The American Red Cross is responding across the South and Midwest after a severe weather outbreak that spawned tornadoes yesterday. The series of tornadoes destroyed homes and businesses and left thousands without power in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

“Red Cross disaster workers are providing shelter, meals and relief supplies today across five states after yesterday’s tornadoes,” said Trevor Riggen, vice president of Disaster Operations for the Red Cross. “Many homes and businesses were destroyed and we are there helping people get back on their feet.”

In Arkansas, a confirmed tornado destroyed homes and businesses in six counties. The Red Cross is distributing relief supplies and serving meals in partnership with the Salvation Army. A tornado also touched down in Kemper and Noxubee, Mississippi, destroying multiple homes and businesses. The Red Cross deployed several emergency response vehicles to the area to distribute relief supplies, food, water and begin damage assessment.

In Missouri, two confirmed tornadoes destroyed homes and businesses in the St. Louis area. The Red Cross opened a shelter there, is providing meals and has outreach teams going door to door in some areas to help determine what help people need. Red Cross workers in Louisiana are distributing relief supplies and will be doing damage assessment after a tornado struck Slidell. A tornado also touched down in Monroe County, Tennessee, damaging homes and businesses. The Red Cross opened a shelter and is distributing food and relief supplies throughout the damaged neighborhoods.

AFTER THE TORNADO As people return to their neighborhoods, the Red Cross has steps they should follow to stay safe. First, they should return home only when local authorities say it is safe to do so and listen to local news or a NOAA Weather Radio for updated information and instructions. Other safety steps include:

·         Watch out for fallen power lines or broken gas lines and report them to the utility company immediately.

·         Stay out of damaged buildings.

·         Wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and sturdy shoes when examining your home for damage.

·         Use flashlights when examining buildings – do not use candles.

·         If you smell gas or hear a blowing or hissing noise, open a window and get everyone out of the building quickly.

 

More information about what people should do to stay safe before, during and after a tornado is available on the Red Cross web site.

 

DOWNLOAD TORNADO APP Another thing people should do is download the free Red Cross Tornado App, available in English or Spanish. The app, found in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for Android by searching for American Red Cross, includes important features like a high-pitched siren and tornado warning alert that signals when a NOAA tornado warning has been issued.

EMERGENCY SAFETY STEPS The Red Cross has information about many different disaster situations and what people can do to get prepared and stay safe should an emergency occur. There is also a Disaster Safety Library  available which features checklists and guides people can download to know what to do when disasters occur.

A Colorado community sent into a panic over the kidnap-slaying of a 10-year-old girl may learn whether a teenager charged with the crime asks for a trial despite allegedly confessing to police.

Eighteen-year-old Austin Sigg is charged with the murder, kidnapping and sexual assault of Jessica Ridgeway in Denver’s western suburbs.

The fifth-grader’s disappearance last fall sparked a massive manhunt and fear among residents of Denver’s west suburbs. Sigg was arrested after searchers found Jessica’s dismembered body in a field.

Sigg was supposed to enter a plea at a March 12 hearing. But his lawyers asked for time to review evidence and analyze his mental state at the time of the crime.

A campaign by some southeast Nebraska teenagers has propelled their teacher into the White House.

Crete High School students sent letters, emails and worked social media so civics teacher Bernie Ludvik could get to meet President Barack Obama.

Ludvik intended to attend Obama’s inauguration in January but was severely injured in a traffic accident on Nov. 26. As Ludvik recovered in a hospital, students began their campaign, appealing to several politicians. They also raised money to cover Ludvik’s trip to Washington, D.C.

Nebraska’s Sen. Mike Johanns finally wrote a letter to the White House, requesting a presidential visit for Ludvik. The newspaper says a White House staffer called Ludvik on Thursday, telling him he could meet the president on April 23.

A Northern California sheriff’s office has arrested three 16-year-old boys on accusations that they sexually battered a 15-year-old girl who hanged herself eight days after the attack last fall.

