RALSTON, Neb. (AP) — Ralston city leaders have decided that proceeds from keno operations in the city will underpin the red-tinged balance sheet at the Ralston Arena.

Mayor Don Groesser broke a 3-3 City Council tie on a funding resolution Tuesday in favor of initially redirecting $500,000 from the current keno proceeds fund of about $1.8 million. City Attorney Mark Klinker says arena officials will be able to draw on the $500,000 as needed and pay back the money.

The arena has failed to meet revenue projections. In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2015, the arena lost $2.5 million on combined operations and debt service — $300,000 more than the previous year’s loss. The most recent fiscal year results have not been released yet.

 

DENVER (AP) — Denver is starting work on becoming the first city in the nation to allow marijuana clubs and public pot use in places such as coffee shops, yoga studios and art galleries.

Voters narrowly approved the “social use” measure last November. But the ballot proposal didn’t spell out many rules for how the marijuana could be consumed, beyond saying that the drug can’t be smoked inside and that patrons must be over 21.

A workgroup made up of Denver business owners, city pot regulators and marijuana opponents starts work Wednesday on suggesting regulations.

The state Liquor Control Board already has decreed that no businesses with a liquor license can allow marijuana use. That leaves it to restaurants that don’t serve alcohol and other event spaces.

There’s no deadline for Denver to finalize rules.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 54-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison — plus 126 years — for a 2015 shooting that left two people dead and another injured.

Michael Nolt was sentenced Thursday in Douglas County District Court. He was found guilty last October of first-degree murder and manslaughter for the Oct. 10, 2015, deaths of Malquan King and Arelius Hassell.

Prosecutors say the shootings were part of a botched robbery. They say Nolt shot Hassell in the face after a brief argument, and then shot two other people hiding in a closet, killing King.

Six children in the house at the time were not hurt.

EDGEMONT, S.D. (AP) — Two BNSF Railway employees have been struck and killed by a train near Edgemont in southwestern South Dakota.

A company statement says the accident happened around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.

The scene is just north of where the tracks cross under U.S. Highway 18 near Edgemont. BNSF operates a rail yard on the east side of Edgemont.

The railroad’s statement says company officers are responding to the incident and will release more details when they are able.

Edgemont is about 60 miles southwest of Rapid City.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — An Arlington woman has been given 90 days in jail for the death of a memory care patient who was burned after falling asleep near a fireplace.

Court records say Anne Pavlik was sentenced Tuesday in Dodge County Court. The judge also gave Pavlik two years’ probation. She’d pleaded no contest to attempted abuse of a vulnerable adult in the death of 82-year-old Bernard Batten at a Fremont memory care center.

Investigators determined Batten awoke early on Feb. 12 and eventually sat in a chair. Pavlik, who was the only staffer on duty, didn’t notice Batten then pulled his chair near a fireplace fire and fell asleep.

Pavlik later found Batten was badly burned. An autopsy showed he died of natural causes and burns.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa trial again has been delayed for a Nebraska man charged with killing his wife.

Court records say a Woodbury County judge approved a defense request to delay Rogelio Morales’ trial. It had been scheduled to begin Jan. 24. Court records don’t show that a new date has been set.

The case was delayed last fall after Morales’ previous attorney withdrew from the case.

The 29-year-old Morales lives in Hubbard, Nebraska. He’s pleaded not guilty to killing 21-year-old Margarita Morales, of South Sioux City, Nebraska, on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence.

Court documents say Morales told investigators a fight broke out when his wife told him she no longer wanted to be in a relationship and that she was seeing another man.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 43-year-old man has died in a collision between his car and a semi-trailer in Otoe County.

The accident occurred around 10:30 a.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 75 south of Nebraska City. The Otoe County Sheriff’s Office says the northbound car crossed the center line and struck the oncoming truck.

The car driver was identified as Scott Koch, from rural Auburn. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver was identified as 56-year-old Mark Rieke, of Gretna. The Sheriff’s Office says Rieke wasn’t injured.

Deputies don’t think weather conditions contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Think it’s hard for firefighters to rescue a cat in a tree? Try a cow in a swimming pool.

Firefighters in Oklahoma City were summoned Sunday morning after a homeowner reported hearing some sort of “snorting” coming from his swimming pool area. Emergency responders arrived and discovered a hole in the swimming pool’s liner and a cow trapped in the water.

Oklahoma City Fire Department Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson says firefighters used their pumps to remove about 5 feet of water from the pool so the cow wouldn’t experience hypothermia. Crews then brought in a wrecker to hoist the nearly 1,500-pound animal from the pool and to safety.

Fulkerson says the cow appeared to be uninjured after its ordeal.

WAHOO, Neb. (AP) — Officials say Wahoo police officers have stopped using body cameras because the city can’t afford to comply with new state policies.

The City Council voted in December to stop using the cameras.

The Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice to approve the statewide policies in October. It covers when and how to use a body camera, as well as storage and destruction of the videos.

Wahoo Police Chief Ken Jackson says his small department can’t afford requirements regarding training, and storing and destroying recordings. He says his officers have used the cameras for seven years but not nearly as much as the new rules require.

He says the more you use the cameras, the more video you must store or otherwise handle.