PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the disappearance of a Plattsmouth woman and her 11-year-old son.
Plattsmouth police say Charlotte and Owen Schilling were last seen about 10 a.m. Thursday in the Plattsmouth area. They haven’t been heard from since.
Police say Charlotte Schilling’s vehicle was found Friday near Lake Manawa, which is just across the Nebraska border near Council Bluffs, Iowa.
MITCHELL, Neb. (AP) — A grass fire northeast of Mitchell has scorched about 3,000 acres.
Mitchell Fire Chief Jon Wurdeman told local media that about 55 people from nine fire departments worked to contain Thursday afternoon’s blaze. The fire burned 3,000 acres but was contained to one property.
Wurdeman says the official cause of the fire hasn’t yet been determined but it may have been sparked by heat from catalytic convertors on vehicles used by a fencing crew.
No injuries have been reported.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A suspect has been arrested in a series of violent robberies in Grand Island.
Police say 22-year-old Ryan Greenwood was arrested Friday morning after the most recent robbery. He was charged in Hall County Court with 10 counts that include robbery and attempted robbery.
Police say Greenwood wielded a machete when he robbed a convenience store on April 26 and tried to rob a pizza shop on May 6. He’s also accused of firing a shotgun early Friday at the front door of a bottle shop in an attempt to get inside and then threatening a motel clerk with the gun as he took money.
Greenwood is being held in the Hall County jail on $500,000 bond.
Authorities say Greenwood has no permanent address. Court records don’t list his attorney.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln business association is urging the City Council to put a proposal to extend anti-bias protections to gay and transgender people on the ballot.
The Lincoln Independent Business Association told local media it would be appropriate to allow residents to vote. The group hasn’t taken a stance on measure.
A council vote on the measure is set for Monday. If it passes, opponents have 15 days to collect 2,500 signatures to put the issue of the ballot. Groups opposing the measure say they’re considering that.
The state attorney general says cities cannot adopt such ordinances because the state’s anti-discrimination laws don’t extend to sexual orientation. However, voters can approve changes to city charters to extend protections to groups not covered by state law.
(Omaha, Neb.)- A six-month long investigation by the Nebraska State Patrol has led to the arrest of two Omaha woman on charges of Felony Theft of Lost, Mislaid Items.
Wednesday, May 9, Cassandra Wright, 28, Omaha and Chudney Knave, 29, Omaha were arrested for spending $49,000 mistakenly deposited into the account of their business “Bright Futures Learning & Care,” by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE).
In March 2011, NDE discovered the money had been deposited into the wrong account. The funds were intended for a corporate entity with a similar name to “Bright Futures Learning & Care,” the business co-owned by Wright and Knave. NDE then began eight months of efforts to facilitate a re-payment agreement for the two women to return the funds. Neither woman responded to the efforts to rectify the error.
In November 2011, NDE requested the assistance of the Nebraska State Patrol. An investigation followed in which it was determined that after receiving the $49,000 the two women began transferring funds from their business account into their personal accounts until the entire amount was gone.
Wright and Knave were lodged in the Douglas County Corrections each on a charge of Felony Theft of Lost, Mislaid Items.
GENOA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Nebraska pilot suffered only minor injuries when his newly purchased plane ended up in trees after a botched landing.
The Columbus Telegram says (http://bit.ly/JoT1I9) the accident occurred Wednesday morning near Genoa (jeh-NOH’-uh) Municipal Airport in east-central Nebraska.
Airport authority chairman John Hall says Donald Kilday had been flying with his instructor and then tried his first solo landing.
Hall says Kilday applied too much power as he attempted to land. The plane bounced and crossed nearby Nebraska Highway 39. It ended up sitting nose down on an angle in some low trees and thick bushes.
Kilday was treated at Genoa Community Hospital for minor cuts.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney who lost his law license in Washington D.C. in 1983 because of fraudulent conduct.
The high court said Friday that Joseph Dorsey voluntarily surrendered his Nebraska license after being confronted about the Washington D.C. offense.
The court said Dorsey was disbarred in Washington D.C. for obtaining money fraudulently and dishonestly.
Dorsey did not dispute the allegations against him.
The supreme court did not say whether Dorsey had been practicing since 1983, but online court records do not list him as an attorney on any active cases in Nebraska.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former Nebraska football player serving life in prison for a drug-related murder has been denied a new trial.
The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday upheld the sentences of Thunder Collins, who was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes for the September 2008 shooting death of a Los Angeles man.
Collins received the life sentence for killing Timothy Thomas during a botched drug deal in Omaha. He also was sentenced to 90 to 110 years for attempted murder for shooting and injuring another California man, Marshall Turner, as well as other charges.
Collins’ attorneys argued he should get a new trial based on his claim that his trial jury should have been sequestered during deliberations. The high court ordered a hearing, but a Douglas County judge rejected his argument.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court says an alleged sexual assault victim can be sent to jail if she refuses to testify about the details of the assault.
The woman, referenced only as “H.M.” in court documents, appealed after being found in contempt in April 2011 by Lancaster County District Judge Paul Merritt. The judge ordered her to testify in the trial of a man charged with sexually assaulting her when she was 7.
The woman refused, saying that testifying would cause her deep humiliation. But the judge ordered her to testify or face 90 days in jail.
The high court upheld Merritt’s ruling on Friday, saying that a state law allowing witnesses to decline to testify if it would subject them to public disgrace does not apply in criminal cases.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Bob Kerrey is voicing support for same-sex marriage in the wake of a similar endorsement by President Barack Obama. The Nebraska Democrat said in a statement Thursday that he believes strongly in marriage equality, but added that states should retain the authority to establish family and marriage laws. Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2000 that banned same-sex marriage. Kerrey pointed to his opposition to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which he views as a restriction on states. Kerrey is seeking to return to the U.S. Senate after an 11-year hiatus. His statement came on the heels of an announcement by Obama, who said in an interview Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage.
