A 42-year-old Fremont man has been arrested and charged with trying to solicit sex from an underage girl after answering an online advertisement.

Sgt. Jay Murphy tells local media that Mark Avis answered an ad the officer posted on Craigslist. The officer then told Avis he was a woman who was prostituting her 15-year-old daughter.

Murphy says when Avis showed up at an arranged meeting place for sex with the fictional teen, he was arrested. On Thursday, he paid $1,000 bond to be released from jail.

He’s faces seven charges, including child enticement and attempted first-degree sexual assault.

 

Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg is warning banks, businesses and residents to be on the lookout for forged state documents that look like checks.

Stenberg says a 19-year-old Omaha woman has been arrested on suspicion of forgery for allegedly cashing forged state warrants at banks and businesses. Police also have issued an arrest warrant on a forgery charge for a 20-year-old Omaha woman.

Investigators say the two cashed at least three forged warrants for nearly$13,000. Stenberg says the state lost no money in the scam.

A warrant is a written government financial order that looks and clears through a bank like a check, but is drawn on government funds rather than checking accounts.

Stenberg is warning Nebraskans to refuse to cash checks for anyone they don’t know.

A central Pennsylvania woman will spend two to four years in prison for poisoning her boyfriend with eye drops.

Thirty-three-year-old Vickie Jo Mills, of McConnellsburg, was sentenced Tuesday. She had pleaded guilty to a count of aggravated assault.

State police say Mills admitted putting eyedrops into Thurman Nesbitt’s drinking water 10 to 12 times since June 2009.

Police say Nesbitt’s doctor treated him for years for nausea, vomiting, blood pressure problems and breathing trouble until blood tests revealed tetrahydrozoline (teh-truh-hye-DROZ’-uh-leen). That’s the main ingredient in eyedrops.

Investigators say Mills said she wanted Nesbitt to pay more attention to her.

Authorities have released the name of a 24-year-old man who was fatal stabbed in south Omaha.

Police identified the victim as Ryan O’Donnell. Officers say he was stabbed shortly after 12 a.m. Friday. O’Donnell was pronounced dead later at Creighton University Medical Center.

Police say 23-year-old Anthony Utterback is in custody and is being held in Douglas County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.

 

A 41-year-old man wanted on a California warrant has been arrested in Nebraska, accused of possessing drugs.

The Nebraska State Patrol says a state trooper pulled over a pickup on a traffic violation just before 2:30 a.m. Friday along Interstate 80 in Lincoln.

The patrol says a check of the man’s driver’s license showed that he was wanted on a warrant alleging drug possession in Sonoma County, Calif., so the man was arrested. The patrol says an inventory of his truck turned up a bottle of hydrocodone tablets and 40 packages of pot that weighed more than 88 pounds.

The man was identified as Shane Barrett, of Willits, Calif. A Lancaster County jailer said Barrett remains in custody. Online court records don’t list the name of his lawyer.

A 150-foot asteroid is almost here.

The asteroid will make the closest known flyby for an object of its size Friday afternoon. NASA promises it will miss Earth by 17,150 miles. But that’s closer than many communication and weather satellites.

The asteroid will be too faint to see with the naked eye. The best viewing locations, with binoculars and telescopes, will be in Asia, Australia and Eastern Europe.

As asteroids go, this is a shrimp. The one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was 6 miles across. But this rock could still pack a wallop, wiping out 750 square miles if it struck.

Scientists are certain it won’t impact Earth. And chances are extremely remote it will run into any of the satellites orbiting 22,300 miles up.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning has issued a warning for residents to be aware of tax season scams.

Bruning says consumers should be wary of companies promising tax debt reduction or elimination — especially those charging upfront fees.

Bruning says that regardless of what tax-relief companies may promise, total federal tax debt forgiveness is rare. In very limited circumstances, the IRS may offer a reduction, or abatement, for penalties.

Bruning says the Federal Trade Commission recently announced a settlement with American Tax Relief of Beverly Hills, Calif., accused of bilking consumers out of more than $100 million. The commission also has issued a consumer warning about tax relief companies making unauthorized withdrawals from clients’ bank or credit accounts for additional, undisclosed fees.

 Omaha authorities have identified a body recovered from a lake as a woman who went missing in November.

The Omaha Police Department says the body was positively identified Thursday as Che Dreessen. The body was recovered Wednesday from Lawrence Youngman Lake. Police say they suspect no foul play.

Dreessen’s family reported the 63-year-old as missing in early November. Her vehicle with the car keys still inside were found hours later. Authorities later initiated a search of the surrounding land and water.

Police did not release any additional information.

Nebraska lawmakers are showing interest in a bill that would keep surveillance drones out of police hands.

The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee heard testimony Thursday in favor the measure, which would ban law enforcement agencies from using the technology.

Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus says the bill attempts to get ahead of aerial spyware that has become smaller, cheaper and more sophisticated. He says he expects manufacturers will start aggressively marketing the drones to law enforcement agencies.

Schumacher says lawmakers may want to consider exceptions for legitimate uses, such as search-and-rescue missions.

Some lawmakers noted that stalkers or peeping toms could use drones as well.

Sidney Police Chief Mike Brown surprised everyone at Tuesday night’s city council meeting by announcing near the end of the session that he’s resigning, with his last day to be in 2 weeks on the 28th.

Brown cited “family health issues” for stepping down, calling it was a decision that had to be made for his family and one that was not entered into lightly.

City Manager Gary Person says Brown will be terribly missed because the Sidney police officers felt his hiring was one of the best decisions the City had ever made. No decisions have been made yet on finding a new chief.

Brown’s resignation was the second of the night for the Sidney council, but the first was already known…with Councilman Aaron Barnes previously saying he was stepping down and moving to California.