controllers clapped after receiving word that Iris separated from the rocket as planned 13 minutes after launch. It will begin its two-year mission after a checkout period.

Iris will focus on a region of the sun between the surface and the corona, the sun’s outer atmosphere that’s visible during eclipses.

The mission will last two years and costs $182 million. That’s cheap by NASA standards.

(AP) — One of three suspects in a Columbus slaying has pleaded not guilty.

30-year-old Eric Henry, of Columbus, made his plea Wednesday in Platte County District Court. His trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 28.

Henry, 31-year-old Kimberly Henderson and 26-year-old Quentin Critser are charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Steven Jorgensen at his Columbus home on May 18. Authorities say the three intended to rob the 51-year-old Jorgensen, but the robbery turned violent when Jorgensen resisted.

Status hearings have been scheduled for July 18 for Henderson and Critser. Henderson’s attorney declined to comment on Thursday. Critser’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

(AP) — Authorities in southwest Colorado looking for a 13-year-old boy last seen in November say they have found his remains.

La Plata County sheriff’s department spokesman Dan Bender says tests by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation confirmed the bones were those of Dylan Redwine.

Searchers found them during a five-day search that ended Wednesday.

The boy lived in the Monument area with his mother, Elaine Redwine, but arrived in La Plata County on Nov. 18 for a court-ordered visit in Vallecito with his father, Mark Redwine.

The father says he returned home from running errands Nov. 19 to find Dylan was gone.