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Lincoln zoo getting 2 endangered Sumatran tigers

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two endangered Sumatran tigers will top the food chain when they arrive at a zoo in Lincoln this fall.

The two are brothers from separate births at the San Diego Zoo. One is 2 years old; the other is six months older.

They’re being added to the collection at Lincoln Children’s Zoo and will star in the zoo’s $16 million expansion. The zoo’s new habitats and exhibits should be finished by spring 2019.

Sumatran tigers are the world’s most endangered tigers. Experts estimate there are fewer than 500 remaining in the wilds of Sumatra and about 90 in captivity around the world.

Judge: Defendant can be forced to take anti-psychotic drugs

Andres Surber
DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A judge has granted a prosecutors’ request to force a homicide defendant to take anti-psychotic medication.

The judge ruled Friday the drugs will give psychiatrists treating Andres Surber a chance to definitively determine his mental competency

Surber has pleaded not guilty to murder and related charges for the slaying of 41-year-old Kraig Kubik at Kubik’s home in Emerson. Another man charged, Brayan Galvan-Hernandez, has been sentenced to 50 to 60 years in prison.

A judge ruled in April that Surber was not mentally competent to stand trial.

A doctor said in a Feb. 1 memo that Surber has stopped taking his medication for long periods of time and said he suspects Surber is “malingering for the purpose of avoiding punishment.”

City drops lawsuit to regain lawsuit settlement money

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The city of Lincoln has dropped its legal effort to recover lawsuit settlement money paid to a couple who said police wrongly seized $224,000 in cash and coins from their home.

Court records say the lawsuit against David Tarrence and Tamara Geis was dismissed Feb. 20 at the city’s request. The records don’t outline any settlement, and lawyers for both sides have declined to comment.

Tarrence and Geis received more than $50,000 from the city in November. Their lawsuit said police entered their home in 2014 without a warrant and forced the couple to leave while officers waited for one.

The city lawsuit alleged Tarrence violated a confidentiality agreement. The city says he was recorded on video on Dec. 8 telling convenience store clerks that he “won” his lawsuit and that police “broke” his and Geis’ civil rights.

Authorities say 1 teen killed, 1 hurt in Howard County crash

ST. PAUL, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 16-year-old was fatally injured and a 17-year-old hurt when the vehicle they were in rolled over on a gravel road in central Nebraska’s Howard County.

The crash was reported around 10:15 p.m. Thursday. The Howard County Sheriff’s Office says the driver lost control of the vehicle and the two teens were ejected as it rolled.

Both were taken to Howard County Community Hospital in St. Paul, where the 16-year-old was pronounced dead. The 17-year-old later was flown to a Kearney hospital. Their names haven’t been released.

The Nebraska State Patrol has joined the accident investigation.

Suburban Omaha woman accused of child abuse

April Renshaw

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — A suburban Omaha woman has been accused of physically abusing her 11-month-old son.

Sarpy County Jail records show 29-year-old April Renshaw, of Bellevue, was arrested Thursday and remained in custody Friday. Police say she’s charged with felony child abuse. Court records don’t list the name of attorney who could comment for her.

The boy’s father took him to an Omaha hospital, where medical personnel said he was treated for head and facial bruising and small burn injuries to his body. Police say they were tipped that Renshaw had thrown the boy against an apartment wall.

The boy and his 8-year-old brother were taken from her custody and placed with relatives.

2 men arrested in string of Dodge County fires

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Two men have been arrested in connection with several fires set in Dodge County over the past few months.

No one was injured in any of the fires and that the $200,000 in damage at the Robert Hunt Family Sports Complex fire in Scribner was largest monetary loss in any of the blazes.

The fires included one at a vacant house just north of Fremont on Dec. 28.

Court records say 20-year-old Zachary Wanamaker, of Fremont, is charged with seven counts of arson and seven of criminal mischief. Eighteen-year-old Connor Miller, of Hooper, is charged with conspiracy to commit arson and two counts of being an accessory to a felony.

An attorney for Miller declined to comment Friday. An attorney for Wanamaker didn’t immediately return a message.

Omaha man sentenced in Iowa in fentanyl trafficking case

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A 35-year-old Omaha man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute a powerful synthetic opioid that led to the 2015 death of a Council Bluffs man.

Federal prosecutors say Walter O’Donohue III was sentenced Tuesday in Council Bluffs. Besides his prison sentence, he was fined $50,000 and ordered to serve five years’ supervised release once he’s out of prison.

Prosecutors say O’Donohue was part of a drug trafficking ring responsible for obtained fentanyl from a source in China and selling it western Iowa and eastern Nebraska.

The investigation into the group began in June 2015, when police were called to a Carter Lake home and found the body of 20-year-old Diego Lemus. Police learned a second man had been hospitalized for a fentanyl overdose.

Patrol says truck fatally struck person standing along I-80

GILTNER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a person standing along Interstate 80 in central Nebraska was fatally struck by a passing semitrailer.

The accident occurred around 1 a.m. Thursday near the Giltner interchange in Hamilton County. The patrol says the victim had been a passenger in a pickup truck that broke down. The person was hit while standing with several others on the left side of the pickup and a tow truck that had arrived to help.

The patrol says the injured person died at the scene. His or her name and the name of the semitrailer driver have not been released.

The accident is being investigated.

Father, daughter injured in north Omaha house fire

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a father and his young daughter were seriously injured in a north Omaha house fire.

The blaze was reported a little before 11:10 p.m. Wednesday. Omaha Fire Battalion Chief Shane McClanahan said all six members of the family were taken to Nebraska Medical Center to be checked or treated. Their names have not been released.

He says the family’s two cats died, but two dogs survived.

The fire cause is being investigated.

Woman must pay more than $280K in tax refund fraud case

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha woman who pleaded guilty in a tax fraud case has been ordered to pay restitution of more than $280,000.

37-year-old Niquisha Taylor also was sentenced Monday to three years of supervised release and told to perform 120 hours of community service.

Federal prosecutors say that from January 2012 to December 2014, Taylor and co-defendant Latasha Ellis conspired to defraud the Treasury Department by filing and assisting others in filing false tax returns.

Prosecutors say Ellis also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

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