Santa Clara County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Jose Cardoza says the teens were arrested Thursday, two at Saratoga High School and a third at Christopher High School in Gilroy.

The victim’s family attorney Robert Allard says students shared photos of the attack on cellphones. He says the alleged victim, Audrey Pott, posted on Facebook that her life was “ruined” and that she was going through her “worst day ever” shortly before she committed suicide.

The family isn’t making statements to the media and has requested privacy until a planned news conference Tuesday.

Authorities are investigating who took thousands of dollars’ worth of aluminum and copper from heating and cooling units belonging to a nonprofit group in Omaha.

Northeast Industries reported the damage to three industrial units last weekend. Employees discovered the missing material after noticing the units were blowing cold air.

Northeast Industries houses a vocational training center that helps nearly 35 people with intellectual disabilities. It will cost the nonprofit $30,000 to replace the units, though insurance will cover most of it.

The station reports Northeast Industries may install an alarm system with motion lights and video surveillance. But officials say it would be an added expense for their tight budget.

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world,” says the quotation carved into stone at Union Plaza park in Lincoln.

It’s credited to Ghandi.

Oops.

It’s Gandhi, the last name of Mohandas Gandhi, who long struggled for social justice in India. He also was known as Mahatma Gandhi.

City parks director Lynn Johnson says that no one’s reported the problem in the 2½ years the quote has been visible at the park’samphitheater.

Johnson says the city likely will remove the quote from the stone and have the correct name and the quotation etched onto a metal plate for installation elsewhere in the park.

An Omaha man has been sentenced to nearly 13 years federal prison for being a felon with a stolen gun.

The office of U.S. Attorney Deb Gilg says 28-year-old Isaiah Cobb Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to four years and 10 months in prison for illegal possession of a firearm and another three years and 10 months for being a felon with a gun. He got another year for violating the terms of his release from prison.

Prosecutors say Cobb was convicted in 2005 of selling crack, and was released under supervision in 2007. Last year, Cobb told a visiting probation officer that he had a handgun in his apartment for protection. A check of the gun revealed it had been stolen from a vehicle five years earlier.

An Omaha man is in extremely critical condition after being struck by a vehicle in the downtown area.

The Omaha Police Department says 55-year-old Richard Brown was hit Thursday morning near a crosswalk between 20th Street and Harney Street.

Sgt. Joe Collins say 71-year-old Joephus Neal, of Lincoln, was driving a Chevrolet Suburban southbound and was preparing to turn east when the accident happened. Brown was crossing Harney Street. Neal told police he had a green light.

Brown suffered head injuries and was taken to Creighton University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

A spokesman for the medical center says no information about Brown’s condition was available at this time.

Collins says speed and alcohol were not factors in the accident.

One of the biggest retailers in Omaha, the Nebraska Furniture Mart, is changing its policy to allow shoppers to carry concealed weapons as long as they the proper permit.

The Nebraska Furniture Mart also plans to begin arming some of its security guards with handguns after they are trained to handle them.

The store’s loss prevention manager Jim Cahill says there have been incidents where a shoplifter pulled a knife on employees, and the store wants to be able to protect staff and customers.

The Nebraska Furniture Mart is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Similar policies will be used at the company’s existing store in Kansas City and its store under construction in the Dallas area.

A proposed salary increase for Nebraska judges has won first-round approval from lawmakers.

The bill that advanced Wednesday would give the Nebraska Supreme Court chief justice and its judges a 5 percent increase, starting on July 1. The judges would receive another 5 percent increase in July 2014.

Members of the state Supreme Court currently make $145,615 per year. The bill would also apply to lower-court judges, whose salaries are tied to what the Supreme Court judges earn.

Lawmakers voted 26-2 to in favor of the proposal. Supporters argued that the increase is needed to help recruit and retain quality judges in Nebraska. Some opponents said they viewed the raise as unaffordable.