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Life sentence for deadly Iowa jail escape

Wesley Correa-Carmenaty

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The Latest on the sentencing of a man who killed a sheriff’s deputy and wounded another while escaping from a western Iowa jail (all times local):

11:10 a.m.

A man who pleaded guilty to murder and 11 other counts for killing a western Iowa sheriff’s deputy and wounding another during a jail escape has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

A Pottawattamie County District judge issued the sentence Tuesday after 24-year-old Wesley Correa-Carmenaty entered guilty pleas to first-degree murder, attempted murder, escape, kidnapping and other crimes. His trial was set to begin Tuesday, but his attorney informed authorities last week that Correa-Carmenaty would change his plea.

Authorities say Correa-Carmenaty had just been sentenced on May 1 to 45 years in prison in an unrelated murder case when he grabbed one of the deputies’ guns while being transferred to the county jail. He shot them both and used the jail van to escape.

He was recaptured that day in Omaha, Nebraska, after carjacking a woman at gunpoint.

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10:20 a.m.

A judge has accepted the guilty pleas of a man charged with killing a sheriff’s deputy and wounding another while escaping from an Iowa jail.

Twenty-four-year-old Wesley Correa-Carmenaty entered the guilty pleas Tuesday to murder, attempted murder, escape, kidnapping and other crimes. His trial was set to begin Tuesday, but his attorney informed authorities last week that Correa-Carmenaty would change his plea in Pottawattamie County District Court in Council Bluffs.

Authorities say Correa-Carmenaty had just been sentenced on May 1 to 45 years in prison in an unrelated murder case when he grabbed one of the deputies’ guns while being transferred to the county jail. He shot them both and used the jail van to escape.

He was recaptured that day in Omaha, Nebraska, after carjacking a woman at gunpoint.

Judge tells city to provide disability pension to ex-officer

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge has told Lincoln it must provide the disability pension a former police officer was previously denied.

Judge Lori Maret agreed with Jonna Conlon, her attorney and her physicians that her back injuries made it impossible for Conlon to continue her career as an officer.

Court filings say the city fired Conlon in June 2015 because she’d exhausted the time allowed on light duty for the ailment. She’d blamed her 25-pound duty belt for the back problems she developed in early 2014. Conlon’s subsequent request for a disability pension was denied, so she went to court.

The judge said that despite evidence Conlon had a preexisting degenerative back condition, medical findings linked her duty belt to the back injury.

Iowa woman gets life sentence in Omaha cold case killing

Shanna Golyar

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 42-year-old Iowa woman who was convicted of killing her romantic rival has been sent to a Nebraska prison for life.

A Douglas County judge sentenced Shanna Golyar in Omaha on Tuesday. She’d been found guilty of arson and first-degree murder after a nonjury trial. Prosecutors say she killed 37-year-old Cari Farver, who was last seen in Omaha in November 2012. Her body hasn’t been found.

Police say Golyar posed as Farver online and by phone for years after Farver’s disappearance and also posed as other people confessing to having killed Farver. An officer testified that Farver had been dating Golyar’s ex-boyfriend for some weeks when she disappeared.

Golyar’s lawyer argued that prosecutors presented no evidence that a homicide occurred: no body, no murder weapon and no crime scene.

Woman caring for pets accused of stealing from residence

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A woman who was taking care of a Columbus resident’s pets has been accused of stealing from the home.

Court records say 34-year-old Jennifer Carney, of Schuyler, is charged with felony theft. A phone listed for her rang busy during several calls Tuesday. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for her.

Carney was asked to feed the pets while the resident went on vacation. The resident discovered upon returning that $2,700 was missing from a fire safe lock box.

An arrest warrant affidavit says Carney acknowledged that she’d taken the money and had returned $250 when confronted by the resident.

Explosion in Lincoln heard for miles, levels house

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An explosion that was heard from miles away has leveled a house in southeast Lincoln.

The home appeared to be nearly leveled by the explosion, which happened about 4:30 p.m. Monday.

It wasn’t clear if anyone was injured in the explosion or the cause of the blast.

Residents reported hearing the explosion from other parts of Lincoln, and a smoke plume was visible from miles away.

Police were asking people to stay away from the area.

Woman accused of diverting daughter’s disability benefits

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has been accused of stealing her daughter’s Social Security disability benefits.

Court records say 36-year-old Maria Owen-Miller is charged with felony theft. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call Monday from The Associated Press. Owen-Miller’s next court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 30.

Authorities say Owen-Miller had become payee of her daughter’s benefits and had agreed to notify Social Security if her daughter were no longer in her care. Authorities say Owen-Miller didn’t do so when her daughter began care at an Omaha group home for children in June 2014. Investigators say none of the benefit payments Owen-Miller received were paid to the group home or her daughter.

Nebraska suspends ex-trauma surgeon’s medical license

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The state of Nebraska has temporarily suspended a former trauma surgeon’s medical license amid allegations of unprofessional and negligent conduct.

A hearing for a petition against Reginald Burton for disciplinary action and temporary license suspension is scheduled for Tuesday. The petition was filed this month with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health.

The petition lists allegations from Burton’s former co-workers at Bryan Health. Several of the allegations deal with alleged misconduct involving young adult male patients and “fuzzy” prescribing practices.

Burton resigned from Bryan in December saying he decided to relocate his practice.

An attorney for Burton says the complaint was fueled by gossip from a group trying to drive the former medical director of trauma out of Lincoln.

US pot states try to curb smuggling, fend off administration

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Officials in states like Oregon where marijuana is legal are trying to curtail smuggling of pot to other states. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is pushing for a more aggressive approach in these states, noting the drug is being diverted to other states.

The U.S. attorney for Oregon, Billy Williams, told The Associated Press that insufficient enforcement has led to marijuana overproduction and diversion.

Under a bill Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed into law, all marijuana grown for sale in the legal market must be tracked from seed to store by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates recreational marijuana. Washington state is replacing its current tracking system with a better one. Voters in California last November approved recreational marijuana, and a software system to keep track of it.

Bridge linking northeast Nebraska to western Iowa to close

DECATUR, Neb. (AP) — A bridge spanning the Missouri River that connects Decatur, Nebraska, to western Iowa is set to close for repairs.

The Decatur bridge will close Monday. It’s expected to reopen on Sept. 11, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation.

Workers will make structural repairs to abutments on each end of the bridge. The pavement leading up to the bridge on each side also will be replaced. Bridge traffic had been reduced to one lane since March 27 because of sandblasting and repainting.

The posted 75-mile detour will take traffic onto U.S. Highway 75 to South Sioux City, across the river on U.S. Highway 20 and south on Interstate 29. Motorists also may choose to head south and cross the river at Blair, Nebraska.

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16-year-old is running for Kansas governor seat

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas teenager who won’t even be old enough to vote is running for governor.

Jack Bergerson has officially filed to run as a Democrat for governor of Kansas in the 2018 election. The Wichita teen says he wants to give Kansas voters a chance to try something that’s never been tried before.

The Kansas City Star reports that Bryan Caskey, director of elections for the secretary of state’s office, says Kansas doesn’t set any qualifications to run for governor such as age, residency or experience.

One of Bergerson’s 17-year-old classmates, Alexander Cline, will run to be his lieutenant governor. Cline will be old enough to vote by the election, unlike his running mate.

Bergerson’s announcement Monday brought national attention, including an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

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