KIMBALL, Neb. (AP) – A city councilman in the western Nebraska town of Kimball who’s charged with sexually assaulting a mentally disabled teenage boy says he won’t resign from the council. City Administrator Harold Farrar tells Eagle Radio station KQSK that Councilman Scott Haun says he has “no intention” of resigning. Farrar says the council, which met on Tuesday, will not request any action. Farrar says it’s Haun’s decision whether to continue on the council. Prosecutors charged Haun last week with first-degree sexual assault on a child more than 12 years of age but less than 16. An affidavit in Scotts Bluff County District Court says the alleged abuse took place Sept. 3 at the boy’s home. Haun was released from jail on $15,000 bond.
Category: News
Possible skeleton found in G.I.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – Grand Island police are investigating the discovery of what are believed to be human skeletal remains. Police Chief Steve Lamken says that the remains were discovered Wednesday afternoon by a construction worker at a site in the city. Investigators are processing the scene, and yellow police tape was visible on some trees at the scene.
OSHA kicks Nebraska company in the fiberglass
MINDEN, Neb. (AP) – Federal labor officials want to impose nearly $170,000 in fines on a Nebraska fiberglass company for violations of safety and health standards. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration says Wednesday that America’s Fiberglass Animals was cited for eight repeat and seven serious violations found during an inspection at its plant in Minden. OSHA says the inspection was a follow-up after the company moved operations from Hastings. OSHA says the company was cited last year for exposing employees to serious chemical hazards and for other dangerous condition and failed to correct them. Company spokesman Patrick Keough told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he was on the road and hasn’t seen the violations, but he anticipates he’ll turned the matter over to his attorney.
Be kind to swine
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Humane Society of the United States and the Nebraska Farmers Union have announced a partnership on farm-animal issues that is drawing criticism from some farm groups. The partnership, called the Nebraska Agriculture Council of the Humane Society of the United States, is intended as a way to find middle ground – and hopefully persuade the Humane Society from going to the ballot with a measure restricting cruelty to farm animals. In other states, the Humane Society has backed public votes to outlaw gestation crates for pregnant sows, cages for laying hens and other standard agricultural practices. The partnership comes weeks after the Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation and other agricultural groups unveiled efforts to lobby against such restrictions.
Alleged stepdaughter killer could face death penalty
HARRISON, Neb. (AP) – Sioux County prosecutors have submitted the necessary filing to seek the death penalty against a western Nebraska man accused of killing his 8-year-old stepdaughter. Salvador Lopez, of Mitchell, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kerra Wilson. Her body was found Sept. 22 on remote ranchland several miles north of their home. Online court records show prosecutors on Monday filed a notice of aggravated circumstances in the case. While the state is required by law to state its intentions to seek the death penalty from the beginning of a case, it could later determine not to seek the death penalty. Lopez said he dropped her off at school but she didn’t appear in any surveillance footage in the school or playground.
Bonds for 5 charged with abusing mentally disabled
BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) – Three workers at a Nebraska center for developmentally disabled adults who are charged with abusing residents have been released from jail after posting bond. Bond was set at $7,500 each on Tuesday in Gage County for Cameron Barnes, of Fairbury, Matthew Pangborn and Matthew Johnson, both of Beatrice. The sheriff’s office says all three were released from jail after posting bond later on Tuesday. Two others charged, Cody Creek and Carmen Yates, both of Beatrice, were released from jail on Monday. All five face court hearings on Oct. 31 in Gage County Court. The workers are charged with abusing residents at the Beatrice
State Development Center. The Gage County attorney’s office filed charges ranging from abuse of a vulnerable adult to theft and strangulation.
Chadron, City Manager undergo “Necessary Separation”
CHADRON, Neb. (AP) – The city manager of Chadron has stepped down, effective immediately. Sandy Powell resigned after more than four years on the job during Monday’s city council meeting. A joint agreement between Powell and the council says “issues” led to the “necessary separation.” Earlier this year, the city hired an attorney to investigate allegations against Powell, including claims she improperly used city funds and set up an unfair salary structure for city workers. The attorney found no violations by Powell on any of the 17 allegations of misconduct and misuse of funds made against her by a local citizens’ group. Earlier this month, Chadron’s mayor and vice-mayor were recalled
in a special election.
5-year-old Neb. girl stabbed; teen held
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A 17-year-old Lincoln boy is being held in a youth detention center after police say he stabbed a 5-year-old girl several times with a kitchen knife. Police say that the teen was outside a family friend’s house when he went inside, picked up the knife and went into a bedroom were two girls were playing. Police say he stabbed the 5-year-old several times in the back and chest. The girl ran outside to tell her mother. She is expected to recover. Police say there appeared to be no reason for the attack, but said the teen suffers from a traumatic brain injury. The teen has been charged with first-degree assault and is being held on $200,000 bail.
5 charged in abuse of developmentally disabled
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A prosecutor has filed charges against five staffers accused of abusing developmentally disabled residents of the Beatrice State Development Center. Gage County Attorney Roger Harris announced Monday that he has filed charges ranging from abuse of a vulnerable adult to theft and strangulation against the five staffers, identified as Cameron Barnes, Matthew Johnson, Carmen Yates, Cody Creek and Matthew Pangborn. All of the charges are felonies. The charges come more than a month after a center staffer called Nebraska Adult Protective Services to report the abuse. A subsequent investigation by the Nebraska State Patrol and the center says those staffers charged often hit, slapped and choked developmentally disabled residents.
1946 Christmas dinner planned at Fort Robinson
FORT ROBINSON STATE PARK, Neb. (AP) – Fort Robinson State Park in northwest Nebraska will again hold its annual historical Christmas dinner. The dinner will be held Dec. 3, featuring the menu of the original Fort Robinson Christmas dinner in 1946. The menu includes roast turkey with cranberry sauce, oyster stew, giblet gravy, snowflake potatoes and candied sweet potatoes. The spread will also feature buttered asparagus, green peas, shrimp salad with French dressing, hot rolls and three types of dessert. Guests are encouraged to dress in 1946 attire. Tickets will go on sale Nov. 7. All 200 tickets are expected to sell quickly, and ticket sales will be limited to four per family. They will be sold at the park office, Chadron Chamber of Commerce and Rea’s Market in Harrison.