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New charges against ex-clerk of eastern Nebraska villages

WAHOO, Neb. (AP) — A former city clerk for several communities in eastern Nebraska already charged with theft in Cass County now faces new charges in another county.

60-year-old Ginger Neuhart, of Waverly, has been charged in Saunders County with two counts of theft and four counts of forgery stemming from her time as clerk/treasurer for the villages of Memphis and Ithaca.

The charges follow reviews by the Nebraska State Auditor’s office.

Neuhart was released Friday on $5,000 bail. She could not be reached Saturday for comment.

Investigators say Neuhart altered her monthly paychecks to add $1,000 to $2,000 to them after they’d been signed.

The auditor’s review for Memphis found $160,500 in fraudulent payments to Neuhart since 2005; $41,000 in overpayments in Ithaca since May 2013 and $105,000 from Alvo over seven years.

Omaha woman charged as accessory in shooting death of man

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have arrested a 27-year-old Omaha woman accused of being an accessory in a deadly shooting earlier this month.

Police say Amari Ware was arrested Friday on a warrant charging her with being an accessory to a felony in the Oct. 21 shooting death of 35-year-old Damon Jackson, of Omaha. Police responding to a report of a shooting found Jackson’s body in a northeast Omaha neighborhood.

Online court documents show the warrant was issued Friday. The documents do not detail how police believe Ware served as an accessory.

Online records do not show that Ware had an attorney by midafternoon Saturday.

Omaha-area officials urge flu vaccinations

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials in Nebraska’s largest city are encouraging the public to get the flu vaccine.

The Douglas County Health Department says in a news release that nearly 3,660 cases of the flu were reported in the county last year.

Since Oct. 1, the start of the current flu season, Douglas County has already seen more than 20 confirmed cases, including some of the AH3 strain that caused severe illness during the just completed winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour says the presence of AH3 makes it all the more important for everyone 6-months and older to get the flu vaccine.

The 2017-2018 seasonal flu vaccine is available at health care provider offices and pharmacies throughout the county.

Police: Man faked kidnapping to get ransom from parents

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Beatrice man faked his own kidnapping so he could collect ransom from his parents.

The parents called Beatrice police earlier this week to report that their son was being held ransom for $5,000, which had to be wired to his bank account.

Police determined that the calls came from the 30-year-old man’s girlfriend’s phone and traced the phone to the man’s Beatrice home. Officers say they saw him through a window there, holding a silver handgun. They forced their way in and took him into custody. The gun turned out to be a CO2-powered BB gun.

He was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of attempted extortion, obstructing government operations, and other crimes. Court records don’t show he’s been charged.

13-year-old student dies 1 day after 5-vehicle pileup

FIRTH, Neb. (AP) — Officials in southeastern Nebraska say a 13-year-old girl has died a day after a car she was in was involved in a five-car pileup.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says Ryan Post, a student at Norris School near Firth, died Thursday afternoon. Investigators say the girl was a right rear passenger and was wearing her seat belt at the time of Wednesday afternoon crash near the school.

Officials say the chain-reaction crash happened when traffic slowed for an earlier crash on the road. Post’s car was hit by a large pickup truck.

Investigators say three of the drivers were Norris students and the other two were adults who had picked up children from Norris School. Fourteen of the 16 people involved were students from the school district.

Baby sitter praised for helping kids escape house fire

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Fire officials are praising a babysitter who helped three children she was watching escape their flaming home.

Authorities say the woman and children already had reached safety outside the central Lincoln house by the time firefighters arrived Thursday evening. No injuries have been reported and no names have been released.

Battalion Chief Jim Bopp says the woman’s quick action was just what parents would want from their babysitters.

Fire inspector Ken Hilger says the fire was started by a 6-year-old playing with a lighter on the home’s second floor.

Police release name of cement truck driver in fatal crash

LA VISTA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a driver whose cement truck tipped over in an Omaha suburb and crushed a car, killing two people.

La Vista Police Chief Bob Lausten identified the driver Thursday as 20-year-old Austin Holloway, of Fremont. He was treated for minor injuries after the crash Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities say Holloway made a sharp right turn of his eastbound truck to go south, but the fully loaded vehicle then tipped over to its left, landing on the northbound car, which was waiting at a traffic light. Authorities identified the car’s occupants as Michael Dearden and Phillip Hertel. Both were 23.

The accident is being investigated.

Prosecutor says gender-fluid Iowa teen was kidnapped, killed

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — A prosecutor says a gender-fluid Iowa teenager was kidnapped, suffocated and executed by two cousins who believed the teen was a cute girl.

Prosecutor Christopher Perras detailed the 2016 death of 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson in opening statements Thursday at the trial of Jorge Sanders-Galvez.

Perras said Johnson “was a friendly high school student with a bright future” who sometimes dressed as a girl. Relatives say Johnson identified as both male and female.

Perras says Johnson was wearing a pink headband and hair extensions when Sanders-Galvez and his cousin saw the teen at a store.

Perras says the men followed Johnson in their car, then took the teen to a Burlington home. He says a struggle ensued during a sexual encounter, and the men suffocated Johnson, shot the teen and dumped the body in an alley.

Facebook to build wind farm for Omaha data center

WAKEFIELD, Neb. (AP) — Facebook is partnering with a developer to build a wind power farm in northeast Nebraska that will supply energy for the company’s planned data center.

The social media giant announced last week that it has partnered with Trade Winds Energy to build the Rattlesnake Creek Wind Project in rural Dixon County.

Facebook plans to use energy from the wind farm to power its upcoming data center in Papillion, a suburb of Omaha. Of the 320 megawatts of power the wind farm will create, 200 of them will be allocated to the data center while the remaining will be available for other buyers.

Neither Facebook nor Trade Winds provided a timeline or cost for the wind farm.

Man gets jail time, $1,000 fine for passenger’s crash death

STANTON, Neb. (AP) — A 19-year-old Albion man has been given 30 days in jail and fined $1,000 for the crash death of a passenger in his vehicle.

Court records say Blake Baldwin was sentenced Tuesday in Stanton County Court. He’d pleaded to misdemeanor vehicular homicide and being a minor in possession of alcohol.

Police say Baldwin was driving a sport utility vehicle April 29 when he lost control, causing the SUV to roll. Baldwin and two passengers were thrown from the vehicle. Nineteen-year-old Beau Kellogg, of Norfolk, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

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